Free Balancer by Patrick Wong Page B

understandable that she wasn’t interested in his emails. He knew there were some important details he was missing, and the scattered collection of clues that he did have kept sending him searching for answers in all directions.
    Glancing down the Web page, he was surprised to find the girls’ YouTube followers had now beaten the 500 mark — a huge increase in just a short amount of time. Given that there were at least thirty unanswered posts at the bottom of the page, Ben concluded that the pair hadn’t been online again that day.
    I wonder whether Nicole knows about the fish kill at Flour Mill Run?
    The WBN reporter’s newscast had been brief and to the point. The FBI was investigating a number of leads, including natural causes as well as bioterrorism. The reporter had been calm and breezy this time, which, Ben thought, was rather different from her excitable appearance following the animal carcass formation after the wildfire. Her casual attitude hadn’t reassured Ben, who’d been interested in the paranormal long enough to realize that two oddities in as many weeks wasn’t likely a coincidence.
    He Googled about animal formations and had to scroll through more pages than he’d care to remember to find theories on animal deaths and alien invasion. He thought he’d hit the bull’s-eye when he found a website all about animal sacrifices, and he made some hasty notes about how some ancient peoples believed animal sacrifices could heal a human. But could that mean there was someone lurking around Reston making animal sacrifices to help cure people and their pets?
    He added animal sacrifices to a cut-and-paste crib sheet he was assembling of all of the possible causes of the wildfire. Among the current headings were “bioterrorism,” “anarchist groups” and “common causes of wildfires.”
    Ben tidied up the document and read through it all again. Satisfied, he password-protected the file and attached it to a message he wrote on AmesAndNix.com . It simply said: “Nicole. Please read. The password is the note I wrote you in class. NewBenKenobi”
    He would now need Nicole to fill in the gaps of his research. After a deep breath, he pressed Send, scooped up the spaghetti to take down to the garbage disposal, and closed his laptop.
    He turned off the light in his room, hoping that by the time he got back from the party, Nicole would have replied — for her sake more than his.

Pancakes of Friendship
    It was a warm September evening, and the leaves were just beginning to turn on the large cedar trees flanking the edges of the Wainwrights’ sizeable property. Oak Wood seniors had a tradition of back-to-school parties, and this one was turning out awesome by any standard. About fifty classmates were seeing off the summer by hanging out, dancing and joking. The music boomed at a respectful level through speakers wired up to the living room sound system, and laughs as well as shouts went up every now and then. Farther out by the deck, a few girls sat huddled together. One of them had been crying, and her friends were now trying their best to get her back into the party spirit.
    There were rumors of other parties going on across the neighborhood, but Reese Wainwright’s had seemed to Nicole and Amy to be the best bet. It didn’t hurt that Reese had the biggest pool or that her older brother was universally considered “hot.” Vaughn and a few of his friends were currently holed up in the fully furnished treehouse at the back of the Wainwrights’ large garden, there as a “responsible” presence in case of any trouble or accidents.
    Nicole watched her friend Reilly glide effortlessly past the pool and through the main throngs of partygoers, carrying two cans of soda and balancing a plate of loaded nachos before winding up at her side, beaming. She handed Nicole a drink and a fork and, after a slurp on her own soda, leaned closer with a conspiratorial look.
    “I think I saw them by the hot tub.”
    Nicole