Shadow Girl - (Book Two)

Chapter 4 - You Made Us Match...

Leo

I was home; Mom was there, my real mom. It was lunchtime and that meant tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was the best time of the year, Christmas break. No school, both parents took off time from work, and we had what Dad called a "stay-cation".

It was tradition.

He always said that you didn't need money to have a great time. And the fact is that he was right. We watched old shows and worked on stuff in the house. He taught me how to pick a lock, in case I ever lost my keys. Since he was a locksmith, usually he was busiest at night because that was when people lost their keys. So this was the only time of the year that I really got to spend time with him.

Mom sat at the kitchen table, cleaning his tools and he explained all the different types of deadbolts to me. Even at a young age, I knew that he and I would run Cooper Locksmith together. Dad even promised to change the name to Cooper and Son when I turned 18.

Then, without warning, the image playing out in front of me lost its color. Everything was in varying shades of greys and blacks. It was like one of those old school television sets. I looked around and the only thing in the room that was normal was the young version of me. I was almost blindingly bright and my parents didn't even seem to notice.

There was a knocking at the door...

The scene faded away as an annoying 'beep, beep, beep' invaded my senses. I reached over and squinted at the phone alarm that was blaring at me. The screen read 5:30AM and I turned the damn thing off.

I stretched while trying not to move too much. Jane groaned in her sleep and rolled over towards me.

The blueish glow of the phone really didn't do her justice. Her black hair looked almost navy in this light and even with her mascara smudged from sleeping; she was prettier than the girls I was used to. Street girls were always younger than they looked. They were usually dirty and foul-mouthed and they would sooner steal your stuff than stop and have a conversation with you. Not Jane, she was so small and delicate, but when she was awake, there was this fire in her eyes. Sadly, that passion never seemed to make it to her mouth. I still hadn't seen her smile.

Of course, I would probably find it hard to smile if I came home to dead parents, even fake mom. I may not like what kind of people they are now, but they're still people. No one deserves to be murdered.

No one.

The phone light switched off and I settled back in. Jane was right about one thing; it was better to not sleep alone.

-

I woke up again as the bed shifted and cold radiated down my arm and into my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Jane, sitting up with her back turned to me.

"You okay?" I asked.

She murmured something over her shoulder; I didn't catch what, and stood. She walked away without saying anything and a few moments later I heard a door close. I guessed that maybe she was in the bathroom.

The notion proved correct, when I heard the water begin a minute later. I got up and made the bed. The sandwich that she hadn't finished last night was on the nightstand where I had left it. I finished it, still irritated at its' lack of any real substance.

Seriously who only eats veggies?

The water turned off and I heard my name called. I knocked twice on the bathroom door and opened it cautiously. "Jane?"