pte

uo of man and girl and shake them until they explained everything, although she doubted they actually wo

un after people. She didn't demand anything from anyone. It wasn't what she did. 'Going after the pair wouldn't help, ' she reminded hersel

anted her to stay hidden and asked her for a few days so he could make sure it was safe. Then he promis

Satisfied, at least temporarily, Cassie once again started towards the front of the shop. She heard a soft mewl by her feet and looked down. The cat returned. As the Siamese liking her helped

g insistently. Cassie frowned and again leaned down to pet the cat. Again the cat darted behind her. She straightened and

ance section was only one aisle over and the most likely place for Sarah to be located. She didn't need the one sort-of friend she had to thi

e glanced down the row and saw Sarah pulling down a book. She didn't look up at Cassie's passing, seeing neither her nor the cat she was following. The cat led her to an aisle a few rows over and then stopped in front of a set of shelves, looking at Cas

hope this isn't your lost catnip filled mouse or something gross, " she whispered reaching tentatively under the shelf. To her surprise her fingers encountered a book. "Well it is a book shop, " she chided he

g stuffed under the shelf or its retrieval. It was a fairly large book and looked like nothing else around it. It was at least three inches thick and abou

e other pages, discovering as she did that it was a book of maps. She smiled softly to herself as she continued looking them over. Included in th

' she thought. 'And why would he c

he counter without anyone, feline or human stopping her. At the counter the owner looked over the books she had in her stack without a flicker of concern over her oversized map book. His gravelly voice to

or sale and she quickly settled on the plain ceramic one rather than the more brightly colored options thinking it would

gan to wonder about their role in all this, whatever this happened to be. Did they know about

't t

h strange fact to focus on first. If her parents knew then why would they pretend she was imagining things when she told them what she saw? Would

a concrete bench in the plaza. People walked past the duo as if they didn't actually see them and before they spotted her she could see the man calling out rude things to the people passing by. No one's gaze even flickered in their directio

t she could see them without directly looking towards them. 'If I could see them then it would look suspicious that the guy I thought was a pervert was sitting with the girl I warned about him. I'd have t

g Mr. Babbin's tusks

to simply be scanning the crowd rather than taking part in his fun. Everyone it seem

inkie curls?" The man made curling motions with his pinkies as though imitating said pinkie curls. "Do you have a tiny little set of dumbbells you us

t. There wasn't even a flicker on his face in response. As he pa

only natural, " the man called. He opened his mouth to add something else to his commentary, but the girl elbowed hi

" the man demanded. "I was jus

l, " she

the gates, didn't know Abraham and the cat likes her. Besides she can't even see us, can she? Watch." There was a pause in th

t them.' She wasn't quite sure how they made themselves invisible

not to blush, counting fast and thinking of numbers to keep from being embarrassed. It was a trick she used to keep her from being scared of some of the strange looking people she saw over the years and

e heard the girl say

she thought I

with you. I doubt she's a Walker

's t

one of them in the store and they w

" the man, Enki commented. "In fact I wouldn't mind if

ep her hidden. People, normal people, would barely even be aware she existed. Their eyes would slide past her and the

Enki replied. "Of course you can have a l

oser she doubted she would be able to hear beyond the strange echo-y sound that seemed to fill her ears. The girl's words repeate

ware she

slide

rememb

rien

y of driving between the Plaza parking lot and her house. She picked up her bags and went inside. Her head felt strangely disconnected from her body. She moved to her bedroom and put her bags on the bed. She slipped the books out of the bag and placed them on her

ware she

from elsewhere they either did so before she was born or when she was too little to remember. Normally, she used the liv

placed artistically on shelves and low tables. Pictures were scattered randomly in the space to personalize it and make it seem less museum-like. Cassie n

. There was a picture of them posed with their friends. All were wearing either evening gowns or tuxedos and wer

wn onto the couch, abandoning her study of

on show. In fact often she felt as though it were some sort of program on the television as no one seemed to notice her. She felt invisible. Once, when she was much younger, Cas

recalled. The edge of her mouth qui

uice was kept in the fridge, but the bottles of wine were kept in a separate cabinet. She spotted a woman sipping from a glass of red wine and asked her if it tasted like grape juice. The woman reacted as though Cassie

roblem was the woman apologized for spillin

s she had something to do with it, but they never mentioned the incident to her. While she stayed in her room the rest of the night, at other parties she wondered among them. If she kept her mouth shut, they never

all of the bumps, bruises and scrapes Kelly caused her this year alone. "Let alone since she started this nonsense freshman year." Cassie blinked in s

hools in the area fed into the much larger Elkdale High School and she and Kelly Larsen both att

o remember anything about her, but came up with nothing. She could remember no instan

me a flyer and smiled at me once, " Cassie remembered. "It was her first campaign for class president." Cassie remembered the blank stare and generi

