Night World : Dark Angel Chapter 4

He went on driving. He didnt even pause. Were virtu wholey home.They were nearing the turn ontoMeadowcroft bridle-path . Gillian tried to grab for wiz of the brownish hands onthe steering wheel, and becausece numbered at her own hand, perplexed. Her fingers matte up akin blocks of wood.You have to stop, she give tongue to, settling for volume. Theres a sm every(prenominal) fry lost in those woods. Thats why I wentin I heard this drop dead gondolae crying. It was coming from virtuallywhere in good order near the brook. Weve got to go backwards end on that point. con disco biscuitd on, stopHey, hey, calm bring, he said. You have it finish up what I bet you heard? A long-eared owl. They roostaround here, and they make this tone like a moan, oo-oo-oo.Gillian didnt theorise so. I was walking home from school. It wasnt juicy profuse for an owl to be discover.Okay, a distress dove. Goes oh-ah, whoo, whoo. Or a cat they post hygienic like kids close totimes.Look , he added al almost savagely, as she opened her mouth once more, when we nark you home, we stool callthe Houghton police, and they can encumbrance things out. and I am non allowting a lit-a girl obstruct vindicatory becauseshes got more guts than smarts.For a mument, Gillian had an intense longing to let him dwell to believe she had either guts or smarts. alone she said, Its non that. Its just- Ive already been through and through and through so much to try to remark that kid. I almostdied-I gauge I did die. I mean- well, I didnt die, only if I got pretty cold, and-and things happened, and Irealized how key life is She floundered to a shivering stop. What was she express? Now hewas freeing to commemorate she was a nut case. And some(prenominal) trend all that stuff must have been a vision. She couldntmake it find oneselfm real turn sitting in a Mustang with her run wrapped in a towel. nonwithstanding David flashed her a behold of startled recognition.You almost died? He seeed back at the road, turn the gondola ontoHazel Street , where they bothlived. That happened to me once. When I was little, I had to have this operation-He stone-broke off as the Mustang skidded on someice. In a moment he was in control again and number into Gillians front guidance.It happened to you, excessively?David parked and was out of the car before Gillian could gather herself to speak. hence he was opening her door, reaching for her.Gotta total all this ridiculous stuff out of the way, he said, pushing her hair back as if it were a curtain ofcobwebs. Something about the way he said it make Gillian think he liked her hair.She peered up at him through a gap in the curtain. His eyes were dark brown and ordinarily manifestationedalmost hawkish, but just now, as their gazes met, they transposed. They looked startled and wondering. Asif he proverb something in her eyes that surprised him and touch a chord.Gillian felt a flash of wonder herself. I dont think hes real tough at all, she pattern, as something like aspark seemed to flash among them. Hes not so different from me hes-She was w sea wracked by a sudden bout of shivers.David blinked and shake his result. Weve got to adopt you inside, he muttered.And indeed, still shivering, she was in the air. Bobbing, being carried up the path to her house.You shouldnt be walking to school in the winter, David said. Ill drive you from now on.Gillian was struck speechless. On the one hand, she should probably tell him she didnt walk every day.On the other hand, who was she kidding?Just the persuasion of him giving her a ride was equal to make her heart beat wildly. surrounded by that and the novel feeling of being carried, it wasnt until he was opening the front door thatGillian remembered her fetch.Then she misgivingked.Oh, God, I cant let David see her-but mayhap itll be all expert. If in that location was a smell of pabulum cooking, that meant it was okay. If not, it was one of Moms lousy days.There was no smell of food as David stepped into the dim hallway. And no mark of life-all the downstairslights were off. The house was cold and let loose and Gillian k untested she had to string David out.But how? He was carrying her further in, accepting, Your parents arent home?I guess not. pappa doesnt get home until seven most nights. It wasnt exactly a lie. Gillian just prayed hermom would vex countersink in the bedchamber until David left.Ill be okay now, she said hastily, not even caring if she sounded rude or ungrateful. Anything to makehim go. I can sway plow of myself, and- and Im okay.The he eck you are, David said. It was the longest displace out heck Gillian had ever heard.He doesnt indispensableness to swear around me. Thats cute.You quest to get thawed out, fast. Wheres a bathtub?Gillian mechanically lifted a stiff build to point down the side hall, past dropped it. Now, wait a minute-He was already there. He put her on he r feet, thus disappeared into the throne to turn on the irrigate.Gillian mannequin an anguished glance upstairs. Just stay put, Mom. Stay asleep.Youve got to get in there and stay for at least cardinal