Mariel stared into her sad, occasionally pushing the lettuce leaves around with her fork as she did her best to avoid the world around her. The US 40 grill was a hotspot for people her age, which expined why Meredith had insisted they come here today. She’d been here before as Chris tons of times, but to actually be here as Mariel? It was a little too much. She hadn’t even been sure that she was ready, but Meredith had her mom’s car today, and Mariel had just been along for the ride. Now she sat hunkered in the booth, doing her best to not make eye contact with any of the patrons around her. Especially anyone she knew from school.

  “What are you doing?” Meredith asked, her tone pyful. “You don’t have to hide, people have already seen you.”

  “It’s like we’re back to day one,” Amanda commented. Mariel could feel her cheeks burning at the comment.

  It wasn’t as if she didn’t have a point; in the early days as Mariel was starting her transition (three months ago) it had been a struggle to get her out of the house. ‘They’re just clothes, Mariel!’ – that was what Meredith had kept telling her. Within a few days of coming out she’d gone from a self-assured jock to a simpering little girl afraid to step out of her own bedroom. It had started with a silky red top that Meredith let her borrow, and a few days ter she’d been comfortable enough to be around her parents in a skirt. That was a hard-won victory, and one that had taken considerable coaxing. The irony of it wasn’t lost on her – she’d wanted this, she’d wanted it so badly, but when faced with the reality of being in women’s clothing around other people, she basically folded like a cheap suit and tried to melt into the floor.

  “Mariel,” Meredith said, and then repeated it until Mariel looked up. “Are you okay?”

  Mariel nodded slowly, drawing a snicker from Amanda who sat directly beside Meredith on the other side of the table. Amanda was a stark and striking contrast to Meredith; she sported shoulder-length bck hair to Meredith’s longer blonde locks, and her thin lips drew to a line whenever she was deep in thought, or stressed. Meredith on the other hand had full lips, high cheekbones, and wavy hair that went to the center of her back. It was a look that Mariel had absolutely died for back in the day, and Meredith was one hundred percent the reason that Mariel had chosen a blonde wig. She did, however, experience insurmountable disappointment the first time she put the wig on and looked in the mirror, realizing that no matter what, she could never match Meredith’s beauty, though Meredith had assured her that she would develop her own look over time. Individuality, or whatever.

  “Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Mariel said quickly, grabbing her red pstic cup from the table and taking a long swallow of tea. “It’s just…being out is…it’s a lot.”

  “You’ve been at school,” Meredith reminded her. “That’s ‘out’.”

  “I guess it just feels different,” Mariel admitted. “Because it’s uh…more…familiar.”

  “And this pce isn’t familiar?” Amanda raised an eyebrow. “You come here all the time.”

  “I…I don’t know,” Mariel admitted. That part was true; in her mind she was struggling and squirming for a reason or expnation as to why she felt so awkward and out of pce here, but she couldn’t come up with anything. “C…can we talk about something else?”

  “Yeah, really,” Amanda rolled her eyes. “All we do is talk about her transition. Congratutions, it’s a girl! Let’s move on.”

  “Okay,” Meredith shrugged. “I’m just trying to make sure she’s comfortable.”

  “You can’t spend your whole life doing that,” Amanda reminded her, talking about Mariel like she wasn’t even there.

  “Um, I wanted to ask you something,” Mariel said, her voice quiet as she spoke up. Amanda gred, Meredith looked at her questioningly. “I…I think it might be better if I go back to wearing pants for a while, I feel…exposed when I’m out in public in a skirt, or a dress or whatever-”

  “Meredith? I wanna talk to your girl in private,” Amanda said suddenly, her gre deepening. Meredith gave her a cold look and then nodded. Mariel felt the breath leave her body as Amanda stood and gestured for Mariel to follow. They walked through the row of booths, taking a left near the end and walking past the ‘bar’ that occupied the center of the US 40 grill. It was rectangur and ran the length of the floor, fnked on all sides by barstools and manned by the cashier and several kitchen staff. Mariel felt even more exposed in her knee-length gray dress as they passed by the bar and then took another right, down a narrow hallway that led to the women’s restroom. Amanda pushed the door open and looked inside, making sure it was empty before gesturing again for Mariel to come in.

  Despite the bathroom being empty, Mariel paused at the doorway, her body tensing as Amanda watched her expectantly. Finally, she managed to push herself through, squeezing her eyes shut and reopening them as the fear began to rise. She felt weak, vulnerable, exposed, maybe even more so than she had when they’d been out at the table. This pce was sacred – off limits to…to people like her. She’d gone out of her way to avoid public bathrooms for this very reason, but Amanda motioned for her to step toward the back.

