In Spirit and Truth (In Spiritu Et Veritate Series)

by Reed, Zoe

  Jonathan didn’t let being turned down wipe the sadistic smile off his face. “I might be, I might not be. What’s it to you?”

  Defiantly turning my head the other way, I stopped looking at him and began to read off the lab instructions. “It’s disgusting is what it is.”

  He pounded his fist down on my paper, and with a slamming motion picked his stool up and moved it nearer to me so he could get close to my ear. “Listen you little bitch, I’m not stupid. I know Camille told you exactly what’s going on here. So I know you’re not dumb enough to believe I’d hesitate to kill a worthless human like you the next time you insult me.” I sat there, frozen solid, terrified by the speed at which he’d lost his temper, and more so by the fact that he was completely serious. “Do you understand me?” I nodded, the only movement I could manage. “Good.”

  He looked around to make sure no one had heard his outburst and then scooted away to read over the instructions. For the next thirty minutes he held out his hand, naming things for me to pass him, and when I took too long he snapped his fingers impatiently. Each and every time he did it made me flinch. I didn’t think he would hurt me in the middle of a classroom, but I wasn’t positive, and we wouldn’t be here forever.

  Finally Jonathan stood up, talked to the teacher, and left the room on his usual bathroom run. This was my chance. My heart practically pounded out of my chest as I looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then picked up his backpack. His threat rang in my ears as looking through the small, front pouch I found nothing but pencils and gum wrappers. I looked up to make sure he wasn’t coming and then opened the main pouch. Bingo.

  At the bottom of his bag sat a large pill bottle, packed to the brim with tiny, liquid filled pills. Should I take one or two, or grab the whole bottle? If I took one or two he’d probably never notice, but if I took the whole thing then maybe he’d be out of business. I took the entire bottle out of his backpack and shoved it into my own before zipping it back up and returning it to its spot on the floor. By the time he reentered the room a couple minutes later my heart had stopped pounding and I was able to keep from acting too suspicious.

  When I got a break from passing things to him, I pulled out my cell phone to text Camille. “Got something useful from Jonathan’s backpack.”

  It took a few minutes until my phone finally buzzed in my pocket, startling me in my proximity to Jonathan. I must not have been as relaxed as I thought. “Perfect. Meet me in the cafeteria at lunch. No problems?”

  I checked to make sure the teacher wasn’t watching and slid my phone beneath the table. “All’s good. See you soon.”

  After what seemed like hours the bell for lunch rang and I practically ran out of the room. Pushing my way through crowds of students I got to the cafeteria as quickly as I could, where I saw Camille waiting for me by the entrance.

  “Hey, what did you find?” she greeted me with a smile.

  “Bottle of pills. Hopefully now we can find out what kind of drugs they’re pushing?” I asked, to which Camille nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me against the crowd of people making their way into the cafeteria. “Where are we going?”

  Once we reached a less crowded area she turned to me. “I called my dad, he’s coming to pick up the drugs so we can get results as soon as possible. Jonathan didn’t give you any trouble?”

  I let Camille lead the way to the side entrance of the school. “Well, I don’t think he’ll be too thrilled when he notices the pills missing.”

  She nodded her agreement and then added, “Unless he wanted you to find them.”

  That hadn’t occurred to me, but then I remembered how I’d been so afraid of him. “He’s arrogant though, and he threatened me. I think he figured I wouldn’t have the guts to go looking through his stuff.”

  “He threatened you?” Camille asked, a familiar, angry fire lighting her eyes as her jaw clenched.

  “First he made a pass at me, I think it was just to get a reaction, and then when I told him what I really think of him, he threatened me,” I told her matter-of-factly, and then winced when the blood visibly rushed to her head. I’d forgotten that now that we were a couple, those were the last kinds of things that I should be telling her, especially because of her protective temper.

  “How exactly did he make a pass at you?” the fuming blonde asked through gritted teeth.

