Page 13 of The Other World

“The problem isn’t getting him there,” he said, much more audible now that he was closer. “The problem is getting him into the right position. Your father isn’t stupid. If he senses even the slightest thing off, we’ll be the schmucks left out as werewolf bait.”

Well, that answered one question.

“I’m not even convinced this new guyisa werewolf. He couldn’t transform properly, and he’s not on the list. Where did he even come from, it’s like he fell from the sky.”

I let out a small gasp, and then froze. I could see Nikolai’s hand, still hanging over the edge of the bed, and it gave a little twitch, but after a moment where he didn’t jump down and pull me from my hiding place, I relaxed. He hadn’t heard me.

When my heart started beating again, I thought about what I’d just heard. He was talking about Sam, right? It definitely had to be Sam. Sam had always struggled with his transformations when he was in mental distress, and landing in a strange dimension was definitely distressing. And he was someone unaccounted for. Who fell out of the sky. How often did that happen?

Did that mean they were going to hunt Sam? They couldn’t do that, right? Surely they couldn’t.

Suddenly, my plan of action was clear. I had to go on that hunt. I had to save Sam, and whatever other poor souls were being hunted by my insane father.

And to do that, Other-me had to be out of the picture.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Obviously,I didn’t want to take Other-me out on a permanent basis. I wasn’t a killer, and plus it would be annoying to have to dispose of her body and all that. It was far easier to just put her to sleep for a while. Though, easier was relative.

To drug her, I’d need access to her food or water, and the school was notoriously careful about that kind of thing. At least, in my world it was, and it was safer to assume things would be as difficult as possible. I could bonk her over the head, but that might raise questions, and it was hard to judge how long she’d be unconscious. But lucky for me, I hadn’t just been sitting around all summer and mooning over Tennyson. I’d been practicing with my powers. To be fair, I still wasn’t very good, but Hannah had taught me a few things with a view to pranking some of the annoying Tennyson fangirls from Green House, and among those things was a fairly reliable sleep spell.

I could do it from a distance but I had to have eyes on her. The safest bet would be to wait until after class. She’d definitely come back to her room to change out of her uniform, so I’d do it then. Hopefully she’d be alone, but if I had to give Nikolai a good old magical slap between the eyes, I was okay with that. He hadall the details of the hunt and how to get wherever we needed to be for it, but I could wing it if I really needed to.

I spent the day nosing around Other-me’s room. I doubted she’d have details of the plot against her father just sitting around, but if I was lucky, she might have a handy bullet-pointed list hidden somewhere. I wasted the better part of the morning going through all her drawers and closets. I checked for loose floorboards, under the mattress. I even attempted a summoning spell, though all that did was singe a pair of expensive-looking boots. I put the fire out before the damage became too obvious. I hoped.

I went through every book on her bookshelf, looking for hidden notes or messages, and her many thousands of fashion magazines, but there was nothing. It was super suspicious how there wasn’t the slightest hint that she was anything more than a typical Amaris High student. She was good, this Other-me. Good at subterfuge, anyway, even if morally she was a bit gray. This was definitely not her first rodeo. Whatever she was plotting against her father, it had been a long time coming and she was well prepared for it.

It almost made me feel bad that I was going to mess it all up for her. Almost.

As I ran out of things to do, I began to worry about Sam. How long had he been here? I wasn’t sure if time moved at the same pace here as at home. It had seemed like I was only here for five minutes last time, and it had been almost two days. Was that because time was different here, or just because I’d been tripping on weird tea? Would I get back home only to find a hundred years had passed and everyone I loved was dead and gone, like in some old fairy story? I really hoped not. Apart from everything else, it would be super awkward to explain.

I didn’t dare venture out into the rest of the house. I had no clue what time she’d finish classes and couldn’t risk her seeingme. Even if I could explain everything and win her to my side, there was no guarantee she’d be on board with me rescuing Sam. She was obviously a super cautious person, but I needed to be even more so if I wanted to outfox her. I decided to settle in to wait.

Under the bed was no good this time, as I needed her in my line of sight for the spell to work. I had to be hidden though. She might not be alone, which would raise some uncomfortable questions. And even if she was, it was better if she didn’t see me. My main advantage right now was being able to pose as her, and if I was discovered – especially by her – that would be over. The best place was the closet in the far corner. Most of the room was visible if I left the door open a crack, though it still smelled pretty badly of burnt shoe.

The only problem was, the closet was boring. There was nothing to do but wait, and before I knew it, I’d dozed off.

I sat bolt upright and looked around. Hannah. Tennyson’s room. A delicious-smelling grilled cheese.

“I have to go back,” I said. “Hannah, can you put me back to sleep.”

“Jeepers, girl, take a breath,” she said, standing up from where she sat near the door.

“I can’t,” I said quickly. “Sam, he’s there. I have a plan to help him but I have to goright now.”

I was in a panic. What if I missed it. What if they went on this hunt and I got back there and they had Sam’s head mounted on the wall like some grotesque hunting trophy.

“Okay,” said Hannah. “Just give me a second to get ready.”

While she was getting her stuff together, I looked around the room. Someone, Hannah, I assumed, had been camped out in the comfy chair by the window. There was a stack of dishes and empty mugs piled up on the side table, next to a stack of books.I wondered where Tennyson had been sleeping, or even if he’d been sleeping. I wondered if he’d been to see me at all.

Then Hannah cleared her throat. “Are you ready?”

I nodded.

“Right,” she said, then blew a handful of glitter right into my face.

I spluttered and brushed it out of my face, and when I looked back up, I was in the closet again. There was no glitter, no grilled cheese, no Hannah. There was only a sliver of light from where the door stood ajar. It didn’t look as if Other-me had been in the room at all, and the smell from the scorched boots still lingered. I wasn’t sure how long that kind of smell would hang around. It might be the next day. It might be the next week, even, but nothing in the room looked different from how I’d left it before I nodded off.

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