Between Shadows

by Joanne Durann

  Miranda knew her mother well and she still couldn’t believe she was letting go so easily, Wendy was always suspicious about anyone new.

  “Yes, because my beautiful wife to be, will just calmly remind her how it was her idea. You are getting very good at using that power aren’t you?”

  Jared was showing his true colors now and he was also depending on Miranda to follow through. It wasn’t long before they both feel fast asleep, Jared slept lightly, but he did sleep. It was comforting to know that Miranda knew everything about his past and she was still lying next to him.

  The next morning right on cue Jared got up and made the phone call about Carma’s special friend coming for a visit, right on key he added how amazing their daughter was and how they couldn’t wait to come for an early dinner. Her mother and father did as expect and agreed to everything sight unseen.

  The next few days seemed to fly right past. Miranda had a few things to deal with on a human level with the bills, and closing up the house, the mail and the paper. When it was finally done and over with she tried not to get to nervous or to worried about the upcoming dinner at her parent’s house.

  On Thursday, Miranda was a wreck the whole morning, between her hair, and clothes Jared finally gave up and let Carma deal with her. Mattis suggested that with so many of them going that they should rent a minivan and he asked Miranda if it was ok for him to drive. She was more than happy to let him, she couldn’t imagine driving in her current state of mind.

  Jared walked into the bedroom after the phone call and found Miranda going nuts over shoes and he grabbed her tightly and took her into the bathroom.

  “Look! Would you look in the mirror, look into your own eyes and prepare yourself. I told you before to use your gifts; you need to stop hiding from them. Miranda, you need to start working with what you have, it scares me to think that you would rather ignore what was given to you, than use it to help yourself. I know you’re nervous but you have the ability to change things ahead of time that don’t work out, and this time it’s to keep your parents alive, it’s not just to make yourself happy.”

  Jared was right and she knew it, she gathered all of her courage and looked into the mirror and into the eyes that looked back at her. All at once she was calm and she knew didn’t have anything to worry about. She laughed and then sighed, “I need to change my shirt!”

  Jared stared at her, “Why doesn’t she like that shirt?”

  “No, it not that, look.” She pointed down, “there’s a stain on it, that my mother will never let go of. I can hear her now, of all your clothes and the one you wear has a stain! I don’t want to deal with that at all.” She smiled and walked over to her dresser and pick out the one she saw herself wearing. “Let’s go, I’m ready now and thanks, I love you.”

  It was the first time Miranda had said it out loud and it felt good. They stood there together staring into the mirror. Jared kissed her on the lips and they headed downstairs.

  “Crazy girl still up their or are we leaving her behind?” Mattis love to pick on her, the way Carma picked on Jared, Miranda though to herself it must run in the family.

  Miranda glanced at Sahen and started to think about things “I hope you guys are ready for what mother is going to put you through.” She turned to Sahen as they all got into the car, “Did anyone tell you that my parents don’t have a clue? My parents think we are all normal humans, and they don’t really know where I’m going, they think we are all going camping and..”

  Miranda was stop immediately by Sahen, he had his hand over her mouth, “Yes, and that Jared lost his wife to cancer. They know Jared’s in love with you, by the way if they didn’t, they would have to be blind. I know it all, Carma and I had a long talk this morning with Mattis close at hand picking up the missing pieces. Right, Mattis!”

  Mattis just growled as he looked into the rearview mirror. He was starting to regret volunteering to drive the van. Michael called shotgun so he could leave Carma and Sahen in the second row, which was a cozy two sitter, Miranda and Jared took the back row alone, so would bother Miranda into worrying again, Jared was just hoping to keep Miranda still and calm.

  It was only a forty-five minute drive to her mother’s house, but to Mattis it was way too long, and he knew when he got there he couldn’t get angry at Carma and Sahen. Jared had called Sahen a special friend of Carma’s so he had to behave. To Mattis this was one of the worse days of his life, and he was stuck in it for at least four or five more hours.