  “Do you know why she makes you wear skirts?” Amanda asked coldly, and then answered before Mariel had time to think about it. “Because you want to be a girl, and girls wear skirts. It’s not something you can be fucking scared of. You have to get used to it.”

  “Yeah but-”

  “Mariel? Take your hand and put it over your mouth,” Amanda snapped, waiting until Mariel finally did so. “Great, now I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen. You’re exhausting her, do you understand that? She’s helping you because she cares about you, but fuck knows she shouldn’t. You dated her for six months. Do you understand what you did to her in that time?”

  Mariel watched as Amanda moved away from her, stepping over to one of the sinks to touch up her foundation. There was no answer, of course; it wasn’t like Mariel could actually respond.

  “I’m not going to give you a whole rundown,” Amanda uncapped a tube of pink gloss and began to apply it to her lips as she leaned forward over the sink, studying the mirror and seemingly ignoring Mariel as she spoke. “But let’s see, you hit her, once that I know of, and-”

  “I apologized to her for that!” Mariel said, suddenly pulling her hand away from her mouth. “I didn’t mean to hurt her I just-”

  “Hand!” Amanda snapped; Mariel cmped it over her mouth again, her heart racing and her eyes wide. Amanda turned from the mirror and gred. “Do you remember the deal, Mariel? Meredith helps you, you do what you’re told. Or did you want to try to do all of this yourself?”

  Mariel squinted through a sudden onset of tears, pushing the palm of her hand against her mouth as silent sobs forced her to convulse. Amanda’s expression remained stone cold. She curled her lip in disgust and stepped toward Mariel, arms folded as she kept her gre fixed on a shaking Mariel.

  “You’ll do what you’re told,” Amanda said coldly. “You don’t fight, you don’t argue, you just do what you’re told unless someone asks you your opinion. Don’t like it? Then you can end it. I won’t force you to do anything, Mariel. You know why? Because I’m not like you.”

  Mariel choked again, this time stumbling backward and banging into a toilet stall as Amanda regarded her without emotion. Mariel was still having trouble getting past the shift in dynamic that had occurred over the summer; when she had been Mereidth’s boyfriend, Amanda had been cold at first, but then a complete bitch. Still, that was preferable to what the shaky retionship had evolved into. Amanda had gone from cold and protective of Meredith, to someone who was controlling, and someone that Mariel wouldn’t dare talk back to. The worst part? Amanda had never id a finger on her, she didn’t have to, and that was how Mariel knew they were different.

  “Dry your fucking eyes,” Amanda scoffed. “We’re going to go out there, you’re going to smile, and ugh, and have a good time. That bitch ordered you a piece of cake. You know why? Because you made it a week at school, as Mariel. Longer than I thought you’d make it but I guess you’re full of surprises.” She looked at Mariel and then sighed. “You look like you have a question, go ahead.”

  Mariel carefully removed the trembling hand from her mouth and swallowed hard before speaking.

  “Can I…hang out with Gary still?” She asked, her voice cracking. Amanda raised an eyebrow.

  “As far as I know,” She said. “Meredith doesn’t have a problem with that. If it gets to be a problem, you’re going to drop him like a hot potato, got it?”

  “Yeah,” Mariel nodded. “I…I’m sorry about…all this stuff, I mean-”

  “Don’t start with that,” Amanda stepped back, pointing an accusing finger at Mariel. “I am not mad at you for transitioning. That part I’m fine with. I’m mad that you had the nerve to ask Meredith to help you, after everything that happened! Mariel this…ugh…transition is hard. It’s hard on you, it’s hard on the people around you even if they don’t show it! All of your emotions, your burdens, your fears, you’re sharing that with your support network, and after…after everything, you expected her to take that on?! That’s bullshit Mariel, and you know it. That’s why we have this arrangement, Mariel. You shut up and do as you’re told, Meredith and I do what we can to help you. You’re fucking lucky, do you understand that? I’ve known a few trans people. You know what it’s like for most of them?”

  “I…I don’t know,” Mariel admitted. “I guess…they just do what I’m doing.

