Saturday has come once more. But instead of standing behind a cash register while wearing a jungle green apron, Jackie leaned his back against the purplish polished wall of a business center building while dressed in his stepfather's baggy, faded blue jeans, Red Sox sports jacket, and Red Sox baseball cap. Over his eyes were a pair of impenetrable mirror-like lenses with a goldish tint and beneath his chin was a size extra-large cup of diet soda which he sipped with a long, plastic see-through straw.
He wasn't actually drinking, though. Only pretending. If he had actually drank from that huge cup, he would have needed to use the restroom, something he could not afford to do right now. So, using his breath, he held the soda in the straw to create the illusion he was taking a short break, when really, he was waiting.
As he bent sideways and craned his neck to peek out, he focused his sight on a boy who was about his age lingering at the edge corner of a sidewalk while a big red hand flashed on the sign on the other side of the road over cars zipping back and forth. If Jackie was right, the boy would lead him (at last) to the Gathering's meeting spot.
But how did Jackie find this boy? It was quite simple, really.
Unable to go in person to check out the spots the Gathering had taken for their recruitment efforts, Jackie resorted once more to using the internet. Whatever free time he had was spent hunched over a laptop in his dimly lit bedroom while blue light reflected off his computer glasses.
Although he narrowed down his search to the last couple of days, social media yielded hundreds of posts. Most were just mentions of their activities, just like before. He scrolled past most of them without much of a glance.
Jackie wasn't interested in simple text posts. What he was looking for were pictures. Pictures of the Gathering. Pictures of the people who had their interests piqued by the Gathering. And pictures of the people who were likeliest to join the Gathering.
He found a few candidates who reminded him the most of Alice, showing clearly that they had the same kind of eyes she did. Using their pictures, he found their profiles and from there, determined that some had other plans today and wouldn't go to the Gathering, some openly didn't trust the Gathering and warned fellow peers to stay away from them, and some who stayed silent.
Of those who stayed silent, there was one boy Jackie found who he thought was his most promising lead to the meeting. The way the boy stared at the flyer showed Jackie how interested he was in the Gathering. And there were enough pictures of his neighborhood in his profile for Jackie to use to figure out where he lived.
Although it was essential to finding his friend, it was honestly scary to Jackie how easily he found out where a complete stranger he never met before lived. He didn't even need to put in a lot of brain power. Just a few clicks of his mouse and a little bit of typing.
"I'm starting to understand why a lot of people keep calling technology scary stuff," he had muttered to himself. "Damn, I'm glad I only post pics from Comic-Con."
So, after borrowing some of Arnold's stuff to make a sort of disguise, Jackie headed off to the boy's house. His journey started at the crack of dawn and he reached the neighborhood of dismally gray and black houses about half an hour later. It took about another two hours of waiting before his target emerged from the house with potted weeds lined beneath the first floor windows.
From there, they both traveled on foot. They left the neighborhood and passed by a district of less savory bars and abandoned shops. Past a street littered with smashed-up food containers and flattened cardboard, was where the cleaner area claimed by business centers began.
After crossing the road, the boy led Jackie all the way to the other end of the area, leaving behind the splendor of shiny corporate towers to an avenue where conditions once more declined. It wasn't as bad as the other district, but quite a few shops, Jackie noted, were closed for good and sealed off, awaiting, possibly futily, for new owners.
He slipped into a nearby alley and peaked out to observe the boy, who had not yet realized he was being followed. Jackie watched the boy turn to one of the abandoned buildings, a small, box-shaped place with just a first and second floor, made of brick that still had its vivid redness.
The boy took out a Gathering flyer, looked at it and then at his phone, clearly checking to make sure he had the right place. He then put both phone and flyer away, and walked inside.
Jackie's heart raced.
This is it, he thought. I'm finally here. I finally found the Gathering's meeting place. And with luck, I'll find Alice too.
He looked around to make sure the coast was clear. And then he rushed out of the alley, boldly walked to the building and reached out to open the front door only to find, to his horror, that there was no front door. All the windows and where a door should be had been replaced by wood boards.
Jackie tried pushing on the boards to see if they would open up. But none of them budged. He stepped back, scratching his head, partly being puzzled and partly being frustrated.
He was so close. To finally find the hangout of the Gathering, certain he was of that, only to have his way blocked by a bunch of two-by-fours.
"How did that guy get inside?" He wondered aloud, staring at the boards barring his way. "That guy slipped in no problem. I saw it with my own eyes. Could I have gotten the wrong building? Maybe he went into the one next to this and it just looked like he went into this one."
He shook his head furiously.
"No, that can't be. This building is definitely the one. He was directly in front, standing where I'm standing now."
And then it hit him. He smacked himself on the forehead.
"Duh! It's magic! Probably the same kind on the flyer. The entrance is there. I just can't see it. But then . . . How the hell do I get inside?"
Jackie rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh! Pets!"
He was thinking of the pets that Zak mentioned, the invisible monsters that had apparently been lent to him by the Gathering's leader. Maybe they were the key to all this.
"Okay, Jackie," he whispered to himself. "You got this. Just act natural."
He took a deep breath, took a brief look around before stopping his gaze at the left top corner where the door would be.
"Hey," he said sharply. "You mind letting me in?"
There was no response. What he was talking to, as far as he could see, was just a brick wall.
He scowled.
"You know the big guy's expecting me. He won't be too happy if I keep him waiting. Or should I say if YOU keep him waiting for me."
He put everything he had into mimicking the attitude of a mean girl. Heavens knows how many times he's seen a mean girl attitude in action.
He crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the pavement. "Well?"
There was a click and a creak.
Jackie turned to see that the wood boards disappeared. The windows had glass again and a pair of doors, one of them pushed in. A quick look into the lobby showed that the building was not abandoned. It never was.
He stood, dumbfounded. The supernatural was nothing new to him, but stuff like this still made him speechless. How could it not? The building had completely transformed in the literal blink of an eye.
A smile crept on his face. A very big one. He wanted to whoop with joy, for he had finally reached his goal for the last week. But now was no time to celebrate, he knew. The battle was not over. No, it had just begun.
That said, he could not stop himself from letting out a giggle that, if he were honest with himself, was very creepy.
He forced down his smile, cleared his throat and straightened up. After giving a stiff, "Thank you," he walked inside and the door closed behind him.
Before going any further, Jackie took another look around the lobby. There were three sets of round glass coffee tables, each with a pair of basic wood chairs with cushioned seating at the left side of the room. The right side of the room had a long table covered in white cloth with a banner that cried out, "Welcome!" Next to the table was a huge ceramic container covered in Chinese artwork drawn in blue meant to house large ferns, except now was empty.
Voices in excited chatter brought Jackie's attention the double doors at the back of the room. That, he figured, was where he needed to go.
So, steeling himself for whatever was ahead, he walked into the room. As soon as he passed the threshold, the doors slammed shut at his back.
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