Blood By Moonlight: Chapter 8

  --Blood by Moonlight. Chapter Eight: Change—
 
--<~*(__)*~>--

 
 
         Kyle spotted the school by the glow of the Christmas lights that had finally been set up. Sid did not enjoy the holiday electric bill, so he liked to wait and then spend one entire weekend forcing all the volunteers and anyone who had detention to string lights outside while those who lived at the school decorated the inside. While his classmates observed the décor, Kyle waved a quick goodbye to Williams, then headed through the crowd, out the back door of the school, and over to the shack. Zell had thrown a clump of lights on the roof and the crows were collecting the tinsel that had been dumped on the tree. The birds were looking festive, and their distraction kept them quiet as Kyle pushed open the door to the shack and peered inside.
 
          The emptiness was painful after all that time on the bus, waiting for the moment when it would at last stop and release him from his prison of chain linked excitement topped by barbed wire doubts. His eyes traced every object in the room, refusing to give up hope, and landed on the one thing out of place- besides the hellish remains of Zell’s party. There was a note on Kyle’s bed and though he only read seven words of it, the rest of the message imprinted on his mind faster than he could actively read and allowed him to take the information and run in little more than a second.
 
                    She met her housemate at Athenry Square and I told her to stay there and I’d meet her at eight. I know you get back around nine, but curfew on Sunday is ten so… anyway, hurry!
 
                   The journey was background as his eyes looked toward the future and the past. As the bus he found himself on stopped for train tracks, Kyle gave up and got out. When Zell and Misty and him had been moved from foster home to foster home, all the while trying desperately to stay together, things had been difficult but nothing had been as terrible as being separated. When Misty wrote that her new dad didn’t want her writing letters and talking to them on the phone instead of getting involved in her new community, and he had woken up to find strangers taking Zell away, Kyle had lost his ability to tell himself that things would work out and everything would be fine.
 
                   So how could this be real? Kyle ran up a closed restaurant with a dramatically sloped prow style roof, and spotted the lights of Athenry Square. He let out a breath and found within himself that elusive third wind Zell’s soccer coach kept preaching about. Using the roof to build speed, Kyle shot to the street, through a sharp turn and straight towards the lights. The world was a blur and all that mattered were those brightening lights that grew bigger and higher as Kyle sprinted. Throwing himself across the final street separating him from the Square, Kyle jumped in time to avoid hitting one of the decorative posts that kept traffic from trying to charge into the Square. His speed forced him to either jump up onto the fountain or hit it, but that was fine as the vantage point gave him a better chance at spotting the people he was looking for.
 
                   It was a Sunday night so life in the Square was winding down, but Kyle’s eyes scanned for any two people not on their way out. His impatience drove him towards action and he ran in a direction that brought back the memory of what had led him to the train station. The shops were mostly dark, the venders were packing up, the troubadours were finishing up their encores and the noise created up by these final moments was immense. The smell of pine wreaths and trees and cinnamon scented pine cones crowded him. Kyle shot around a corner, behind a shop selling custom chocolate creations, and came to the entrance of the garden park. His lungs burned, and his heart was in his throat, but his eyes caught his purpose.
 
                   She was sitting under a tree strung with Christmas lights, wearing a silver and faux black fur jacket, black stockings and knee high black boots. Kyle could not move for fear that his hopes would be too high or this would turn out to be a sick sense of humor evolving in Zell. All he could see was the back of her head. Look at me… As if on command, the girl turned her head and her green-hazel eyes searched for something as if a stage director had told her to. When they landed on Kyle, they stopped their search and she smiled the most welcoming smile Kyle had ever seen. The ice around him melted and he could move again, down towards her.
 
                   "Misty," he whispered. The familiarity of the name was comforting and seemed to bring him back through the years to a time he had hoped would last forever. The happy moments in a childhood none of them had been meant for.
 
         “Kyle!” she called as if in reply. It was part of what he had grown up trying to explain; how more words did not need to be tacked on to express meaning. The way a child says Mom or Dad rather than the way they say any other name or how a bride and groom can say I do, and make people cry with joy. He could see Zell grinning and felt like a moron for waxing poetic after one word, but he felt like Misty had returned to him from the grave.
 