  We exited the school and sat down on the curb while we waited for Camille’s dad. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. I don’t want you to lose control,” I told her apprehensively. I knew I was right, but I still didn’t want to offend her.

  She looked at me and, even though it was clear she was still angry, she gave a slight smile. “Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t tell me.”

  “So!” I turned excitedly to face her, and in half curiosity, half attempt to change the subject, asked, “Will you tell me what we’re going to do on Friday now?”

  “Nope, and I’m not going to tell you so you can stop asking,” she teased and stuck her tongue out playfully.

  “But if you don’t tell me then I’m going to expect the greatest thing ever, and then if it’s not up to par I’ll be really disappointed. Is that really what you want?” I asked, batting my eyes and giving a shy, innocent smile.

  “You’re horrible!” Camille sighed in defeat. “Fine. Have you ever been to the beach?”

  I put my hands on Camille’s knee, excitedly pushing it back and forth. “No, I’ve never been. Are we going?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s a couple hours away but I thought we’d leave right after school to make it there by sunset.” Affectionately running her fingers along my arm, Camille passed me a questioning glance. “Does that sound okay?”

  “For our first date?” Excitement practically caused me to shake, so I continued to push her knee back and forth as the only way of releasing my growing joy. “Sounds like the best date ever.”

  Camille grinned, and seeing her dad rounding the corner stood up. I followed her lead, and when he pulled up to the curb he rolled down the window to talk to us. “Hey Camille. Kyla, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “It’s good to see you too.” I took my place next to Camille at the passenger window and rummaged in my backpack. Pulling out the bottle of pills I handed it through. “This is what I found in his backpack. Will you be able to figure out what it is?”

  “It’s about a ten minute drive to San Joaquin. They have a small pharmaceutical lab there so I’ll see if I can pay off one of the technicians.” He opened the bottle and picked out a single pill, studying it while he spoke. “Hopefully we’ll have the results by tomorrow night. Kyla, you’re more than welcome to come over.”

  “Thanks Mr. Zade. I’ll be there.” I nodded, zipping up my backpack and throwing it back over my shoulder.

  “Oh please, call me Adrian. I’m not that old.” He winked jokingly. “Have a nice day at school girls.”

  I smiled and waved as he rolled up the window and drove away. Camille didn’t talk about her dad much, but I liked him. “Camille?” She looked at me questioningly. “How old is your dad?”

  “Do you really want to know?” she chuckled as we headed back into the school. I nodded. “He’s seventy–” She counted in her head. “Three. He’s seventy-three.”

  My jaw dropped. I had expected her to say nothing more than fifty, and I thought that was way overshooting it. “He doesn’t look a day over forty!” My jaw still hung in shock. “How does it work?”

  “We age at a tenth the rate that a human does.” Camille turned down a hall to lead us to the cafeteria, and as she did so she slid her hand into mine in a firm but gentle grip.

  Furrowing my forehead in confusion, I thought deeply about it. “But then, shouldn’t he look like seven? I don’t get it.”

  She laughed and shrugged. “I never fully understood it myself, but the best way I can put it is that aging and growing are two different things. Growing we do normally, but really, aging is deteriorating. We deteriorate slowl
y.”

  “So technically you could live until you’re like, nine hundred years old?” Even though I understood what Camille had meant, it was still fascinating to me.

  “Or longer. Technically.” Camille nodded. “But you’ve seen the kind of dangers that my family has to deal with. It’s a lot worse for most werewolves out there. It’s rare for us to really live that long.”

  I fell silent. A sudden awareness hit me that if Camille lived a safe life, she’d be living most of that life without me. I stole a glance in her direction as we entered the lunchroom. One thing I knew for a fact was that at this moment in time, I didn’t want to be a werewolf. Yeah I’d thought about it, but aside from the obvious danger thing, age was the only issue that had arisen with me being human, so far.

  A sudden fear caused butterflies to stir in my gut. What else wasn’t right about us? Camille had said so herself, this was a dangerous life. What if she died before I did? I didn’t know if I could live with that, but neither did I want her being okay with the fact that I wouldn’t live as long if I never gave up being human.

