Rachael Blake let out a tired breath. For the past hour, she had been working on math problems that made no sense to her.

Since nine in the morning, she had been in the library studying for the past two years, to the point where it practically became her second home. This library was the North York Central Library, the second-largest in Toronto. With seven floors, she often enjoyed being on the third floor, where she could work and watch people as well, for she would take the time to draw others when not doing her school work.

I wish I had my laptop for this. Rachael thought as she removed her glasses to rub the creases of her grey eyes with her index finger and thumb. To heck with it. She pulled out her sketchbook and began to draw. It didn’t matter which, be it objects or people. She continued to draw things or people who walked by until she heard someone coming over to sit across from her, choosing to sit close to the window. She’s back again. Rachael thought as she peered over the top of her sketchbook to a girl.

She had seen this girl coming simultaneously from Monday to Friday for the past week. This girl with relatively pale skin, and warm brown hair that was past her thin shoulders, almost to her chest, and side bangs along the left side of her forehead. But what would hold many people’s attention was her eyes with just how striking they were—a light blue surrounded by a dark blue ring.

Her eyes could be seen as other-worldly, but Rachael knew that others could have such eyes. She had looked up different eye types for references and practice. Yet seeing such eyes in person rather than from a computer screen was another matter.  

Rachael had no clue who she was, yet she felt that she had seen this girl countless times from somewhere. She didn’t know where.

Shouldn’t she be in school? Rachael thought rather dully as she looked at the girl. After all, it was the middle of September. Heck, the girl looked even younger than Rachael, but then again, Rachael knew it was hypocritical to think that since she was homeschooled. Only she didn’t do it at home but at the library.

This girl could very well be doing the same thing.

Yet something told Rachael that wasn’t the case. The books the girl would have on hand didn’t look like something a person would typically have for school.

Rachael then noticed the girl pulling out a laptop from her backpack. Followed by a cordless mouse before typing away with such speed on the keyboard. She then stopped and looked at her phone before looking back at her laptop with a faint frown. She leaned back in her chair as if to get a better look at her screen before doing something on her laptop again, closed it and put it under her arm, looked to Rachal, who was nearly startled by this, and asked.

“Sorry to ask this, but could you watch my bag for a moment? I need to find a book.”

“S-sure…” she said, surprised by the sudden request.

 “Thank you. I’ll be as quick as I can.” She then left her bag in the chair and went off somewhere. When she came back, she had two books. They were thick hardcover books, and from their looks, they looked to be history books. “Thanks for watching my stuff,” she said as she sat back down with her laptop and books.

Then simply went back to what she was doing on her laptop.

Curious, Rachael asked. “Is it for school?”

The girl paused and looked back at Rachael. “Hmm? Did you ask me something?”

“Are you working on something for school?” Rachael asked again.

“Oh, this? No, it’s something I’m working on for myself. I’m researching for a story. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. What about you?”

 She didn’t expect to have the question shot back at her. “Me?”

 “Yeah, I’ve seen you here often enough. You draw, right?”

 That surprised Rachael. How’d this kid know that? And as if sensing her thoughts, the girl merely said.

 “The way you position yourself, I’ve seen you look back and forth from what you were looking at to your sketchbook. And I noticed some of your sketches when I headed out one day. You’re really good. Are you self-taught?”

 “Thanks, and yes, I am.” Then she added hesitantly. “Do you… do you draw?”

 She smiled faintly. “No, I wish. I’d get extremely frustrated when I can’t bring out what I want through drawing, since it never looks right, so I do so through words. If I can describe what I want through what I write, then that’s enough for me. Though I’d like for some of the things I write to be turned into a comic or manga someday, that’d be neat.”

“What kind of stuff do you write?”

The girl thought about it for a moment. “Anything really, though not so much in the romance department since whenever I read another person’s story to find something to give me inspiration, I discover it’s stupidly toxic.”

Rachael paused. The way this girl spoke made her come off as older, but… that couldn’t be right. “How long have you been writing?”

“Almost three years now, what about you? How long have you been drawing?”

“About five, but I still have a long way to go. I’m nowhere near where I want to be.”

“Isn’t everyone? I think your art is amazing, from what I could see.”

Rachael tore out a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote down her web address before handing it to the girl. “Here, you can check out more of my art if you want.”

She leaned forward and took it, then took a piece of a page from her spiral notebook, wrote on it, and then handed it to Rachael. “I’m on there too, though I only post what I write and sometimes on the off chance artwork I commission someone.”

