Think about it later, she decided. And then pulled out the old hope, the one that had been comforting her since they'd left the Institute.
"Maybe the people in the white house can help," she said. "Maybe they'll know a way to cure you—undo what the crystal did."
"If it was the crystal," Gabriel said. With a faint self-mocking smile he added, "It seems to me that we're expecting a lot from these people in the white house."
That's because we don't have any other hope. Kaitlyn didn't say it, but she knew Gabriel understood. She and Gabriel sometimes understood each other too well.
"Let's get this girl back. What car did she come from?" she asked, turning away from those ironic dark gray eyes.
They put the girl back in the Cadillac. According to Gabriel, she'd been alone, which was fortunate. Nobody would have noticed she was missing, or called the police. And Gabriel said that she'd never seen him—he'd come up behind her and put her to sleep with one touch of his mind.
"I seem to be developing new talents by the hour," he said and smiled.
Kaitlyn wasn't amused, but she had to admit to some relief. The girl would just think she'd fallen asleep and would drive away never knowing what had happened to her. Or at least that was what Kait hoped.
"You'd better get in the van with the rest of us," she said. "You need sleep."
Gabriel didn't object. A few minutes later he was settling down in the other bucket seat, while Kait was creeping into the back of the van again.
I need sleep, too, she thought, snuggling in beside Rob's warm body with a feeling of gratitude. And, please, please, I don't want any more dreams.
When Kaitlyn woke again, it was daylight. Rob was sitting up, and all around her were the noises of people stirring and yawning.
"How is everybody?" Rob asked. His blond hair was tousled and he looked terribly young, Kaitlyn thought. Young and vulnerable when you compared his sleepy golden eyes to the dark gray ones she'd seen last night…
"Kinked up," Lewis moaned from the front. He was wriggling his shoulders. Kaitlyn had a few kinks herself, and she saw that Gabriel was stretching cautiously.
"You'll be fine," Anna said and got up. She opened the side door and jumped lightly out, with no sign of stiffness.
"I feel like I swallowed a fuzz ball," Rob said, running his tongue over his teeth. "Does anybody—"
Oh, my God. What is it?
The exclamation came from outside the van, from Anna. The four inside immediately broke off what they were doing and started for the door.
What's wrong, Anna? Kaitlyn thought even before she got out.
I've never seen anything like it.
Anna's grave dark eyes were wide, fixed on the van itself. Kaitlyn turned and looked, but at first couldn't quite grasp what she was seeing. It looked almost beautiful at first.
The entire van was swathed with glittering ribbons—as if someone had painted stripes of shining stuff all over it, even over the windows. In the crisp morning light the stripes took on rainbow colors. There were hundreds of the bands, crossing and recrossing.
And yet it wasn't beautiful, really. It evoked a feeling of revulsion in Kait. When she looked closely at one of the stripes, she saw it was tacky… slimy, almost. Like… like mucus…
"Slug trails!" Rob said and pulled Kaitlyn away from the van.
Kaitlyn's stomach lurched. She was glad she hadn't eaten more for dinner last night.
"Slug trails—but it can't be," Gabriel said, sounding angry. "Look around you—there's no sign of a trail anywhere but on the van."
It was true. Kaitlyn swallowed and said, "I've never seen a slug big enough to leave a trail like that."
"I have, in Planet of the Giant Gastropods," Lewis said.
"I have, too, in my backyard," Anna said. She nodded when the others looked at her. "I'm serious. In Puget Sound there are slugs that big, banana slugs. Some people eat them."
"Thank you for sharing that with us," Kaitlyn whispered, stomach lurching again.
Gabriel still looked angry. "How did they get there?" he demanded, as if Anna had put them there personally. "And why aren't there any on those cars?" He pointed toward a gray Buick parked nearby, and the middle-aged couple in the Buick looked at him curiously.
"Leave her alone. She doesn't know," Rob said before Anna could answer.
"Do you?"
Rob slanted a dangerous golden glare at Gabriel and started to shake his head. Then he stopped and looked thoughtful. He turned to the van again, frowning.
"It could be—"
"What?" Kaitlyn asked.
Rob shook his head slowly. In the early sunlight he looked like a ruffled golden angel. "Oh, nothing," he said and shrugged.
Kait had the feeling that he was suppressing something, and the next minute he gave her a half-laughing look, as if to say she wasn't the only one who could hide things in the web.
A nasty stubborn angel, Kait thought, and Rob grinned.
"Come on, let's get out of this place," he said, turning to the others, who were looking displeased. "It's just slug stuff. Let's find a car wash."
Until that moment Kaitlyn had forgotten her dream about the colorless people. The episode with Gabriel had swamped it, somehow, driving it back into her subconscious. But now, suddenly, she remembered, and she looked at the van sharply.
"Heads up!" Lewis hissed before she could say anything. "It's the law!"
A police car was cruising into the rest stop. Kaitlyn's heart gave one thump, and then she was following the others in a quick but orderly retreat into the van.
Just keep your heads down and stay calm, Rob told them. Pretend you're talking to each other.
"A lot of good that's going to do," Gabriel said acidly.
The police car drove past them. Kait couldn't help glancing sideways at it. A uniformed woman in the passenger seat glanced up at the same moment, and for an instant their eyes met.
Kaitlyn's breath stopped. She only hoped her face was as utterly blank as her mind felt. If that policewoman saw her terror…
The car cruised on.
Kait's could feel her pulse in her throat. Somebody start driving, she thought. Fast but casual. Rob was already sliding into the driver's seat.