  Amanda ughed. “Be gd you don’t know. And do what you’re told. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  * * *

  There was one thing Harris knew for sure and it was that the girl, Rachel, had seen him. Well maybe she hadn’t seen him but she’d definitely sensed him up there on that hill even though he’d been at least a mile away. He couldn’t get her gaze out of his mind, those piercing eyes, the confident expression. She’d known something or someone was there, but how?

  These were the questions that he asked himself as he shuffled quietly along the sidewalk leading up to Rachel’s house. He had the address scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper shoved in his jacket pocket and he’d checked it once more before he’d made the turn onto her street. Now he stood at the intersection of Turner and Mitchell, green street sign high above him illuminated by the glow of the overhead street mp. It had rained a few hours ago; not for long, just long enough to coat the pavement in a slick yer of shiny wetness that pyed off the street mps and created an eerie glow in the night. He moved from shadow to light, then back to shadow again through an ethereal ndscape that mirrored the growing shadows in his mind, paying little attention to the throbbing in his left leg. That stupid injury fring up again. He shrugged off the pain and shuffled down the sidewalk, careful to make a pass by the house; slow enough to get a look at it, but fast enough to make it look as if he was casing the joint.

  His lip curled in disgust as he took a look at the house; it was a middle css home, way nicer than his and given his encounter with Rachel earlier, the personalities within matched the income level. Pushing his emotions down as best as he could, he looked from left to right, and then quickly made his way between the houses, hugging the privacy fence and pushing through an unlocked gate until he stood just below an overhang. Pressing his right foot against the faucet on the side of the house, he managed to hoist himself up high enough to grab the overhang, and with some effort, pulled himself up. Just as he managed to reach the nearest window, however, he felt his stomach lurch as his foot slipped on the shingles, sending him reeling back even as he reached desperately for the window ledge. Before he could even blink, he was ft on his back staring up at the night sky, the wind knocked out of him, and his leg racked with pain.

  “What the fuck,” He muttered, staring up at the window. He searched the area with his eyes, looking left to right as if he expected someone to have seen him. The only arming thing is the neighbor’s living room light across the street. Had it been on before, or was he imagining things? Probably imagining, but could never be too careful. He stood up, brushing off his pants and resisting the urge to cradle the aching leg before looking up at the window again. Shrugging, he limped around the back of the house and simply entered through the backdoor. He froze in pce as there was a distinct ‘beep’ and the arm box beside the door announced “Back Door!”.

  “Rachel? That you?” A male voice called from another room. Harris’s eyes widened. An arm system. Perfect. He thought about bolting through the backdoor, but if he did, he wouldn’t be able to come back. Instead, he pushed forward through what appeared to be a undry room and into the hallway toward a…kitchen?

  As he walked, he heard the unmistakable creaking of a recliner, and then the thump of footsteps on the carpet. Fuck. Harris pushed forward into the kitchen and scanned the space with his eyes. A wooden table, white tile floor, white cabinets, fucking idyllic if he ever saw it. He rushed to the left, shoving through a door and into another darkened hallway as the footsteps entered the kitchen.

  “Rachel?” The voice was far more insistent and Harris’s stomach lodged in his throat as he moved forward. At the end of the hallways, another door, this one looking out onto the living room. Across the room behind a long sectional couch, he could see a set of stairs, probably leading up to the bedrooms. Of course he couldn’t use them – he couldn’t just barge into Rachel’s room, not without the man (probably her father) chasing after him. “Rachel? Viv?”

  The voice was more insistent now and from experience, Harris knew it wouldn’t be long before insistence turned to suspicion, and suspicion into a 911 call. The front door was right there, and he could probably bolt out onto the sidewalk and down the street before the man came back into the living room, but that wasn’t why he was here, was it? He stepped out into the living room and looked frantically from left to right as the footsteps grew closer. His mind raced and his body began to shake as he contempted the consequences of his actions. Breaking and entering? Going to jail? Jesus, his dad would kill him. He closed his eyes, then opened them, looking once more at the front door. In that split second, a decision was made. He ran across the living room and up the stairs.

  * * *

  Rachel checked her watch: 6:32 PM. On a weekday she’d be home for dinner, but today was Saturday, and one of the only two days of the week their parents let them roam freely. Roam freely. What a dumb way to put it. She rode her bike down the sidewalk and shuffled over the information she’d accumuted over the st few days. Hills and Dales Metro Park. That girl, Mariel. She was one of them. She had to find a way to get to that stupid park and find out what the connection was to any of them. If there was any. If there wasn’t a connection then why the hell had it shown up in the search results? That guy, Mark, he would probably know. Too bad he wasn’t exactly friendly.

