Part One: Growing Up

The ramp had looked a lot smaller from the ground. Now that Jonathan was standing at the top, straddling his BMX bike, one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground, looking at a drop that would make Evel Knievel dizzy, he found himself wondering how he had managed to let Zoe talk him into this. She was good at that — talking him into doing stupid stuff just because she didn’t want to be the only one getting into trouble when their parents eventually found out what they had been up to. And somehow they always did. “I’m not wearing the right helmet!” he shouted to the small crowd of kids gathered below to watch.

“Chicken!” yelled Tyler. He was a year older than Jonathan and Zoe, three inches taller, nearly twice as heavy, almost all muscle, and no brains. At least in Jonathan’s opinion. Zoe liked hanging out with him for some reason. Probably because he liked BMX as much as she did.

“I just wanna keep my brain inside my skull, where it belongs,” he yelled back. “Is that chicken?”

In response, Tyler began flapping his arms and clucking.

“You can do it!” Zoe hollered up at him. She was standing beside her own BMX. It was Johnathan’s old bike, handed down to her when he got a new one last year. She had been obsessed with the sport ever since. She even wore her Team USA jersey to school, much to their mother’s dismay.

“Easy for you to say from down there!”

“Fine! Then I’m coming up!”

Tyler began laughing, accompanied by his friends, or as Johnathan liked to call them, his cronies. “Little John needs rescuing!”

Johnathan hated that nickname. Tyler had dubbed him with it when Zoe suddenly started getting taller than him about a year ago even though they were twins and exactly the same age. Their father had assured him that his time would come soon, and that girls just grew faster at their age, but so far, even after a whole year, that time had not yet come.

Zoe glared at Tyler. “Don’t be like that, Ty,” she said, and shoved her way past him, pushing her bike up the ramp that led to the landing Johnathan was currently standing on.

“I don’t need you to save me,” Johnathan said when she reached him.

She grabbed the full-face helmet off her handlebars — the only helmet she ever used — and pulled her long brown hair back before shoving the helmet onto her head. “I wish Mom would let me cut this short,” she grumbled as she fussed with her hair, ignoring him. “It just gets in the way.”

“I’m serious, Zoe,” Johnathan said. “I’ve got this. I just need a few moments.”

“I’m not saving you. This was my idea after all,” she said, swinging a leg over the saddle. “I really should be first.”

“No. It should be me. I’m the oldest.”

She rolled her eyes as she fastened the helmet straps under her chin. “Ten minutes doesn’t count. I’m better at this and you know it.”

Johnathan looked over the edge and his stomach flip-flopped a few times. “Fine,” he said, backing up. “But use my bike. I don’t think that old thing could take a jump like this.” He knew she was hoping to get a new one of her own tonight after their dad got home and they could open their birthday presents. Johnathan just wanted to get home and have some cake and ice cream.

“Hey! You kids aren’t supposed to be here!” came a gruff shout from below. One of the bike park’s security guards was running towards them from the main building. Tyler and his cronies yelped and scattered like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

“Time’s up,” said Zoe, jumping onto the pedals and tipping her bike over the edge.

“Wait!” Johnathan yelled, but of course, it was too late. She was already halfway down the steep slope by the time he was done shouting. All he could do was watch as her bike reached the bottom and began its climb up to the jump. His heart stopped as she reached the peak and soared into the air, flying over the gap toward the landing ramp. He had to admit she looked good. Her form was perfect as she kept the bike perfectly straight — not trying any tricks, thankfully — until she guided it into a textbook landing. He breathed a sigh of relief as her wheels hit the dirt, but it caught in his throat as her bike’s front wheel buckled and she went flying over the handlebars. She landed on her shoulder as the bike flipped into the air and spun off wildly to one side. “Zoe!” he cried, pushing his own bike over the edge. His stomach lurched as he sped down the ramp and he slammed on his brakes near the bottom, skidding as he steered left to avoid the jump. He reached Zoe at about the same time as the security guard.

“Crazy kids!” shouted the guard. “You trying to get yourselves killed?”

Johnathan ignored the guard and jumped off his bike, letting it fall to the ground in a heap as he knelt beside Zoe. “Are you ok?” he asked.

“Stupid bike,” she groaned as she rolled over, rubbing her shoulder and grinning even though she was clearly sore. Her face was smeared with dirt. “Guess you were right.”

“You hurt, girl?” asked the guard.

Zoe sat up and wiped her face, which only smeared the dirt worse. “No, I’m fine.”

