Midnight Shadow

Chapter 15 - Lunch

Getting home was easy enough. As I sat by my window I thought about the severe turn my life had taken during the last couple of weeks. I could feel Mia's wonder and affection for me much stronger than the phantom pains I knew would be my companion for the next week. In Mr. and Mrs. Hill's bedroom I heard his cell phone go off and I looked at the clock. It was 3:30 a.m. and I knew the call was from the TV station.

A blood spattered loading dock and a teenaged girl, alive and unharmed, had been found at the Pyramid an hour and a half ago. The crew was already at the scene but they needed to prepare for the morning telecast. Keeping pretenses, I quietly slipped into bed in case he decided to check on me before leaving for work.

It was a fast day in the Hill household. Mrs. Hill got the call at 7 a.m. about the story. It was my friend Jennifer that had been involved and Mrs. Hill took it upon herself to break the news to me. Of course I asked all the right questions and showed the right level of concern for my "friend". But during the entire conversation I could feel the lingering resentment coming from my little vampire in the next room with Rebecca watching tv.

We spent the rest of the day coming up with the story to tell Jennifer. It wasn't going to be easy. We didn't actually know what Jennifer had seen or been told and she'd have time to calm down and think about what she knew before I could plant any seeds of misunderstanding.

Mrs. Hill kept moving in and out of the room checking on us as we spoke quietly in the kitchen. It was still too conspicuous to go in the office when Mia was in there and my bedroom was out of the question. It seemed funny to me that Mia had been in my home but here my room was off limits. I understood of course, but it was still a bit frustrating to have to hide my feelings about her around the family.

Mia was also acting a little strange. She was withdrawn and a little smug but was very careful with her thoughts. She and Mrs. Hill exchanged knowing glances at one an another a few times during the day but Mia had sworn me to staying out of Mrs. Hill's mind so I was in the dark. I walked into the kitchen after dinner to Mrs. Hill and Mia whispering out on the porch with the music playing in the kitchen. The sly look she shot me was warning enough. She'd tell me what was going on when she wanted me to know.

The next day began the final week of school before the Christmas break. Like Thanksgiving, the student body buzzed with silent excitement over the upcoming holiday. Everyone but me of course. I breezed through the morning classes without much thought. The only topic of conversation was the weekend drama regarding Jennifer. Even the teachers gossiped behind closed doors about it. The students all pressed her for information but Jennifer was true to her word. Again and again she repeated her lie. She didn't know who helped her. They had scared off the attackers and then called the police for her before leaving. But she couldn't lie to me. I saw her between second and third hour in the hall and her emotions went wild with anxiety. She shot me a meaningful look and mouthed the word "Lunch" as she passed. I sighed knowing it would be difficult to maneuver the conversation in the way I needed it to go in a room full of witnesses and curious stares in the cafeteria.

I felt very alone as I walked down the hall. In truth I really missed Mia during the days of school. She was taking correspondence classes at home until they had the paper work needed to register here at school was the official story but fabricating a life, complete with documentation, was not an easy thing to do. I knew from first hand experience it was getting more difficult by the day in this age of computers to cover everything.

Mia started taking the classes at home in order to satisfy Mrs. Hill's desire to keep her there in the house and not return to boarding school. It was maddening to know she was home all day, just minutes away, but I couldn't see her. I laughed darkly at the complete lack of patience when it came to my little vampire. But the distraction didn't last long. There was too much to do today and I needed to focus even harder now at school. Having everyone in school focus on me was unnerving. Rumors were easy to manipulate if you were prepared. The singular focus of a human who knew too much, even when she didn't really know anything, was a minefield that would have to be handled with care.