Between Shadows

by Joanne Durann

  They all started to laugh. It wasn’t long before Gage thought he should take them back to their wing to sort out details to bring back to him later.

  “I think the four of you should figure out a plan and then get back to me with it. I’ll walk you over to the east side, I was wondering what you thought of your side of the family mansion?”

  He was being mysterious; she knew he wanted to day more, back into his head she thought.

  “Dad, why are you acting like this? What aren’t you saying?”

  Miranda wasn’t sure what he was up to, but she wanted to give him a chance before she explored his eyes, and his mind.

  “I’m glad you came in, at least I was hoping you would, can you bring Jared and the others in too?” Gage was adamant about it.

  “Ok, hold on.”

  She went around gathering everyone in, “Ok everyone is here. Now, what’s wrong? You seem very strange right now and it bothers me.”

  Miranda was starting to get worried, she hadn’t known Gage long but this didn’t seem like his style.

  “I want us to wait to talk about your trip until I get you back to Miranda’s bedroom. The walls here have ears and I’m a bit worried. I’ll explain everything later, ok.”

  They all agree and during the walk they made small talk. Miranda helped by asking a lot of questions about the house, she was really interested so it came easily.

  The house she found was extremely old, far older then she imaged, and that made her father older then the house. He built it went he was going through a transition in his life, before the humans had worried about their race, but after they were no longer considered “Gods”.

  This answer was just what she was looking for she looked at all them and asked the question she wanted Jared to answer “Is that why you never interact with the human world anymore?”

  Everyone but Jared was puzzled, “I see that Miranda went through my family photo albums. Sweetheart, I lived with the humans longer than anyone here, I felt like I belonged there. You see my first wife was human; I tried to act like them because I thought something was wrong with me, everyone I knew had no problem taking humans and using them for what they needed, their needs and desires. I couldn’t do it and for a long time I convinced myself if I was in love I would be ok.”

  Jared looked torn, “I was only kidding myself. You saw all of those wives, some were extremely beautiful, some very smart, and some both, but they couldn’t make me love. No matter how long I stayed nothing worked but I kept trying, just waiting for the right one and finally I left because it just wasn’t working. Then I thought maybe I was just meant to be a cold blood killer and I took this job very seriously. As you can see I am very good at it, and I’ve been happy for awhile, at least until you came along. Now I realize you were the one I was waiting for all of those years. Do you think you understand me a little better now?”

  Miranda was very pleased with his answer, and she wasn’t expecting it. “You are the reason I wanted to stay here to start with. You were the first person to ever understand and listen to me, even if we were fighting through most of it.” She laughed, “I never said thank you, so by the way thank you.”

  Gage was starting to get angry again, “I can see that this is much worse than I thought. You two need to cool down a bit before the binding happens overnight. Now here we are.”

  Gage turned to his body guards, “You need to go and get the house in order, I’ll stay here for now, but I may need to keep the two of them apart for awhile.”

  The guards left and Gage started turned Miranda’s bedroom door, “Please everyone follow me inside. We must be quick and get you on your way.”

  Inside Jared spoke first, “What is it that you’re worried about?”

  Everyone looked toward Gage waiting for his reply but he took his time to sort out the right words.

  “Jared you know that if things start in our world, no one is truly loyal, except family.” He continued on, “I heard word last night that someone maybe trying to call for Miranda or kill her. What I think you need to do is take her away to the human world and stay there for about a week don’t try coming back early if things work out well with her family. All four of you should go with her make sure she stays safe and I’ll come to her house by Friday and let you know what’s going on.”

  Miranda was confused, “I get the kill he part, but what do you mean call for Miranda? You still haven‘t explained any of that to me.”

  Jared and Gage spoke at the same time, “Humans call it asking for your hand.” Jared continued alone, “If you and your father don’t agree to it or if I call for you first there is a war involved and someone will need to fight until the death.”

  Gage followed up, “Remember last night I told you about Binding Ceremonies? That was because I didn’t want you caught off guard if it happened before I could get Jared and the others to get you out of here. I need to be sure that you are only bound if you want to be, or if you are bound it’s with someone you care about. If not the consequences are sever.

  Jared finished his sentence, “There is no divorce here, if you anger your husband you could die, that’s the way the law works around here, it’s not the same as the humans. I’m sorry about that.”

  Miranda looked at everyone. The whole group seemed upset, so she smiled and answered them, “I may not be the unknown force, but I am powerful, I will fight for myself. No one will take me unless I agree. Jared, Michael, Carma, and Mattis apparently this trip will also be for learning. I expect each of you to teach me everything you know about this world. I don’t know who or what I’ll be up against but right now Jared is the only one I will be with. We will bind only if we are ready and not a moment before, I will kill anyone comes between my friends, my family and me. If it is a battle they want, then it a battle they will get it, like my father I have an awful temper and that will be the first thing they see.”

  “My child your powers don’t stand a chance, they are ahead of the game. I don’t want to lose you now that I finally got you back. Making your hair glow and jumping in and out of minds will help but you need an attack!” Her father was angry at her lack of sense.

