“There’s more than one of them,” he said.
“What? Are you sure?”
“I compared the images on the videos. They’re different sizes. They’re traveling into the city on the Westchester railroad. Once they arrive at Grand Central, they run across the concourse to get outside, and go searching for me.”
“I thought these things could slip through walls,” Garrison said.
“They can slip into cracks in walls in the same way ghosts can. But they can’t pass through solid walls. No spirit can. That forces them to make a mad dash in order to reach the street. From there, they’re hitching cab rides to their final destinations.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Happens all the time. I need to go.”
“But you just got here.”
Peter had encountered all of the shadow people who’d traveled to New York, except the last one, which had arrived this morning. Was another of his friends about to be kidnapped, like poor Liza? He couldn’t let that happen, and he brushed past Garrison on his way to the door.
“Something urgent’s come up,” he said. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”
Grand Central was like a small city, and had over a hundred shops and restaurants, and contained everything a visitor could desire. Peter hurried to a jewelry store called Forever Silver inside the Lexington Avenue Passageway that sold hand-crafted necklaces and bracelets.
Peter was in luck. There was a jewelry maker on duty. He was babysitting his young son, a dark-haired boy sitting on the counter, watching the world go by. Peter offered to do tricks for the boy if the jewelry maker would fill his order right away.
“Good luck. He’s got a short attention span,” the jewelry maker said.
“What’s his name?” Peter asked.
“Anthony.”
Peter did his best to entertain Anthony while his father went to work. Peter waved his hands magically in front of Anthony’s face, and pulled a shiny half-dollar out of the boy’s ear, which he split into two. The coins jumped from hand to hand not once but several times. For a finale, he rubbed them together, and they turned into a silver dollar.
Anthony giggled and clapped his hands enthusiastically.
“Want to see some more?” Peter asked.
It was the magician’s first rule. Wait for them to ask for more.
“Yes,” the boy said.
“Anthony,” his father said.
“Please,” the boy added.
Peter continued the show. He removed a piece of string from his pocket, and began to tear it into tiny pieces. Anthony’s eyes did not leave his hands.
“How many necklaces did you say you wanted?” the jewelry maker asked.
“Five,” Peter said. “Each needs to have a five-pointed star hanging from it. Make sure the star has five points.”
“I’ve got some really beautiful diamond pendants on sale,” the jewelry maker said. “They’re our best sellers. The women love them.”
Peter rolled the pieces of string into a ball, and had Anthony blow on them.
“Just a five-pointed star.”
“Do you mind my asking what they’re for? I’m not being nosy. Just curious.”
Peter grabbed the ends of the string and pulled it apart. It had magically restored itself, and Anthony squealed with delight. The jeweler probably dealt with a hundred customers a day. Five-pointed stars weren’t an item that people requested. Peter could have told him that Grand Central was being visited by evil spirits that were trying to kill him and hurt his friends, and that the stars were needed to ward them off, only that would have ruined the man’s day, and he didn’t want to do that.
“It’s a long story,” the young magician said. “How much longer will you be?”
“Ten minutes, tops.”
Peter went back to entertaining Anthony. The boy looked no more than seven, the same age he’d been when he’d lost his parents. He’d often wondered how his life would have turned out had his parents not been taken away from him at such a tender age. Would he still have become a magician, or would his life have taken another path, and sent him on a different journey then the one he was on now? And would he have met Liza and fallen in love, or would another woman have claimed his heart? There was no way to know; even his psychic powers would not let him look back into past and see what might have been.
The trick ended, and Anthony clapped his hands and giggled with laughter. Ever since Peter could remember, he’d wanted to have a family of his own, and a child he could pass down his magic to. Knowing what he did now about himself, he wondered if he’d dare even try.
“All done. Cash or credit card?” the jewelry maker asked.
Peter paid the jeweler cash and took the gift bag off the counter.
“Sure I can’t interest you in those diamond pendants?”
“Maybe some other time,” Peter said.
20
Leaving Grand Central, Peter hailed a cab from the taxi stand on Lexington Avenue. He needed to hunt down Milly, Holly, Max, Lester, and Snoop, and present them with the five-pointed-star necklaces. It was the only way he could ensure that the newly arrived shadow person would not harm his friends.
He gave the driver an address in the Village, and the vehicle headed downtown. Of all his friends, he considered his teacher to be the most at risk. Max had lost his wife a year ago, and now spent his days traveling between restaurants and taverns in the city, doing magic to keep himself busy. He often acted like he was walking around in a fog, and would be an easy target.
Peter decided to call Max, and tell him of his impending arrival. As he pulled out his Droid, the phone vibrated as if alive. Caller ID said it was Garrison.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” he said to the phone.
Then Peter answered the call. “Special Agent Garrison, what a pleasant surprise,” he said.
“Where are you?” the FBI agent barked.
“In a cab, heading downtown.”
“Can you get back to Grand Central? I need your help.”
Peter’s priorities would always be to his friends and loved ones, and he said, “I’m sort of busy at the moment. What’s going on?”
“About an hour ago, a surveillance camera at a train station in Westchester picked up a shadow person climbing onto the roof of a New York-bound train. It will be arriving soon, and I’m trying to figure out what to do. That’s why I called you.”
Another shadow person was coming into the city? It was starting to feel like an invasion.
“I was thinking of having a team of agents board at one of the stops, and see if they can root this thing out,” Garrison went on. “Is that practical?”
Peter sat up straight in his seat. “I would advise you not to do that.”
“Look, my men are trained professionals. They’ve seen everything there is to see.”
“Don’t do it.”
“So what do I do?”
“Nothing.”
“They don’t pay me to do nothing. Come on, think of something.”
Ordinary people who engaged with the spirits often spent the rest of their lives regretting it. As a result of their unearthly encounters, ghosts visited them regularly, and they were plagued by otherworldly voices in their dreams. Their nerves became frayed, and they walked around perpetually scared. Garrison had no idea of the danger he was placing his agents in.
“The best thing you can do is to leave it alone,” Peter said.
“Some help you are. Don’t tell me there isn’t a way to fight these things.”
So that was it. Garrison wanted to fight. He was stubborn that way, and would probably try to capture the shadow person no matter what Peter told him. And then there’d be hell to pay for Garrison and his team. “You can’t fight a shadow person. But you can catch it the same way you capture a ghost. Promise me you’ll do exactly as I say.”