Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

  “You like Italian food right?” Abby asked, seeming as ready to change the subject as I was.

  I grinned and nodded, the thought of food making my stomach growl. “I love Italian food.”

  “Good!” she exclaimed excitedly. “You’re going to love this place then. It’s a little hole in the wall restaurant, but their food is to die for.”

  “I can’t wait,” I chuckled at her excitement and looked out the window at our surroundings.

  We’d gotten on a small highway, and a little distance ahead of us I could see we’d soon be entering the city. Now that I thought about it though, it looked more like a town than a city. There were lights, but definitely not big city glamour. There was little enough glow from the town that I could still see plenty of stars, but enough light that I didn’t feel like we were still in the middle of the forest. Remembering a minute later that Abby could hear my thoughts, I figured I might as well make conversation instead of giving the girl a monologue about the area.

  “Tell me more about you,” I invited. “How’d you get into all this supernatural business?”

  She shrugged just like she had the first time I asked her to talk about herself, but she made an honest effort this time. “Well, you know my dad is high up in the Council, and my mom is into it too. I pretty much grew up around it. They started training me in self-defense when I was really young, then when I was old enough to get involved I got simple assignments dealing with more peaceful supernaturals, mostly psychics.”

  “What about now? What kind of stuff did you do before you got to babysit me?” I asked playfully, trying to encourage her to keep speaking. I constantly got the feeling she was more of a listener.

  She chuckled and shook her head reassuringly. “Trust me, I don’t mind babysitting. You could always pay me for it though.” I laughed, but didn’t say anything as I checked our surroundings again and waited for her to answer my question. We were in town now, and Abby was about to make a left turn down a decent sized street. “Mostly investigative stuff, like checking in on those supernaturals we know to be troublemakers. Sometimes bringing someone in for questioning or following up on leads about those troublemakers.”

  “Sounds like a pretty interesting job,” I mused, glancing out the window at the restaurant as Abby pulled her car into its small parking lot.

  “Yeah, it’s okay, I guess,” she answered as we both got out of the vehicle.

  Once we walked in the front entrance of the small and nearly empty restaurant, the host waved for us to follow without asking how many we wanted a table for. We went with him to the back of the restaurant and to a small, two-person table, where we sat and received our menus. There was a couple at another two-person table about twenty feet away, and a small family on the opposite side of the venue. Apart from them and a pair at the bar, the rest of the place was empty.

  “So,” Abby started as the host walked away and left us to peruse the menus. “I never asked you about your accent.”

  I blushed slightly, seeing as it had been so long since anyone brought up my accent that I’d begun to forget I even had it. “Texas, I lived there before I moved to California,” I told her, absentmindedly glancing around the venue. “But I guess this is home now.” I didn’t know how long I’d be in Oregon, but so as not to get my hopes up I told myself I’d be here for a long time.

  “Don’t sound too excited,” Abby said sarcastically, and I gave an apologetic smile. “Oregon’s not so bad, and with all the supernaturals around life can’t get too boring.”

  “No kidding,” I chuckled, thinking about how I’d hardly just moved here and there was already danger to worry about. “Ah, the supernatural lifestyle.”

  Before Abby could respond the waitress came by to take our drink orders, and right after she left Abby turned her eyes back on me to continue our conversation. “I know it’s got to be hard being so far away from family and stuff, but how do you like being a werewolf?”

  I shrugged, not bothering to premeditate my answer. “It’s not so bad. I’m stronger and faster, have better hearing and smell. There’re definitely perks. The hardest thing is just learning to control it. I’m still working on it.” I finished my answer with a shrug and let my mind wander as I let Abby think about what to say next. When she nodded thoughtfully I began to notice how, aside from a little nicer than usual, she was dressed.

