Hunting Shadows (Shadows 3)

“I hope she knows you’ll be bringing more than one friend,” Simon said meaningfully.

“Yes, I know,” Ryan said with a sigh. “You’re coming too.”

Fortunately, no arguments erupted before Simon and I went to bed but I was disappointed when I had a peaceful sleep with no interruptions by dreams or visions.

The next morning was clear and sunny despite the cold and we spent the morning trying to come up with a possible way to figure out the identity of the person in my vision, but it was a fruitless discussion. Sarah had spent the night at Grant’s but returned in the late afternoon. Her presence helped to dispel some of the tension between Ryan and Simon, although that didn’t stop them from arguing a

bout insignificant details.

I was on edge from their bickering by the time we left for Britney’s apartment. Her place was only a ten minute walk from my apartment, and I couldn’t help feeling nervous as we rang the doorbell.

“Ryan!” she exclaimed as she opened the door. “It’s so good to see you again!” Her face dropped a little when she saw me, but her expression brightened again when she saw Simon. “Simon Crewe! I’m a big fan of the Henchmen!”

Simon nodded uncomfortably and Britney shifted her eyes from Ryan back to him, as if she couldn’t decide who to settle on. “Come in,” she said enthusiastically and stepped back to let us in.

The rest of the fencing team was already there, and it was a bit of a tight fit in Britney’s small apartment. She introduced us to the group, as well as going over all their names, and I was relieved that the rest of the members, including the girls, seemed friendly.

“Help yourselves,” Britney said indicating a table full of food. She put her hand on Ryan’s arm in a proprietary manner, apparently having decided who she would focus her attentions on, and led him away.

“Let the games begin,” I muttered to myself as I approached Amanda, leaving Simon to fend for himself by the food. She was the only girl who could potentially by the one in my vision since she was tall and flat-chested. In a uniform and mask I doubted I could tell her apart from a male.

“Hi,” I said cheerfully. “Amanda, right?”

She nodded with a sincere smile. “Yeah, nice to meet you.”

“You too.” I paused, trying to muster up more bravado than I felt. “Britney tells me you’re an amazing fencer.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow with a skeptical look on her face. “Britney said something nice about me? I don’t believe it.”

A genuine laugh escaped me. “Yeah, she is a little…intense.”

“You can say bitchy, it’s okay. We all think it, even if we don’t say it out loud.”

Amanda’s candor broke the ice and I listened with real interest as she talked about her passion for fencing. I found myself actually interested in the sport.

“How did you even get started in fencing?” I asked.

“My father fenced during college, and he got me started at a young age.” Amanda gave me a rueful smile. “It was a little hard being different from all the other girls who were trying out for cheerleading and softball, but I loved it the instant I picked up my first foil.”

I tried to memorize her build during our conversation without being too obvious about it. I hoped that she wouldn’t notice and think I was checking her out for another reason. I also tried to learn their practice schedule, but unfortunately she revealed that they didn’t have a set practice time since a lot of the team members had conflicting schedules, so it was constantly changing.

I spoke to Bryce and Justin as well, who seemed as if they were joined at the hip. I had a suspicion that they were more than just friends and teammates, and it was a relief that they wouldn’t take my roving eye in the wrong way as I memorized their build. They were both perfectly nice, but nothing tipped me off to the identity of the person in my vision.

I was aware of Britney leading Ryan around as if they were a couple, but I was even more aware of one of the well-endowed girls, Chrissy was her name, showing Simon more attention than I was comfortable with. I walked up to them and slipped my hand in Simon’s. He turned to me with a smile.

“Hey. How are you doing?”

“Good,” I said as I smiled at Chrissy and leaned into Simon. She seemed to take note of my possessive gesture, something I had never consciously done before in my life, and excused herself under the guise of getting a drink.

“We were just talking,” Simon said looking amused. I shrugged as if I had no idea what he was talking about.

“I know. It didn’t bother me.” I gave him a look that I hoped conveyed that I was equally amused. “You’re allowed to talk to other girls. I’m not the jealous type.”

“Sure,” he said, although I was annoyed that his amusement seemed to deepen.

“Ready to leave?” Ryan seemed to appear out of nowhere since I had lost track of him, being too focused on Simon and Chrissy.

“Yeah, we’re ready.” I lowered my voice so no one would overhear. “There’s nothing left to do except hope I have the vision again so that I’m able to figure out who it is.”