Hidden Close (Jr. Year)

Chapter 20

Part 20 Of The First Draft

The morning is here, and none of us have a real plan. Perry and Renee had used their minds to search for Carlita, but it seems as though she is one step ahead of us. She had apparently fled her club, The Weekend Freak.

“Gosh....this isn't my idea of a nice wakeup on a Sunday morning. Where could she have gone, Perry?”

I asked him, though my mind was more concerned with finding something to eat. As I sat down at the breakfast table in the Eisens' large dining area, I waited to be served some pancakes by the always amazing Grace Eisen, Perry’s mother, while he told me,

“We won't be able to find her. She'll let us find her when she is good and ready. Our best lead is to track down her associate Ben. A little bird told me that he may be a loose cannon in her area of operation. Please, don't worry. Carlita won't dare enter here. It’d be like a fly landing on a spider's web.”

What an odd expression. Something was bothering him, I could tell. There is just certain things that a girlfriend knows about her partner that others can't pickup on. I think that he feels responsible for what happened to Becky. It's all for the better, though. Becky would have gotten us all killed if she remained under Carlita's mind control. Everything truly does happen for a reason.

After our tasty breakfast I went to find Becky, who had apparently already ate. She was doing push-ups repeatedly. I told her, jokingly,

“Whoa, are you getting ready for gym class tomorrow? Honestly, Becky, you're still the fastest girl out of all of us. You have nothing to worry about.”

Becky rose up from the ground, and revealed her true intention,

“Maybe I want to kick Carlita’s butt for all of the sick things she's done to me. I must repay her in her own way: with blood.”

My response to Becky was instant, as if its seed was sown in me on the same day I was born,

“You don't need to do that. Aren't you tired of people dying? Settling the score with her won't save her. If you really want to help Carlita, battle her with your mind and heart. A true fighter knows their strength is in those two places.”

Becky stared at me, herself in some sort of shock. I decided to leave her there, hoping that my words would sink in. There is someone I needed to see, anyways. There is one person here who knows Carlita better than the rest of us, someone I love dearly. When I found my mom in the kitchen, she was more than happy to see me. I asked her,

“Mom. How do you know Carlita so well?”

My mother sighed and gave me the short version of her answer,

“Well, honestly, I grew up with her. What you don't know is I'm older than you think, Mindi. The reason that I know so much about lamia and the vampires is that....I am sort of one of them. I had you before I became too old to have children. This is why you are an only child. Believe it or not, I am in my mid-fifties. I didn’t want you to share my burden as a lamia, my beloved daughter. Now that I see how strong you are, I hope that you become one through Perry. He loves you....and offers you an easy path to true strength, the path of immortality. Whether you take that path or not is a difficult decision, at least for most people. For you? You're a natural. You have my genes, after all, ha ha!”

Try as I might to do deny it, I knew my mom spoke the truth. She continued on,

“Carlita is a part of my past. She was someone I tried to save before there was nothing left to save. I'm afraid that I couldn't and still can't. I know that you don't want to kill Carlita, but if you don't she'll kill all of us instead. I thought she had changed and that was my fault. I won't make that mistake again.”

It was all so much to take in. Before I left my mother, I told her,

“You’re amazing, mom. I love you.”

My mom looked at me with affection, and returned my words,

“I love you too, Mindi, my daughter. I hope this old woman has been some sort of use to you.”

When I made it back to the study they were all waiting. Each and every one of them was there, save for our parents. Becky, Lana, Brad, Perry, and Renee all looked upon me with anxiety. I mentioned to them, my voice low and full of despair,

“Carlita won't just back down. We can't afford to try and capture her as we did Judge Jackson and Nel, however, I can't bring myself to kill. It’s not in my nature. Have any of you contacted Ben?”

Perry smiled, and reported, with much esteem,

“Yes. He wants to meet us after school tomorrow. He gave his word that he would come alone, which I'll be doing as well. Should I detect a sense of treachery, I'll let you know. Until then, he's the only thing worth pursuing.”

Becky asked Perry,

“Will we be killing Carlita? My sister is endangered as long as she is alive.”

Renee answered her this time,

“I’ll protect her. This last year I've became good at the whole guardian angel bit. She'll be safe, Becky, I promise.”

My life has begun to spiral out of control. Will I ever make it through high school alive? Who knew that life would only get harder the further it goes on? I don't feel young, but I know I'm not an adult. Each day I want something a little bit more, and I'm just not getting it. Despite my wonderful boyfriend and other friends, I feel stressed out. I’m suffocating. I went into the bathroom, and pulled out my trusty razor blade, cutting once on my lower arm, watching the blood flow down the drain of the sink. I dug out a pill bottle that I had paid a girl at school for, and took out two of them, small and pink in appearance, and took them without water. They aren't going to fix my life, but they will at least stop my emotional bleeding. After my cut stopped bleeding, I took a shower and changed my clothes. It's best not for their hero to show that she is human.