  The top half of her hair was pulled back while the bottom half fell casually over her shoulders. As usual she’d done her make up, but now she wore some eyeliner, which made her cheerfully bright hazel eyes stand out more than they normally did. I couldn’t see the pants she was wearing, but she had on a sleeveless white blouse. My first thought was about how cute I thought the shirt was, my second was about how low-cut it was. The deep v-line neck of the shirt led my eyes from Abby’s delicate shoulders to the smooth flesh of her collarbone, and then downward, where the shirt dipped so low it teased by just covering the top of her ample – Abby cleared her throat, stopping my thoughts in their tracks and causing my cheeks to immediately flare at being caught.

  I covered my face with my hands out of embarrassment so she wouldn’t see how red it could get. “Oh my God, get out of my head.”

  As I peered out of the space between my fingers I could see that Abby was clearly amused. “I didn’t have to read your thoughts for that one,” she giggled. “Your eyes said it all.”

  Since she didn’t seem offended, I was able to laugh at myself. A moment later, after I’d willed the blood out of my cheeks, though I was still embarrassed, I pulled my hands away from my face. “I’m so sorry,” I apologized, to which she shrugged as if to say ‘no big deal’. “If that was me I’d walk around all bundled up so I wouldn’t have to hear people thinking about stuff like that.”

  “I’m used to it,” she told me with another shrug, and then, looking up from the tablecloth at me, added with a smirk, “And I don’t really mind when it’s you.”

  At first I didn’t know what to say. I’d never had a girl so openly flirt with me. Even Camille had been so much subtler. As I realized, however, that I liked the fact that Abby was so straightforward, I couldn’t help but let a small smile crease my lips. At my smile, the curve in Abby’s lips widened, as she seemed pleased with my acceptance of it.

  Still, I didn’t know how to respond, so instead I asked, “Do you like being able to hear people’s thoughts all the time?”

  She gave a prompt shake of her head like she didn’t even have to think about the answer. “Honestly, I really wish there was an ‘off’ button. Especially at school or other places when I’m surrounded by a lot of people all day. It’s a huge headache.”

  “I can see how it would be,” I agreed, and then looked up as the waitress came back to take our food order. After we both ordered she walked away, and I returned my attention to the girl in front of me. “Sometimes I really wish I could hear people’s thoughts though. Especially like you, when you know what I’m thinking but I can’t tell what you are.” I gave a fake glare at Abby, who just laughed at me.

  “I’m pretty open about what I’m thinking,” she told me matter-of-factly, a statement that I really couldn’t argue with. That’s a nice change from Camille, I thought. I’d practically had to pry to get Camille to even acknowledge me the other day. Catching where my thoughts were going, and not wanting Abby to hear about it, I pushed the ideas away. “You don’t have to try so hard, you know,” Abby said as her smile faded, and she busily took a sip of her soda.

  “Try so hard to what?” I asked, unsure of what she meant.

  “Not to think about Camille.” She took another sip of her drink, and then picked at a piece of bread she’d taken from the basket at the center of the table. “You could even talk to me about it. It doesn’t seem like you really talk to anyone else.”

  “Are you sure you’d want me to talk to you about it?” I asked timidly. I was pretty sure how Abby felt about me, and about Camille, and I didn’t think it was something she’
d want to hear.

  She shrugged. “If it’s on your mind, it’s on your mind. Besides, it would help me get a better idea of what my chances are with you.” She paused as if waiting for me to say something about it, but I didn’t know what say. I didn’t even know myself what her chances were with me, so after a few seconds of silence she continued so as to give me something to talk about. “Why don’t you think she’s open with you?”

  I sighed. The first thing that came to mind was everything Camille hadn’t told me. “Did you know she let me believe all this time it was her twin sister that bit me?” I said hastily, finding I was a little more eager to talk about it than I realized. “But it was actually her. She’d been lying to me this whole time.” Abby tensed down the side of her lip in a wince, but waited for me to continue. “And after he made me break up with her I thought she just needed some time to get over it and forgive me, but I’m starting to think she’s just using it as an excuse not to be with me.” I paused, seeing if Abby wanted to get a word in, but when she didn’t say anything I pressed on, “My whole life changed because of that one night. He hurt me, and she doesn’t even seem to care about how that night affected me – aside from making sure I’m not dangerous and not going to bite anyone. Maybe that’s what frustrates me the most. She’s so busy being awkward with me that she hasn’t tried to find out about anything that happened.”

