house.
When Tamisin and Heather arrived, Jak met them at the door dressed the way he usually was—all in black. Tamisin was thinking about how good the color looked on him when an old woman with gray and white hair and slanted yellow eyes came to get him. “Sorry,” he told the girls. “I’ve got to see about this. I’ll be right back.” And then he disappeared down the basement stairs and Tamisin and Heather were left to look around while Kyle greeted other senior jocks.
Although Jak’s house was in a neighborhood of fairly modern homes, it was old and creaky with floorboards that didn’t quite meet and ceilings so high that Tamisin could have practiced her dance-flying, as she had come to call it, without ever bumping her head. The first floor of the house was already crowded. Some boys were playing drums and guitars in the parlor while costumed guests danced to their music. The girls wandered from room to room, looking at the costumes and decorations and talking to the people they knew. When they came across Jeremy in the room where the band was playing, Heather dragged Tamisin through the crowd to his side.
“Hi!” Heather said, giving him her warmest smile.
“Hi yourself,” Jeremy replied, his eyes brightening when he saw her.
Knowing that Heather would be occupied for a while, Tamisin peeked into the next room where Shareena was talking to the rest of the girls from the dance group. When they saw her, they crowded around Tamisin, drawing her into the room. She talked to them for a minute, then Heather and Jeremy were there. Heather was beaming when she said, “Jeremy asked me out! We’re going to the movies on Saturday. Come on, let’s go see the rest of the house. Jeremy said I wouldn’t believe the decorations in the kitchen. He says it’s at the end of the hall.”
There was a pitcher of milk and a bucket of water with a dipper on a table in the hallway, but no cups or glasses. A keg of something dark and musky sat on the floor beside it. No one touched it after some boys tried the drink and announced that it was foul.
The walls of the dark-paneled kitchen had been draped with tiny skulls strung together like popcorn. When Tamisin touched one and said that it felt real, Heather grew pale and refused to go near them. An assortment of food sat on the table, surrounding a pumpkin carved with an ugly, leering face. There were hunks of cheese, but nothing to use to cut them, plates of boiled vegetables coated with salt, and a tureen of some kind of raw meat cut into small pieces. A cup of anchovies sat beside a bucket of fried pumpkin innards. A sticker on one bowl of eggs declared that they were RAW and the other was labeled HARD BOILED. No one seemed to be eatinganything except for a boy in a lumberjack costume who had taken an entire hunk of cheese.
Then some new guests arrived and everything changed. Jeremy and the girls were still in the kitchen when the back door opened.
“What great costumes!” Tamisin heard people say, but she knew they weren’t wearing costumes. She had seen these people before, maybe not the very same ones, but so similar that she went cold inside. Tall and short, thin and fat, every one was a cross between a person and an animal. They had ears like dogs and horses, lions and bats. She saw fangs and flippers, beaks and talons, fur and feathers and scales, and all of them, from a boy’s orange bird beak to a girl’s fuzzy rabbit ears and twitchy little nose, were real. The last time she had seen creatures like these, she had been the only one who could. Now everyone could see them, which she thought must mean only one thing—the half-animal creatures must want to be seen. And if Jak had invited them …
“I have to get out of here,” Tamisin told Heather.
“What?” Heather shouted over the din of the new arrivals.
When she saw that she wouldn’t be able to make herself heard without shouting, Tamisin pointed to the door and gestured for Heather to go first.
When Tamisin and Heather arrived, Jak met them at the door dressed the way he usually was—all in black. Tamisin was thinking about how good the color looked on him when an old woman with gray and white hair and slanted yellow eyes came to get him. “Sorry,” he told the girls. “I’ve got to see about this. I’ll be right back.” And then he disappeared down the basement stairs and Tamisin and Heather were left to look around while Kyle greeted other senior jocks.
Although Jak’s house was in a neighborhood of fairly modern homes, it was old and creaky with floorboards that didn’t quite meet and ceilings so high that Tamisin could have practiced her dance-flying, as she had come to call it, without ever bumping her head. The first floor of the house was already crowded. Some boys were playing drums and guitars in the parlor while costumed guests danced to their music. The girls wandered from room to room, looking at the costumes and decorations and talking to the people they knew. When they came across Jeremy in the room where the band was playing, Heather dragged Tamisin through the crowd to his side.
“Hi!” Heather said, giving him her warmest smile.
“Hi yourself,” Jeremy replied, his eyes brightening when he saw her.
Knowing that Heather would be occupied for a while, Tamisin peeked into the next room where Shareena was talking to the rest of the girls from the dance group. When they saw her, they crowded around Tamisin, drawing her into the room. She talked to them for a minute, then Heather and Jeremy were there. Heather was beaming when she said, “Jeremy asked me out! We’re going to the movies on Saturday. Come on, let’s go see the rest of the house. Jeremy said I wouldn’t believe the decorations in the kitchen. He says it’s at the end of the hall.”
There was a pitcher of milk and a bucket of water with a dipper on a table in the hallway, but no cups or glasses. A keg of something dark and musky sat on the floor beside it. No one touched it after some boys tried the drink and announced that it was foul.
The walls of the dark-paneled kitchen had been draped with tiny skulls strung together like popcorn. When Tamisin touched one and said that it felt real, Heather grew pale and refused to go near them. An assortment of food sat on the table, surrounding a pumpkin carved with an ugly, leering face. There were hunks of cheese, but nothing to use to cut them, plates of boiled vegetables coated with salt, and a tureen of some kind of raw meat cut into small pieces. A cup of anchovies sat beside a bucket of fried pumpkin innards. A sticker on one bowl of eggs declared that they were RAW and the other was labeled HARD BOILED. No one seemed to be eatinganything except for a boy in a lumberjack costume who had taken an entire hunk of cheese.
Then some new guests arrived and everything changed. Jeremy and the girls were still in the kitchen when the back door opened.
“What great costumes!” Tamisin heard people say, but she knew they weren’t wearing costumes. She had seen these people before, maybe not the very same ones, but so similar that she went cold inside. Tall and short, thin and fat, every one was a cross between a person and an animal. They had ears like dogs and horses, lions and bats. She saw fangs and flippers, beaks and talons, fur and feathers and scales, and all of them, from a boy’s orange bird beak to a girl’s fuzzy rabbit ears and twitchy little nose, were real. The last time she had seen creatures like these, she had been the only one who could. Now everyone could see them, which she thought must mean only one thing—the half-animal creatures must want to be seen. And if Jak had invited them …
“I have to get out of here,” Tamisin told Heather.
“What?” Heather shouted over the din of the new arrivals.
When she saw that she wouldn’t be able to make herself heard without shouting, Tamisin pointed to the door and gestured for Heather to go first.
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