Now You See Me

Twenty-Two: Omens

Marilyn returned to St Martin's in the small hours of the following morning.

I was in the kitchen when I heard the rattle of a key in the lock, overtaken by the urge to eat something at two am when I'd just got out of the bath. I hadn't realised how little I'd eaten the previous day until my stomach growled so hard that the water rippled.

When I recognised Marilyn's voice as she tripped on something and swore, I almost choked on the crisp I had in my mouth. Eyes watering, I constricted my throat to stop myself coughing as she passed the entrance to the kitchen. She was limping heavily.

I had to cough. Shards of crisp were sticking in my throat, and tears were rolling down my cheeks by the time I gave in. As I wiped my face with a hand towel, Marilyn's uneven boot treads stopped outside in the hall, and squeaked as they backtracked. She stopped, but I turned to the sink so she couldn't see my face and I couldn't see her. My knuckles were white on the rim of the sink and I was sure she could see that I was shaking, trying to will her away, to not see me or speak to me at all.

"Odd time to be eating," she commented offhandedly. Her blank voice rasped, and she sounded exhausted. I didn't respond. I had a comeback ready, balanced on the very tip of my tongue, but I couldn't make myself say it. I tensed as she came into the room, limping to the fridge which stood much too close to me for comfort. She opened it, and the soft clink of glass followed as she eased a red bottle from the shelf in the door, then a crack as she flicked the cap off, and silence as she drank it.

"Why?" I finally asked her, and it was so quiet that I was sure if she didn't have vampire hearing she wouldn't have thought I'd said anything at all. A pop announced when she finished drinking.

"Why what?" If she was surprised that I was going to talk to her at all, she gave nothing away.

"The doll," I clarified, and anger made my voice much stronger than I felt myself. "Why me?"

I jumped as glass smashed on the tiles. Twinkling shards skittered over my blood-flecked toes, and I didn't dare move for fear of cutting my feet. An angry roar announced that Leia had been woken up by the noise, and faint clicks echoed around the building as lights were flicked on. Despite Leia waking first, Courtney got to the scene before anyone else.

"Oh my God, Damien, are you alright?" she gasped. "What happened?"

I turned to look at Marilyn, but she wasn't even there.

Despite what this looked like, I could have cried with relief that she was gone, and if it hadn't been for my grip on the sink and the glass all over the floor, I would have sunk to my knees with it.

"What d'you have the blood out for?" Leia growled behind me.

"Leia, calm down." Feila's deep tones joined the conversation, as the glass was sucked away and reformed a bottle that floated to a stop on the counter next to my hand. I recoiled, and this time I did fall over.

"Damien?" Mum arrived on the scene, appearing above me. Her dark hair was ruffled with sleep, eyes ringed by deep circles. "Why are you on the floor, sweetheart? What was that crash?"

"Marilyn dropped the bottle," I groaned. I was a little stunned from falling backwards, jarring my spine and temporarily sending sparks of pain shooting through my whole body. "And then she disappeared." I sat up slowly, rubbing a sore spot on the back of my head. Courtney kneeled beside me, on the other side to my mum.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

I inched back so I could get her hand in focus, when she almost poked her fingers into my eyeballs.