  “So,” Abby started and paused thoughtfully. By the way her eyes darted quickly from mine to the tabletop it was obvious she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the subject, but I was thankful she was making an effort. “You think she’s being selfish?”

  “Yes!” I said, glad that she understood. Before talking about it with her I hadn’t even really summarized my own feelings about it. “I know she got hurt that night, and I feel really, really bad about it, but I got hurt too.” Again memories from the night I was kidnapped broke through, and it took all the power I had to push them away.

  “Kyla,” Abby started unsurely, and I nodded, encouraging her on. “I know you told me you don’t want to talk about that, but you really should talk about what he did to you, even if it’s not to me, even if it’s with Camille.”

  “I don’t want Camille to ever know,” I said, almost panicking, as if Abby would say something to her. “I just… don’t.” My voice trailed off as I fought to push away the thoughts that she’d brought back once more, and my breath caught in my throat. “I just can’t think about it.”

  “Okay, I can let it go,” she reassured me gently, and then trying to change the mood of our dinner she switched subjects. “There’s a talent show in a couple weeks, at The Orchid.”

  “Oh yeah?” I let go of the memories and put on a smile, thinking I’d get to see a talent in Abby that I hadn’t yet discovered. “Are you performing?”

  “No,” she said hesitantly, and then added quietly, “Don’t kick my ass, but I signed you up.”

  “What?” I asked in shock, I couldn’t have heard right. I’d never been in a talent show. I didn’t even consider myself to have any talents. “To do what?”

  “To sing and play guitar, of course,” she told me, giggling to herself, probably at how wide my eyes had grown with surprise. “A good friend of mine said the show was desperate for more acts, so I told her I knew someone.” I sighed, already nervous about having to perform in a talent show. “If you really don’t want to do it I’ll tell her you can’t.”

  I sighed again, this time more exaggeratedly, but I smiled to let Abby know I wasn’t really annoyed. “Fine, I’ll do it, but you owe me big time!”

  “Anything you want! You’re the best.” She grinned a happy, thankful smile, and then rubbed her hands together gleefully as the waitress brought out our food. “This looks so good.”

  My stomach growled in response as the scent of the meal reached my nose. “It smells good too.” As the waitress left we both dug in, and with the first bite I found Abby had been right about it being delicious. “Wow, it’s amazing.” She smiled her thanks and continued to chew. “How’d you find this place?”

  “I was feeling especially overwhelmed from everybody’s thoughts one day at school. It was around finals last year so everyone was stressed out and putting me in a bad mood. I just started driving around the city for some time to myself, and I stumbled on this place,” she told me with a grin. “I haven’t been here in a while though.”

  I nodded and continued to eat as I thought about what else to talk about. Then, remembering that Abby was a senior, I wondered about her life after high school. “What about college? Are you starting to apply yet?” We talked for the rest of dinner about what little plans she had for the future and other random topics that came up.

  As I slid into the passenger seat to start our way back to school, I groaned happily and patted my stomach. “I’m so full!” I looked over at Abby who, as she was putting on her seatbelt, nodded happily. “You didn’t have to pay for me though.” I wasn’t just saying that because I didn’t like people paying for me all the time. It was bad enough the Pack was covering my tuition. Since Abby had paid for dinner, it felt more like a date than we’d agreed on.

  She must have heard my thoughts, because as she backed out of the parking spot and pulled onto the street, she glanced from the road to me. “Let me ask you something. If this was a date, which it wasn’t, but if it was, would you still have wanted to pay for yourself?”