“Good,” he said, relief washing over his face. Then he scowled and pointed back to the main building. “Now grab your bikes and get inside. We’re calling your parents.”

It was a very, very quiet ride home. Jonathan’s mother kept glaring at them in the rear-view mirror and Johnathan became very familiar with the contents of the minivan’s floor. Dried-up old french fries, some LEGOs, one of his Dungeons and Dragons figures he had been looking for, and an ancient and badly scratched Lynyrd Skynyrd CD – the old Chrysler was built before Bluetooth was even invented. The only sound was their bikes rattling around in the back with every bump the van drove over. Fortunately, it was a short ride through the suburbs. They drove past row after row of the same drab tan and yellow two-story houses with tiny yards before they reached their own and pulled into the driveway, stopping in front of the closed garage door. They never parked inside, there was too much stuff jammed in there to fit a minivan. Their mother put the van in park and sighed. “So. Is this going to be a regular thing with you two now? Bailing you out of jail?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “It was the bike park’s security office, Mom. Not Alcatraz.”

Mom spun around and shot daggers at Zoe with her eyes. Johnathan sank down into his seat and pretended he didn’t exist. “Don’t give me that attitude, young lady. This whole stunt was your idea, I’m sure. If it wasn’t yours then it was Tyler’s and that’s just as bad. That boy’s bad news. I don’t like you seeing him.”

“Eww,” Zoe said, sticking out her tongue. “We’re not dating! We just ride bikes together. John spends as much time with him as I do. Why don’t you get on his case?”

Don’t drag me into this, Johnathan thought. He picked up the Dungeons and Dragons figure and studied it intently. It was a smoke elemental, only half-painted, and not very well, which was why he had stopped working on it. Those characters were very hard to get looking right since they were made out of pure smoke.

“This isn’t about your brother,” Mom said. “It’s about you making good choices. Girls your age need to be careful.”

“And boys don’t?” Zoe asked, her voice turning icy. Johnathan studied the figure harder. Maybe if he added a bit more gray then the smoke would look more natural. No. Not gray. Charcoal. That was what it needed.

“No,” their mom said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “That’s not what I meant. I just mean… you're growing up, and… things are changing. You can’t play the same way you used to.”

“Mom!” Zoe shouted. “Gross. John’s right here!”

He would fade the gray to white near the edges, then speckle some darker bits here and there. That should add a bit of realism to it. The eyes would be red, he decided.

“You’re right,” said Mom, glancing his way. “I’m sorry, honey. I just worry about you, that’s all. You could have ended up in the hospital with that stunt. Now your bike’s broken and you know we can’t afford to fix it.”

“It was a piece of junk anyway,” grumbled Zoe.

“Let’s just get inside,” said Mom, grabbing her purse with a sigh. “Your birthday presents are in the garage. Dad said you can go ahead and see them now since he’ll be home late again.” She pushed the button on the remote garage door opener that was clipped to the van’s sun visor and then opened the door and stepped out. Zoe huffed and glared at Johnathan.

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“What did I do?” he asked, taken aback by her sudden fury.

“You could have backed me up, you know.”

“What? Just now?”

“Yeah, just now. Mom’s all over me and she just ignores you, like you did nothing wrong.”

“It was your idea,” he reminded her.

“Whatever,” she huffed, and slid the door open harder than was probably good for it. Jonathan grabbed his backpack and Zoe’s – she had jumped out and left it behind, as usual – and followed her out of the van. He slid the door shut more gently than she had opened it and walked into the cluttered garage. Zoe was stopped midway into the room and staring at two pieces of furniture that Johnathan didn’t recognize. One of them looked like a chest of small drawers with a lid on top, almost like a mechanic’s toolbox, but made of wood and very old-fashioned looking. The other looked like a strange sort of dresser, designed almost like a short writing desk, with a large mirror and a little padded stool for sitting on.

“What’re those?” he asked.

“Your presents,” said Mom, looking pleased with herself. She seemed to have forgotten her anger already. “Happy birthday. The cabinet’s yours, Johnny, and the dressing table’s for you, Zoe.”

“The what now?” Zoe asked, looking stunned. Her heart had been set on a new bike, Johnathan knew.

“Dressing table. I found these at a second-hand store. They’re fantastic pieces – the store clearly didn’t know what they had because they were way under-priced – and I immediately thought of you two.”

“Why do I need a table for getting dressed?” Zoe asked, crossing her arms. Johnathan could hear the disappointment in her voice, but he actually kind of liked his cabinet. It would be perfect for holding his figurines and painting supplies, and the antique design was amazing.