It wasn’t too surprising to see that, given that this girl wrote stories meant she had to be on some sites for her writing.

“Anyway, I have to cut my time short. I need to be somewhere, but I’ll shoot you a message, see you later.”

“Wait!” the girl stopped to look at her with a slightly puzzled look. “What’s your name?”

She laughed to herself. “Right, sorry about that, a lot on my mind this past little while…” She then closed the distance and extended her left hand. “My name is…”

*    *    *

Rachael lay splayed out on her bed; her black and white cat curled on her stomach as she stared up at the ceiling in a daze. “Taryn Lowell…” she sat up as her cat rolled off her stomach and lay beside her and meowed in protest at the sudden move but went back to sleep anyhow. She told me her name, and now I’m even more certain I’ve heard of her before. But she couldn’t check because not long after she got home, her mother needed her to buy some things at the store, the same with her Dad. Rachael thought she’d be able to find some info online when she got home only to see that her brother was in the midst of a gaming session on their only computer. Then there was dinner, finishing her schoolwork and a bath. With her laptop being fixed thanks to her cat Soy using it as a take-off pad to leap across her room, her access to technology was a bit limited.

Screw it. I’ll use my phone. As she connected her cell to her home’s WIFI, Rachael received several notifications, all from a user she didn’t recognize, at least at first. It was Taryn’s username.

SilentNinjaCats.

Rachael snorted. Before picturing her cat as a ninja and laughing. Before looking at her notifications, Taryn had favourited and commented on several pieces that Rachael posted, going into details about the linework, offering some outsider perspective and giving support for her art.

Rachael smiled. This girl did seem like a good person. She then went to Taryn’s page and began looking at what she had. There were many people following, and as Taryn had said, she mainly posted her stories though not many commented on them. There were several short stories, all horror-based, one that looked to be ongoing, a supernatural mystery, and one fan-fiction based on a game that Rachael wasn’t too familiar with. Taryn didn’t mention that she also posted pictures of places she went to.

Taryn seemed to be particle to abandoned places given what photos she took. Several of those were liked and commented on in the composition and where she might have been. Taryn said she wasn’t an artist but had an artistic eye.

Amid her poking around, Rachael saw a post of something else, a link to another site. Going to it, Rachael found that Taryn also had a gaming channel that seemed to be doing well. Taryn even made videos of abandoned places on occasion.

Rachael followed her back after looking at a few of Taryn’s works, Rachael kept that nagging suspicion that she felt like she knew Taryn vaguely, so she decided to look it up.

And what she found startled her, causing her to make a loud squeak of surprise as she fell to the floor. Her bedroom door burst open as her brother, who was physically the total opposite of her, was tall and very thin with dark brown hair and eyes framed by a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Confusedly, he looked at his older sister. “Rachael, are you okay?”

Rachael had fallen off the bed from her surprise which also startled her cat and ended up in a rather compromising position. “Yeah… yeah… I’m good.” She sat up and rubbed her hip when she fell off her bed.

Her brother looked at her with concern. “You sure?”

“Yup, I’ll bruise to hell and back, but I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, call if you need something.” then left to head back to what he was doing.

Rachael looked back at her phone, her mind still reeling. The girl she met, Taryn Lowell, was the daughter of the Chief of Police in Toronto, Johnathan Michael Dimitri Lowell, who was appointed to the position three years ago. Not only that, but Taryn’s mother was also a well-known Prosecutor working for the Crown, dubbed “The Iron Law” with how she had won almost every case given to her, a woman that was a force to be reconned with.

And there was more, with how both sides of Taryn’s family held a reputation for fighting in both world wars, coming back with honours.

However, some of it had been redacted, especially with two members of the Lowell family, giving almost little to no information about what they did.

While on Taryn’s mother’s side, there was at least stuff she could find. But as of now, Rachael felt overwhelmed with the knowledge and turned off her phone as she tried to grasp the situation. There had to have been a reason why Taryn wasn’t in school. She could have looked it up but felt like she was intruding on Taryn’s personal life.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

After all, Rachael just met Taryn.

So, for now, she’d just pretend that she hadn’t seen a thing about Taryn’s life, and act like normal with her if Rachael were to see her again in the library the next day, which was likely.

*    *    *

“You look like you want to say something,” Taryn said while going over her research, causing Rachael to go stiff. The next day at the library, Rachael met with Taryn at the same spot as before. And it wasn’t long before Taryn said what she did.

