The Midnight Within

Chapter 29

Mia was starved and the meager contents of her cabinets made her want to cry. She had a pack of salteens, a box of raisins and some moldy bread. It wasn't even enough to feed a hungry child. Heaving a heavy sigh, she turned her attention to the lime green piggy bank sitting atop her fridge. Pulling down Mr Pig she mournfully kissed his piggy nose and brought it down onto the counter top, smashing piggy into bits and spilling coins every which way. She had always been a saver to a point, saving enough to save her bacon when she needed it the most. She found out she had enough for dinner down at Chin chins and thought maybe she would drop in on Kasie down at Darkwinds, just in case Kasie had heard anything new. If she hurried she could catch her before close.

The other place she thought about stopping at was Kate's. It would have been quite the ballsy move for Daniel to hide out at Kate's. Then again, it would be the perfect place for him to hide. Right in plain sight. She could kill two birds with one stone by dropping in on Kate before heading down the hill to the bookstore and if she was lucky she would run into Will, who tended to be a bit of a gossip. Oh who was she kidding, he was the person you wanted to find whenever something juicy was going on. Will had dirt on everyone in town.

Scooping up her change and a few crumpled dollars. Mia grabbed her car keys, leaving out the back she ran to her little bug, pausing to prop one of the headstones back up. It started right up and she was flying down the road, music blasting. From the top of the hill she could see that Kate's lights were not on.

The huge Victorian sitting dark and ominous behind the wrought iron fence. How she envied Kate for buying that house. She had meant to bring a cake over when Kate had moved in and had never gotten around to it. There was a lot that Mia regretted about Kate, like blowing up at them during the dinner that Daniel had tried to have with both her and Kate. It had been weird, Mia was a people person and Kate had seemed nice enough, yet they didn't click. Mia could see what Daniel liked about her but he ended up saying something stupid, something about the two girls going out together and Mia had lost it and stormed out. She didn't need friends and didn't like the idea of someone else suggesting that she did.

The light turned green and Mia shot around the corner, heading down the hill and almost blowing through a stop sign. Screeching to a halt she quickly dug in her purse for her cloves and screamed when someone pounded a fist into the hood of her car. For a moment her heart thundered in her chest as green eyes met gold. The fucker was standing there bathed in the headlights and grinning at her.

Panic loosened her foot and she jammed down onto the gas as hard as she could. The bug sputtered and died, leaving her scared to death. He was still there, his long hair blowing in the wind. He was alone thankfully, or was he? Her eyes shot to the rearview mirror and the dark empty street beyond.

She wanted to laugh and cry as she scrambled to lock the doors. He was gone from view, but that didn't mean he was not waiting for her to get out of the car and for one heart stopping moment she thought he might be on top of the car until she realized it was only an overhanging branch.

~ God Dammit! ~ She screamed as the first tears spilled down her cheeks. Of course it was what he wanted, for her to freak out. Shakily she tried to start the flooded bug and when it didn't turn over she reached for her phone, only to realize she had left it on the counter at home. Her choices now were either to wait for a passing car or get out and run like hell for either the bookstore or Chin chins. There was strength in numbers and a well- lit Chin chins was the obvious choice. Cursing herself for smoking so much she jumped from the bug and ran like hell down the middle of the street. Winded, Mia hit the door, yanking it open as she skidded to a stop. A few of her friends were there as was a familiar clump of blue hair. He was standing at the register paying for his order when she strode up behind him, growling softly in his ear.

" Where the fuck is he Zakk? "

Startled Zakk jumped as if she had stung him. He turned, flashing her a weak smile he as he stuck his wallet back into his pocket. Trying to act casual he said. " Where is who? "

" You know damned well who! " Mia hissed, trying not to draw to much attention to themselves. " Don't you dare fuck with me, Zakk! Tell me where Daniel is or help me god I will rip your balls off and deep fry them. " She trailed him through the crowd as he headed for the door. There was no way she was going to let him off so easy.

" I honestly don't know what your talking about. " Zakk huffed as he made his way over to the mustang and, Mia had to grab his arm to stop him. " Zakk please, Im worried sick, scared shitless and starving. Just tell me where he is and I won't put my foot in your ass. "

" Worried about what? " He avoided eye contact as he opened the car door.

" Oh I don't know. Murder? Cops at my door, Daniel's face splashed all over the news. Just the normal shit Zakk. "

" Did you tell them anything? "

" I told Coop everything but the getting drunk part. You do realize we could both be charged with aiding and abetting? Daniel needs to turn himself in. "

" I'm working on it. What's this Coop stuff? " It was the first lie he had ever told her, but Mia couldn't know where Daniel was, especially now.

" It's nothing. I know him from some other stuff. " Mia blushed.

" Yeah ok. So can you just be chill for once, act normal and I swear I got this. "

" Normal? Nick's dead, the cops think Daniel did it and I think I am seriously cracking up, I finally find you and you want me to pretend that everything is NORMAL! "

Pulling away from her, Zakk lifted one shoulder into a shrug and gave her his annoyingly sweet smile of his as he slid in behind the wheel. " I promise to call you soon ok. I got this. "

" You got this? Really? Fuck you! " Mia had never been so mad at him. It took everything she had not to throw herself onto the hood of the car as he pulled away from the curb. Mia knew that Daniel wouldn't stay away from her for long and obviously was not that far away if Zakk was able to get them take-out.

Seething, Mia watched the mustangs taillights blend into the nighttime traffic. She glanced across the street and froze. Directly across from her stood the white-haired twins in all their dark finery, poised under the painted mural of different rock stars. They stood hand in hand with matching smiles, like a pair of bloody Living Dead Dolls come to life.

~ OH hell no. I am not afraid of you. ~

Mia took one foot off the sidewalk, stepping into the street. She was ready to shout at them but before she could take another step a beer truck rolled slowly past. When it was gone she could clearly see that the twins had vanished much the way Black had.

Angry all over again she turned back around and headed into Chin chins. It was going to be a long and sleepless night, one she didn't want to face on an empty stomach. Not to mention how afraid she was to even leave the building. She needed a little time to think this through. It couldn't be real, could it? It had to be her over tired mind playing games with her again. Either way, she needed to eat, she could worry about the phantom men later.