         “You got here fast,” stated Zell, looking at his watch. “Freaking out, right?” Misty looked back at Zell and laughed before turning a bright grin towards Kyle.
 
         “I know, I…” She looked back between Zell and Kyle again. “I knew Zell was somewhere in this state, but I couldn’t find any information on you. I thought Zell would know so I called the… what? Salus School? That one kinda threw me but when I asked to speak to Zell Gryphan I heard ‘He’s out, Sabre and him are at practice.’ I had to ask three or four times if I’d heard right.”
 
         She held her hand out and Kyle knew what she was looking for; proof that this was real. He held out his right hand and Misty clasped it in hers. She had a unique trait as well, like Zell’s ability to see ghosts. Misty could feel certain things when she touched people. Anger, greed, and depression, misery, and heartbreak all barraging her and sometimes she could see the person’s soul or even their darkest desire. With Kyle, however, she never had these images and emotions attack her. Even as a child, Kyle had learned how to clear his mind and feel only what he wanted her to perceive. It was a subconscious effort as something deep inside him prevented even his thoughts from hurting Misty. She smiled as she felt his joy at seeing her, and unclipped the glove he was wearing so she could trace her thumb across the thin white scar visible on both sides of his hand.
 
                   “It looks a lot better,” she breathed, suddenly holding back tears. This was real, no doubt about it. Kyle nodded but could not reply before Misty threw herself forward and enveloped him in a tight hug.
 
                   “Oh my God,” she whispered, crying now. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
 
                   All the questions Kyle had about how Misty was there simply disappeared. For the first time in so long, he didn’t want to question what was happening, he just wanted to accept it. Misty pulled back and stared him up and down, updating her memory from the last time she had seen him and allowing him to do the same with her. He noticed the hair first as she had always worn it cut short- usually to her shoulders. Her bangs were gone and her hair had a slight wave to it that had not been apparent when she had shorter hair. She’d grown into her ears and now had her hair brushed behind them instead of hiding them. Next was the fact that she was willingly wearing girls clothing. When they were kids she would steal his instead of wearing the ‘girly stuff’ provided by their first foster mom.
 
                   Misty laughed suddenly.
 
                   “You know, I tried to picture what you two would look like.” She shook her head and reached into her coat to pull out an old Polaroid. “Same, yet different…” Kyle looked to the photo and cringed, though Zell just laughed.
 
                   “I remember that!” he exclaimed. “Dressed up in clothing usually locked up unless it was a court day or Sunday, the cameraman tells everyone to smile like you’ve just won the lottery and this is what happens.”
 
                   In the photo they were clutching their chests or arms and looking to be suffering heart attacks.
 
                   “You have pictures?” questioned Kyle, surprised.
 
                   “I wrote our old foster parents a few years back and begged for copies if they still had any,” Misty replied, still grinning at the photo. “There weren’t many, but I have a few- Oh! I don’t have a camera, but we have to get a picture. I really pictured meeting again being some sort of big party-like event like a high school reunion or something. I was just down here getting stuff with Lila when Zell called…”
 
                   “I couldn’t wait to see you,” defended Zell, unable to wipe the grin off his face.
 
                   “Couldn’t wait for one day?” asked Misty, her eyes narrowing in a playfully annoyed manner.
 
                   “Hey, his trip ended at nine something,” said Zell, pulling Kyle into the argument. “Look at that clock tower over there and tell me he wasn’t hauling serious ass to get over here instead of waiting until tomorrow.”
 
                   “I don’t think you’re going to find a camera here,” stated Kyle, changing the topic.
 
                   “Everything is closed,” agreed Misty.
 
                   “And curfew is over in like eight minutes,” added Zell. They stood, staring in different directions and cringing.
 
                   “I don’t really care. Do you?” questioned Kyle. He was met with grins and shaking heads.
 
                   “No, I told Lila not to wait up, there is no way I’m going home yet,” said Misty, rubbing her arms to chase away the cold. Zell only shrugged.
 
                   “Why go back now when we have a better chance of sneaking in later?”
 
                   “Alright then.” Kyle smiled as the clock tower struck ten. It was time for all the good boys and girls to go home and let the bad ones play. “Follow me; I know a few places still open.” The way he said it was enticing, though in the way going into a dark, sinister cave or abandoned house was enticing.
 
