One Theo and Alexander Sinister-Winterbottom were in an impossible place, trying to solve an impossible problem. Normally, Theo loved solving things. She imagined their current predicament--a word meaning a difficult situation that was fun to say but wasn''t fun to experience--as a math problem she might get in school. Car A is being driven sixty-two miles per hour by a man with small, mean eyes and a large, mean mustache, transporting your sister and all your friends to an unknown location. Car B isn''t a car at all, but rather a ghostly aunt, who has transported you and your twin brother to her house, which doesn''t exist in the real world but is somewhere else entirely. How long will it take to figure out a way to escape the spectral house and rescue your sister and friends? Show your work! Theo paced the confines of Aunt Saffronia''s tiny kitchen, only stepping on the black tiles. Because Theo had a hard time understanding or explaining her emotions, she always felt like she was filled with bees. Sometimes they were quiet and orderly.
Sometimes they were busy. Right now, the bees were a frenzied swarm of chaos and noise, making it impossible to focus. She felt trapped, and she hated feeling trapped. Worse, she felt helpless, and she hated feeling helpless. Worst, people she cared about were in trouble, and she couldn''t help them until she figured out how not to be trapped and helpless. But how could she figure out anything if she was about to explode into a torrent of angry bees? She wished she really could explode into bees, because then at least she could fly away after Edgaren''t and Essa. Essa, especially. A delightful, funny, cool teen girl who had pretended to be their friend and then revealed herself to be their ultimate enemy.
While Theo felt trapped, Alexander felt lost. He sat staring blankly at the postcard on the round kitchen table, which was set for two and only two. A reminder that he''d failed everyone except Theo. Because even though none of this was his fault, Alexander still blamed himself. If he were an artist, his specialty would be the worst-case scenario--painting every terrible thing that might happen in any given setting. Part of him believed that if he was careful and cautious and always, always anticipated what might go wrong, he could see the wrong headed their way and stop it from happening. But he hadn''t seen Essa''s betrayal coming. And because he had failed, he''d lost Wil, and Edgar and Quincy and Mina and Lucy and Henry and even poor Mr.
Frank. He''d just started trusting himself, but now he didn''t know if he should. After all, he''d liked and trusted Essa, and look where that had gotten them. Alexander continued staring at the postcard they''d found tucked into the front of the Siren book. But he couldn''t figure out what Wil had discovered on it. There was the stamp, the barcode printed on the postcard, a photo of his mom with little Wil and an unknown woman, and a message to Mina and Lucy''s dad, the uncomfortably named Vlad Blood. But there were no secret words, nothing bolded or italicized, nothing that gave him any hints. It was just a note between old friends.
He had no idea what he was looking at, or even what he was looking for. Possibilities spun in his head until he felt like a dog chasing its tail. But he also hated that thought, since he was afraid of most dogs, a fact that embarrassed him. So now he was embarrassed in addition to being anxious and stressed out and sad. All he ever wanted to do was keep himself and the people he loved safe, and he couldn''t do that now. Aunt Saffronia hovered--literally, standing an inch above the black and white tiles--near the strange telephone mounted on the wall. She was their aunt in a rather distant and slightly spooky way, having lived and died long before their mother was born. But it felt weird to call her Great-Great-Aunt Saffronia, or Ghost Aunt Saffronia.
"I''m sorry," she whispered, wringing her hands. "I''m bound to obey Wil''s request, since she''s the one who summoned me. She told me to keep you safe, so safe is how I must keep you." "What if you sent us back and we promised to be really, really careful?" Theo asked. "Alexander''s super careful!" Aunt Saffronia shook her head mournfully. "That would be a promise I know you cannot keep. If I take you back to the manor, back to Wil and your friends, you will not be safe." "Can you give us a hint?" Alexander asked.
"A way we can get around what Wil asked you to do?" Their only answer was another sad, ghostly sigh. "That''s okay." Alexander could tell Aunt Saffronia wasn''t happy about it. Even when he was miserable, he was still sensitive to the emotions of those he cared about. "It must be hard, being bound by other people''s rules." She nodded, a thoughtful tilt to her head. "It is. No one has ever wondered how I feel about it before.