  Her mother was her usual annoying self, trying to get information from everyone about everyone else, but they all expected that. What good mother wouldn’t be that nosy?

  Jared and Miranda where given a lot of leeway by her parents, they wanted her to be normal again, so they were willing to look past things and that kept Miranda calm. She spent a lot of time alone with Jared in the neighborhood around her parent’s home. They walked, talked and just got to know each other better. They could see how much their lives were in parallel when they weren’t together and that they always should have been. Miranda couldn’t help but wonder if her parents had let her go with her real dad, when she was two, would she be better off now or would Jared and her never been allowed to be together.

  “No, you wouldn’t, I know for a fact. You wouldn’t be the person you are and your father would have never let us get to know each other. I’m sorry if I sound selfish but I can’t imagine my life without you now, like it or not, I’m happy that you are where you are now.” Jared had no idea her mother was listening to the last sentence as they walked into the house.

  “Miranda, is there anything you need me to do while you’re gone? I mean did you get the bills paid, should I mail your mortgage check or something? Is there anything you need for your trip that I actually might have around here? Just let me know and I’m here to help.” Wendy was more than happy to help.

  “If you could mail the mortgage checks that would be great, they have stamps on them and checks in them, and there’s a post it note for what dates they need to be mailed. I mailed this month’s check early, I didn’t want to think about it, I also stopped the mail and cancelled the paper.” Miranda saw all of this in her eyes earlier and she was prepared for what her mother was going to ask.

  “Dinner!” Her dad yelled, he was learning the finer points of cooking on the open fire from Mattis and Sahen. It was funny to watch them try to outdo each other in front of Carma.

  “It was pretty comical,” her father told her. “I understand I have a sister, and your mother has a brother. It’s what we do we’re man and we’re only human after all.”

  It took everything inside Miranda and Carma not to laugh at her dad, “Yea, dad you guys are only human!”

  Dinner was a success and everyone was happy, well everyone but Mattis. They ate and had a great time, her parent were never the wiser about Miranda’s companions. They had no clue that they were having dinner with four vampires, and a werewolf or the fact that their daughter was one of the greatest forces in their world. It would all be way too much to handle, Miranda and Jared were quiet through dinner, Carma knew that meant they were in each others’ minds, she also knew it meant they were doing ok.

  “Knowing all of your secrets and being able to tell you my secret has given me peace, Miranda. I know now we will make it through anything and they’ll never take use away from each other.” The mind walk was good for them; he looked at Miranda and smiled.

  “I feel like everything is good here and now, but Jared something’s wrong, I can’t put my finger on it and I don’t want you to worry. I just feel like I’m missing something. Maybe I’m just not use to be this happy, who knows, I guess I’ll figure it out soon enough.” Miranda had a nagging feeling inside her and she wasn’t ready to give it up yet, she just wanted to finish out the night.

  Before too long it was time to go home, Michael grabbed the keys and loudly asked Mattis to ride shotgun. Mattis was angry but he didn’t want to start anything in front of Miranda
’s parents so he smiled and agreed to it.

  Carma said, “I owe you big, Michael!”

  The ride home was very uneventful other then Mattis, staring death threats at Carma and Sahen the whole time, who were snuggled comfortably together. As they neared Miranda’s house Sahen jumped up out of his seat.

  “Go passed the house, don’t pull in! Someone’s there!” With that he jumped out of his seat and was in the back with Miranda and Jared.

  “I don’t know who it is but they are trying to conceal themselves, they have masked their sent.” He looked at Michael in the rear view mirror, “Michael pull the van about a block away, whoever is there is still outside and is confused because we aren’t in the house. They keeping looking at her truck and then going back to the house and looking in the window, but they’re not going in.”

  Mattis turned to Carma, “Take her into the woods with Sahen and get her undercover. Jared, Michael and I will go around and greet our new visitor.”