                   “How do you know what’s open if you’re supposed to be at the school by now?” queried Misty, falling into step beside Kyle.
 
         “Because getting him to stay inside all night is like getting a feral cat to enjoy being bathed,” replied Zell, grinning wickedly at Kyle. “So, what are we doing? Have you seen much of the town?”
 
         “No, I got here Friday; we spent the weekend trying to figure things out and unpacking…” said Misty, hunching her shoulders. “We’re not even done yet. The house was furnished, but really ugly. Like some old lady had decorated. Then Lila was on the phone with my dad for about half the day and talking to Ty the other half so I was just wandering around the neighborhood and getting to know the new neighbors-”
 
         “You talked to other people before us?” interrupted Zell, hurt. He stopped walking and Misty ran back to reach him.
 
         “It’s not like that!” she pressed, reaching out to grab his hand and see if he was really mad or not. Zell took off running and Misty chased after him, though Zell was and always had been extremely fast so every step she took gave him a three step lead at least. Kyle shook his head, but his tired body forgot the weight of the day and he gave chase. He reached for Misty’s hand as she reached out for his and he pulled her so she would not be left behind. It was a scene they had mastered in their childhood, repeated again as if not a day had gone by since the last time.
 
         Because there was no schedule or assigned course, they roamed freely. There was no urge to rush or any one thing that absolutely needed to be said; they spoke of everything and nothing at the same time. When the chill of night settled in they boarded the last bus and let it drive them around so Misty could see more of the town. When they left the bus, Kyle lead them to a late night group of improve actors holding a play with no script, then they walked a street where artists painted bland pieces during the day and left them to glow in the dark at night. Past Christmas window displays and giant Menorahs set up with pride. In the end they crawled into an old theater playing occult classics and movies made by local clubs and even just whatever a lot of people got together and requested.
 
         “You know what? I don’t want to just be a journalist,” stated Misty, staring back at the theater. “I want to learn every language I can, and travel the world. Get a degree in intercultural communication and show people everywhere what life is like in other places and why the different cultures exist and need to be preserved. I know it’ll take a long time and I’ll probably be eighty and still not be done but… so what? It’ll be worth it.”
 
         “Gonna stay here for now though, right?” teased Zell, staring at his watch in disbelief that it was already four in the morning.
 
         “Of course.” Misty smiled warmly and stepped closer towards them. “I want to be here with you guys now. We can figure out the other stuff later.”
 
                   “True,” agreed Zell, nodding. Kyle could not think of anything to say. He had been going through the motions, trying to earn money and grab some form of pleasure from life, but his plans were always simply to continue to survive. Misty made survival only half the game, and thought beyond their current situation. He loved that about her.
 
         “Speaking of the future… how are we getting home?” asked Misty, digging through her pockets. “I have ten dollars and the buses stopped running.
 
         “They’ll pick up again,” Kyle advised, though he could see her point. She only stared back at him with a smile that told she wasn’t entirely thrilled by that answer.
 
                   “Let’s like hitch hike,” suggested Zell, pointing towards a parking garage. “There are three of us, it’ll be fine.”
 
                   The Dr. Horrible theme song rang out and Misty scrambled to pull a phone from her pocket.
 
                   “Hi,” she chirped. “Yes… I know what time it is, I have a clock on my ph-… no… no… I’m sorry!… Just hanging out. There’s actually a lot to do. … … Sorry mom.  … Okay! Okay, I take it back! … Yeah, could you? The busses aren’t running anymore and we’re kinda  stranded here… Um, we are at…”
 
                   “Corner of Dame street and Crow,” said Kyle, soon repeated by Misty. She ended her conversation with,
 
                   “Thanks! See you soon.” Misty flipped the phone shut and let out a breath. “I found us a ride.”
 
                   “That’s great, but is she gonna kill us when she gets here?” Zell pondered, stroking his chin. “Or drop us off at the school and honk the horn?”
 
                   “No to the first thing, but the second is possible,” admitted Misty, bluntly. “I recommend you don’t tell her your names.”
 
                   “Who is she?” asked Kyle, pulling his sunglasses out of his coat as he had not been wearing them in the theater.
 