How in the world did the girl react so quickly? Rachael was doing her best to act normal, or was she just that obvious?

When Rachael didn’t respond right away, Taryn continued. “You looked me up,” it wasn’t a question. Her blue gaze flicked to Rachael.

“I’m sorry,” Rachael said. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

“I don’t see an issue with it,” Taryn said completely unbothered. “My name’s pretty uncommon, it’s only natural to check and see. Though now I’m curious, what did you look up?”

“Just your family history,” Rachael admitted. “I kind of went from finding out who you were then down a rabbit hole of your parents and family history during the Second and First World Wars.”

Taryn was silent for a moment. “That’s all?”

Rachael nodded. “Yeah, it was a lot to look into, but I just left it alone after that, though I wasn’t expecting it.”

Taryn propped her chin atop her left hand, no longer looking at the book. “What do you mean?”

“You,” Rachael clarified. “How you act and talk. You’re so down-to-earth, yet mature sounding. I always thought that a kid from such a life would be, I don’t know, kind of stuck up?”

Taryn just watched her quietly before asking. “You think I sound mature?”

Rachael’s gaze became puzzled. That was Taryn’s question? “Uh… yeah?”

Suddenly, Taryn laughed, trying her best to stifle it with her left hand, but not before Rachael caught a glimpse of something. Of Taryn’s teeth, her eye teeth, both top and bottom, looked sharp.

Teeth like a vampire.

Something like that was a bit of a surprise, must have been genetic.

“How old do you think I am?” Taryn asked.

“Um…” Rachael shifted in her seat. “I think you might be… twelve…? Or thirteen, maybe…?”

Taryn stifled another laugh, her head down resting atop the library table. She then raised her head as she continued to snicker before shaking her head. “I’m not that young.” When she sobered, Taryn said. “I’m fifteen.”

Rachael fought the urge to let her jaw drop. Taryn was a year younger than she was!

“How old are you?” Taryn asked.

“A year older than you,” Rachael said honestly.

“Oh, neat.” She glanced at her book before looking back to Rachael. “Is there anything else you were wondering about?”

Rachael thought about it. “Do you have any siblings? Pets?”

“I have an older brother, a cat and a dog.”

“What kind of cat and dog?”

Taryn pulled out her phone and then passed it to Rachael, where a German Shepard was fast asleep and a black cat, which looked to be a year old, sleeping on top of the dog.

“The cat’s name is Ebony, and the dog is named Frisket.”

“Cute,” Rachael took out her phone and showed a picture of her black and white cat, Soy. “This is my cat; her name is Soy.” She then pulled her phone back. “Though that’s an interesting name for a dog, he doesn’t look like a… what’s your dog’s name again?”

Her cheeks became a little pink from embarrassment. “Frisket, and yeah, I know. But try telling six-year-old me that when I’m obsessed with ReBoot. The name kind of stuck, and my Dad thought it was hilarious, though he’s glad that our dog is not as insanely powerful as the dog from that show. Our house would be done for.”

 “What’d your Mom think?”

“She thought it was perfect if he lunges at bad guys like the dog in the show would with enemies. Even got a collar with an Icon like from the show.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen the show, is it good?”

“Considering it pioneered CGI animation a year before Toy Story, I’d like to think so. The first season is a bit clunky given they were on a week-by-week basis for an episode, but it gets better as it goes on. And the jokes are great even now.” Taryn then changed the subject. “So, what’s your family like?”

“Oh, well, I have a younger brother. And my Mom and Dad.”

“How much younger is your brother? Two years, three?”

“He’s four years younger than me, though he and I look nothing alike. What about you and your brother? How old is he?”

“He’s twenty-one, and we don’t look alike. But then, you don’t have to look similar to those who are family to you.”

So, he’s six years older than her? “What does he do? Is he in college?”

“Right now, he’s in the Army,” she said. “Joined with his friend when they were sixteen years old with parental consent. Both of them thought it was the best choice for them.”

Rachael paused. The tone that Taryn used sounded almost sad, but her eyes held a type of anger. Anger that Rachael wasn’t sure who it was directed to. “Did you not want them to go?”

“Yes and no. Yes, because it was their decision in what they wanted to do for themselves. And no, because I just don’t want them to get hurt or die. But given that I was twelve when I found out, there wasn’t anything I could do. But regardless, I wish them nothing but the best and that they stay safe.”

Rachael couldn’t help but feel that there was more to this but chose not to pry. “What about you? Since your family’s known for joining the army, do you plan to as well?”