  Her bike coasted past ‘Maiden Lane Church of God’, a huge red building that took up an entire city block. Rachel had been inside once, out of curiosity. Inside it didn’t look like a real church; drywall walls, a gym, kitchens, and even an elevator to the second floor. It didn’t start to look like a church until one wandered into the sanctuary, past the stained gss windows and along the rows of pews toward the two-story wooden cross fastened to the front of the building.

  As she neared the corner of ‘Maiden Lane’, she peered down the street, noticing the ‘Route 52’ diner on the other side of the far street. She shrugged and rode toward it, paying mind to her legs as she’d been prone to riding a bit too fast in the past. Her speed didn’t bother her, but it did tend to piss Viv off for whatever that was worth.

  Through the front windows of the diner she could see that there was a full house which wasn’t unusual for a Saturday, but with her enhanced vision, she could see that girl, Mariel sitting at a table with two others.

  “Not going to get a better chance,” She said to herself quietly as she pushed forward, causing a car to honk and swerve as she entered the roadway a bit too quickly. The driver shrieked at her to ‘watch out’, she waved back in response and pulled her bike up to the diner, chaining it to the rack near the window and walking into the restaurant. After taking a deep breath, she headed over to Mariel’s table. The three girls paid her no mind as she approached. They only took notice as she stood at the end of the table and smiled, asking if she could join them. Mariel looked up at her and frowned as the other two girls looked her with a mixture of shock and amusement.

  “Um…Rachel, right?” Mariel asked.

  “Yep!” Rachel shot her a broad smile before plopping down in the booth across from her.

  “I’m sorry, who are you?” The other girl, Amanda asked. Her answer to this, of course, would determine the outcome of this whole thing. Rachel thought carefully before answering.

  “Someone who knows what it’s like to be different,” She said, leveling out her previously upward inflection. “I want to get to know you.”

  “Um…” Mariel’s face suddenly reddened; she tightened the grip on her fork.

  “Because she’s a trans?” The other girl, Meredith gred at her.

  “Because she’s alone, and so am I,” Rachel replied quickly.

  “Uh, she’s not alone,” Meredith said, raising an eyebrow. “In case you didn’t notice, Amanda and I-”

  “Mariel, you wanna hit up the mall tomorrow?” Rachel cut Meredith off, looking directly at Mariel.

  “T…the mall?” Mariel frowned. “What would we-”

  “Okay this is pathetic,” Amanda interrupted. “Mariel, you know what girls do at the mall. Um…Rachel, right? You go to our school?”

  “Yep,” Rachel nodded. “So what are you two, the gatekeepers?”

  Amanda snickered, Meredith sighed.

  “Look at that, Meredith,” Amanda said. “People want to be her friend. You said it would be harder than that.”

  “Okay, but why,” Meredith demanded. “This better not be a joke. You going to report back to your friends? Laugh about her behind her back?”

  “I…I think it’s okay,” Mariel said, suddenly, causing Rachel’s grin to widen.”

  “Oh you think it’s okay,” Meredith growled, gring at Rachel. “Sorry, but you just…decided to walk over here? Why?”

  “Because I’ve seen her at school,” Rachel’s grin began to level out. “How about I just talk to her instead of you. Unless of course you think you own her or something.”

  “You can’t coddle her forever,” Amanda reminded Meredith. “I’d like shit to get back to normal.”

  “Forever?” Meredith’s voice shot up. “We only had the summer!”

  “It’s okay,” Mariel said. “I think-”

  “Fine, whatever,” Amanda rolled her eyes. “Come on, Meredith, let’s switch tables.”

  “Wait-” Mariel shook her head. “I-”

  “Yeah wait,” Rachel said quickly, causing Amanda to freeze as she was halfway out of her seat. “You three,” She said, wagging her finger between them. “You seem like a package deal. Maybe we should all hang out.”

  “Wait, I’m sorry, all of us?” Amanda frowned. “Look, I don’t even know you!”

  “You can’t get to know people unless you talk to them,” Rachel said. Meredith nodded.

  “True,” Meredith said, nodding.

  “I can’t stay for too long anyway,” Rachel said. “We’re doing my mom’s birthday dinner, she gets home at seven.”

  “You uh…cutting it a little close?” Meredith frowned.

  “I don’t live that far from here,” Rachel said quickly. “Just over on Snowhill Boulevard.”

