Shifter

Grief Stricken

I loved Maile like a sister but she sometimes had no regard for others. She cared more about gossip than other people's feelings most times. We really were complete opposites but she was one of the few that didn't judge me, didn't persecute me for my odd ways.

I pushed her hands from my side and said, "I think I'm gonna be sick." before sprinting down the hall into the bathroom. I closed the stall quickly behind me and leaned over the toilet and began to expel my breakfast into the bowl. I heard someone coming in behind me but I was too busy puking to care. When I finally finished I grabbed a bit of toilet paper and dabbed at my mouth. I stood and opened the stall to head to the sink and ran right into Mercedes who was waiting outside the door for me.

"Did someone get a little sick?" she sneered looking down at me triumphantly.

"Move." I warned huskily.

She kept walking in front of me when I tried side-stepping her, "We need to have a word." she shoved me into the wall beside the sinks while looking coldly into my eyes.

"Did you do it?" I hissed to her.

"No, but I need to make sure that you aren't about to blab to everyone in your class about my family. We had nothing to do with this girl's death and if you start telling people we did I will make your life a living hell." she said to me vehemently.

I pushed her away from me as hard as a could but she didn't budge. She was so strong, it was like trying to push a brick wall.  "You already make my life a living hell Mercedes. What could you possibly do to make it worse? Besides, I wasn't gonna say anything to anyone, but I won't believe you until I get to the bottom of it. No one had been hurt until you moved to town." I said my voice rising.

"You are not getting involved with this. There are forces at work here beyond your control. We are working on it." she said fervently.

"How did you find out about it then?" I said questioning her honesty.

She stepped back and ran her hands down her shirt to straighten it. "We have a contact in the police force. One of the clan members got a job on the force to help us if we ever need someone on the inside. This is one of those times." she seemed to soften a bit from her normal dominant demeanor. "Look, I'm sorry I am so hard on you, it's just I didn't see this coming... I usually have a knack for that kind of thing. I know you are trust worthy, but I also know how scared you are... I had to be sure that you weren't going to do anything rash." she explained hurriedly.

"Well I wasn't planning on telling anyone, so just leave me alone. I promised you guys I wasn't going to say anything and I keep true to my promises." I told her.

She stepped away from me so I could get to the sinks. I began to wash my mouth out and pull my toothbrush out of my bag; I'm kind of a hygiene freak, I even had a travel size tube of toothpaste. You never know! When I began to brush my teeth I saw Mercedes move to stand beside me at the sink.

"Tellie... I really don't think it would be wise or safe for you to try to get involved with this." she adjusted her stance slightly, "This is something that... something you wouldn't understand." she sounded nervous, which was completely unlike her. Since I met her I found that she was so sure of herself.

I rinsed out my mouth and turned to face her while putting my toothbrush and toothpaste back in my bag. "This is something I can't ignore, I am determined to understand it, even if that means putting myself in danger. You can't stop me, you might as well let me in on what's going on."

Her face started to contort into anger again, "My brother will absolutely hate me for allowing this." she started to reach into her bag and pulled out an old thin book. "This will tell you everything you need to know about my heritage. Our kind has been around for as long as humans but we try to keep ourselves hidden. There are things in here that you won't like but if you insist on being around us during this investigation of the girls death, then you have to understand us on a more intimate level. Don't let anyone read this and don't read it at school." she handed me the book.