Miranda [Watty Awards 2013]

Chapter 12

I sat outside the Ethans' house in the middle of the day, Lacy sucking on an ice pop in the backseat. I had yet to pick up a car seat for her, so I had to hope that a concerned cop didn't see and stop. But I doubted that. The police didn't cruise about in Chelsea.

            She was wearing an outfit that she'd picked out in the store earlier. She got some flashcards too, and a few games to keep her occupied while I did some recon/stalking. Money wasn't a problem; I had a stash of credit cards I'd swiped from numerous people. And with my shifting disguise, getting caught wasn't an issue.

            I was back in my school guise, curly hair in a high bun on top of my head. My red nails were chipped from where I was biting them, waiting in anticipation for someone to come out of the house, hoping it was Brady, and then hoping it was Jack. It was going on an hour now and nothing had happened.

            Lacy let out a cooing sound from behind me. Glancing up in the mirror, she was done with her ice pop, green stain all over her face. She'd dropped a card on the floor, and, seeing that she had my attention, pointed for me to get it. I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed around my seat to pick it up for her-

            -and came nearly face-to-face with a shadow outside her window.

            I let out a little cry, jumping and falling into the back seat. Lacy looked around, not seeing anything, but anxious all the same.

            The shadow was shapeless, but it seemed to lean into the window, like it was trying to push its way through but couldn't. Lacy looked where I looked, and started whimpering when she couldn't figure out what it was. I pulled her close and hide her head on my shoulder, glaring at the figure.

            Its head cocked to the side, and then it vanished with a wave.

            Slowly, I released Lacy, weary at the shadows I had seen since Grim firing me-and it hadn't even been a full day yet. I had a long life ahead of me, and not in a good way.

            "Keep playing," I told Lacy, playing the card in her little hands and ruffling her fine hair. I forced out a smile. "I'll get you another icey when we get home."

            She seemed satisfied with this, but I stayed in the back with her. Mimi had been quick to come after her, only twenty minutes after Lacy's mother had been killed, and I was not about to let her sneak up on me. I'd sacrificed enough for Lacy; no one was taking her now.

            It had been easier than I'd thought to accept that Lacy was mine. It felt right, more right than anything else in my life. Maybe I was meant to save her.

            You probably were, I reminded myself. All the signs are there that Grim made it your instinct to save her.

            But I pushed Grim from my mind. He'd given me the opportunity to throw him out of my life, and I accepted it.

            There was movement coming from one of the houses, and I eagerly jumped up and leaned over the passenger seat to see what it was, but it was a neighbour on the opposite side of the street. I watched disappointedly as they rolled a trash can out to the end of the drive and retreated back into their home.

            When I leaned back, there was a knock on the window.

            "Geez!" I cried, jumping for a second time. Two times in a row? But when I turned to face the driver's window, it wasn't a shadow this time. It was a real person.

            One I knew by the name of Charlie.

            He smiled and waved, beckoning me forward. Swallowing down my surprise, I climbed back into my seat, rolling down the window. He folded his arms across my door, breath reeking of cigarettes. Like Grim.