The Midnight Within

Chapter 32

Mia closed her eye, rubbing at her temple as the soothing voice of Peter Steele filled her ears. ~ God that man had a voice ~

For a moment she let herself be swept away by the music of Type O Negative. Her stress seemed to melt away until she was left with nothing but the deep bass voice of the one man she never did get to meet. She had been to as many concerts as she could afford, never getting lucky enough to get backstage, even if she name dropped and was not willing to be a whore like most of the girls she saw at concerts. She didn't need to. She was a fairly good looking woman who never sold herself short. Maybe that was why she never seemed to find a guy. Her standards were just too high.

Closing her eye's she relaxed against the red leather seat. Meditation was something she never did as much as she should. She tried to let go of everything and heard laughter, Zakk's laughter. Mia's green eyes snapped open as she sat up in the booth. She was not in Chin-Chin's but some booth at the Jackle. Orange and black streamers fluttered over her head as smoke filled up the cavernous space. A few feet away Zakk and Daniel were dancing to the base beat of, Nine Inch Nails. Closer, it sounded like to her. She tried to stand up, tried to call out to them and found herself being sucked away from the image. Just like that it was over and she was sitting in the warm Chinese diner with an empty plate in front of her.

Now she was pissed. She had just seen Zakk a few hours ago and now they were out clubbing without a care in the world while she had worried herself sick over it. It felt like a huge slap in the face to her. Who in their right mind would go clubbing at time like this? Then again maybe they were not actually at the club. She had been wrong before yet something told her that they were at least thinking about going there.

Quickly paying for her meal she stood on the empty sidewalk for a moment, looking for anyone who looked out of place. She had waited for them to walk through the door of Chin -chins while she ate but that never happened and now the street was void of life. Hurrying to the bug she took the ticket from under the wiper and got in. The bug started right up for her and she was flying around the block in a few minutes. She was still seething about the boys going clubbing when she got out of the car. Digging for her keys she fumbled them from her cold hands. They fell with a jangle into something dark and wet. Disgusted she picked up the keys, whipped them on her sleeve and noticed it left a dark smear on the white fabric of her coat.

She noticed that the stoop as well as part of the walkway was covered in whatever was on her keys. Frowning softly she turned herself around in a circle, noticing something else in th wet grass. It looked like a purse. She walked over, picking it up to get a better look and realized it was Kasie's and also covered blood. Her stomach turned as it clicked. There was fresh blood all over her stoop and down the front walk. Stifling a scream she searched the dark street for the unmarked police car and found it nowhere in sight. Hands were shaking

now as she looked around the shadowy yard. Why had she let the guys do some decorating? And what if they were watching her right now? What if they were inside the house? And what about Kasie? Had kasie stopped over?

Cursing herself for forgetting her phone, Mia went to the door, let herself in and hit the lights. Nothing happened. No lights at all. She could barely see her hands in front of her face and her heart was hammering away inside her chest. She went to the fireplace mantle for the matches she kept there and lit the black and purple candles. A warm glow filled her tiny living room, calming her some. She thought she might cry but it turned into a chuckle. She was spooking herself now, letting her imagination go wild. Moving to the coffee table she lit the ceramic Jack O Lantern and screamed.