  Mattis turned back to Sahen his eyes blazed and his voice was rough and course, “I want you to know that I’m trusting you with the two most important things in my life, don’t screw this up!”

  But before anyone could say or do anything the van lurched forward into a dead stop and they were only a few feet from Miranda’s driveway. Chaos erupted inside the van and everyone was yelling at Michael, and Michael was trying to get the van to work. Nothing was working or helping and Michael was getting very frustrated with the whole thing, so he started screaming back. Calmly, methodically Miranda got up and opened the van door. She shielded herself from everyone, and no one not even Jared, could touch her.

  She looked at them through the door opening and said, “Don’t worry I’m doing what Jared told me to do this morning,” she looked at Jared. “I’m taking your advice,” and with that she closed the van door and locked them all in.

  They watched in terror as she walked down the driveway toward the house and certain danger. It didn’t take long, within minutes Jared exploded with anger, until he finally got the van door ripped from its hinges and ran with full speed to Miranda. The others followed suit, she was almost to the house and whoever was waiting for her.

  She quickly ran into their minds, “I’m tired of being afraid all of the time. I’m going to use the gifts that have been given to me to help me, isn’t what Jared keeps telling me to do.”

  Miranda had a faint yellow-green glow about her and then it turned a stunning gold. It was her shield it was strong and she was ready for a fight.

  “My shield only glows green,” Carma said to Jared as they were running toward her. “Her shield is turning yellow, now gold, I’ve never seen a shield powerful enough to turn gold, I’ve only heard about them.”

  Jared turned to look at Miranda and then stopped cold in his tracks, “Let her handle it.” Everyone stopped with him but they didn’t understand why. “She told me earlier something was wrong, something she couldn’t see and that she didn’t want me to worry about it. I know she saw the whole day and like it or not, I’m going to trust her judgment. The van didn’t break down or lock on its own, she did that. I may not know why she does what she does, but if she’s using her gifts, I’m not going to stop her either.” Jared motioned to the group, “We can walk down calmly and slowly. Sahen keep sniffing, that’s the job you were sent to do, and you shouldn’t stop that either.”

  They were about one hundred yards away when Sahen smiled, “Jared’s right, she’s fine, and it’s her father who should be worried now! She talking, or yelling at him outside, we definitely want to walk slowly. She’s very angry with him.”

  He was laughing by the time he got to the end of his statement, and he grabbed Carma’s hand to pull her closer to him.

  “Why is she mad at her father? Can you hear what they are saying?” Mattis was unsure what her father could have ever done to provoke Miranda’s anger like that.

  “Is that why she put on her shield and locked us in the van, oh no” Mattis looked back toward the road, “the van. Jared, you ripped the door off! Who’s going to explain that one and pay for it? I’m not getting it for that one, Jared you take it back to the rental place. You did it!”

  “Do you want to keep yelling at Jared about some stupid minivan or do you want to know what’s going on in there?” Sahen was always glad he had great hearing but this time he was amused by it. “She is throwing a fit at the way he showed up, something about endangering everyone she loves because he changed his scent. The funny thing is he keeps talking about her shield and won’t shut up about it. Now she’s trying to calm down and get his attention because she can feel us coming up the driveway. He still can’t stop talking about that shield and she’s getting more and more pissed. Oh man she‘s going to blow up, hurry up, I want to see this!”

  As they walked up the steps and into the house they got there just in time to watch Miranda smack her father across the face. She turned to the group with embarrassment, “Sorry, family moment, Jared you’re right he never would have let us get together if I was here my whole life.” She turned to Gage with fire in her eyes, “he’s too pigheaded and to stubborn.

  Gage was angry that his daughter chose such a public venue to air dirty laundry and to show his disapproval he chose to yell at the others.

  “Miranda your friends left you unguarded! You came up here not knowing who was waiting for you and they let you! They just strolled in like it was nothing!” He turned to Jared and Sahen, “I trusted the two of you the most! What in the hell were the two of you thinking? Why in the hell did you let her go?” He was furious and he blamed them for all of it.

