Glass Angels

Chapter 2: Serenade

On the Road. Friday, January 27, 2006.

"What awaits us in New Haven?" Sara asked. "Vampires, ghosts, or witches?"

Neal smiled at her enthusiasm as he merged the Jaguar into the traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway. "None of the above. Halloween is almost a year away."

"You can't be sure," Sara said, her smile broadening. "If the reports you gave me are true, all of your previous road trips over the past year have involved supernatural entities. Why should this be any different?"

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Not in the slightest," she declared. "Perhaps there's a little hunter blood in me. I brought my baton along, although I suppose it should be in silver. Perhaps Chloe can whip up a potion to use on it."

Neal liked her attitude. If Peter were along, he'd be groaning about demons potentially lurking on the Yale campus.

"Our first road trip as an official couple!" Sara sighed happily. "I must say, you look very dashing behind the wheel."

June had let him borrow her car, so he could drive Sara to New Haven in style. "You wouldn't prefer something sportier? Like, for instance, an Aston Martin?"

"You'd rock whatever you drove, even a Model T. Then I could wear an immense motoring hat with a veil. I think I'd like that."

Sara had arrived the previous evening from London and stayed overnight in the loft. June kept her teasing to a minimum about the con they'd played on the matchmakers the previous fall, but she insisted they take notes of their filmmaking adventure. An account of their time in New Haven was slated for her Lunar New Year's party on Sunday.

"What will my costume be like?" Sara asked. "Aidan told me to bring a leotard and tights but didn't provide any other details."

"That's because the costumes will be CGI. All he needs us for is our movements and facial expressions. I'm not even sure if we'll be recognizable in the final product. This may be the first mashup of sci-fi horror, abstract expressionism, and fractal cinematography ever attempted. The camera work is so complicated, a computer is needed to coordinate the lenses. While Aidan shoots the scenes, Travis will be operating the auxiliary cameras."

"You've made me feel better about my lack of preparation. I haven't even read the script."

"No one has. Aidan's kept most of the details a dark secret. Electra knows more than anyone else, and I have no idea how her tastes run."

"Surely you have a general idea."

Neal shrugged. "I know I'll play a Yale grad student and that it's set in the present day. Aidan's given me a thumbnail sketch of my character since I'll have the most acting to do."

"Tell me more about this grad student," she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "Is he seeing anyone?"

"Only in his dreams. A strikingly gorgeous redhead that he can't get out of his mind."

"You're putting me on!"

"Not me. This was Aidan's idea. Well, Electra added a few bits. Aidan intended for me to be haunted by an ethereal spirit, but she suggested a dream sequence would be more effective. He liked the idea since it would give him more opportunities for surrealist imagery." Neal's preference had been for the spirit but he'd been overruled. Even a fearful ghost would be better than someone toying with his dreams. He'd gotten Aidan's assurance that the dream sequences would be brief glimpses and simple depictions of Sara's idealized face. No nightmare scenarios.

"I hope we have a romantic date in the film," Sara said.

"No such luck. We'll need to make our own. In the film, I pass Electra's house daily on my way to Yale. I catch glimpses of you in the cupola of the house and am filled with an insatiable desire to learn more about you."