Chapter 21
From the top of the stairwell, I could hear my family talking. I took my time. If they didn’t know I could hear, they might just keep saying things that could be valuable to my investigation.
My mom’s voice carried up the stairs. “We had always heard that Transformation was extremely painful, but now I guess they have some new method or something, and it’s not so bad? Is that right, or was Aaron just trying to make us feel better?”
There was that word again. I knew for a fact now that my sister had undergone some sort of procedure, something that had altered who—or what—she was. The proof was in the blur I’d seen as she made her way to the house. And now my mom was confirming it.
I wished there was some way I could wait until after my sister replied before I showed myself, but Cadence was facing the entryway from the stairs to the living room, so as soon as I stepped foot on the floor at the bottom of the stairwell, she could see me.
I could see her, too, obviously. She looked the same—possibly less tired than usual, which I found odd since Jack looked just awful. She had a smile on her face and her brown eyes were twinkling. I wondered if she would feel cold to the touch like Jack. Maybe something was happening to him, too, and he was in the early stages whereas Cadence was a finished product.
My sister stood and embraced me, “Hey, Cass! How are you?” she exclaimed.
Relieved that she was as warm bodied as ever, I only said, “Good,” thinking maybe I should still be leery of whatever my sister had become. Remembering I needed to make sure they were not suspicious, I asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
I saw the exchange of glances between my sister and my parents before my mom, who was sitting in her recliner, replied, “Cadence is feeling much better, Cass. You’re so sweet to ask. Cadence, we explained that you needed some time away from town to process your friend’s passing, so you went to stay with Grandma for a few days.”
Clearly, my mother’s answer was an attempt to let my sister know the lies I had been fed, but what was I going to say? “I know there’s something going on, and you’re all hiding it from me!” Probably not the right track to take if I ever wanted to be let in on the family secret.
Cadence was nodding so hard, I thought her head might come off. “Yes, that’s right. I just needed some time. But I’ll be fine. Thanks, Sis.”
There was an awkward pause where I was almost positive they were all waiting for me to skip off. No one seemed to want to tell me to skedaddle, though, so I waited patiently. I can play games, too.
My dad drew the short straw. “Cass, honey, we’re going to talk to Cadence a little more about what happened that night when she was out with her friends.” I stared at him, wondering what his excuse might be for not letting me stay. He took a deep breath and continued. “I really think it’s best if you just join us for dinner in a bit; all right, honey?”
Since we’d just eaten, that meant he wanted me to stay in my room for several hours! I felt like screaming, “No! I am a member of this family and should get to stay, too!” But I didn’t. I nodded and said, “All right. I’ll see you later, Sis,” to Cadence, even though I wasn’t sure whether or not I could trust her. I still needed to try and get some information from her.
I eyed her for a moment as she said, “For sure!” and sat back down on the couch.
I turned and headed for the stairs, trying to seem normal and walk at a regular pace. I wished they were still standing by the stairs so I could hear better once I reached the top, but I also knew that my parents had a tendency not to know their own volume.
The top of the stairs was still before me when I heard my mom say, “Well, honey, we hope it wasn’t too terribly painful.”
I strained to hear Cadence’s response, but her voice wasn’t as loud. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I didn’t even bother to fake-shut my door, thinking they were too wrapped up in their own conversation to even be paying attention to me. I went around the side of the railing closest to my bedroom and dropped to my stomach.
Knowing I’d missed part of the conversation, I strained to hear what was being said now. My dad’s voice boomed, “She had visions of you screaming in pain, writhing around on a hospital bed, you know, the type of thing you see on horror films.” I assumed he meant my mother thought this must be the case. Why would she think that? Was Cadence like Frankenstein’s monster now? Surely, they were talking about this procedure she’d undergone and nothing additional.
My mom’s voice was defensive, which meant louder than normal. “Well, I didn’t know. I just didn’t know. That Aaron is a nice boy, but for all I knew he was telling us what he thought we wanted to hear.” I thought my mom’s choice of words was a little funny. I didn’t know how old Aaron was, but he had to be older than he looked if he had worked with my grandmother.
I had no idea what Cadence was saying. I could barely make out the melody of her voice as she responded to my mom’s comment. My mom said something in response, but she must’ve calmed down because it was faint.
It was my dad’s voice that I was able to make out next, but I didn’t catch the first part of the sentence. I heard, “a bit scared,” followed by, “would be lying if we said we weren’t a little, uh, circumspect.”
Not knowing what that word meant for certain, I puzzled over it for a moment as my mom confirmed not only was that the word he’d said, it was a good one. “Circumspect,” I repeated, hoping I’d remember to look it up later.
There was a little more chatter before I heard Cadence imploring them to “focus,” which was about the only word she said that I could make out at all, and then she said she wanted to go lie down for a bit.
Scrambling to my feet, I slowly backed toward my bedroom door, knowing I couldn’t let my sister find me there. Now that she could move faster than a speeding bullet, I needed to hurry but still be as quiet as possible. Luckily, she seemed to be slowing her movements around my parents, and by the time I heard her footfalls on the stairs, I was in my room with the door closed.