  “Oh, no! She is going to lose it again!”

  All at once Michael, Mattis and Carma jumped to the sides. Gage and Jared stood there. Gage because he didn’t know any better, Jared because he knew she wouldn’t hurt him.

  Miranda’s hair started to glow and her hands rose up to her sides, before you could blink she had two of the biggest energy balls glowing in her hands, and her entire body was filled with energy. She looked as if she could annihilate both worlds, this time Gage was truly scared.

  Jared jumped in, “Sweetheart, he gets it now, come back to me.”

  Jared wasn’t sure how far she could go and still hear him. He hoped as long as their minds were connected it would work.

  Gage stammered, “When did you learn that?”

  “When I was waiting for Jared at his cottage, it started off small only in my hands, but then I got angry and scared I noticed it changed and got bigger, more powerful. Now, I can channel my anger and now look at it, pretty cool huh?” Miranda was proud of herself; she had a gift that could save her family, her new family.

  “I have never seen anyone more powerful. Are you sure you can control it? That’s more power than even I have, and I am, or was the most powerful being here. At least now I won’t be so worried. You can handle yourself, but you are right, you need lessons about this world. I trust that Jared will help you, along with Michael, Carma, and Mattis.”

  He turned to the others, “Please don’t leave anything out, even the hard parts, and I’ll see you on Friday. Jared, I even want you to tell her things that no one else is permitted to speak about, ok?”

  Jared looked at Gage, “You know what that means don’t you?” He wasn’t clear if he should tell her about Gage and her mother. It wasn’t completely known to everyone.

  “Yes, I want you to tell her everything, even the ba
d parts of all of our lives, so she can’t be distracted by all of our old messes. She will need to stay focused if she goes has to go against anyone of the top of our world.”

  Gage was sure and he needed Jared to be sure, so he would tell her everything.

  They all agreed that it was the best thing for everyone involved. Miranda and the others packed up a little bit of stuff to take so it looked like a bunch of human hanging out. They said their goodbyes to Gage and were on their way.

  Miranda was a little said, she told him not to worry she would return no matter what. She knew coming back could lead her into a trap but she wasn’t going to leave her father alone again, she wanted to come back to live with him. They agreed to go back to the cottage while Michael, Carma and Mattis explain the new job required by Gage to their families.

  They knew things were not going to be easy to explain fast, but they didn’t have a lot of time, they needed to be back at the cottage one hour before sunset. They needed to get out of the forest before things got ugly, and they wanted to be at Miranda’s home before sunset.

  They got to their house fast, and started by explaining Mattis role in the botched job, and how he had Carma hiding with him even though she didn’t know she was hiding. Then they moved on to Gage’s daughter and how they are going to live with Gage and help Jared protect her.

  Finally they told them they were on a new job which included Miranda but one they couldn’t explain for the good of everyone involved. Their parents were thrilled, it went better than they expected, their parents were happy because they knew their children were going to live. If Gage had gotten angry he would kill the family, now they might even gain a higher position because of what was happening.

  They said their goodbyes and went on their way. “Carma, can you believe I’m not in trouble, this is amazing!”

  Mattis wasn’t worried at all he still in his heart, believed Miranda was the one and she would bring eternal peace for everyone, he was sure of it. Carma wasn’t as sure as brother but she knew Miranda could kick some ass.

  On the path they meet back up with Michael and told each other how their families took it. Kilaws was still not real happy about Jared and Miranda but at least no one was going to die.

  They met back up at the cottage and started the journey back to Miranda’s house and the human world. Miranda wasn’t as excited as she thought she would be and Jared was a little concern, but afraid to ask why.

  “Miranda, why aren’t you happy? Do you miss your dad already? I didn’t think anyone could miss Gage that fast.”

  Carma tried lighting the mood. “No, it’s that...” she looked at Jared, “No man has been in my bed since my husband died and my not sure how I’m supposed to feel about it. Sorry, I never thought about it before. I was just worried about getting back here.”

  Jared looked at her, “I’m sure you have a couch. I’ll just pull it into your room and sleep on that. Remember, I told you no pressure, I meant it.”

  “You are way too good to me; it’s not that I don’t want to be in the same bed with you, because I do. It’s the same reason I didn’t sleep alone in your bed. I wasn’t sure if it was right, if your wife had been the last one in it with you, I didn’t have the right to just jump in.”

  “Look I understand, we’ll take it one night at a time, besides we need to get there first!” Jared smile and ran faster, now it was a race to keep up.

  Chapter 10

  In was almost sundown when they reached Miranda’s house but there was a problem, her parents were knocking at the door and it was a little faster than anyone wanted to meet them. Jared quickly put the bags in a hidden spot and came back to meet the others as they all came out of the woods.

  Miranda ran to meet her parents, “Mom, dad, what are you doing here? Didn’t you get my message? I wasn’t coming back until tomorrow.”