she recognized Sarah from the book store even though they never exchanged any words prior. No one seemed to mind, so s

e her feel like part of their group rather than just someone who sat down at their table. A few months later they started to register when she put her things away and treated it as the signal that lun

over time, " Cassie adde

eased that the very attractive and very popular guy noticed

he said when he cam

llesley Junior High with her and Kelly. "So he should know me or at least m

to death as a baby." Cassie frowned thinking of her grandfather stopping by. He always seemed to ask if she

e instant noodle cups and microwavable meals, and taught me how to use the microwave and the electric kettle." Her grandfath

aybe, " she conceded not knowing how any such thing would work or if it in fact could be done at a

he worked. She remembered Rita talking to her as she stocked the fridge with the produce ga

ly, " Cassie recalled. She thought of the woman with the wine glass and remembered how many times she startled both Rita and Frank as they worked. How when she was quiet to watch what they were

and pickles." Cassie recalled presenting him proudly with the first jar she made. She hadn't learned quite how to make bread at that po

ry jam I have ever had, "

und harvested produce by the back door leading to the garden, but even that stopped by the time she was ten. The yard was maintained and the garden weeds p

if she were somehow detached from her body. Part of her wanted to

though she could see the cake, waiting for her to pronounce judgement. Her feet wouldn't take her in

k a deep breath and stepped forward, realizing she was quaking inside harder than when she had to give her class presentation. This time it wasn't the fear of saying the wrong thing tha

t h

d insides squirm. As she walked into the hallway, Cassie had the absurd thought that before she returned to her space, she should erase her tracks in the carpet the way her grandfather erased the tracks

ere gone and Cassie would bring the packages to the long wooden table placed in the center of the room. In addition to the books, there were small glass boxes that hous

al, 'that looks like a coin' rather than anything specific. Even though the book cases had glass doors covering them, they weren't locked and she looked through several of the books on occasion. None of them wer

the hall. This room held no ancient artifacts, priceless art or rare books. The art included fairly generic prints and the windows were covered with veneti

tch weren't all that interesting. Cassie was certain the wooden hutch where the television was housed contained other electronics. She never bothered looking. Her father was

oming though." She didn't think they locked the space against her, but because her m

ged off the feeling. The battered coffee table had one drawer and Cassie checked it first. She pulled it open and found an array of remote controls lined

but slipped her hands between them anyway to check. She came up with two pennies and a quarter. Not knowing what else to do with it, Cassie pocketed the change and turned her attention to the television hutch. It

Ds split evenly between romantic comedy and action adventure, a DVD player,

eps left in the carpet pile, erasing her presence in the room. She stepped back into the hallway and eased the

The door was closed and she pushed it open. The sound of the creaking door seemed as loud as a siren in the qu

on the walls are still here.' Somehow the suite looked more like a hotel than a home and she wondered if was deliberately designed

thing, " she told herself. "N

ause it was the master suite, but that was the only real difference. The bathroom was farthest away from the do

personal spaces like the closet. As Cassie crossed the bedroom, she tried telling herself that she was being practical and

ed in a small room of its own, the shower had multiple sprays and what Cassie thought might be its own sound system, the bath was large and

paper taped to it between the sinks. She bumped into the edge of the vanity and stopped walking, her palms pressed against t

veral times in red. Three bullet points were listed below. Cassie read them out loud, her v

ssie saw that her name had been underlined repeatedly,

f the house, " She read the second point

Each letter was written on her mother's monographed stationary. The top page told her that they were off to Rio and gave a day of the week when they might be expected back. It was signed love mom and both the grocery store's number and her grandfather's number were given. Cassie's trembling fingers lifted the fi

in the box and re attached the lid. Her ey

parents of C

Would their eyes slide right past her if she didn't speak? Why did they need to be reminded that they were her parents? Did her grandfather put a block

formation would be in the house. She took another deep breath to steady herself and resolved to find some answers. Slowly and methodically she began to search the bathroom. She opened each drawer, each cabinet. She peered into each little box and even op

e sort of anger sliding through the numbness filling her. "If I don't say anything maybe they won't even see me." Despite her anger, she was careful when she shifted the clothes to the side to l

r arm between the mattress and box spring in case something was stashed there. She came up with nothing. She moved to the desk and found assorted bills and other paperwork. Nothing lo

edit card they gave her to pay for groceries, clothes and other necessities. She also found the information for her car's insuranc

er the underside of the table and inspected the lamp, finding nothing. She shoved her hands between the cushions in the chair and likewise found nothing. Feeling desperate, she moved to the large curtains. They were meant to frame the area dramatically and wen

, " she mused, slowly turning the pages. There wasn't much writing on each page, just a block of text surrounded by wide margins. The margins were decorated with strangely twisting decorative designs. There also weren't man

sed with her plan Cassie took the book in her hand, used her foot to wipe away any tr