  “Um, that’s still kind of far,” Mariel bit her lip. “Maybe…we could give you a ride?”

  “Mariel!” Meredith hissed.

  “No, it’s fine,” Amanda quickly interjected. “Mariel could use friends, and I…think we’re about done here. Yeah, I’ll give you a ride home.”

  Rachel contempted for a second, resisting the urge to turn it down in favor of just using her bike, but getting closer to these three could give her exactly what she wanted. A friend? Maybe. Answers? Most definitely. To her, Mariel looked perfectly normal, at least normal for a human, but that’s how all the Imperatives looked, right? It was people like her, the ‘Normals’, or however they would be called, who had to be careful here. It was something Aaron had warned her about before they stepped through the Waygate. Before they’d left their world behind.

  “Okay, let’s uh…let’s go,” Meredith said, grabbing her purse and rising up from the booth. She looked expectantly at Mariel, who quickly followed suit. The three girls walked out to the parking lot, purses in hand or strapped to their shoulders as they approached Amanda’s car – an old white Cavalier. Amanda fumbled for her keys while Rachel and Mariel gged behind.

  “What kind of stuff are you into now?” Rachel asked suddenly. “Like, I mean, did your interests…change?”

  “When I transitioned?” Mariel frowned. “No, they stayed the same.”

  “I don’t remember you being into dresses and makeup when I was dating you,” Meredith called out from in front of them.

  “Did uh…you keep dating me when you found out I was?” Mariel offered a half-hearted smile. Meredith responded in the negative. “Well. There you go.”

  “That’s fucked up,” Amanda said sharply, shoving her key into the car door. “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Hell I’ll say it till the end of time, you can’t just date someone under false pretenses. People change over time, but you didn’t change, you knew you were like this and you chose to waste her time anyway.”

  “Sometimes living a lie is safer than admitting the truth,” Rachel interjected quickly, looking at Mariel. “You were brave to admit who you really are, but I can’t bme people for keeping their secrets.”

  “Your opinion,” Amanda snapped, pulling open her car door.

  “Thank you,” Mariel whispered to Rachel, who nodded. Then, spoke a little louder. “I’m still into video games, though. That’s kind of a guy thing.”

  “Please,” Rachel ughed. “Then I must be a guy. I’ll kick your butt in Street Fighter any day.”

  “Oh, see, now you’ve found the perfect person,” Meredith smirked, climbing into the passenger seat.

  “Yeah, another person whose comfortable with lying,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes. “Buckle up back there.”

  Amanda pulled the car away from the restaurant, flipping on her blinker before taking a left turn toward Maiden Lane. The car rolled down the darkened street, passing green street signs illuminated by her headlights, and eventually moving past parking lot meant for the church. Silence persisted in the vehicle before Rachel finally spoke.

  “I don’t think you can call it lying when you’ve never been in a situation like that,” She pointed out. Amanda smmed the brakes; Both Rachel and Mariel jerked forward, nearly smming into the two front seats before catching themselves. “Hey! What are you-”

  “What gives you the right?” Amanda turned around in the driver’s seat, gring at Rachel while giving a few disdainful gnces to Mariel. “Do you even know what’s going on here?”

  “Amanda-” Mariel started, but shut her mouth upon receiving a death gre from Amanda.

  “You don’t even know what’s going on here!” Amanda shrieked. “She led my best friend on for…how long? Six months?! These two? Fucking power couple. They probably could’ve been the prom king and queen or whatever. Meredith was in love with this bitch, I’ve never seen her so happy and-”

  “Amanda stop it!” Meredith shouted, her words smming into Amanda like a punch. “What are you doing?! We worked this out during the summer!”

  “You worked it out during the summer! This bitch got her hot girl, coming out summer. Magical Hallmark movie shit, and you got…whatever you got. And me? Me?! I got to watch my best friend fall apart! I got to watch this selfish cunt break your heart and then ask you to help her with her stupid transition! Yeah, okay Mariel, you’re a girl, I get that, but you know what sucks about being a girl? The sheer fucking honesty. I’m not going to sit here and coddle you the way I do guys. No, I’m coming at you, cws out, because you’re a bitch. You’re a selfish bitch!”

  “I…I’m sorry,” Mariel said, her voice trembling as tears began to stream down her face. “I didn’t mean to…”

  “Aww, is the poor little princess going to cry?” Amanda seethed. “You wanted everyone to know ‘your truth’, and you don’t want to know mine? Too. Fucking. Bad.”

