Shadow Borne
sisters and you practically live here. Don't change on my
account. I get that you aren't keen on spending time with me. I
think I even understand why. But don't disappear because of me.
Please."
    "I wasn't planning anything of the sort." I
lied and re-sheathed the knife. "Tell your sister that I will see
her in the morning."
    Mike nodded and before he could say anything
else, I turned around and left. Because I didn't want to turn my
back on him, though I couldn't say exactly why, I disappeared into
the tree line we had been standing next to rather than use the
driveway.
    One way wasn't necessarily any shorter than
the other, although if I'd wanted to fly the distance between
Claire and Mark's place and my cabin, the trip would have at least
been faster. But I didn't want to fly. Odd as it may sound, I
needed the slower pace of walking, the repetitive action of putting
one foot in front of the other to give me something to do. I had
nervous energy to burn and knew from experience that when I got
home I wouldn't sleep, despite the fact that my body desperately
needed rest.
    No, I would toss and turn and eventually
pace the width of my bedroom and replay the night's events ad
nauseum. Mike was back. I deftly skirted the gnarled, exposed root
of a large brown and gold tree and sighed. It was easy enough to
understand why he'd returned, but there was no denying things would
have been so much simpler if he had stayed away. Worse, I had the
distinct feeling our situation would only become more impossible
before this was all over.

Chapter Four
    Abomination
     
    The cabin was pitch dark, one of the
downfalls of not having electricity. You couldn't exactly leave an
oil lamp burning to greet you when you came home at night. Usually,
it didn't bother me. I've never been afraid of the dark. But
tonight the shadows seemed to press in from all sides, even here in
the protected zone where I stood.
    It was like unseen eyes tracked me in the
dark, I felt hunted and harassed. Damn Mike to the farthest reaches
of hell. The churned up, mixed up feelings I struggled with tonight
were all his fault. Now it was making me paranoid, too, since there
sure wasn't anything out and about. Still, I hesitated in front of
the low, rough wood country style fence that marked Grandview's
border, taking slow calming breaths in an effort to settle
myself.
    It wasn't even all that dark, at least not
in my immediate vicinity. Thousands of tiny golden droplets clung
to and surrounded each rounded plank of the low fence. They were
lit up like spun gold and glimmered brightly in the dark. Claire's
kids thought it looked a lot like pixie dust. The memory of little
Ashley and Sienna asking Tara if she and Tinkerbell–their nickname
for Juliette–had scattered it all along the fence lines was enough
to wring a smile from me, tense as I was at the moment.
    My fingers trailed through the sparkles that
danced and swayed lazily on and around the wood. It wasn't getting
any lighter outside and I badly needed some sleep, at least a few
hours' worth.
    If I didn't get any rest, I wouldn't be much
good to anyone and it was this thought that spurred me to action.
Swinging one leg up and over the top rail, easy enough since it was
only hip high, I vaulted over the fence and into the unprotected
side of woods. The fact that in my mind it had become the
unprotected side of the forest spoke volumes. Not 'home', not even
'the border' but simply 'unprotected' was the first word that came
to mind tonight when I thought of my home.
    I frowned up at the simple white clapboard
ranch style cabin in front of me. Never had I felt unsafe here
before. I'd lived here without incidence for over eight months and
it was close enough to the border that I honestly never gave much
thought to safety.
    Besides, as homes went, it was a pretty bare
bones space. I was the proud owner of a half decent bedroom set, a
small table and chairs that Aranu had carved for me when I'd moved
in, one ugly couch and

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