Кирстен Уайт - Paranormalcy

He shook his head, letting go of my hand and putting his arm around me to pull me in closer. “Not even a little bit. Just because you don’t know what you are doesn’t make you scary. I’m pretty familiar with that.” He smiled. “Besides, how could I ever be afraid of someone who wears so much pink?”

I laughed, wiping away the last of the tears from my face. I couldn’t believe it. Lend was probably the only person in the world who would have reacted this way. “Do you think we should tell your dad?”

He was quiet for a while. “I don’t know. You already talked to my mom and she knows way more than my dad about stuff like this. Besides, it’s not like it makes any difference. We still don’t know where Vivian is or how to stop her. You’re safe here—she can’t find you. That’s what’s important. I think if my dad and some of the others knew it would…make them nervous. So there’s not really a reason to tell them, is there?”

I shook my head, more relieved than I cared to admit.

“We’ll keep this between us. And if Vivian visits you again, or you learn anything else, we’ll figure it out together, okay? In the meantime, keep Tasey on you.” In spite of his reassurance that Vivian couldn’t find me if she hadn’t already, his eyes had a tight, worried look. No doubt they mirrored mine. No matter how safe I felt here, she was out there, somewhere, looking for me.

He must have seen it in my face. He squeezed my hand, pulling me in closer. “It’s going to be okay.

We’re in this together.”

I was overwhelmed with how wonderful Lend was. I realized then that I didn’t feel so cold and empty anymore. It wasn’t anything dramatic, just a subtle sense of well-being, of wholeness. “But you’ll tell me if you ever feel anything weird when I’m touching you, right?”

“Oh, I feel a lot when you’re touching me. But it’s not weird.”

I grinned, hitting him lightly in the chest. “I’m serious.”

“I know. I will—I promise.” He kissed my cheek, then looked at the clock. “Umm, you’d probably better get out of my room. It wouldn’t be good for my dad to wake up and find us together.”

“Oh, yeah, good point.” I jumped up so fast I practically fell over. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

He smiled at me. “Can’t wait.”

I shut the door to his room and I leaned back against it, closing my eyes. Vivian had been wrong. I wasn’t alone.

The rest of the day was wonderful. David had gotten some fake papers made for me and we filled out everything I needed to enroll in school for the fall. I even got a cute new last name, Green. I couldn’t remember what I had gone by in the foster system, and it wasn’t like I’d needed one at the

Center. Still, just seeing a first and last name together made me feel like a real person, like maybe I really could have an identity and a life away from IPCA.

David had also purchased several homeschooling courses so I could continue my studies on my own, since it was so late in the school year there was no way I could catch up in regular courses at the high school. I was kind of bummed about it. It was less time with Lend and more time without a locker of my own. But now that I had a future to look forward to, I was a lot more eager to get good grades. I had to get into whatever college Lend went to, after all. If that meant more homework for me, well, that’s what I’d do.

Besides the studying, Lend’s dad needed help with the extra paranormals. Word had spread not only of his underground aid but also of the killings. Directed by David’s IPCA contacts, paranormals were steadily trickling into town; he either transferred them to another location or found places to put them here.

All the paranormals I met were totally jumpy, trading whispered rumors about where the latest killings had taken place. Lend had to constantly turn into Vivian to show them what she looked like.

It was more than a little creepy watching the boy I liked turn into the girl I was terrified of.

I also worried about what that many paranormals in one spot could do, but Lend told me it worked better. They policed themselves, and if anyone broke the rules—like, say, drinking human bloodthe others would turn that one in. Nobody wanted to attract the attention of IPCA or Vivian.

I appreciated what David was doing and was happy to help with arranging things, but his lack of organization and records made me nervous. Here he was, setting up vampires with fake identities and sending them to new towns to live in with no way of knowing what they were going to do there. If

IPCA was too harsh, David was definitely too trusting, in my opinion.

But no one was asking my opinion.

That afternoon, after finishing the last of the day’s werewolf processing, Lend mentioned to his dad that we were going to prom together. You’d think David was the one going, he was so excited. He insisted we go to the mall immediately. I didn’t argue. Lend kept laughing at how giddy the rest of us were, even Arianna, who tagged along.

“Oh, come on, you know you love the mall,” I said, squeezing his hand as we sat in the backseat.

“It’s like teenage nirvana!”

“And here I was thinking purgatory.”

When we got there, David and Lend split off to look at rental tuxes, while Arianna and I went to check out dresses. I’ll admit she wasn’t my ideal shopping partner, but she was so thrilled I found myself laughing with her after a few minutes. It balanced out the fact that crowds made me nervous now. Twice I thought I saw Reth out of the corner of my eye, only to grab my new iron knuckles out of my pocket and have it be just some random guy. I wondered if I’d ever be able to relax again.

In our third store, Arianna sighed, browsing through a rack of gowns. “Man, I miss this. I was in fashion design before I, well, died, I guess. I never have figured out how that works. David doesn’t know, either.” She frowned.

“Yeah, turns out I don’t know anything about anything. IPCA wasn’t exactly thorough in their paranormal education program.”

“It’s just weird. I mean, ten years ago I was in school, looking forward to everything to come. And then, bam, suddenly I’m this—this thing. And what I can’t figure out is, what’s the point of it all?

Am I really going to be stuck, just sort of existing, for the rest of time? It makes me tired thinking about it, you know?”

I frowned, trying to ignore what Vivian had said about freeing paranormals from this world.

“You’re doing things,” I said.

She shook her head. “Oh, well. Hey, how about this?” She held up a dress. It was floor length, with a shiny, flowing skirt and a strapless sweetheart neckline. And it was pink. Lovely, lovely pink that shined and caught the light just right. I was in love.

IN YOUR DREAMS

V ivian didn’t show up again until the week of the prom. I was sitting in one of Lend’s classes, but I didn’t know anyone. The teacher spoke in another language, I had forgotten how to read, and I was wearing my prom dress with combat boots. Just the promise of school in the fall and I was already having nightmares.

As I frantically tried to decipher the words of a test on a subject I’d never heard of, I looked up. The rest of the students had disappeared. Vivian sat at a desk, giving me a strange look; the souls hovered, shining behind her.

“You’re weird,” she said.

I looked down at the paper, still nervous that I needed to finish it. “Yeah, I know.”

“So, did you tell him yet?” Her small smile was tinged with a hint of smug.

“I did, actually.”

“Why haven’t you called me then?”

“He didn’t care.”

Her smile dropped off, replaced by furrowed brows. “He didn’t care?”