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shadow after getting out of sight of
her house.
    Faith raised her eyebrows,
and the corners of her mouth turned down. “Aren’t you the least bit
interested?”
    “ I’m here, aren’t I? This
time of day, that’s a high level of interest.”
    I sighed, feeling suddenly
tired as Faith and Olivia bickered at each
other, and I increased my pace. That effort didn’t last long. Faith
grabbed my arm and said, “Kat, what do you think about that place,
Chimera?”
    Olivia mumbled, “What place
called Chimera?”
    “ From those pages last
night. I think that’s the place we fell into yesterday.
Chimera.”
    I felt a chill chase its
way down my back. “I hope you’re wrong. Remember, ‘Any who learn of our existence must forever
become a part of Chimera ?’”
    Faith shook her head. “I’m
not worried, ‘cause I think it was just Andrew. You know, trying to
freak us out.”
    I looked at Faith in
disbelief. “No way did Andrew send us to that place!”
    Olivia rolled her eyes. “It
can’t be anyone we know. No one in town could do that.”
    “ But a stranger wouldn’t
know where Kat lives!” Faith stopped, her hands fisted on her hips,
glaring at Olivia.
    “ Fine, then let’s
hear your great
idea.”
    “ How should I know? That’s why I
asked you.”
    “ Maybe it was a ghost. Or
little green men from Mars. Or Bigfoot.” Olivia was smirking. We
all knew Faith didn’t believe in such things.
    Faith rolled her eyes, and
said, “Are those my only choices? How ‘bout the tooth
fairy?”
    Olivia laughed, then Faith
and I joined in. For a moment, it felt like it always had been.
    Then Olivia groaned. “It’s
Saturday, one of the only days I can sleep in. Let’s get this over
with, and maybe I’ll still have time to go back to bed.”
    
    Johnny’s Burger Shack was a
favorite hangout for those of us in middle school. There were no
fast food places in town. One had finally been built a couple miles
away, down off Highway 101, but people in town preferred Johnny’s.
Everyone said his cheeseburgers were the best in a hundred miles.
Johnny liked that so much, he’d painted it on the wall outside the
restaurant.
    Inside, it was like the
aftermath of a disaster movie, where a rundown diner and a
McDonald’s got crushed together. You took a seat at one of the
small booths held together with brightly colored duct tape. Someone
would take your order and bring your food, but you got your own
drinks in a to-go cup from the soda machine near the
door.
    The sound of buzzers and
bells going off in the kitchen penetrated throughout the dining
room. Johnny had partly automated the kitchen like a fast food
place, and the high school supplied plenty of cheap labor to man
the fryers and prepare some of the food. But only Johnny touched
the grill.
    The decorations included
lots of plastic, and odd shades of purple, gold, and what Johnny
fondly called avocado green. Guys from school called it puke green
behind his back.
    I pulled open the glass
door and the three of us hesitated in the entrance. I eyed the row
of booths visible on this side of the partition running down the
middle of the room. I wondered if we’d have to walk all the way
around to check the booths on the other side.
    I felt my palms begin to
sweat.
    Faith poked me in the ribs
and nodded toward a booth near the back where a small hand waved at
us. I gasped and took a small step backwards when I saw who was
seated at the table. Rowena just-call-me-Ronny Danann. The woman
who married my brother Chris a week ago.
    Actually, I guess I have
to call her Ronny Taylor now. That sucks.
    I’d never mentioned to
anybody how uncomfortable Ronny made me. Her formal, stiff way of
speaking was really strange, but that wasn’t the problem. Mostly,
when I looked at her, I was afraid I’d lost my mind. People in town
thought Chris had been seeing her for the last two
years.
    But it had been much
longer.
    I was five and Chris was fifteen when I started trailing after