                   “Lila was my neighbor,” said Misty, as she sat down on a wooden bench. “We’d hang out even though she was in college while I was in junior high. She let me spend the night at her dorm all the time and kind of adopted me as her little sister. At the moment she is my legal guardian.” She went on briefly to explain how Lila’s sorority advertised job openings and her fiancé was accepted into a few schools and Lila remembered Misty talking about how she knew someone from this area. It had been high on their list anyway and now was the time for new homeowners to find great deals, so they’d decided to come. As she finished her explanation, headlights streamed towards them in the distance. They reminded Kyle of Friday night, but he pushed those thoughts from his mind because of how close Misty was standing to him.
 
                   He did not want to trouble her. Misty waved her arms to signal the car, which screeched to a rumbling halt before a blond woman with noticeable muscle in her arms and a tired scowl on her face stepped out wearing a powder blue and brown cotton night shirt with a sleeping monkey on it. She looked Zell up and down, slowly and without shame before she turned that gaze onto Kyle.
 
                   “So these are your friends?” she asked Misty. When Misty nodded, a smirk hitched up Lila’s cheek. “Good job.”
 
                    Misty blushed brightly and shoved unnecessarily past Lila to get in the car. “Thanks Lie,” she growled. Lila stood a moment longer, staring at Kyle again, and her peripheral caught Zell trying to fade into the darkness.
 
                   “Halt,” she ordered. “Get in. I’m not going to be responsible for the police wasting their time trying to solve your murders because I left you out here.”
 
                   
After they exchanged doubtful looks, Kyle slid into the car first and sat beside Misty and Zell dropped into the front seat. He spun around to grin at them and began to say something only to yawn instead as Lila opened the driver’s side door and collapsed into the seat. She mumbled something about it being too early for this and put the car into gear. Zell gave directions, but many if not all of them were ignored. Kyle watched the Christmas lights pass by outside the windows, but sudden warmth on his hand pulled his focus back into the car. When he looked down to his left hand, he saw Misty’s right.
 
         I’m glad you found us, he thought, watching her face. I missed you. Misty smiled and he knew she had gotten the message.
 
         “And that is also a good place to turn, but… you’ve passed it,” announced Zell as Lila sped through the streets. “Ands see here where you’re turning; this isn’t even a through street.” The street they were on was called Lilac Boulevard, though the lilac trees were dormant for the winter so the neighborhood had replaced them with holiday decorations. Lila pulled into a driveway and around to an awning serving as the garage. She turned the engine off and got out with Zell mumbling,
 
         “Yeah, this is fine. Thanks.”
 
         The teens climbed out of the car with Lila watching them, and her stare made it clear that the night was over.
 
         “I guess we’re walking,” said Zell, curtly. Misty bit her lip, but Lila shook her head. She was done driving for the night.
 
         Zell sighed and managed to reign in his annoyance. He gave Misty a hug and told her to call anytime she wanted to. He then hugged Lila, much to her surprise, and took off running as she swung her purse at him in retaliation.
 
         “Thanks for making this night perfect,” intoned Misty, under her breath as she stared at Lila.
 
{indent }“It’s fine. I’ll see you later?” asked Kyle, deciding to retreat before Lila turned her attention onto him.
 
         “Call me,” she replied with a smile.
 
         Kyle stood there a moment longer, unable to move. Misty had said those words to him the last time he had seen her, before she disappeared. Even though she had just come back into his life and even though they still had a lot of catching up to do, he wondered how long this would last and when she would leave again.
 
         “I will,” he promised.
 

—

     
 
         Sidney Decretum awoke for the third time that night, boiling with anger. The smell of overly-scented cinnamon pinecones had army crawled under the door and invaded the room while he had been asleep, though he could not blame it for his restlessness. Every corner of the dark room echoed with memories that served to annoy him further, and drove him to his feet. He had hoped to speak with Kyle, but the teenager had left the grounds practically the moment he returned to them after the camping trip.
 
                   Sid shuffled to his closet and threw on his robe before he left his bedchamber behind and entered the office. There was a coffee pot on a table near his door for any visiting guests, but it had not turned on yet and Sid found himself in the ironic cycle of being too cold and lazy to create warm caffeine. Instead, he allowed his anger to grow and ignored all the advice he had given to parents over the years: let it go until morning when you’re better rested and able to handle the matter like a responsible adult.
 