Taryn was silent, her gaze falling to the book. “I don’t think that’ll happen.” She replied. “I have a medical condition, which would make it difficult for me if I joined.”

Rachael was a little surprised by this, there didn’t seem to be anything remotely wrong with Taryn, but then again, Rachael had been dealing with severe anxiety, so much to the point where she couldn’t enter high school. She never had an issue like that before when she was a kid, only when she turned fifteen did it come about. Not all problems could be seen.

She wasn’t about to ask what Taryn meant by it, but to her surprise again, she sort of did.

“It’s actually why I’m not in school right now. I probably won’t be going back until October, at least I think.”

“Really?”

Taryn shrugged in response. “It’ll be hell when I get back to school, but in the meantime, I don’t plan on thinking about it.” She then changed the topic. “Say, are you hungry?”

Just thinking about it, Rachael’s stomach growled. “Kinda…”

Taryn smiled faintly before packing up her things. “Then why don’t we get something? Is there anything, in particular, you’re up to eat? Or anything you can’t have?”

“I’m lactose intolerant, but I have something to take so it won’t bother me.”

She looked at Rachael with faint concern. “You sure?”

Rachael shrugged in response. “Oh yeah, never go home without it. But since you’ve asked, there’s a place I’ve wanted to check out for a while now. It’s a ramen restaurant. The one down the street?”

“I know the one you’re talking about; I’ve been there a few times. A family I know often has me watch their kid from time to time and loves it. Though he loves a lot of places, he’s not picky when it comes to food. Unlike me.”

“You’re picky with food?”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat what I’m given, I just eat what I dislike first and then eat what I love last. If I can get whatever I order without it being too much of an issue, I will. Like anything with cilantro, it tastes like soap, though that’s a genetic thing. Then there’s coriander, ironically from the same plant, but I just don’t like it and will avoid it like the plague.”

“Really?” she asked as she put away her things, only to pause and look back, feeling like someone was watching her. There were other people, but none seemed to be looking at them.

“Something wrong, Rachael?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing.” Rachael paused briefly to look back. Guess I must have imagined it.

As the two walked through the busy street to get to the restaurant, Taryn paused when she saw an intimidating Asian man, leaning up against the wall wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, scowling at his phone. Tattoo’s coming out from the sleeves of his shirt and resting at his elbow. This guy looked like bad news.

Rachael’s anxiety slowly began to creep up, worried about what might happen if they got on this guy’s bad side.

“H-hey Taryn? Maybe we should go somewhere else to eat instead?”

Taryn looked at Rachael, puzzled, then as if reading her mind, she looked at the scowling man. “Oh.” Was her first response. “You don’t have to worry, Rachael, he’s not a bad man.”

Rachael frowned. “You know him?”

“I watch his grandkid.” She then called out. “Honda-san!” then something in Japanese. Something that was the last thing that Rachael expected.

The angry man looked up from his phone, his scowl deepening before his brows shot up, and he responded. “Lowell-chan?” then asking a question in Japanese. Probably about why she was here and not at school. His gaze then went to Rachael, who fought the urge not to flinch. “Who is she?” he asked, switching to English.

“A friend,” Taryn replied.

“A friend?” he repeated as he walked over to them. “I thought you said you were bad at making friends.”

She scoffed at his playful jab. “Not all the time. What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for an order, what about you?”

“Planning to go in and eat, is it busy?”

“You just missed the lunch rush, so it should have calmed down. Planning to order the same thing as last time?”

“Probably? Anything on special?”

“Well, it’s Wednesday, so it’s the same as before.” he paused. “I’ve noticed Isabella isn’t around. Did something happen?”

Who’s Isabella? Rachael thought, glancing at Taryn, who smiled at the man.

“She’s around,” that was all she said when the door opened up, and a man waved Honda over. “Looks like your order’s ready, tell Hiro I say hello, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll let him know, same to you and the others.”

The two then fell into another conversation while they ordered, waited and ate their food, yet that same question of curiosity kept popping up. Isabella wasn’t Taryn’s Mom, and she had no older or younger sister to speak of. It might have been an aunt, but somehow even that seemed wrong to her.

So, she asked. “Taryn? Who’s Isabella?”

Taryn stopped walking back to the library, looked back at her with a smile and spoke. “She’s family.” Then she continued back to the library. “Or at least that’s how I see her, we hold no blood relation, but she’s been there for me ever since I was small. And I’m grateful for that. That I even have someone as wonderful as her in my life.”