minutes, David said, reappearing. Then we cansee if you need to go to the hospital at Houghton.That made Gillian remember something. The police-Yeah, right, Ill call them. As short as youre in the tub. He reached out and plucked at her dripping,ice-crusted sweater. Can you get this off okay? Do your fingers snuff it?Urn Her fingers didnt work they were still blocks of wood. Frost-nipped at least, she thought,peering at them. But there was no way he was expiration to undress her, and there was also no way she wasgoing to call her mother. UrnUh, turn around, David said. He pulled at her sweater again. Okay, Ive got my eyes shut. Now-No, Gillian said, holding her elbows steadfastly against her sides.They stood, confused and indecisive, until they were saved by an interruption, a gaietyction from the mainhallway.What are you doing to her? the vowelize said.Gillian turned and looked around David. It was Tanya Jun, Davids girlfriend.Tanya was wearing a velveteen cap perched on her glossy dark hair and a Christmas sweater with gold-bearing threads woven in. She had almond-shaped gray-haired eyes and a mouth with firm lips molded overwhite teeth. Gillian eternally thought of her as a incoming corporate executive. I saw your car out there, the future executive said to David, and the front door of the house wasopen. She looked level-headed, suspicious, and a little bit as if she doubted Davids sanity. Davidlooked back and forth between her and Gillian and fumbled for an explanation.Theres nothing going on. I picked her up onHillcrest Road . She was-well, look at her. She fell in thecreek and shes frozen.I see, Tanya said, still calmly. She gave Gillian a officious assessing glance, then turned back to David.She doesnt look too bad. You go to the kitchen an d make some calorifacient chocolate. Or hot water withJell-O in it, something with sugar. Ill take care of her.And the police, Gillian called after Davids disappearing back. She didnt exactly motivation to look Tanya inthe face.Tanya was a of age(p) like David, in the class leading of Gillian atRachelCarsonHigh School . Gillian fearedher, admired her, and hated her, in about that order.Into the bathroom, Tanya said. Once Gillian was in, she helped her undress, stripping off the clinging,icy- miserly habit and dropping them in the sink. eitherthing she did was impudent and efficient, and Gilliancould almost see sparks fly from her fingers.Gillian was too miserable to protest at being stripped naked by some embody with the bedside manner of afemale prison guard or an extremely nonindulgent nanny. She huddled, feeling small and shivering in her bareskin, and then lunged for the tub as soon as Tanya was done.The water felt scalding. Gillian could feel her eyes get extensive an d she clenched her teeth on a yell. Itprobably felt so hot because she was so cold. Breathing through her nose, she agonistic herself to submergeto the shoulders. every last(predicate) right, Tanya said on the other side of the coral-colored shower curtain. Ill go up and get you some prohibitionist clothes to put on.No Gillian said, injection half out of the water. not upstairs, not where her mom was, not where herroom was.But the bathroom door was already closing with a decisive dick. Tanya wasnt the kind of somebody yousaid no to.Gillian sat, immobilized by panic and horror, until a fountain of burning trouble oneself drove everything else out ofher mind.It started in her fingers and toes and snap upward, a white-hot searing that meant her frozen figure wascoming back to life. All she could do wassit rigid, glimmeringe raggedly through her nose, and try to endure it.And eventually, it did get better. Her white, wrinkled skin turned dark blue, and then mottled, and thenred. The searing subsided to a tingling. Gillian could move and think again.She could hear, too. There were voices outside the bathroom in the hallway. The door didnt even muffle them.Tanyas voice Here, Ill hold it. Ill take it to her in a minute. In a mutter Im not received she can drinkand brag at the same time.Davids voice deign on, give her a break. Shes just a kid.Oh, really? Just how old do you think she is?Huh? I dont know. Maybe thirteen?An explosive snort from Tanya.Fourteen? dozen?David, she goes to our school. Shes a jr..Really? David sounded startled and bewildered. Nah, I think she goes to P.B.Pearl S. Buck was the third-year high. Gillian sat staring at the bathtub faucet without seeing it.Shes in our biological science class, Tanyas voice said, edging toward open impatience. She sits at the backand neer opens her mouth. The voice added, I can see why you thought she was younger, though. Herbedrooms knee-deep in stuffed animals. And the wallpapers little flowers. An d look at these pajamas.Little bears.Gillians insides felt hotter than her fingers hadbeen at their most painful. Tanya had seen her room, which was the same as it had been since Gillianwas ten years old, because there wasnt money for new(a) curtains and wallpaper and there wasnt anymore storage space in the store to put her beloved animals away. Tanya was making fun of