         Instead, he marched down the hallway, stomped down the stairs, grumbled his way across the back yard and was about to slam his fist against the shack’s door, when he noticed light streaming from under it and voices coming from inside.
 
         “No, I swear I heard something,” said Kyle. Zell sat up in bed and shot a drowsy stare at his roommate.
 
         “It’s just the murder,” he replied. Kyle nodded and clicked off his light to try and get a few hours of sleep before he was expected in class. Though as he answered Zell’s call of “Good night,” with “Good morning” the door pulsed with noise and a shout of,
 
         ”Open this door!”
 
         Kyle and Zell’s light flicked back on as they watched the door. They knew who it was by the voice, but the tone would not let them throw out the possibility of their being another kind of murder to worry about.
 
         “What?!” hollered Zell, not sure if he should pretend to have been asleep or explain they had been up late finishing homework. Kyle slid out of bed and crossed to the door as Sid growled on the other side.
 
         “Yes?” he hesitantly asked. The headmaster stared down at him with disappointment tattooed all over his face, and stepped inside the room despite not having an invitation.          
 
         “I told you I would talk to you when you returned from your trip,” Sid began in a tone littered with shrapnel. Kyle cringed as he shut the door and Zell asked,
 
         “Are you mad at me?”
 
         The headmaster turned towards him and gave a quick, “No.” Zell clicked his light off in a flood of relief and attempted to let sleep take him. Kyle ignored him.
 
         “Did you talk to Valadir?” he asked in an attempt to figure out why Sid was storming around so early in the morning. Sid stared at him without answering, and his face flew through different emotions before he shook his head in disgust.
 
         “Yeah, he wants you to call him.”
 
         Kyle waited, and yet Sid only nodded and stared blankly at him.
 
         “…And?” prompted Kyle, irritably. The headmaster stared at him as if shocked by the tone, and raised his eyebrows.
 
         “And that’s all I need to say to you,” he clarified sternly. “He asked that you call him- why are you looking at me like that?”
 
         Kyle’s heart was pounding again and he was overwhelmed by a feeling of panic.
 
         “And you said you were going to look into him, remember?” he growled. Sid stood up a little straighter and his eyes narrowed.
 
         “Yes, I remember,” he replied curtly. “I spoke with him on Saturday. He is still willing to adopt you, and wants you to call him.”
 
         “What?” snarled Kyle, in a low and sinister tone. “What about him following me and lying about-”
 
         “Your faith in me is appalling,” interrupted Sid, speaking the words with all the anger in his stare. Kyle felt his own rage fading to horror. What had happened while he was gone? How could Valadir have crawled out from under that pile of bullshit? Before he could ask, the Headmaster spun around and stormed out the door. Kyle moved to chase after him, but Zell stopped him with a haunting voice that pulsed with the sense of betrayal,
 
         “Kyle… are you going to be adopted?”
 
         Kyle turned to see a look on Zell’s face that he had never seen before. It was disgust, anger and horror all mixed together. Without raising his voice or speeding through the words, Zell demanded,
 
         “When the hell were you going to tell me?”
 
         Kyle sighed and sat down on his bed, feeling that Zell would punch him if he got too close. Zell Gryphan was waiting for his parents to come get him and had never opened up to the idea of finding a family and moving on. It protected him as he was not seeking parental affection or worrying that he would never get a chance to find a home where he would be loved just like any other child. He didn’t understand the quest for a good permanent home and had held a grudge against Misty for- well Kyle assumed that grudge had held strong up to the point when Misty called him.
 
         “I heard it mentioned on Thursday, but I thought I could talk whoever it was out of adopting me in particular,” said Kyle, hoping to explain things. “I met him on Friday, but he wouldn’t listen to me and I’ve been gone all weekend.”
 
         “I don’t want to talk to you,” replied Zell, spinning so he was lying down facing away from Kyle.
 
         “Don’t be a prick,” said Kyle, without any cruelty in his tone. There were a handful of psychological reasons for Zell to be bitter, but unless he listened he would not understand the truth behind the matter. “I didn’t ask for this and I don’t even like the guy.” There was no response so Kyle gave up for the time being. He stretched out on his bed and was asleep instantly.
 