  Having gone through the lunch line, we sat down across from each other in the near empty cafeteria to finally eat.

  “Are you okay?” Camille asked, instantly making me nervous.

  Never had we talked about something being wrong even while we were just friends, and our relationship was so new. I prayed I didn’t screw it up.

  “I’m scared,” I spat honestly.

  She looked at me, clearly concerned. “Of what?”

  I stared down at my food. I couldn’t look into her eyes and tell her I already had concerns about our relationship. “I’m scared of us. You could live for a long time. If we’re together years from now, either I die and you got to live hundreds of years without me. Or you get killed and I have to live the rest of my life without you, and you seem so okay with it.”

  After a moment of silence Camille got up and moved to sit next to me. “Kyla, I don’t want you to think for one second I’d be okay with that, but we’re still in high school – we’re still young. We have more important things to worry about. Like homework.” She tilted my chin up so she could look in my eyes. “Okay? When the time comes we’ll worry about it. For now, it’s just you and me.”

  “You and me,” I repeated. That was something I liked the sound of, and in response I allowed a small smile to turn up one corner of my lips.

  The rest of the school day I spent lost in thought. Thinking about what it would be like if I did become a werewolf, and what if I didn’t. I also went through every drug I’d ever heard of, pondering the possibility of what was in the bottle I took from Jonathan. He was sure to have noticed them missing by now. What would his reaction be tomorrow? The fact that Camille wouldn’t be spending the night at my house tonight caused me to fear the worst. What if Jonathan came over looking for revenge?

  “Hey Kyla.” My oldest brother Jeremy came out of the house to greet me when I pulled into the driveway after school. “I have to go to the hardware store. Will you come with me?”

  I gave him a weird look but nodded. Usually he’d have asked Scott to go before he asked me, but having spent little time him since we moved I gladly accepted, jumping in the truck with him. “What are we going for?”

  “Some lumber. The horse corral has a couple spots that need mending,” he answered and backed out onto the road.

  I noticed him open his mouth a couple times and then close it, like he had something to say but wasn’t sure about it. After a few minutes he finally decided to do it. “Are you with that girl Camille?”

  My heart dropped at the unexpected question and blood rushed to my face. However, in no time the embarrassment faded to irritation. “What the hell? How’d you hear that?”

  “Small town Kyla, a friend of mine texted me. His sister goes to your school,” he answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

  “Jesus Christ, news travels fast.” I shook my head in disbelief while my heart remained suspended in my stomach, unsure of the conversation that was about to take place.

  Jeremy glanced in my direction. “It’s true?” I nodded, staring straight ahead, blood still burning in my cheeks. “When were you going to tell me?” he asked, sounding more offended, or hurt, rather than angry.

  “It just happened yesterday,” I told him awkwardly. “I’ve hardly had time to digest it myself.”

  “Oh,” was all he said, falling silent for a minute in deep thought. “So, you’re gay?”

  Again the use of that three-letter word confused me. I shrugged. “I don’t really know. Nothing like this ever happened before Camille.”

  “Oh,” he said again, falling into another minute of silence.

  I tried to gauge his reactions, tried to figure out what he thought about it, but with this he was impossible to read. This had never been a topic my parents had covered with us, so how we felt about it had been left to our discretion. I knew my mom had a tendency toward scrutiny of the lifestyle choice. We’d seen a gay couple only once in Texas, and the situation had made her terribly uncomfortable. My dad, much like my brother, was hard to read on an opinion.

  “It’s safe to assume you haven’t told Mom or Dad?” Jeremy finally asked, and to which I shook my head. “Are you going to?”

  It was obvious I’d have to tell them eventually, but when was completely reliant on when I’d have the guts. “I know I have to. I just need time.” I watched him nod in understanding. “You’re okay with it?”

