Sarah's Shadow
^{A Story}
Chapter 13 - A Friend In Need
by Saless
 

In the morning Tiffany had to drag herself out of bed. Eventually she managed to get ready and get to work on time. She was shocked when she arrived to find Sarah already there, working away. "Good morning Sarah, are you feeling better today?" she asked.

Sarah smiled weakly and said, "Yeah, I'm feeling better." She went back to work without another word after that, and it wasn't until lunch time that Tiffany was able to talk to her again.

"Sarah, I've been thinking about something you said the other day." Tiffany said when they sat down to eat in the break room.

"Oh, what was that?" Sarah asked.

"Remember we were talking about our parents? And you said you never got along with yours?" Tiffany replied.

"Sure." Sarah said, frowning.

"Well, the way you said it reminded me of something I'd heard before. It wasn't until last night that I finally remembered where I'd heard something like that. It was someone I met at the orphanage before being fostered out. There was a guy who talked about his parents the same way. I learned later that he'd been abused by them. Nothing like that has happened to you, has it?" Tiffany asked hesitantly. She knew it had, of course, but she couldn't reveal that to Sarah.

Sarah looked angrily at Tiffany and said, "Who put you up to this?! Was it Jill?"

"Sarah, I've never even met Jill! What are you talking about?" Tiffany replied.

Sarah glared at her for a moment and then relaxed back into her chair. "Sorry, my friends have been acting weird lately, trying to say that my mother tried to kill me when I was a kid! Can you believe that?!"

"Uh, yeah, sounds weird. Where did they ever get an idea like that?" Tiffany said awkwardly, once again struggling with what she could and couldn't say.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know. My parents never did anything like that to me." She said this very firmly, yet there was a trace of uncertainty to it that Tiffany doubted anyone who didn't know her would have caught.

"Well, that's good." Tiffany said. She knew she didn't sound very convincing, but Sarah seemed to accept it. They groused about work after that until their lunch break was over. It's like right on the edge of her consciousness, isn't it? Tiffany thought as she got back to work.

Yes, it is. Vash replied, startling her. Sorry, I'm here to keep an eye on Sarah. I know you're doing so as well, but it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes.

Sure, I understand. We're all worried about her. I'm amazed she hasn't said anything about my hair, eyes, or skin. I guess she's pretty preoccupied. Tiffany said.

Yes, it's taking a great deal of effort for her to keep everything bottled up the way she is. It never ceases to amaze me how humans can work so hard to not know something they already know! Hopefully we'll be able to put a stop to that tonight. Vash said.

Tiffany caught herself nodding in reply, and looked around to make sure nobody noticed her seemingly talking to herself. She heard chuckling in her head as she continued working and knew that Vash had caught that.

Tiffany was just about to clock out with Sarah when she got called away to help with an ornery customer. She kept an eye on her while she was dealing with the customer and noticed that she hung back by the door she normally left by. Then she headed to the back of the building. What's she doing? she thought to Vash.

She's trying to avoid Erica and Jill, who are waiting with Mike outside the door. I'll go with her, please follow as soon as you can. Vash replied. Tiffany dealt with the customer as quickly as possible and hurried outside, not even bothering to clock out. She didn't see anyone at first, but when she stepped out away from the building she saw Vash lying on the ground! She ran over and feared he was dead, as his fur was matted with blood. Upon closer inspection she saw that he was still breathing. With a sigh of relief Tiffany cloaked herself in shadows and ran out to find Sarah.

She nearly passed right by her, as she was lying down behind some bushes. It was John she saw first, struggling with his belt. He finally got it undone and pulled his pants down. Sarah's clothes were torn and she was trying to get away from John, but her efforts were uncoordinated and ineffectual. Realizing what was about to happen Tiffany reacted without thinking. She reached for a throwing knife that shouldn't have been there, but was. With a precision of motion she wouldn't have expected of herself she threw the blade at John where it buried itself in his back.

John staggered and tried to reach around to pull the knife free. Again without thinking about it Tiffany pulled on a thread of shadow that seemed to be connecting the knife to her, and it reappeared in her hand. She looked dumbly down at the blade, and saw that there was no blood on it at all! Looking back at John she saw him drop to his knees and then fall face first on top of Sarah. Tiffany was afraid he was still attacking her, but she soon realized he was unconscious or dead.

Sarah was even more hysterical now, but before Tiffany could do anything a large wolf came bounding around the corner. Tiffany was afraid it would attack at first, but then realized it was Mike. Relived that someone was there to take care of Sarah, she ran.

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