         It was the alarm that woke them both up two hours later. Kyle showered, changed clothes and was out the door without a word from Zell. If anything, having to always share a room with at least one person had taught them how to hold a bitter and silent grudge while in close proximity. Kyle knew Zell could have shoved a cold shoulder into ten other people trapped in an elevator for three days, but he had hoped that getting some rest would help. Through breakfast, Kyle ate by himself and headed off to class with Zell not even offering a glare his way. By lunch, Zell had effectively forgotten that he had a roommate and Kyle had too many other things on his mind to baby his roommate. Napping during and between classes brought his total amount of sleep up to three hours and however many minutes, so he was able to shake some of his grogginess away before heading off to work.
 
         The bus took him a few blocks from his employer’s house and allowed him to pick up some groceries. At his employer’s house, Kyle noticed the paper had not been taken in, so he grabbed it on his way to the front door. He knocked, but there was no answer and because of that, he groaned as he fished out his key and unlocked the door. Lounging on the couch, occupying his time between naps by watching the birds outside, was the cat.
 
         The cat was the reason no one wanted to be assigned to Mr. Kent’s house, and the reason they had accepted a fifteen-year-old employee. Officially he was a volunteer, but Mr. Kent paid him a dollar above minimum wage.
 
         “Really?” asked Kyle, frustrated by the cat. The cat and Mr. Kent were actually one and the same, and the reason why a care giver was required on staff in order for Mr. Kent to keep ownership of his home and be allowed to live there.
 
         “Mrow,” replied Mr. Kent, oblivious to any hostility in his cat persona. He stretched and stood onto his hands and knees, but Kyle was in no mood for him so he hurried into the kitchen to put the groceries away. When he closed the refrigerator door and saw the cat staring at him curiously, he droned,
 
         “Hi.”
 
“Prrrow,” said the cat, he moved to rub up against Kyle’s leg. Rolling his eyes, Kyle turned away and shoved the empty grocery bags under the sink. The cat followed and Kyle evaded him. Why did it always have to be weird to walk in this house? Couldn’t he just once walk inside and not find Mr. Kent clawing up his own furniture or sleeping on the counters or having to dread the day when the cat decided the lesson his first caretaker gave him about the toilet being used as a litterbox was no longer essential.
 
         Kyle bent and gathered a stack of mail from the floor and shuffled through them. A company hired to spray for bugs had stopped by early Friday morning and needed to spray indoors, the homeowner’s association was mad about the weeds in the yard, some idiot had approved Mr. Kent for a platinum card, and another letter was addressed by Mr. Kent’s sister so Kyle left it alone.
 
         “Raaaoooowwww,” howled Mr. Kent, before sinking his teeth into Kyle’s pant leg and tugging. Slightly used to this, Kyle ignored him and balanced on his other leg. The house was a mess and he needed to clean it up, but was having a tough time with the cat attached to him.
 
         “Let go!” he snapped, taking out his anger on the cat instead of on Zell or Sid. “Last time I spoke with you, Thursday, you were reading a book on new veterinary procedures and trying to compose a letter to your editor. You are a human. Just stand the hell up and tell me what you want!”
 
         The cat arched its back and hissed, then hunched its shoulders and made a rumbling Rrrrrurrrurrr noise behind its snarl. Kyle sighed and sat on the couch. He was being paid to be there and knew better than to take his anger out on a mental patient, even though today sucked. Mr. Kent was somebody’s brother and son and those people would have hated for their loved one to be treated poorly.
 
         “I’m sorry,” he began. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You’re a cat that looks like a human. I look like a human too, so who am I to judge?” He opened his mouth and let his fangs slide down into view. “See?” The cat only stretched and stared blankly, like any cat. Mr. Kent was not going to judge him either it seemed.
 
         “Alright, let’s go see what’s wrong.” Kyle stood and turned on the television, though Mr. Kent seemed to have little interest in it so he turned it off again and ran up stairs to see if the bathroom was clogged or flooding. Everything seemed fine. The bedroom was dark, but the pillows were not torn, which was an improvement. The cat was mostly wild because… well, who would train it? The owner? Kyle retreated back downstairs and swung around to the kitchen where he found the problem. No food. There was no food out for the cat to eat. The bug guys had tried to come inside the house on Friday… Mr. Kent might have been stuck in cat form since then.
 