  He cocked his head thoughtfully, but gave another nod. “Well, it ain’t my decision to make is it? And I’ve seen how happy you are around her. Much happier than you were with Aaron,” he said bitterly and then grinned. “And you get props. She. Is. Hot.”

  I laughed and punched him in the arm. “Creep! Those kind of statements are off limits now.”

  “Okay, okay, sorry. Have you been working out?” He chuckled and rubbed his arm. “But do remind her that Dad still has a shotgun, and she better not go breaking your heart.”

  “I’ll let her know.” I grinned and then appreciatively hugged his arm. “Thanks, J.”

  “Aw don’t get all mushy on me.” He teasingly pushed me away, but still he smiled warmly. “It’s no problem little sis, and if you need someone there when you tell Mom and Dad.” I nodded, more than thankful for the offer.

  Moments later we arrived at the hardware store and I helped him carry some lumber to the bed of the truck. Even though at the start of our conversation I had been scared to death, I was glad Jeremy had found out. I was even happier that he was supportive of it. Someone in my own family knowing about my relationship with Camille made it seem more official, and a little bit less intimidating.

  Arriving home soon after I sat at the desk in my room, sighing at the amount of homework I’d accumulated throughout the day. I opened my math book and started what would take me until midnight to finish, breaking only to eat dinner. When that was finally finished at a quarter to twelve I climbed into bed, waking to the sound of my alarm clock before I knew I’d closed my eyes. The following morning I trudged from class to class, half sleeping through each lecture.

  It wasn’t until I walked into chemistry that I really started to pay attention. Only it was hard to focus on anything but Jonathan’s cold, hard stare, never leaving my back. It locked on to me the second I walked in and didn’t leave me the entire period. Every minute that ticked by I grew more and more nervous. I wanted to turn and face him, relieve the stress of having my back turned. If he tried to attack me, I wanted to see it coming.

  Finally the bell rang, and faster than ever I threw my stuff into my backpack and darted out of the room. But after I made it past the doorway Jonathan grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me back, throwing me against the lockers and causing me to let out an ‘oof’ as the wind was knocked out of me.

  He was close enough to leave me no escape, but far enough not to draw attention to us as the hundreds of students scrambled by. “So you grew a pair
? I underestimated you.”

  “Huh?” I played dumb, knowing full well it wouldn’t work.

  “Huh?” he mimicked menacingly. “The pills, Kyla. That was a big mistake, and now you’re–”

  “You want to back up now.” I glanced over Jonathan’s shoulder to see Camille coming to my rescue.

  He turned his head, sighing a deep, aggravated sigh when he saw her. “Camille, you are really starting to piss me off.” After that he ignored her and turned back to me. “Where were we?”

  Camille glanced around the nearly empty halls before grabbing Jonathan’s shoulder to try and pull him away from me. Feeling her hand before she could, Jonathan grabbed her arm and threw her against the lockers, moving away from me and pressing his hand high on Camille’s chest to hold her in place.

  “Tides are turned Camille, and I have to say, I’m rather enjoying the role reversal.” Anger burned through me as Jonathan stared directly at me, and while talking ran a finger suggestively down Camille’s neck. “You know I’ve been looking forward to when I get my alone time with Kyla. But uh, I’d be willing to make an exception so you can join us.”

  I scowled. I had had it with Jonathan’s obscenity. He’d pushed it too far. Angrily I stepped up to him and slapped him across the face. Hearing the loud ‘smack’ Camille let an amused smirk brighten her expression, but it immediately disappeared when she realized it had caused him to fume.

  “Kyla, back up,” she told me.

  My face paled. I knew what was about to happen, but couldn’t believe it really would. I hadn’t seen anyone Phase yet. I stepped back, looking around the halls and noticing a single student at the opposite end, paying no attention to us. Jonathan inhaled and exhaled, deep and fast in futile attempts to keep himself under control.

  “Run Kyla, right now.” I stood there, frozen for a second before Camille yelled for me to ‘go’, and then I took off down the hall.