  Jared strolled up to Gage and touched the place where Miranda smacked him, tapped it lightly and with a grin he said, “We all know when Miranda puts her mind to something nothing in any world can stop her.”

  He took Miranda by the hand and led her away from her father’s side and asked her if she was okay.

  Sahen pointed at Miranda, “It doesn’t hurt that her shield makes it dam near impossible to touch her, let alone grab a hold of her. She stopped the minivan in its tracks, as we were trying to drive her a block away from this place, then she shields herself and lock us all in the van. If Jared hadn’t gone ballistic and ripped the door off of the hinges, we’d still be in there now.”

  Sahen started to walk away when he had another idea, “By the way Gage, since this is your fault, you have a minivan to pay for.” He gave Michael and high five as he walked pasted him.

  “The van is the last thing on my mind, but don’t worry I’ll take it back tomorrow and make them believe vandals did it in their own parking lot.” Gage turned to Jared, “You should have been faster she got here way ahead of you.”

  Gage was starting to calm down and turned to Miranda, “I guess if she trapped you in a minivan that explains the car in the driveway and no one home. Miranda, dear, I got worried. I came here to see if you got home from your mother’s house yet, and your car was here, but no one was in the house. I was afraid someone got to you and the others were already on the hunt, with no time to fill me in.”

  Miranda felt bad, Gage did look upset and concerned, “Dad can’t you see, Jared’s right, I can take care of myself. I have been taught by the best people you could give me, you should be proud of yourself.”

  “I can see Carma has taught you well, I’ve never seen a more powerful shield, sweetie, it was pure gold.”

  He turned to look at Jared, “I guess I should thank you, even though you weren’t here, the knowledge you have given to her did save her. By the way, how complete is her education? Does she know everything as we discussed?”

  Miranda walked over to him, “Yes dad, I see why you wanted to hid some things from me but it’s good with my temper that I know all of it. Can we sit down now; I’m getting exhausted standing here.” Miranda realized she should lower her shield and calm down now.

  Everyone came in and moved away from the front door. Sahen and Michael volunteered to move the m
inivan before it attracted any attention, and Mattis and Carma got everyone something to drink from the kitchen. Miranda ran upstairs to take care of a few minor details before they sat down to talk.

  Jared and Gage were alone, “I just wanted to explain something to you. At first I went crazy and ran after Miranda, and I would have beaten her here, but she asked me not to. Sir, there was something in her voice, something about the way she said it; I knew she was going to be fine. It also didn’t hurt to see a golden shield around her. Gage, your daughter is going to be just fine with or without either of us.” Jared was very serious, “I want you to know that we do intend on being bound when all of this is over. It’s not that I’m not trying to anger you; I think you disserve the respect and the time to get use to it, and I don’t want you to lose your daughter again because of it. You’ve waited long enough to get her back.”

  Gage was silent for a moment and he thought carefully before he spoke, “I already knew this was going to happen. I saw the way Miranda looked at you in the cottage the second she thought I was taking you away from her. She was completely torn and terrorized at the same time. Jared, I will never like the idea of mixing blood line, but I broke that rule myself about twenty eight years ago and I won’t stand between anyone who can find love and peace within it. That being said hear this, no one will ever be good enough for my daughter--no one, on the other hand if I have to have a vampire in the family it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the best.”

  Somewhere in all of it was silent agreement, they both loved Miranda, and so they both had to agree to love her with each other. The two closest men in her life where now ok with each other, Miranda could feel that upstairs, so she told the other they could all come back now. She hoped Jared and Gage would never find out that she orchestrated them being alone there the whole time. She couldn’t know how it would come out so she just hoped for the best.

  As she walked down the steps she asked, “Dad I just thought of something, you’re a day early, why? What gives? It’s not like I’m not happy to see you but is something wrong? Do you have some new information?”