Jane Goes Batty

“You mean you,” said Byron. “I know they won’t see me.” He hesitated. “Fine. We’ll go in. But if I see so much as a flicker, we’re leaving.”

“Absolutely,” Jane agreed. “Now how do we get in?”

“Most people go through the front door,” Byron said. “Let’s start there.”

“The front door?” said Jane. “Shouldn’t we go through the cellar, or the back, or … I don’t know, the chimney?”

Byron turned to her. “Do you enjoy making things as difficult as possible?”

“To the contrary,” Jane replied. “But it just seems to me that if we’re going to go sneaking around and using our powers, we might as well have some fun at it.” She thought for a moment about what she’d just said. “Goodness. That’s not like me at all.”

“It’s because you turned Chloe,” said Byron, continuing around to the front of the house. “It makes you a bit giddy.”

“Really?” said Jane. “Now that you mention it, I do feel slightly tipsy. Do you think Chloe will be all right?”

They had left Chloe sleeping in Byron’s guest bedroom. Byron had assured Jane that the girl would sleep for several hours at least. What would happen after that was something they hadn’t discussed.

“She’ll be fine,” Byron said, coming to a halt behind one of the large lilac bushes that screened the side of the house from the street. “Just concentrate on disappearing.”

Jane nodded. She closed her eyes, cleared her throat, and filled her mind with the image of herself made out of glass.

“Excellent,” she heard Byron say. “That was very quick.”

“I told you I could do it,” said Jane, feeling quite proud of herself.

A second later Byron blinked out. “All right,” Jane heard him say. “Here we go.”

“How will I know where you are?” asked Jane.

Byron reached out and took her hand. His fingers gripped hers firmly but pleasantly. “Don’t let go,” he said.

Jane allowed him to lead her around the corner of the house and up the front steps. When a boy went riding by on his bike, startling her with the sound of playing cards tucked into the spokes of his wheels, whap-whap-whap, she felt her invisibility waver. A ghostly image of her hand appeared for a second before she focused her mind and regained control.

“You’re certain you can do this?” Byron whispered.

Jane nodded, forgetting that Byron couldn’t see her. “Yes,” she added quickly. “Just get inside.”

She watched as the front door opened slowly. The foyer was empty, and the faint sound of voices came from the parlor. Jane felt Byron pull her inside. Then the door shut again. Jane breathed deeply, steadying her nerves.

Again she felt Byron tug at her hand, and she crept behind him down the hallway to the parlor. They stopped outside the door. Inside, Walter and his mother were talking.

“You did the right thing,” Miriam said.

“I don’t know about that,” said Walter. He sounded weary, almost sad.

“Walter, she told you she wouldn’t marry you,” his mother said.

“No, she said she couldn’t marry me,” Walter countered.

His mother snorted. “It’s the same thing,” she said. “Anyway, she wasn’t right for you.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Walter. “Because she’s not Jewish? Mother, I think you should know that apart from the few holidays I’ve spent with you, I haven’t set foot in a synagogue in twenty years.”

“It has nothing to do with her being a shiksa,” Miriam said. “And shame on you for not going to temple. That’s not how I raised you.”

Walter groaned. “I don’t want to talk about this,” he said.

“Who said we had to talk about it?” said Miriam. “I’m just saying you can do better. You should come stay with me for a while. Ruth Solomon has a lovely daughter you should meet. She lost her spouse, like you.”

“Mother, I don’t need you to set me up with anyone,” Walter barked. Suddenly he groaned loudly, as if he were in pain.

“What?” Miriam said. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re giving me a headache,” Walter told her. “I need some aspirin.”

He came toward the door. Jane flattened herself against the wall, in the process losing connection with Byron as he stepped in the opposite direction. She held her breath as Walter passed between them. A moment later a breath tickled her ear. “Stay here,” Byron whispered. Then he was gone.

Jane looked into the parlor. Miriam still sat on the sofa. Lilith was on her lap, and Miriam stroked the little dog’s ears.

“I’m tempted to tell him what she is,” she heard Miriam say in a low voice. “Of course, he would never believe it. Not unless we provoked her into revealing her true form.”

She’s talking about me, Jane realized. So she does know. But how?

“And I would have to explain about myself as well,” Miriam continued. “That would be inconvenient. Also, it would put everything in jeopardy, and she’s hardly worth it.”

There was a long pause during which Miriam continued to pet Lilith. Jane wondered what Miriam meant by telling Walter about herself. Surely she isn’t a vampire herself, Jane thought. But how else would she know about me?

“Who would have thought he would take up with one of them?” said Miriam, a new edge in her voice. “They’re everywhere these days, like cockroaches. It’s a good thing we arrived when we did. This one isn’t getting my son. I’m going to see to that.”

Jane gasped. She saw Miriam’s head turn. A moment later Lilith leapt off the couch and came trotting toward the door in her peculiar hop-step manner. Her ears were alert, and her eyes were fixed on Jane. A low growl rumbled in her throat.

Jane didn’t know whether to run or stay put. Could Lilith see her? She didn’t know if the invisibility trick worked on all living things or just humans. But the way Lilith was looking at her, she feared she was about to find out.

Suddenly she felt herself jerked backward. “Quickly,” Byron hissed.

That answers that question, Jane thought as she hurried after Byron. Lilith had reached the doorway and was looking down the hall in their direction. She bared her teeth, barked once, and scampered toward Jane and Byron.

Byron reached for the door, but just as he did there came a knocking from the other side. Walter, responding to it, emerged into the hallway, and he and Lilith advanced toward the door—and Jane and Byron.

Jane once again felt herself jerked sideways, this time toward the staircase leading to the second floor. They reached it just as Lilith came sliding to a stop, her feet slipping on the bare wood of the floor. She collided with the bottom step and gave a bark of frustration, looking up at the retreating figures of Jane and Byron.

“What’s gotten into you?” Walter asked the little dog, picking her up as he went to open the door.

Lilith whined and growled, but Walter held her tightly. Jane and Byron continued up the stairs, pausing on the second-floor landing and looking over the banister.

“You might have told me that dogs can see us,” Jane said to Byron.

“It slipped my mind,” Byron said.

“Lovely,” said Jane. “And who—or what—else can see us?”

“Cats, of course,” Byron answered. “Most birds. Mice. Actually, rodents of all kinds. Goats.”

“Goats?” said Jane. “How odd.”

“I didn’t make the rules,” Byron replied.

Their conversation ceased as Walter opened the door and they looked to see who had thwarted their escape. Jane was expecting to see a UPS delivery person, or perhaps a neighbor. She was unprepared for the sight of Beverly Shrop.

“Good morning!” Beverly said brightly. “Is Miriam in?”

Walter, also seemingly taken aback, replied, “Yes, she is. One moment please.”