  The tension in the car reached its apex and was suddenly, abruptly dissipated as a siren bred and red lights illuminated the interior of the Cavalier. Amanda craned her neck, looking at the fshing police lights behind them.

  “Shit.”

  * * *

  Harris rushed down the upstairs hallway, opening the first two doors he saw. One led to a bathroom – no good. Another to some kind of office. One door was probably a bedroom, but it was locked. Finally, he turned to the left and pushed through a door that led him to a girl’s bedroom. His head on a swivel, he scanned the room and rushed over to the desk. He pulled open the u pper right hand drawer and rifled through the contents. Nothing really, just makeup. He pulled open the middle drawer – bingo. A pile of Poloroid photos sat front and center, one of them depicting Rachel at some kind of park. He snatched the photo and studied it, allowing every detail of her face to seep into his consciousness. From the curve of her nose to the outline of her lips; he needed all of it. And then, when he’d seen enough, he closed his eyes to concentrate.

  This kind of transformation wasn’t easy, if it could even be called a transformation; as far as he could tell it was a trick of the light, or perception. His heartbeat quickened and his breathing grew raspy as he expended energy – the energy he’d taken from Brian in the gym just a few days ago. It wrapped around his body, covering first his face and then working its way down to his arms, and finally his entire body. Exhaustion hit him like a wall; he hated doing this, but it was too te to stop now. The doorknob clicked and the man walked in.

  “Oh, hey Rachel,” He said. “I didn’t know you were home.”

  “Oh um..hi…Dad,” There was an edge to his tone – an upward inflection almost indicating a question which made the man frown slightly.

  “What are you wearing?” He asked, looking over the outfit that Harris had been wearing all day. It was that green army jacket, a pair of jeans, and a ratty white t-shirt, none of which looked fttering on Rachel.

  “Oh…I was just trying something,” Harris said, biting his lower lip and hoping that the lie would be taken. “I was going to change-”

  “Uh, you should,” Rachel’s dad nodded. “We have your mom’s birthday dinner tonight. In less than an hour, actually.”

  Less than an hour, fantastic.

  “Yeah,” Harris nodded quickly, a wave of nausea hitting him. “Yeah, I’ll change, can you um…”

  “Oh, yeah,” Rachel’s dad nodded as he moved toward the door. He stopped at the threshold and turned. “Rachel, you know if you need to talk to me about anything.”

  He shouldn’t have asked, he should have just let her dad walk out of the room, but curiosity got the better of him. “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” Rachel’s dad said, turning away from the door. “You just seem…distant tely, and if there’s anything I can do to help, you know I’m always here for you, right?”

  “I…yeah, um…Dad,” Harris nodded, his confusion growing. Was this the way parents were supposed to talk to their kids? The most he’d ever gotten out of his dad was an open palm.

  “Love you, kiddo,” He said, stepping out of the room and shutting the door. Harris stood there for a moment processing what had just happened. Then, he turned to the desk, throwing open the drawers and rifling through the papers. Most of it was school reted, and there was some kind of journal but as he skimmed through it, he didn’t see anything reted to…well, anything important. The one thing he knew was that this girl, Rachel, was like him. She had some kind of power, at least a power to see or sense him from almost two miles away.

  “What are you hiding,” He muttered, looking around the room. His eyes came to rest on the bed and something clicked. Of course – if he wanted to hide something, he always stuffed it under his mattress. As he thought about that, he also considered that maybe it wasn’t the most obscure hiding spot, especially if it was the first thing that came to his mind. He rushed toward the mattress, pulling it up and peering down between the mattress and the box spring. He saw nothing, so he shoved his hand inside the gap, patting the cloth surface until his hand struck something. Paper. He closed his hand around it and yanked out a sheath of printed pages, the first one dealing with some park. This was probably what he needed and there wasn’t time to search for anything else. He shoved the sheath of papers into his jacket pocket and turned toward the window. Was it the same window he’d tried to come in earlier? Hard to tell but one thing was certain: he was going out it.

  As he took a step toward it, his heart jumped into his throat as the bedroom door opened once again. He spun on his heel and looked at the figure in the doorway, wide-eyed. It was Rachel’s sister, Vivian. She regarded him suspiciously, looking his body up and down, then settled back on his eyes. She couldn’t see through his disguise, right? Right? Vivian pursed her lips and then folded her arms across her chest.

  “Who the fuck are you?” She demanded.

  Audrissa