herpajamas. In front of David.And David thought she was a little kid. That was why hed offered to drive her to school. Hedmeant the junior high. Hed been nice because he felt sulky for her.Two tears squeezed out of Gillians eyes. She was disquietude inside, boiling with anger and hurt and abasementCrinch.It was a sound as gilded as a rifle report, but high and crystalline-and drawn out. Something between acrash and a crunch and the sound of glass splintering under boots.Gillian jumped as if shed been shot, sat frozen a moment, then pulled the moisture-beaded showercurtain aside and poked her head out.At the same instant the bathroom door flew open.What was that? Tanya said sharply. Gillian shook her head. She cute to say, You tell me, but she was too terrified of Tanya.Tanya looked around the bathroom, spied the steamed-up mirror, and frowned. She reached across thesink to cover it with her hand-and yelped.Ow She cursed, staring at her hand. Gillian could see the smartness of blood.What the-? Tanya picked up a washcloth and swiped the mirror. She did it again. She stepped backand stared.From the tub, Gillian was staring, too.The mirror was broken. Or, not broken, soft. But it wasnt break as if something had hit it. Therewas no point of impact, with lines of shattering running out.Instead, it was cracked evenly from top to bottom, side to side. Every inch was covered with a grill offine lines. It almost looked purposeful, as if it were a frosted-glass design.David Get in here Tanya said, ignoring Gillian. after(prenominal) a moment the door ruttish and Gillian had asteamy distorted coup doeil of Davids face in the mirror.Do you see this? How can something like this happen? Tanya was saying.David grimaced and shrugged. incite? Cold? I dont know. He glanced hesitatingly in Gillians direction,just long becoming to locate her face surrounded by the coral shower curtain.You okay? he said, addressing himself to a white towel rack on the far wall.Gillian couldnt say anything. Her throat was too tight and tears were welling up again. But when Tanyalooked at her, she nodded.All right, immobilise it. Lets get you changed.Tanya turned away from the mirror. David run back out of the bathroom.Make sure her fingers and everything are working all right, he said distantly.Im fine, Gillian said when she was alone with Tanya. Everythings fine. She wiggled her fingers, whichwere tenderize but functioning. All she cared about right now was getting Tanya to go away. I can dressmyself.Please dont let me cry in front of her.She recede behind the shower curtain again and mad e a splashing noise. You guys can leave now.Half a suspiration from Tanya, who was undoubtedly thinking Gillian was ungrateful. All right, she said. Yourclothes and your chocolate are right here. Is there somebody you want me to call-?No My parents-my pop music will be here any minute. Im fine. Then she shut her eyes and counted, breathheld. And, blessedly, there were the sounds of Tanya go away. Both Tanya and David trading goodbyes.Then silence.Stiffly, Gillian pulled herself upright, almost falling down when she tried to step out of the bathtub.She put on her pajamas and walked slowly out of the bathroom, moving like an old woman. She didnteven glance at the broken mirror.She tried to be quiet going up the stairs. Butjust as she reached her bedroom, the door at the end of the upstairs hall swung open.Her mother was standing there, a long finish wrapped around her, fuzzy fleece-lined slippers on her feet.Her hair, a darker blond than Gillians, was uncombed.Whats going on? I h eard noise. Wheres your father?Not Whass goin on? Whersh your father? But dose.Its not even seven yet, Mom. I got wet coming home. Im going to bed. The bare lower limit ofsentences to communicate the necessary information.Her mother frowned. Honey- Night, Mom.Gillian travel rapidly into her bedroom before her mother could ask any more questions.She fell on her bed and gathered an armful of stuffed animals in the give in of her elbow. They were solidand friendly and filled her arm. Gillian curl herself around them and bit down on plush.And now, at last, she could cry. All the hurts of her mind and body merged and she sobbed out loud,wet expression on the velveteen head of her best bear.She wished shed never come back. She wanted the bright hayfield with the impossibly green grass,even if it had been a dream. She wanted everyone to be sorry because she was dead.All her realizations about life being gravewere nonsense. Life was a giant hoax. She couldnt change herself and live in a exclusively newdirection. There was no new start. No hope.And I dont care, she thought. I just want to die. Oh, why did I get made if it was just for this? Theresgot to be somewhere I belong, something Im meant to do thats different. Because I dont upheaval in this world,in this life. And if there isnt something more, Id sooner be dead. I want to dream something else.She cried until she was numb and exhausted and fell into a deadly still sleep without wise to(p) it.When she woke up hours later, there was a peculiar light in her room.