When The Full Moon Rises

Chapter 10

I pulled over as slowly as I could. I wasn't drunk, but my control on the steering wheel was slowly dwindling as the realization of what I was in for sank in. Sebastian was frozen in his seat. He eyed me. Aside from his poorly disguised fear, I could see the smug smile hidden on his face, wanting to break free and tell me I-told-you-so.

As the car came to a stop on the side of the road, Sebastian jumped like he had just gotten struck by lightning, banging his head against the low ceiling. Apparently he had a sudden revelation and knew something I didn't.

"Switch places with me," he hissed quietly, already maneuvering out of his seat belt.

"What?!" I said loudly; maybe too loudly.

"Would you just shut you're trap and listen to me?" he said, peeking over his shoulder at the police car. It was just now pulling over, having been stuck behind a lazy Volvo drifting along the highway. I did as I was told, not wanting to alert the nice policeman of my crime. Sebastian was ready. He half stood and grabbed my waist, pulling me across his lap, and suddenly he was in the drivers' seat, before I had any time to ask him what the hell he was trying to do.

He met my searching gaze, bringing a finger to his lips. I heard the snap of his seat belt, so I did the same. It was dark enough, I hoped, that the cop wouldn't be able to tell the difference who was driving before. My parents wouldn't take kindly to my getting arrested and/or receiving a ticket. I've watched enough Law & Order shows to know that policemen weren't very friendly when it came to the safety of America's underage citizens.

Both of us seemed to be holding our breath as the crunch of boots on asphalt got louder. I can safely say I have never been more scared in my life. Not necessarily of the cop, but the fury of my parents was enough to make anyone want to hide under the bed.

He stopped outside Sebastian's window, knocking lightly and shining his flashlight to get a better look. Sebastian's face was cool as ice as he rolled down the automatic window, turning to stare the man dead in the eye. From where I was, I was amused to see that the cop looked like a bad imitation of an old western sheriff; complete with brown mud-caked boots, wide-brimmed hat, and vest with a badge labeled Officer Griffith pinned just above the breast pocket. My parents and I weren't the kind of people to go around pissing off cops, so this was my first time seeing one, believe it or not.

"Going pretty fast there, son," Officer Griffith said smiling, his sun-wrinkled skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes. "Got somewhere to be?"

Sebastian didn't hesitate.

"Yes, sir. Just trying to get my little sister home safe," he said, glancing at me, then back to the cop. I didn't dare react to his choice of words or implications.

"Okay, well. I'll need to see some form of ID," Officer Griffith said, rocking back on his heels expectantly. I felt my eyes widen. Great. Just awesome. What an idiot! Great job on your master plan Sebastian, I thought acidly.

And suddenly a thought flickered through my mind.

I'm gonna go to jail.

I shook my head slightly. That was ridiculous. If anything, Sebastian was the one who would probably get a speeding ticket at most. I was just the helpless little sister. Which seemed like a crappy cover story to me. Sebastian and I didn't look very much alike. Well, kind of, but not enough to look related. Sebastian's hair was noticeably darker than mine, a deep almost black. Mine was more of a chocolate brown. His eyes were blue, mine violet.

And that's something I never really looked into. My mom inherited the violet eyes, and my dad had stormy gray eyes. Brandon inherited the gray, I got both. My eyes were a cloudy purple, seeming distant and focused at the same time, almost sinister in a way. I sometimes even scared myself.

Not much time had passed as I thought this over. But Sebastian's expression puzzled me. He looked strangely calm, as if he had everything under control.

As if.

But then he did something that I swear would made me get down on my hands and knees and kiss the ground he walked on. Either that, or punch him so hard in the face he wouldn't see the day he died. At least until the mystery and sheer impossibility of such an action caused my brain to leak out of my skull just thinking about it. He reached smoothly into the pocket of his jeans and removed what my mind recognized as a beat up brown wallet, like the kind my father had. And my grandfather, my own brother, too.

I watched with disbelief as he handed the officer the wallet and sat back in his seat, fully satisfied. I swung my gaze to look at Officer Griffith's face, looking for a sign that he was going to lash out and take us both to jail. But he just squinted slightly, nodded, and turned back to Sebastian, returning the wallet. I watched his hands as he pulled out a small pad of paper from his back pocket, and I had a feeling I knew what that was.

"Well son, I hate to have to do this--" he began, but he didn't get much further than that. He seemed to freeze, not even a twitch of his nose. His face seemed to be deprived of all emotion, at least any that I could see. He looked distracted, like he was having some kind of internal argument with himself. I turned in my seat to get a better look at Sebastian. The set of his face scared me. He looked Officer Griffith straight in the eye, his blue eyes seeming to freeze solid, narrowing to slits.

Officer Griffith shook his head, as if waking up from a deep sleep. He glanced at Sebastian, then moved his eyes to mine. I ducked behind Sebastian so he couldn't see me.

"It's been a rough night. So I'm going to let you off easy for now. But I don't want to see you again, you hear me?" he said it in a daze, his words slurring together.

"You got it," Sebastian said with a brilliant smile. He snapped his seat belt back in place and put the car in gear. As we sped away, I kept my eyes on the cop. As he walked back to his police cruiser, the way he walked confused me. He walked like a zombie, or a person in a dreamlike state; stumbling more than once and almost falling when he finally got to the door. Sympathy swelled through me, and then suspicion. What did Sebastian do to him?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Later that night, when Brandon and my parents were deeply asleep, I took that as my chance to talk to Sebastian about what happened. I was sitting in the middle of my bed, with Sebastian perched on the end, playing absentmindedly with the straps of one of my bras.

I didn't know exactly how to bring it up. Part of me was scared. I didn't want that cruel, mysterious gaze turned on me. I had a feeling I was going to have nightmares tonight.