  She was surprised to see her parents; they lived pretty far away and rarely came to visit, she was unsure why they were there so she walked up to them to look into their eyes. Her mother was concerned, and knowing Miranda’s abilities, she wouldn’t let Miranda look her in the eyes.

  Her dad spoke first, “It’s nothing really, I told her to call you tomorrow, but she insisted on coming up here. She had one of her bad dreams, you know how she gets, and she wouldn’t let it alone until she saw you.”

  “Mom, that’s silly. What was your dream about?”

  Her mother didn’t answer her right away, “Come on, and try to remember what you were watching on TV before that, it probably holds the key.”

  “Miranda, it wasn’t like that. In my dream I saw a man changing his voice to leave the message, and what was already strange, is that I was home when the message appeared I know the phone never rang.”

  Her mother was being very serious and Miranda finally caught a look in her eyes. Miranda knew her mother was worried that she found her father, but she played it off, she did want to fight about this right now.

  “Mom, look I don’t know what started your dream, but here I am and look I have new friends to boot! I think I’m finally getting some peace and it really wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I bumped into them at the ranger station. Jared here is related to one of the rangers.”

  “Hello! I’m Jared and these are my friends, Carma and Mattis and my brother Michael. How are you today? I will promise you that Miranda has been with us almost the whole time and has been very safe.” Jared’s smile was contagious even to her father.

  He couldn’t help smile back, shake hands, and add “see dear every things ok. Miranda has been safe. Carma and Mattis are you related? You both look alike.” Her dad was never one for formalities.

  Carma spoke gently, “Yes were brother and sister, and we have been friends with Jared for a long, since we were kids you might say. He is my brother’s best friend.”

  Miranda looked at her parents; her mom was finally starting to calm down, especially since the man who changed his voice wasn’t there. That was someone else that the council had sent to help Jared out, she thought she had better speak to Jared about that later.

  “Well you came along way, let’s go in and see what I can get together for dinner. Jared would you and the guys go to the store to pick up some milk, eggs and bread? I’ll get you some money just give me a minute.”

  “Don’t worry I got it covered, we’ll be back soon! Carma, you coming?” Mattis called out.

  “Miranda do you want me to help you or should I keep the boys out of trouble?” Carma wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Stay, I think they can do it on their own. Besides”, she walked into Carma’s mind, “my father is going to quiz you about Jared. He’ll want to know if you two are together, or it’s me Jared’s after.”

  She aloud spoke again, “I may need your help here, I’ve been gone awhile and everything seems weird to me.”

  “Miranda, can your friend help me with table, it needs to be opened up and I can’t do it alone.” Her dad was right on cue, just as Miranda knew he would be.

  “Mom, can you pull out some of the dishes so I can see what I have to cook?”

  Miranda wanted her mother out of her father’s way; she wanted him to get the inquisition over with.

  “Mattis is your brother? Is Jared? Oh just flick the lever under your side of the table and we’ll pull.”

  Her father acted as if he was making light conversation but when in history has a father ever been able to do that.

  “Mattis is my brother and Jared is our best friend. After Jared’s wife died, we were the only ones who he would talk to. He gave up on his family, except Michael because they didn’t understand, they just wanted him to move on, and they wanted to forget it happened.”

  Carma wanted to slip in the story they had made up at the cottage to keep her parents happy.

  “Jared’s a widower?” Her dad was surprised, “How long?”

  “It’s been a few years now, and don’t get me wrong, he’s fine with his family now. It’s
that they couldn’t understand, he knew when they got married that she was sick. I guess he just hoped they would find a cure for her someday, and because leukemia is not easy to deal with; she had some pretty rotten days. Just don’t tell them I told you, Jared is happy now, at least since he met Miranda. He knows how she feels and he wants her to take her time and get through it at her own pace. He makes her smile.”

  Carma did it and her dad fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

  “Wow, she hasn’t smiled since that night; I can’t tell you the last time I heard her laugh. I want you to know she’s kind of special in some ways and she’s had a hard time with life in general. I hope you guys can change that for her, by the way, I won’t let anyone know about what you told me.”

  Her father smiled. He had a secret and would wait until they got about half way home to tell his wife.

  Dinner was fun and very light, her dad knew about Jared’s wife and that he liked Miranda. He kept thinking if she can keep it together, not talk or use that disability, she might even get married again. Her mother was ok but something about this whole thing was wrong. A week ago Miranda wasn’t speaking to anyone at all; she was distant, like she was going to kill herself or something. One hike in the woods for few days and everything is fine? She could help but think things weren’t as perfect as they seemed.

  They finished up with dinner and the women cleaned up. The guys went outside to chop some wood for the fireplace; Miranda said it was cheaper than running the heater the whole time. Darkness was falling fast, she giggled as she realized she just sent her dad out with three vampires and her mother just wanted to get her alone so she could question her.

  “Carma, can you see where they are going so they don’t get too lost, please? You know it is dark out there and men get lost so easily.”

  Miranda knew what was going to happen so she made Carma go but promise to listen for her.

  “I may need you. Keep your mind open, that’s how I’ll call you. You can just pretend to wonder back into the house.” she whispered.