Rachael fell silent. The amount of love in Taryn’s voice was genuine, making Rachael wonder even more what it was that this girl, a girl who was a year younger than she, had been through to sound like that.

“Hey,” Taryn said, making Rachael jump faintly. “When we get back to the library, you have to show me some of your sketches. If you don’t mind, I love to see your progress.”

Rachael smiled. “Sure, but just so you’re aware, my rough sketches are pretty bad.”

“So? You’ve seen my comments on your finished work. I think they’re great! You should make a comic, manga or webcomic.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah! You’d be good at it!”

“Well, I’m not good at writing stories, so I’ll think about it.”

“Cool, let me know what you come up with. My grammar is bad, but I can give you some ideas if you need them.”

Rachael’s smile grew, knowing more could wait over time. She picked up speed to walk alongside her. “So, where’d you learn Japanese anyway?”

“From Honda and his grandkid. If you’d like, I can ask him to teach you?”

“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

*    *    *

It was nearly five in the evening when Taryn unlocked the front door to her home. Her parents wouldn’t get back until at least eight. She could hear the dog barking in the backyard as Ebony came over with a meow, purring loudly when in contact with one of her family members.

“I’m back, Ebony.” She said before taking off her shoes at the front door, throwing on some sandals and heading to the back. The moment she opened the door, however, was when Frisket pounced, taking Taryn to the floor with licks and tail wags to welcome her home.

“Yes, yes, I get it. You’re happy to see me, now off, boy.”

The dog wined but did as he was told before sitting near her as Taryn got up on her knees, and with both hands, ruffled the German Shepard’s face.

“Don’t be like that, you know I love you.” She then looked back to the front of the house when a shadow loomed over her. Of a woman with pale skin, ebony black hair held back in a low bun, and lavender eyes. Dressed in a black suit and was about the same height as Taryn’s mother when she didn’t wear heels. Taryn smiled at the rather expressionless woman. “Hey Isabella, is something wrong?”

Isabella, a woman who was employed by Taryn’s Uncle, not long after the incident with her aunt when Taryn became injured from broken mirrors. She was like a silent shadow, much like Taryn’s grandfather and uncle, who could move without so much as making a single sound. Something that Taryn still practiced and hoped to be just as good at someday. What Isabella did before never came up, nor did it matter. She did her job, protecting Taryn while watching from afar and handling those who intended or wished harm to the girl.

“No,” Isabella said. “However, I do wish you’d not say those things.”

“What? That I see you as family?” Taryn asked as she stood up. “But it’s the truth, you know me. The whole me and you accept it. Plus, you were one of few besides my parents who raised me, so why not see you as family?”

“Don’t you think people would find that strange when they discover, if at all, that I’m your bodyguard?” Isabella says as Taryn heads back to the front entrance of the house to collect her things to head to her room.

“If they discover it,” Taryn repeated. “You said it yourself, if. And if they do and their tune changes, then it happens. I don’t think Rachael would react like it’s a bad thing.”

“Taryn, you’ve only known her for two days.”

“Yes, and she could have kept looking up information about me but stopped.” She countered. “She isn’t the intrusive type. At least, that’s what I think. She’s respectful of people’s privacy; that’s not something a lot of people would be willing to stop doing when they start to look into who I am.”

Isabella’s eyes faintly creased into a look of concern. “Still, I believe we should let Bob look into her more, just to be safe.”

“No,” Taryn said as she placed her stuff on the end of her bed. “You’ve already looked at her parents, that’s enough. Don’t go digging into her life just because she’s someone I’m becoming familiar with. We know her parents are regular office workers while her Dad has a side gig as an actor. I don’t want to know any further than what she knows of me. She has no clue of what happened recently, or what I’ve dealt with growing up. It’s only fair I respect her as she’s respected my privacy.”

“And if she finds out?”

Taryn said nothing.

Isabella waited.

The silence became dense before Taryn finally spoke.

“If she finds out, then we’ll see. I don’t want to think of that possibility. Not now. I’m tired of doing that. Tired of thinking about what others will think when they know. Tired of pretending. I just…” she sighed. “I’m tired. Really tired. I just want to be me.”

“You are,”

“Not with everyone,” Taryn told her firmly. “Not in public.” She let out another breath before looking at Isabella with a sad smile. “You know I won’t tell her. Not unless I absolutely have to. I mean, who’d want a friend that can see the dead in reflections?”