  I raised an eyebrow at the girl next to me, wondering what she was trying to get at. “Probably, yeah.”

  “Okay then,” she started thoughtfully, and then added with a teasing chuckle, “This was like a date, because I don’t think anything would have been different. It played out exactly like a date would.”

  “Hey, that’s not fair!” I exclaimed, and pushed her shoulder sportily. “You can’t change the terms at the end of the date.”

  “So it was a date?” she asked, grinning as I threw up my hands in exasperation.

  “No,” I told her, still giggling. “That’s not what we agreed on. It’s only a date if both people are thinking it’s a date during it.”

  She sat there silently, in deep thought for a few moments before she chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I heard you think about it.”

  “Liar!” I buried my face in my hands as I shook my head, keeping my laughter on the inside. “Anyway,” I started, deliberately changing the subject. “Are you going to help run the talent show?”

  “No,” she said, flipping on the switch for her high-beam lights and turning on her windshield wipers as bright flurries of snow blurred the already dark highway. “I’m actually going to be pretty late to the show that night, if I make it at all. I’ll try my best to get there in time for your performance.”

  My jaw dropped in disbelief that Abby had signed me up for an event that she might not even make it to herself. “Oh, you’re in big trouble. If this was a date you so wouldn’t be getting a second one,” I teased, and crossed my arms over my chest defiantly when she made a pouting face at me.

  She exaggerated her disappointment for a brief second before her mouth turned up in another grin. “Actually, I owe you big time. You have to let me buy you dinner again.”

  “You just don’t give up do you?” I laughed, and the bright lights of the school caught my attention as it came into view through the snow.

  “Not when I know what I want,” she told me as she parked the car next to our dorm building and opened the door to get out.

  Even if Abby was uncommonly persistent, it was flattering, and I couldn’t say I particularly minded it. As I opened my own door to get out I saw Abby smirk, and knowing my thoughts had been heard I pointed an accusing finger at the girl. “Don’t let that go to your head.”

  She shrugged apathetically as she led me into the warm air of the building. “It might.”

  By the time I’d gotten back to my room I was pleased with how much I learned about Abby that night. The girl was attractive, funny, smart, and I could talk to her easil
y enough. But there was still something missing. I certainly liked her on a physical level – the wolf constantly reminded me of that. It was the passionately emotional bond that was missing. Something like that blood deep connection I still felt with Camille, even though things were weird between us. I could try to feel that with Abby, but I didn’t know if I could ever really feel it as deeply with anyone but Camille.

  I sat at the bar in the kitchen of the Pack house staring at the refrigerator across from me. I’d been conscious for a couple hours now and my strength had almost fully returned, no doubt thanks to the massive meal David had prepared. Even though my strength had been restored I was still tired, and hadn’t felt like moving when he and Lacey left the kitchen. Lacey mentioned wanting to talk to Eli about going to a bar in town that was apparently a common spot for vampires. While she’d gone to convince him I sat patiently at the island, ready to go if he’d decided for it.

  After about fifteen more minutes of staring around blankly, Lacey finally came in and sat next to me. “How you feeling?”

  “Anxious,” I told her with a sigh. Why was it that the werewolves were always the ones getting kidnapped? “What did Eli say?”

  “He okayed it,” she said with a victorious but somewhat somber smile. “He’s sending me with David and Wesley, and you if you’re up for it.”

  I nodded and stood, unhurriedly, lest my legs give out beneath me. When I felt confident on my feet I straightened up and stretched. “I’m ready. Let’s see what we can find out.”

  I followed Lacey out of the kitchen and into the grand entranceway, where we waited a minute for David and Wesley to meet us. We all went in the same car together – I assumed it was Wesley’s since he was the one who drove, and I sat with Lacey in the back seat. As I sat there quietly I stared out the window, watching each of the snow-covered trees fly by. My strength had improved, but I couldn’t say the same for my mood.