Free The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) by MJ Fletcher Page A

lean in close to one another The acoustics in the old building made it possible for me to hear them if only in whispers.
    “A guy in a black overcoat came in right before the Masters’ girl. I can’t be sure, but I think he opened the portal.” Judd kept his voice low and I strained to hear him.
    Emery nodded. “He let the gremlin in on purpose.”
    A chill ran through me when Emory glanced in my direction. Edgar and I kept walking and they kept talking. Their voices faded as we got further away until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I thought back to running through the store and seeing the man in black, the same man who had attacked us in Paris. He’d followed us here and now he was after me.
    “I better head home. Once my mom hears about the gremlin, she’ll be worried. I’ll text you later,” Edgar said and with a wave ran off.
    I headed to where we had started... the Portico entrance. My mind was spinning with gremlins, training knobs and the thought that Dad was holding back a lot more than he was saying. It wasn’t just me being paranoid. A little voice in the back of my head was screaming at me asking if maybe this was what happened to Mom.
    I stepped out of my strange new world and back onto the Washington Street Mall. The sun was high in the sky and I realized it must be passed lunch time and Dad was probably getting worried.
    “There you are!”
    I heard Val before I saw her like most times. I turned to see her rushing toward me.
    “I almost called your dad. I was worried that weird Edgar kid had kidnapped you.”
    I’d completely forgotten that Val had been waiting for me and really didn’t even know what to say to her after what I’d just been through.
    I settled on the most normal thing that had happened to me. “I got a job.”
    “Shut up really? My mom won’t let me get one she says I have to concentrate on school. But I tell her, Mom, I’m the top of my class and a good multi-tasker. I can handle it.”
    I let Val keep talking as we walked without paying much attention to her. All I could think about was this odd world I was now a part of, and why it seemed that everyone knew more about my family then I did. The man in black stood at the edge of all my thoughts his words replaying over and over in my head.
    You better keep running girl or you’ll get caught.

Chapter 7
    Status: I meet the most frustrating person of all time.
     
    Dad wasn’t happy about the gremlin incident, so I didn’t even consider mentioning the man in black. He wasn’t the only one who was going to have secrets from now on. I wanted to find out everything I could about my family and our enemies. The Arrowhead seemed like a good place to start my research. Dad agreed that I could work there for the remainder of the summer but he wanted me focused on school when it started in the fall. That was fine by me since I intended to delve head first into my studies. It was the only way for me to learn about my abilities.
    When I wasn’t practicing to channel my energy and focus my powers on using the training knob, I was either working or hanging out with Edgar and Val, even though Val was annoying and never stopped talking about herself. She also had the uncanny ability to find us wherever we went. So she became a member of our odd little group. I had thought about getting in touch with Slade and asking him to hang out but I stopped myself.
    Slade was a good guy and I worried that I would bring him nothing but trouble. With that tempting smile of his I was afraid I might make a fool of myself around him. Relationships weren’t my thing. I’d learned that the hard way and anyway, I had enough to worry about. Yet that didn’t stop us from texting every day and me constantly making excuses for why we weren’t getting together.
    Dad had begun a new tour that was moving through the Southwest and though he would use a portal to come home most nights I had free reign, and I really started to enjoy myself for the first time in