The Veil

Chapter Seven

We ended up speaking for a while, Sky only reappeared once, growled at Lindsay again and then ran off. I apologised but Lindsay just laughed it off. 

She did explain why I hadn't seen her around lately (imaginary sightings aside), her family had gone back to the city to pack the rest of their stuff, and get everything sorted, they hadn't gotten around to introducing themselves before they'd gone back and forth. 

That explained why Miss Krakauer didn't know who they were. 

I found out that she was twenty three, like myself, she was still living with her parents while she searched for jobs here, she was a little embarrassed by that. 

I smiled and reassured her it wasn't anything to be embarrassed by.

 I knew that if my parents were still alive, I'd have lived with them still, and even when I had moved out, it would have been close enough to see them every day. 

I'd been close with them, I'd grown up loved and safe and happy.

She told me that she'd moved from the city because the crime rate was getting too high for her parents to feel safe there anymore, she'd left a boyfriend behind, they'd talked about long distance but she knew it would never work. 

When she'd asked if I had a boyfriend, instead of just saying no I told her it was complicated and went into a long rant about Tom.

I don't know what it was about her that made me want to tell her everything, I hadn't even told Jade about my feelings for Tom, she probably knew, but I hadn't said it out loud to anyone before. I did feel guilty about this, Jade was my best friend, why did I feel like I could tell Lindsay things I couldn't even tell Jade?

My phone pinged, telling me I'd got a notification on Facebook, I jumped slightly and grabbed my phone out of reflex, as I did I noticed the time, it was way later than I'd thought. 

"Well, I should probably get back before my parents overreact and send the cops looking for me." Lindsay rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself before she got up to stretch, we'd been sat for hours. 

"We only have six cops in town, it'd take them a while to find you don't worry." I laughed and stood up with her as she looked around for a second. 

"How are you going to get Sky back?" She asked, thinking I'd have to wait here for Sky to reappear when she wanted. 

I smiled at her, held up one finger and turned away from her slightly. 

I whistled twice in quick succession, louder than I usually would. 

Lindsay looked skeptical when I looked back at her, but not even thirty seconds later I could hear Sky's huge paws running towards us. 

"That's amazing." Lindsay laughed, shaking her head when she could hear it too. 

"Thanks." I laughed back at her.

"Hey, listen, I know you don't know a lot of people around town yet, but if you ever want to hang out, I'd be happy to." I shrugged, I could really see myself being friends with Lindsay. 

"That would be nice. You live in the light blue house right? Near the entrance to the woods?" 

I nodded just as Sky came into view, she stopped further away from me than she normally would, but at least she didn't growl again.

When I got back to the house, Jade's car wasn't there, meaning it was probably just Tom inside. 

I took a deep breath before opening the door, Sky moved around my legs, annoyed that I wasn't moving fast enough for her. 

I heard Tom greet her as she entered the living room, that was my plan to sneak to my room without him noticing out the window. 

Thanks Sky. 

I sighed and stepped inside, closing the door behind myself. 

As I walked through the living room Tom turned around to confirm it was me, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it again, turning back around to face the TV. Stupid beautiful man.

I stood there for a second, wondering if I should say something, but at a loss as to what I could say. 

I sighed again and made my way to the kitchen, I was really hungry and Sky must've been too. She followed me in there, getting excited, dancing around my feet. 

I opened the backdoor for her, something we did whenever she was in the house, anyone who tried to rob us, wouldn't make it passed Sky, so the backdoor stayed open, so she could be in and out of the house whenever she felt like it. 

It was harder to do in the winter, 23 degrees outside wasn't fun, Sky doesn't mind but the rest of us do. 

However she stayed in the kitchen with me in that moment, knowing she was about to get food.
I glanced under the sink, grabbing a can of her food, realising it was the last one, I needed to go to the store.

I decided to go before I made myself something to eat, otherwise I'd forget. 

I grabbed my car keys from the hook next to the pantry door and walked into the living room. 

Before I overthought it too much I asked Tom if he needed anything while I was there. 

"I'll come with you." He said, standing up and turning the TV off, placing the remote back down on the coffee table. 

Before I could say no, he was walking in front of me towards the front door. "You don't have to, it's fine, I can get you what you need." I said as he opened the door. 

"It's ok, I don't mind." I could hear the smile in his voice. Was his plan to annoy me into not being mad at him?

We drove to the store in silence, even my radio decided to play up and stopped working, leaving us in complete silence, aside from Tom saying 'I'll have a look at it tomorrow morning for you." in a small voice. 

It seemed that he was now rethinking his plan to come along with me. 

I grabbed a basket on my way into the store, Tom didn't bother to grab one himself. "I need food for Sky." I said quietly, Tom heard and walked ahead of me, heading to the pet isle. 

I grabbed her food, then I also grabbed her some treats I knew she liked, and then I saw a squeaky toy rabbit, and couldn't resist getting her that too. 

She'd destroy it within days, but it was still fun to see how happy she was when she first got a new toy. 

"You all finished?" Tom asked, he'd been stood patiently, watching. 

"Yeah, what do you need?" I asked him, turning to look into his dark green eyes for the first time since last night. 

His shaggy hair had dropped into his eyes and I had to grip the basket tighter so stop the urge to sweep it back for him. 

"Oh I don't need anything, I just came along for the ride." He smiled, like it should have been obvious to me. 

I rolled my eyes and walked around him.

As we walked to the checkout, I saw a man, dressed like he was straight out of an 80's movie. 

White trousers, a little too high on his waist, a green t-shirt and a white dinner jacket, his hair was scraped back into a neat style. 

He was looking around confused, glancing at the entrance of the store, and back around himself again. 

He didn't have a basket, and he seemed slightly overwhelmed. 

Just as I was about to ask him if he needed any help, he started to walk back out of the store, shoving his hands in his pockets as he went. 

I didn't know who he was, I hadn't seem him around town before. 

Tom hadn't noticed that I'd stopped and he turned around, walking back towards me, "What's wrong?" He asked, glancing in the direction I was looking. 

"There was a man, he looked really confused, I was going to help him but then he left." I stared at the entrance for a few more seconds, expecting the man to come back in, and when he didn't, I shook my head and carried on towards the cashier, Tom next to me.