Free Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) by Ronnie Massey

with?”
    “I’m wrapped in a blanket.  Why?”
    She didn’t respond, but a few seconds later something jarred the entire car.  Car doors slammed, and she was back.  “I’ve backed my car up to yours and opened the trunk.  As soon as I pop your trunk, I’m going to get you into mines so I can get you out of here.”
    I didn’t say a word.  I was too tired to speak.  I pulled the blanket tighter and braced myself.  The soft click of the trunk was my only warning before I felt myself floating through the air.  I landed with barely a thud and then the heat of the day was gone.
    “I’ll have you home in just a few, Val,” Irulan called out to me as she started the car.
    The vibrations of the engine must have rocked me to sleep because the next thing I knew I was at home, in my bed, staring up into the faces of not only Irulan and David, but Valerian and my mother as well , “Hey, Ma, what are you doing here?”
    “Making sure you're okay,” she said as she sat down on the edge of my bed.  “Care to explain to me how you got caught in the midday sun?”
    Not really , no.  How was I supposed to tell her I was conducting an interview with a client Valerian wasn’t supposed to have?  I settled for the old standby…I shrugged my shoulders and humped.  “I don't know, Ma.”
    My mother thumped me on the forehead and sighed.  “Whoever said girls were easier lied.  None of your brothers gave me half as much grief at your age.”
    “At my age, Ma, I’m damn near a hundred years old.”
    The entire house went hush.  David gulped and flashed away so fast my head was spinning.  Irulan groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead.  Valerian was the only one who saw humor in my response.  He burst out laughing, but one look from our mother shut him up faster than I could say boo.
    “Did you just use a swear while you were talking to me, young lady?” My mother hissed as she jumped up from the bed and firmly planted her hands on her hips.
    I sat up on the bed and shook my head.  “Mother, I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”
    “It doesn’t matter how you meant it,” she rebounded.  “I don't care how old you get you'll never be old enough to use that tone when you're talking to me.  Am I clear?”
    The natural instinct to talk shit and antagonize didn’t rear its ugly head.  I may be a smart ass, but I’m not stupid.  “Yes, mama,” I quietly answered, as I got up and brushed past her heading for the bathroom.
    I stood in the mirror under the harsh florescent lights of the bathroom and slowly dropped my films.  My eyes were still scratchy, but I couldn’t assess the damage to my hands under blacklight.
    My hands looked like oversized lobster claws, and my eyes were bloodshot. Their normal ice-blue coloring was a deep purple.  “For the love of Mike,” I exclaimed.
    Valerian had better make good use of what I’d found inside of Williams head; I thought as I stood there staring at my poor hands.  Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
    “Please tell me you're alright,” he whispered as he ducked inside the bathroom and quietly shut the door.
    I held up my hands.  “Does this look alright to you?”
    “Jesus Val, I am so sorry I should have handled Williams’s case on my own time and never involved you.”
    “It’s not your fault my car wouldn’t start, Vedo.”  I said as I fruitlessly tried to pull open the medicine cabinet.  My brother reached by me and pulled it open.
    “Val,” he said, his voice sounding hollow, “Your car was intentionally damaged.  Someone wanted to see you burn.”
    “What?”  The glass jar I was holding in my hand shattered into so many pieces as I tightened my grip.  Valerian grabbed my hand and shoved it under the cool water of the faucet.
    “Shit,” he exclaimed as he gingerly picked shards of cream covered glass out of my swollen, bleeding hand.  “What did you go and do that for Val?  That stuff is hard to come by, and