"The dark energy," she whispered.
Adam looked more keen and alert. "You think-?"
"Yes," she said. "Yes, I do. But if only we could tell for sure..." Her mind was racing. Jeffrey. Jeffrey's body swinging like a pendulum. "Usually we use clear quartz as a pendulum ..."
She snatched Melanie's necklace off and held it up, looking at the teardrop of quartz crystal.
"If the dark energy was here, maybe we can trace it," she said, fired with the idea. "See where it came from-or where it went. If you guys will help."
Nick was looking skeptical, but Adam cut in before he could speak. "Of course we'll help. But it's dangerous; we've got to be careful." His fingers gripped her arm reassuringly.
"Then-we have to go back in there," Cassie said, and before she could change her mind she moved, darting into the far room where the feet still swung. Nick and Adam were close behind her. Without letting herself think, she held the crystal up high, watching it shimmer in the light.
At first it just spun in circles. But then it began to seesaw violently, pointing out a direction.
Chapter Seven
Cassie followed the motion of the crystal. It was pointing upstairs, she decided-the opposite direction led into a wall.
"We'd better get out in the open, anyway," Adam said. "Otherwise we might not be able to follow it."
Cassie nodded. She and Adam were speaking quickly, tensely-but calmly. Their violent agitation was held just under the surface, kept down by sheer willpower. Having something to do was what made the difference, she thought as they climbed the stairs. She couldn't afford to have hysterics now; she had to keep her mind clear to trace Jeffrey's killer.
In the hallway outside the custodian's office they ran into Deborah and the Henderson brothers.
"Adam, dude, what's goin' on?" Chris said. Cassie saw that he'd been drinking. "We were just comin' down for a little liquid refreshment, you know-"
"Not down there," Adam said shortly. He looked at Doug, who seemed less inebriated. "Go get Melanie," he said, "and tell her to call the police. Jeffrey Lovejoy's been murdered."
"Are you serious?" Deborah demanded. The fierce light was in her face again. "All right!"
"Don't," said Cassie before she could stop herself. "You haven't seen him. It's terrible- and it's nothing to joke about."
Adam's arm shot out as Deborah started toward her. "Why don't you help us instead of picking fights with our side? We're trying to trace the dark energy that killed him."
"The dark energy," Deborah repeated scornfully.
Cassie took a quick breath, but Nick was speaking. "I think it's garbage too," he said calmly. "But if it wasn't the dark energy, that means a person did it-like somebody who had a grudge against Jeffrey." He stared at Deborah, his eyes hard.
Deborah stared back arrogantly. Cassie looked at her as she stood there in her short black tank dress-more like a sleeveless top than a dress-and her suede boots. Deborah was belligerent, antagonistic, hostile-and strong. For the first time in a long while Cassie noticed the crescent-moon tattoo on Deborah's collarbone.
"Why don't you help us, Deborah?" she said. "This crystal is picking something up-or it was before we all started talking. Help us find what it's tracing." And then she added, inspired by some instinct below the level of consciousness, "Of course, it's probably dangerous-"
"So what? You think I'm scared?" Deborah demanded. "All right, I'm coming. You guys get out of here," she told the Hendersons.
Somewhat to Cassie's surprise, Chris and Doug did, presumably going off to tell Melanie.
"All right," Cassie said, holding the crystal up again. She was afraid that it wouldn't do anything now that their concentration had been broken. And at first it simply hung at the end of the chain, swaying very slightly. But then, as the four of them stared at it, the swaying slowly became more pronounced. Cassie held her breath, trying to keep her hand from trembling. She didn't want to influence the crystal in any way.
It was definitely swinging now. In toward the boiler room and out toward the front of the school.
"Due east," Adam said in a low voice.
Holding the crystal high in her left hand, Cassie followed the direction of the swing, down the hallway.
Outside, the moon was almost full, high in the sky, dropping west behind them.
"The Blood Moon," Adam said quietly. Cassie remembered Diana saying that witches counted their year by moons, not months. The name of this one was hideously appropriate, but she didn't look back at it again. She was focusing on the crystal.
At first they walked through town, with closed stores and empty buildings on either side of them. Nothing stayed open past midnight in New Salem. Then the stores became less frequent, and there were a few clustered houses. Finally they were walking down a road which got lonelier and lonelier with every step, and all that surrounded them were the night noises.
There was no human habitation out here, but the moon was bright enough to see by. Their shadows stretched in front of them as they went. The air was cold, and Cassie shivered without taking her eyes off the crystal.
She felt something slip over her shoulders. Adam's jacket. She glanced at him gratefully, then quickly looked at the crystal again; if she faltered in her concentration it seemed to falter too, losing decisiveness and slowing almost to a random bobbing. It never swung as vigorously as the peridot had done for Diana-but then, Cassie wasn't Diana, and she didn't have a nearly-full coven to back her.
Behind her, she heard Adam say sharply, "Nick?" And then Deborah's derisive snort, "I wouldn't take it, anyway. I never get cold."