also remembered how Imogene had killed Jeremiah. She hadn’t witnessed the assault, but she knew Jeremiah had possessed superhuman strength, so for Imogene to defeat him she couldn’t have just been lucky. She was seeing a side of the girl she had thought was dead and buried, but in truth had only been asleep. She was watching the resurrection of her feisty spirit, and while it filled her with pride it also filled her with fear. Brania knew firsthand how dangerous an uncontrollable daughter could be.
“Enough, Imogene!” Brania cried. “You’ve proven your point.”
The girl didn’t budge. “Not until he’s dead.”
Cautiously, Brania took a step forward. She didn’t think Imogene would strike her, but she couldn’t be sure. “Remember Nakano could’ve killed you too,” she said quietly. “Isn’t it better to be like this, the way you are now, than to be dead?”
The words had their desired effect, and Imogene loosened her grip on Nakano as she pondered Brania’s interpretation of the facts. It was all the time Nakano needed to strike back. Finally able to get one hand free, he rallied his strength so he could punch Imogene in the jaw. But his swing hit nothing but air. Imogene was no longer on top of him.
“Imogene!” Brania cried out, having witnessed the girl disappear before her eyes.
Stunned, Nakano scrambled to his feet and looked all around the cave, waiting for the girl to strike back at any second. Left, right, behind, Imogene was nowhere. Just as they were about to run out of the cave, Brania saw a light flicker in the coffin, and then a shape began to materialize, a shape that turned into Imogene’s body. Without saying another word, Imogene sat back down in the casket and leaned into the corner, bringing her knees close to her chest.
“What the hell just happened?” Nakano asked, his body still shaking.
Proud, yet truly frightened, Brania replied, “I think my daughter can turn herself invisible when she feels threatened.”
Shaking his head, Kano started to pace the width of the cave, the words gurgling out of him like puss from a wound. “I came here from a run-in with Jean-Paul to seek refuge,” he spat, “only to come face to face with some half dead, invisible, po-faced git!”
With one eye on Imogene, Brania sat down on a boulder that was lodged against one of the walls and smoothed out her black leather skirt. “Oh come on, Kano,” she scolded. “She hardly looked glum.
Vengeful yes, glum no.”
Taking in the surroundings and this latest unexplainable event, Nakano was flabbergasted.
“Seriously?! You like it here?”
Laughing at the boy’s honesty, Brania replied, “For the time being this place suits me perfectly.”
Glancing over at the now-peaceful girl in the coffin, she added, “And Imogene is a lovely companion.
We rely on each other implicitly.”
Still unable to stand still, Nakano continued to pace, making sure to stay as far away from the open coffin as possible. “Bollocks! I don’t believe a word you say!” he shouted. “I trust you less than I trust Jean-Paul!”
At last Nakano heard something that made him stop moving. “No,” he replied. “Tell me, what exactly is going on between them?”
Brania felt like a spider watching a curious little bug step onto her web. “I can’t figure out what it is,” she said, sounding helpless and unsure. “I thought you might know something since you’re so close to Jean-Paul.”
Exhausted, Nakano sat on the boulder next to Brania. “We’re not that close anymore.”
Feigning shock, Brania replied, “I don’t believe that.” She reached out and touched Kano’s hand. It flinched slightly, unused to such tenderness. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Nakano was drenched in a wave of hope, so he disregarded the rational part of his mind that questioned Brania’s comment. He wanted to believe what Brania was saying, he wanted to believe that there was still a chance for him and Jean-Paul as a couple, so that’s what he clung to. “Really?”
For just one second when Brania heard Nakano’s voice crack did she contemplate telling him the truth. But then she remembered she needed to keep her heart out of her plans and only think with her mind. “Absolutely,” she said. “There is no way that Jean-Paul can look at you and not see the wonderful man you’re becoming.”
Nakano could no longer look into her eyes, so he gazed down at the dirt at his feet and started counting the pebbles so he wouldn’t cry. When he felt like he could speak again without blubbering, he did. “I’m trying.”
Brania stared at the ground as well, hoping her movement would translate as contemplative and not mimicry. “You know, I’ve made a lot of mistakes myself, and I know I haven’t always been the most trustworthy person, not to you, not to a lot of people actually,” she said softly. “But I’m trying to change, too. I’m trying to become a better person just like you are.”
This time when he felt Brania’s fingers touch his chin, he didn’t flinch, he allowed them to rest there and turn his face toward hers. She looked at him with such kindness, he wished he could bottle it and take it with him, so every night before he went to sleep he could open the bottle up and have kindness watch over him while he slept. “You really think I’m becoming a better person?”
“You’re doing more than that,” Brania corrected. “You’re succeeding.”
Brania grabbed Nakano’s hands and made him stand up. “You’re an adult now, and you can make your own decisions,” she said. “You can trust whomever you want. I just hope that someday you come to trust me.”
Deep within him, hope was churning into happiness, and impulsively he hugged Brania. Startled, she didn’t hug back right away; her arms floundered for a few moments until her mind clicked in and advised her to return the gesture. She wrapped her arms around Nakano and was surprised to find that his warm, needy flesh felt good. But after he left, Brania wasn’t sure if what had just transpired was indeed a good thing. Imogene knew it was not.
“He isn’t an adult,” she hissed.
Pulled from her musing, Brania crossed over to her ward and knelt beside the coffin. She placed her arms on the white satin edge and rested her chin on her clasped hands. She looked like a lazy schoolgirl kneeling in church and leaning on the back of a pew. “No, he isn’t, darling,” Brania agreed.
“But he doesn’t know that yet, because he’s still a child like you.”
Rising, Brania stood before Imogene and was happy that she had remained tranquil after her outburst. Brania would have to observe her more closely and try to find out what other powers she possessed, but right now she was hungry. “I need to feed,” she announced. “But Mother will return shortly.”
A few minutes after Brania left the cave, Imogene felt anger and resentment boil inside her. She looked at her skin expecting to see blisters, but it was as pale and smooth as always. Even still, she knew she was transforming into something different yet again. She didn’t know what was happening to her, but she knew one thing for certain, that sooner rather than later, Brania was going to find out that the rules had changed.
The mere thought of Brania’s name made the rage within her grow even stronger. Imogene knew that Brania didn’t care that that thing had killed Penry. Brania didn’t care about her; she just wanted to control her and do God knows what to her. The thought of it made Imogene feel threatened. She felt as if she were in danger and that even though she was alone she had to defend herself in any way possible. Rising, she felt her hand grip the side of the coffin without commanding it to do so and heard a deafening creak as the lid was ripped from its hinges. She felt her arm involuntarily swing to the side and heard the lid crash into the wall of the cave. She heard herself shriek, “I AM NOT A CHILD!!!”
And then she felt herself disappear.
chapter 8
“I am not a child!”
