LIGHTNOVELONLINE 26. Too Close To Home
"I really wish we could do something for Brooke's mom," I sighed as me and Kaylee cut through the woods at the back of the schoolyard.
It wasn't that cold out yet but the snow was coming down in big fluffy flakes and the trees already had a coating of snow on them. Kaylee was in her warm fuzzy parka, while I had my hoodie and a jacket.
She sounded sad as she replied, "I know Cass. Me too."
As we emerged from the woods onto the street I asked "What if I could do that power boost thing again? Maybe I could use a super-powered healing spell to help?"
"Except those boosts aren't happening anymore," she reminded me. "Even if you could still do that, we don't know if it would actually help her. It might actually hurt her? It hurt when you did it to yourself, remember?"
I frowned, "Yeah, but it only hurt for a second. That'd be worth it if it really helped her."
She nodded "I guess. Maybe it's something we should ask May about? Except you aren't doing the boosts so it doesn't really matter."
"Right," I pouted a bit. We were at the spot where we normally went our separate ways, and I asked "Do you need to go home first?"
Kaylee smiled, "Nope."
That made me smile too, and the two of us walked the rest of the way to my place. We talked a bit about what we'd do for dinner, but didn't make any decisions yet. Mum's car wasn't in the driveway when we got there, but the door was unlocked so I knew they hadn't left yet.
"I'm home!" I called as I led Kaylee inside.
Mom called from her office, "Hi hon. Your mum will be home any time now, then we'll both get ready and be on our way by half past. When's your friend coming over?"
The two of us walked over to her office door as I replied, "Kaylee's already here, she came with me right from school."
Mom looked up from her work and smiled, "Hello Kaylee, it's nice to see you again."
Then she focused on me and added, "There's money on the counter if you want to order something in for dinner. Your mum and I will be home by eleven, so if you girls want to get up to any hanky-panky try and wrap it up by ten-thirty."
"Mom!" I exclaimed as my cheeks went bright red.
She just grinned as she turned back towards her computer, "Go on and get yourselves comfortable. I'm going to finish this up before your mum gets home."
Kaylee was blushing too as I led her upstairs to my bedroom. I dumped my backpack on the floor by the foot of the bed and apologized, "Sorry about my mom. She's been teasing me ever since she figured out we're girlfriends."
"It's ok Cass," she said as she sat down on the bed. "Your parents are very different from mine, but it's kind of nice in a way?"
I nodded as I sat next to her, "I guess. I think all parents make it their job to embarrass their kids, they just all have different ways of doing it."
She giggled, "No arguments there."
It looked like she was about to say something else when we both heard the front door suddenly slammed open downstairs, followed by my mum's voice as she shouted "Julie?!"
I could tell there was something wrong by the way mum shouted. Mom obviously heard it too as she called back, "In the office, what's wrong?"
I exchanged a worried glance with Kaylee, then got up to go see what was going on. My girlfriend followed, but we both froze as we got to the top of the stairs when we heard my mom gasp.
"Tanya what happened to you?! Are you ok?!"
"Don't worry! I'm all right," mum stated. "There was an incident at the store. Julie someone knows! They sent a zombie, if you can believe it? It was looking for them, it thought they were at the store!"
My blood felt like it suddenly turned to icewater as I looked at Kaylee. She was staring back at me with wide eyes, but she made a 'shh' gesture then indicated we should stay put and keep listening.
It sounded like my parents were talking in the hall outside mom's office, which meant they were pretty much directly below us. We could hear them ok as long as they didn't start whispering, but from the sound of it they were both talking louder than normal, both of them sounded upset.
"But you're hurt!" mom gasped.
Kaylee pulled me into a hug as I felt my stomach lurch. She held me tight to keep me from running downstairs, and we both heard my mum's reply which sent another chill through me.
"I'm fine Julie," mum replied. She lowered her voice but me and Kaylee both heard her clear enough as she added, "It was just a normal knife, I healed everything before I left the store."
She added, "I erased the security cameras and got rid of the zombie, but whoever sent it could try again. And worse, they might try coming here next time."
Mom sounded anxious as she asked, "Maybe we should set up protective wards around the house?"
"You know that won't work," mum sighed. "Cass will break wards every time she goes through them."
"Oh crap!" mom gasped. "Tanya she's home, Cass is upstairs!"
After that all I could hear was some frantic whispering from both my parents, but neither me or Kaylee could hear what they were saying. My girlfriend still had her arms around me, and she hauled me back away from the stairs and into my bedroom.
My head was spinning and I had no idea what to do or say or even think. I blinked some tears out of my eyes as I asked her, "Kaylee what's going on?"
"I don't know," she replied softly. She guided me over to the bed and we both sat down together. Then she pulled me into another hug as she added, "But we're going to find out. We'll get all of Club Luna working on this."
My head was still spinning and my emotions were churning as I stared at my girlfriend. She looked calm and serious, and she was still holding me which helped keep me from panicking too much.
I still hadn't really got my head around everything we overheard, but both Kaylee and I glanced at my bedroom door when we heard one of my parents start coming up the stairs.
"Cass!" my girlfriend whispered at me. "Pretend we didn't hear anything ok? Trust me, just play along with me on this!"
I looked back at her and nodded before I even realized what I was agreeing to. Then just before the footsteps reached my door Kaylee pulled me even closer. Her lips pressed against mine as she gave me a very passionate kiss, and my brain went blank for a few moments.
A moment later I heard my mom clear her throat and apologize, "Sorry to interrupt girls..."
