Midnight Shadows

Chapter 4

Jane sat quietly in her car, scrubs slack and tired on her body. Her head fell forwards as sleep threatened to overtake her, and with a snap of her neck she woke herself back up. The school loomed before her, kids milling about on their way to buses and their cars. In this small pack of towns, the middle school was connected to the high school and the range of kids was astounding to look at. High school seniors, in their own minds full-fledged adults. Sixth graders, half the size of what they would become, pushing and hitting each other and screeching the day away.

She spotted Teddy stumbling out of the school. As he made his way down the steps a kid much taller than him grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him. It didn't seem rough but Teddy sprawled forward with pinwheeling arms. A twist in her gut, one of protection and slight recognition, had Jane opening the door to her SUV and stepping out, but Teddy turned quickly, laughing aloud, and pushed the other kid back.

Together, they walked side by side, smiling, occasionally shoving one another. When they hit the parking lot, the older kid ruffled Teddy's head and gave him a light shove before heading to the bus line, and Teddy meandered his way to Jane's parked car.

"What're you doing?" Teddy asked with a raised eyebrow, seeing Jane half standing from the car.

She cleared her throat and wiped the exhaustion from her face before giving her youngest brother a smile. "I thought you'd managed to pick a fight with someone within your first week here."

He looked back towards the busses and laughed. "That's Mike, he was my guide today he's in eighth grade. He's so funny Jane."

She let out a laugh at his enthusiasm, glad he had made at least one friend. "You should see if he wants to have a play date or something."

"Play date? Jane, I'm not, like, five years old. It's called 'hanging out'."

"Woah, my bad."

They got caught behind the bus as they drove through the small lazy town. They'd been here a week but it was clear that the town was in a state of development. New shops, even supercenters, were in the midst of construction. Roads were being repaved, new houses, hell she passed three new entire developments from the hospital to the school alone.

Teddy droned on about the tedious existence of a sixth grader and the ridiculous workload they assigned just on math alone and how in the world did they assume he had the time to do it all?

"We can sit down and go over it when we get home—"

"Oh hey!" Teddy yelled, cutting her off. He pointed to a simple one-story home, freshly painted a pale yellow. "That's Mikes house I guess."

She followed his finger, and tried to contain the furious gasp that threatened to escape.

A feeling of overwhelming déjà vu encompassed her entire being. The feeling of your stomach sinking, of your head falling from your shoulders. The world tilting and tearing back to reveal something you had forgotten.

Jane knew that house. She knew it. Oh god, she knew that house. It was cold and the ground was near frozen but she knew in the spring that there would be yellow and purple flowers around the foundation of the house. She knew that the house used to be blue, not yellow. She knew the oak tree used to have more branches in the front yard and that there should be a dog, a fucking stupid old incredibly curious and fantastic dog running around that front yard.

Mike left the bus, slugging his backpack higher up on his shoulders. He glanced back down the road and saw the car, then Teddy, and gave a warm smile and a big wave. Then he saw Jane, and he gave her an even wider smile, and even bigger wave, before confusion settled into his face, sorrow soon following, and he turned and briskly walked into his house and slammed the door behind him.