“Ladies used them in Victorian times when doing their hair and makeup. You can keep all your supplies handy and the mirror is big enough that you can see everything easily. I just thought that – now that you’re getting older and beginning to develop…”

“Mom!” Zoe yelled, her face turning bright red.

“Well…” said Mom, looking at the dressing table with a smile that made Johnathan wonder if she was the one who actually wanted it. She was always buying things just because they were cute. “You’re at that age where girls start thinking about makeup and clothes and things like that. There’s a starter kit in one of the drawers.”

Zoe stared at their mom like she had lost her mind and Johnathan inched closer to his new cabinet and began examining it. He noticed that it was covered in intricate little carvings of bamboo, cranes, and fish, and each drawer had a different Asian symbol carved into it. Johnathan couldn’t tell if they were Chinese, Japanese, or what. Maybe his friend Ray would know, he was big-time into anime and such. After a few moments Johnathan realized that the argument he had expected to hear between Zoe and Mom still had not started, so he looked up and saw Zoe just standing there, looking back and forth between their mom and the dressing table. Her eyes were wet with tears. She noticed him watching her and angrily wiped the tears away with the dirty sleeve of her Team USA jersey, leaving a muddy smear on her face, then, without a word, turned and stormed out of the garage and down the street.

This was not the first time Zoe had taken off in a rage, but it was the longest she had stayed gone. The sun had been down for nearly half an hour and Mom was starting to get worried. Dad had called and said that he would be even later than he had thought. He was a delivery driver and one of the other drivers had wound up going home before finishing his route, so he and a few other drivers had to pick up the slack. They needed the overtime pay, but it was disappointing that he wouldn’t be home for their birthday dinner. Though, at this rate, it was starting to look like Zoe would also miss it.

After a while, Mom decided to serve dinner, and she and Johnathan sat in silence as they ate his and Zoe’s favorite meal — taco salad with crumbled Doritos on top and lots of salsa.

“I’m sorry, Johnny,” said Mom afterward as she began clearing the table. “Guess it’s not much of a birthday celebration, huh?”

“You know she wanted a new bike, Mom,” said Johnathan, handing her his plate.

Mom sighed heavily as she took the plate from him. “We can’t afford a new bike, honey. They cut your Dad’s pay last year, remember?”

“Yeah, but she’s never even mentioned makeup and wants to cut her hair short. Why didn’t you get some new wheels or something like that instead? I could have told you she wouldn’t like that dresser.”

Mom frowned. “Still, that’s no excuse for this behavior. Why don’t you go see if she’s at Tyler’s house? He doesn’t live that far away, right?”

Johnathan sighed and stood up. “This wouldn’t be a problem if we had our own phones,” he grumbled.

“We can’t…”

“…Afford them,” he finished for her. “I know, I know.” He grabbed his hoodie and pulled it on before heading out through the garage. He glared at the offending dressing table as he passed by. Its mirror reflected the streetlights outside, and they flashed briefly as a blurry shadow obscured them. He turned and looked outside but didn’t see anything on the street. He shrugged. It was probably just a dog. He opened the back of the minivan and pulled his bike out, leaving the helmet there. He was feeling a bit rebellious.

He rode the two blocks to Tyler’s house and knocked on his front door. “Yeah?” Tyler asked when he answered the door and saw who it was.

“Is Zoe here?” Johnathan asked with as much courtesy as Tyler had given him.

“No. Why?”

“None of your business. Just let us know if you see her.”

“Fine. Whatever,” said Tyler. “Anything else?”

“No,” said Johnathan and he turned to leave.

“Hey,” said Tyler suddenly, and Johnathan stopped. “Is she ok? I heard she wiped out on the jump.”

“Yeah, she’s fine. You’d know that if you hadn’t bailed on us as soon as the guard showed up.”

Tyler shrugged. “In those situations, it's every man for himself. You know that.”

Jonathan glared at him. “Actually, I don’t. Teammates are supposed to stick together, aren’t they?”

Tyler laughed. “Join the real world, Little John. This ain't one of your stupid fantasy games.”

“Whatever,” said Johnathan, turning to leave again. “Just let us know if you see her, ok?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Tyler said and shut the door.