"Oh!" Kaylee gasped as she pulled back and blushed.
I was still half stunned as I turned and stared at my mom. I probably had a dazed look on my face, and mom couldn't help smiling for a half second before her expression became serious again.
"Cassandra I'm sorry but your mum and I have had to change our plans," she stated. "Don't worry, your mum's ok, but there was an attempted robbery at the store this afternoon. Now she has to call the insurance people, and neither of us are feeling up to going out tonight."
I continued staring at her as her words slowly sank in. I recognized that she was sort of lying but also sort of telling the truth, and that left me feeling even more mixed-up.
I finally nodded, "Ok mom. Is there anything I can do to help?"
She gave me a sad smile, "No hon, but thank you for offering. Your mum's using my office, I'm going to go keep her company. If you need anything just let me know ok?"
"Ok," I nodded again. "I'll come and see her in a bit."
Mom gave me another smile before hurrying back downstairs. And I let out a loud sigh then slumped back to lay sideways across my bed.
Kaylee watched me for a few seconds then asked, "Are you going to be ok Cass?"
I shook my head, then shrugged as I kept staring up at the ceiling. And while I tried come to terms with the realizion that there was something supernatural about my parents, my girlfriend dug her phone out of her backpack then started tapping out a group text.
A minute or so later my phone buzzed. I still felt sort of numb as I found it and checked to see what Kaylee sent the group.
"Luna Emergency! A zombie attacked Cass's mum this afternoon. Mrs. Underwood is ok but there's something serious going on here. We need the club on this ASAP!"
I was still reading the message when Paige's reply showed up.
"Seriously Kaylee? This better not be a joke."
My girlfriend immediately tapped out a retort, "I don't joke about this stuff Paige! We need to reconvene, where can we meet?"
"My place," Melanie added to the chat. "My dad's at work, we've got the place to ourselves till around ten or ten-thirty. You know the address."
"Thank you! I'll try to get me and Cass there as quick as we can," Kaylee responded.
Then she looked at me, "Can you tell your moms we're going over to Melanie's place? Say we're going to have BBQ with her and Melissa?"
I hesitated, "I don't want to leave them. It sounds like they're in trouble, I should stay..."
Kaylee reached over and put a hand on my shoulder, "I understand Cass. If you want to stay here that's all right. I'm going over to Melanie's place though, so I can tell the others what we heard. We'll figure out what to do, and I'll text you with any news."
That left me feeling even more torn. I bit my lower lip as I frowned and thought back and forth about what to do. I really wanted to know what was going on, and if there was a chance Club Luna could help my parents I wanted to be part of that.
On the other hand, I also wanted to be with my moms, I wanted to talk to them and to find out what was going on with them. If they were keeping supernatural secrets from me I wanted to know what they were.
I finally pulled myself upright and mumbled, "I have to talk to my parents first, before I make a decision."
"Ok Cass," Kaylee nodded. "I'll wait here."
"Thanks," I said as I headed for the door.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs I saw the door to mom's office was closed. I felt anxious, and as I approached I could hear my parents talking quietly in there. I couldn't make out anything they were saying though, and I realized with another lurch it didn't even sound like English.
I braced myself and knocked on the door, which caused both voices to stop suddenly.
A moment later mom opened the door. She gave me a warm smile, "How are you doing honey?"
"I'm ok," I replied, though I didn't really feel it. "Can I see mum?"
Mom nodded and opened the door further so I could come into the office. Mum was sitting on the sofa in there, and the only thing I could see that was out of place was she'd taken off her top. I'd seen both my parents in their underwear before, but it was odd to be half dressed right after work.
"Hi Cassandra," mum smiled at me. She held her arms out, "I could use a hug kiddo."
I practically dove into the hug, and as we held each other she whispered "I'm sorry Cass, I know you must be scared. But I'm ok, I promise. I had to take my blouse off because it got spilled on, but I'm fine and everything's going to be ok."
As I hugged her I asked, "What happened? Mom said there was a robbery?"
Mum held me a little tighter as she explained, "Yeah, someone came in and demanded the cash drawer. It was scary and I spilled a can of cola on myself, but like I said everything's ok."
I nodded slowly, then finally let go of her and stood up again.
"Are you going to be alright?" mum asked. Both her and mom were watching me closely, they could probably tell how upset I was even though I was trying to hide it.
"I'm ok," I told them again. "Um, since all the plans got changed around, me and Kaylee are going to go over to Melanie's house? Marissa's already there, they said we could go hang out with them."
My parents exchanged a glance, then mom replied "All right hon. I don't want you staying out too late though, so I'd like you home by eleven o'clock tonight. Make sure you take your phone, you call us when you're ready to come home. We'll come pick you up. We can give Kaylee a drive too."
I nodded, "Ok mom, thanks."
After giving them both another hug I went back up to my room to let Kaylee know. I left my backpack and put my phone and stuff into a little purse instead, while Kaylee picked up her backpack.
The two of us headed back downstairs, then got into our boots and coats. Or she put on her parka while I pulled my hoodie and jacket back on.
Mom came out of her office to see us off, she double-checked that I had my phone and everything then gave me another hug.
"Don't worry hon," she said quietly as she held me. "Your mum's fine, she just had a bit of a scare is all. I'll take care of her, you girls have fun. And stay safe."
I nodded, "Ok mom. Thank you."
"Have a good night Mrs. Underwood," Kaylee added.
Then the two of us set out for Melanie's place.