" "I''m sorry," Alexander said. "I''m sorry, too," Theo grumbled. "I know this isn''t your fault." She wasn''t good at understanding her own emotions, much less other people''s, but she understood this. She hated following arbitrary rules, too. Aunt Saffronia wasn''t even a kid anymore, much less alive, so it was totally unfair that she still had to do what other people told her to. Theo slouched into a chair beside Alexander and glared at their pile of stuff. Alexander had taken everything out of his suitcase.
Next to his neatly folded clothes were six of the books they''d stolen back from Edgaren''t. They didn''t have time to read all of them, so Alexander had set them aside. The Sinister family book and the postcard were their focus, since one was theirs and the other had led Wil to a breakthrough. If only she''d told them what she discovered before Aunt Saffronia whisked them away from Essa''s trap! "I still can''t believe Essa is working with Edgaren''t," Alexander said. It made him so, so sad. "I can''t believe it, either," Theo said. It made her so, so mad. "Can you tell us more about Essa, or what they''re doing?" Alexander asked their aunt.
Aunt Saffronia shook her head once more. "The more you know, the closer you are to danger. I''ve already put you in too much danger as it is." As though she couldn''t bear to be near them without helping, Aunt Saffronia left. Or rather, disappeared. One moment she was there in her flowing white dress next to the marigold-colored wall, and the next moment she wasn''t. "It''s too much," Alexander said, despairing. "It''s all too much.
I don''t know why Essa took them, or who she is, or why Edgaren''t is working for her, or why she told us the same things Aunt Saffronia did--that we needed time, and to look closer, and to stick together. Or why she''s looking for our parents. Or where our parents are. Or what Wil found in this postcard that solved everything. Or how we''ll get out of here. Or how to get back to Wil and the others if we ever do get out of here." Theo scowled at the postcard. "Wil''s an actual genius.
I don''t think we''ll be able to figure out whatever she discovered without her." Aunt Saffronia was suddenly beside them again. "Children need to eat at regular intervals." She set two bowls of ice cream on the table. "Thanks for listening when we told you that," Alexander said. He smiled up at her. She looked at a point somewhere over his shoulder, but she smiled, too. "Anyone can listen and learn and change, if you give them the chance.
" "And if they want to," Theo added. Deciding it was your responsibility or right to change someone led to people like Dr. Jay braindyeing a camp full of kids. "So thank you for listening and learning and also getting us ice cream." Theo dug into hers with gusto. "Yeah," Alexander agreed. "And I know you can''t help us, but I appreciate that you''re still supporting us however you can." This time Aunt Saffronia looked right at him, her big, watery, colorless eyes somehow icy and warm at once.
"Hope is a hard thing to come by as a ghost, but you kids fill me with it." She bent down and kissed him on top of the head, then patted Theo''s wild hair, before floating out of the kitchen. "Okay, I vote we give up on the postcard for now." Theo liked feeling confident, and staring at the same few infuriating details for hours at a time wasn''t good for her confidence. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem was to give up--at least temporarily. If she gave her brain something else to do, it might figure things out on its own in the meantime. "Agreed." Alexander was frustrated, too.
He''d taken all the letters of the note Marina Siren had written and tried rearranging them. But so far all he''d gotten was nonsense. He tried looking at only the first words of each sentence, and then only the first letters of each line. Nothing stood out to him. He doubted there was a secret message contained in the brief note, which read: Dearest Vladdy-Poo, I know we''re not supposed to see each other, but we couldn''t resist this once. Thinking of you, wishing you were here--but at night, of course. And remember, all our secrets are safe here with me. XOXO Marina Siren.
"I think this really is just a note to a friend," Alexander said. "But we know it means there are secrets wherever the Siren family is." "I wish Mom were here. She always knew what to do." Theo tipped her head back and ran her fingers through her hair, making it stick up as though she had been electrocuted in Essa''s terrible lightning-powered trap. "Dad always knew, too," Alexand.