Dad got home around ten and there was still no sign of Zoe. Mom was in a frenzy by then and she met Dad out front and jumped into the car before he could even put it into park. “Stay here in case she comes back,” Dad said, and they drove off to go search the neighborhood. Johnathan stood at the edge of the garage and watched them drive off, not sure if he should be worried about Zoe or annoyed with her for causing all this fuss. He sighed and walked back into the garage as the taillights of his dad’s car disappeared around the corner and wondered what to do next. His eyes settled on his new cabinet and he decided he might as well take it upstairs to his room. It really would be a nice place to store his painting supplies. He bent down and tried lifting the cabinet and instantly realized that it wasn’t going to be happening. That thing was heavy. How did Mom even get it into the garage in the first place? She had to have had the pieces delivered, he decided. Either way, there was no way he was going to be moving it without help.

He pulled the little stool that came with the dressing table over and sat down looking at the cabinet. He opened one of the drawers and saw that it was lined with green felt inside and slid far more smoothly than he had expected. Mom was right about the quality. It was top-notch. He checked the rest of the drawers and found them all to be just as nice. Some were a little larger than the first one while others were smaller, so he would have lots of options for how he organized things, and the lid on top would be good for holding his current projects until he was finished with them. He was eager to get it upstairs and start working on things.

He sighed and turned his attention to Zoe’s present. It was also made of wood, but the coloring was lighter, almost blonde, and there were no designs carved into the surface. The edges were all soft and rounded and none of the drawers had pull handles on them, but instead had little notches hidden in the bottom edge where his fingers could grasp. The drawers were not lined inside but slid just as easily as the ones on his cabinet. The mirror was rectangular and held up by two round posts with lots of wavy nobs carved into them. It was fastened near the middle so it could pivot to just the right angle. He could easily tell that this was also a high-quality piece. It was just too bad that it was probably the last thing Zoe would have ever picked for herself.

A shadow blocked the light coming in from the street and Johnathan looked up and saw Zoe’s reflection in the mirror. She was standing near the entrance to the garage, relief clear on her face which was still smeared with dried dirt. Her jersey was even more rumpled and disheveled than it had been that afternoon. She was normally confident and assertive in her movements, but now she looked strangely timid and uncertain. “Zoe!” he said, standing up and turning around. “Mom and Dad are going to kill you…” he trailed off as he caught sight of her. Her reflection had looked clear and solid, but the Zoe he saw standing at the edge of the garage was oddly fuzzy and unfocused, but even more concerning was the fact that he could see right through her to the street outside. His heart began to pound. “Zoe…” he said, carefully taking half a step forward. “What’s going on?”

Zoe slowly walked into the garage and stopped when she got close to him. She tried to say something but no sound came from her mouth. Jonathan’s heart beat harder and his legs wobbled. Zoe’s face changed from timid relief to frustration. She began shouting, but he still couldn’t hear her. Despite his fear he reached for her and – much as he was afraid it would but had hoped it wouldn’t – his hand passed right through her shoulders. His legs failed him and he sat down hard on the little stool. Zoe became frantic and started pounding on the air in front of her as if she was hitting an invisible wall or a window. The mirror behind him rattled and shook. He spun around and saw Zoe there, looking solid again, and clearly pounding against the inside surface of the mirror, her actions reflected by the insubstantial copy that was now behind him. Suddenly Zoe stopped pounding and turned to look at something he couldn’t see. Her face paled and her eyes widened in fear. She turned back to him for a moment, then with a look of deep regret, whirled around and ran out of the garage.

“Wait! Zoe!” Johnathan cried, standing up and running to the garage opening. He looked in the direction she had run, but there was nothing there. He turned to go back to the mirror and froze once again. A creature that looked like it was made of pure black smoke was hovering between him and the mirror, looking at him with glowing red eyes. The creature had no form that could be described as a body, and no clear head except for the eyes. Smoke billowed and roiled about it as if it were a raging storm cloud. Tendrils of smoke snaked from it in several places and one of them reached out towards him. Johnathan wanted to run, to flee, to chase after Zoe, but he was frozen in place, unable to move his feet or make his legs do anything but tremble. The tendril touched his face and he flinched back. He didn’t feel anything, however. The smoke passed through him just as his own hand had passed through Zoe’s shoulders a few moments before. The creature shook and its eyes flashed. No sound came from it, but Johnathan had the distinct feeling that it was screaming in rage. It suddenly lurched forward, moving far faster than he had expected it could, and it passed right through him before disappearing around the corner of the garage in the same direction Zoe had just run.

Johnathan fell to his knees, staring in the direction the creature had gone, trying to process what had just happened when a noise behind him made him jump and nearly pee his pants. Tyler was standing there with wide eyes. “What in the world was that?” he asked.

END OF PART ONE