         He opened a can of tuna, drained it, and put it in a bowl for the cat to eat and then worked towards cooking an actual meal that the cat would eat. The cat did not try only to do things he figured a cat would do. If it was food and he could reach it he usually ate it, but he was less picky towards fish and would eat vegetables and fruit with it. After setting the dinner down on a small tray for the cat, Kyle went to work cleaning the house and the yard, calling the pest control company to set up a time to come and checking again to make sure Mr. Kent was taking his medication. Kyle was told that the medicines were to help Mr. Kent feel calm and help him deal with life and not worry, but Mr. Kent hated them as he said they made him feel sluggish and out of his head. Kyle had said nothing to that.
         
 When the work was done, Kyle set out some dried meats and vegetables and fruit into the cat’s dish and hoped maybe Mr. Kent would be human tomorrow. He then bid the cat goodnight and headed outside to catch the bus home. Staring out the window, he thought about why he had kept his true being a secret for so long and yet showed it to that cat so easily. It could have been because even if Mr. Kent told someone, no one would believe; or perhaps he needed someone to tell on his own terms and without fear; or maybe he just needed someone for once to accept him. Kyle was yanked from his thoughts as his eyes landed upon a figure walking on the street.
 
         “Misty…” He spun in his seat to make sure it was her. She was walking by herself and frowning, though her pace was not furious or rushed. Kyle stood and headed to the back exit of the bus.
 
         “Can you let me off?” he called to the front. Sarcastically, the driver opened the door, but he did not stop. Kyle jumped and landed between two cars parked along the side of the road. Misty was on the other side of the street, so Kyle crossed behind a truck and jogged to the sidewalk.
 
         “Hey,” he greeted her as she noticed his presence.
 
         “Hi,” Misty replied, smiling. “I was just at the school.”
 
         Kyle frowned. “Zell made you walk home by yourself?”
 
         “Well, he’s…” her answer faded off and she turned to look into the store window of an antique shop. Her voice was so sweet she could of said she wished everyone in the world would die and Kyle would have felt she meant that in the most innocent and kind sort of way. “I think he’s still tired from last night. Poor Zell.”
 
         Kyle hummed an agreeing, “Mmh,” in response and walked beside Misty. He waited for her to say more or ask about the adoption, but she was silent in a peaceful way instead of the brooding silence Kyle received from Zell. 
 
         “…Hey,” she said after a few minutes of silence. “When we were younger you wore bright colors and smiled all the time. Now you seem cold, alone, drawn back, sad… What happened to you?"
 
         “People change,” replied Kyle, quickly and without looking at her.
 
         “But-”
 
         “I’m fine,” interrupted Kyle.
 
         “Okay,” said Misty, just as quickly as Kyle had said ‘I’m fine.’ “Okay.” Her tone was soft and she stepped close to show she was not upset. “Hey, about the fight you’re having with Zell. He just feels like we’ve defied fate and met up after all these years and he doesn’t-” She stopped and stared at him closely. “… You feel the same way, don’t you?”
 
         Kyle stared forward and led her across the street at the light. “I told him I didn’t like the guy.”
 
         “He was tired and sugar deprived,” replied Misty, shaking her head. “Talk to him again and he’ll be fine. And as for the adoption… are you sure you don’t want to give it a chance?”
 
         Kyle shrugged, not knowing what to say to her and not wanting to burden her with his problems. “I’ll figure it out. Come on, I gotta get you home in time for your housemate to scowl disapprovingly at me.”
 
         “Lead the way… I don’t know the streets yet,” mumbled Misty. Kyle chuckled. Some things would never change.
 
 
--
Prologue:  http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1599688-Blood-By-Moonlight-Prologu...
Chapter 1: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1602851-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 2: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1606724-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 3: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1607770-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 4: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1610371-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 5: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1611731-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 6: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1618354-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 7: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1625657-Blood-by-Moonlight-Chapter...
Chapter 8: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1628274-Blood-By-Moonlight-Chapter...