Sarah's Shadow
^{A Story}
Chapter 15 - Blackmail
by Saless
 

What happened?! Did this happen to John, too?! Surely that police officer would have mentioned something like this… Tiffany thought as she stared at the pile of ashes in shock. Then she shook herself as she realized that the police either didn't know, or weren't going to say anything about it. There was a delayed reaction, so they might not have gotten the word yet. In fact, it might not have happened yet at the time they were talking to Sarah. But they wouldn't say anything about it if they did know, they'd sound crazy!

Cautiously, Tiffany knelt down next to the ash and looked more closely at it. There didn't seem to be any remnants of the boxes at all, it had all turned to ash. Nothing else seemed affected, though. She rubbed a bit of it between her fingers, but it left no marks on her skin like ash normally would. And it was coal black, not the grey she'd expect from the ashes from a fire. In fact, that's what it looked like, coal dust. Only it didn't mark her hands. When she brushed some of it aside the carpet underneath was equally unmarked. What is this stuff? she thought.

Mystified, she shrugged and vacuumed it up. The carpet underneath was clean. She put the vacuum away and tried to get to sleep, but it was a long time coming.
 
 
Tiffany slept poorly and awoke early. Giving up on getting any more sleep, she got up and poured herself some cereal. What to do now? I'm a killer; they'll be looking for me, won't they? And Sarah and her friends will be wondering who attacked him. Should I reveal myself to them now, or not? Maybe I'll wait and see if the police come knocking on my door, I don't want to bring them to the police's attention if I can help it. she thought as she ate.

After rinsing out her bowl she got dressed and decided to go over to Sarah's place despite the early hour. When she got there the lights were out, so she let herself in. She couldn't hear anything through Sarah's door, so she assumed they were asleep. She found a good hiding place in view of Sarah's door and the kitchen and living room and settled down to wait.

When they did get up they took a long shower accompanied by sounds that made Tiffany blush. Once they were dressed they went into the kitchen and Sarah made breakfast. They didn't get far into it before Erica asked Sarah why she used to cross dress. That led to even more revelations about Sarah's childhood, and the fact that Sarah had always wanted to be a girl. She also learned how Sarah and Mike had met, and how that had ended the physical abuse from Sarah's father.

Erica still seemed a little worried about Sarah liking guys, but Sarah shot that down right away. After Sarah finished her story Erica comforted her, and then proposed! Tiffany was shocked, and then shocked again when she saw the beautiful rings Erica had found in the tomb.

After that Mike and Jill arrived and they had to tell them what Sarah had told Erica. Apparently they were going to start learning martial arts, because they decided to postpone it because Sarah was feeling worn out. Not that worn out, though, as she and Erica went at it again after Mike and Jill left. Tiffany decided to leave and come back later, as she felt like she was intruding too much.

She let herself out, making sure to relock the door, and was making her way back to her car when she noticed someone walking towards her. He looked to be middle aged and was wearing a dark suit and sunglasses. He looked like the classic MIB, and Tiffany began to worry that he was there for her, for killing John. She hurried her steps, but he figured out where she was going and moved to intercept her. He got to her car seconds before she would have. She tensed up and felt one of her knives appearing in her hand, but quickly stuffed it in a pocket before the man could see it.

"Hello, miss." he said in greeting. He sounded amicable enough, but Tiffany was sure he was trouble. "I was wondering if we could talk?"

Tiffany stopped and stared fearfully at him. "Why would I want to talk to you?!" she said, trying to sound unconcerned and failing miserably.

"Because if you don't I'll have to have a talk with Miss Kinsley about her stalker." he replied calmly.

"No, don't tell her!" Tiffany blurted out before she could stop herself. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth, but the damage was done.

"There's a Starbucks around the corner, why don't we go for a little walk?" he said with a predatory grin. Tiffany's shoulders slumped as she nodded and followed him. They walked in silence and he ordered a drink. "Would you like anything?" he asked as if they were old friends. She shook her head and plopped down in the nearest chair. Once he got his drink he sat down across from her.

"What do you want?" she asked wearily.

"I want to know what is going on." he said. "Some strange things have been happening around here lately, and at least some of them seem to center around Miss Kinsley. Since you're stalking her anyway, I thought you could give me some information on her."

"I'm not stalking her!" Tiffany replied angrily. "She's my friend!" Once again her hand went to her mouth too late.

He smiled again and said, "But she doesn't know you're there when you 'visit' her, does she? In fact, I had some difficulty spotting you, myself. You have an interesting knack for finding shadows to hide in."

I wonder if he thinks it's just a good trick, or knows there's more to it. I think I'll pretend it's a trick and see what happens. Tiffany thought. "Why should I tell you about Sarah?" she said.

"Because if you don't I can arrest you for obstruction of justice. Or I can just arrest you for that mess outside of town. I'm sure you're friend is involved in that, too, and by extension you. It would be easy enough to sell that as an act of terrorism. You know what that would mean. Or I could take a more personal approach and tell Miss Kinsley about you. I'm sure that would make your 'friendship' a little awkward." He replied.

I can't tell him about Sarah! She'd end up in a lab somewhere if they knew what she can do, or at least on the run. I've got to stall until I can figure out what to do. Tiffany thought. She was very much afraid that this man would lock her up and throw away the key, but she was determined to protect Sarah and her friends from him. "What kind of information do you think I have on Sarah?!" she said.

He shrugged, "I don't know. But impossible things happen around her and I think you've seen some of that. Or if you haven't, you will soon enough. Are you trying to say that you haven't seen anything unusual?" He sounded highly doubtful of that possibility.

Thinking fast Tiffany said, "Well, I did think it strange that everyone accepted her as a girl so easily. I mean, she certainly looks the part, but she was a guy before!" I hope this distracts him. she thought hopefully.

He did look interested as he said, "Yes, I've heard about that. Some of the people I talked to seemed to think she'd always been a girl. Yet the pictures I've seen are clearly of a man. I am curious how she changed so much in such a short period of time. What do you know about that?"

"Nothing, really. One day she was Sean, a guy, and then she missed a day and when she came back she was Sarah, an obvious girl." Tiffany replied.

He nodded thoughtfully, "You said she missed a day before she changed. When was that?"

Tiffany thought back and said, "About three weeks ago. It was a Friday, so she was really gone three days since she doesn't work weekends."

"Okay. That gives me something to work with. In the meantime, I expect you to continue to shadow your 'friend' and take notes. I expect you to tell me everything she does, no matter how ordinary. Understood?" he said. Tiffany nodded weakly. "Good. I'll be watching, so don't try to contact Sarah or her friends. If you do I'll just have to arrest all five of you."

Tiffany's eyes widened in alarm and she shook her head violently. He grinned again and left her there feeling panicky and confused. How can I get out of this? I can't do what he says, but I can't talk to Sarah or her friends, either! Wait, he said five! He doesn't know about Vash! I can talk to him! Tiffany thought excitedly. She waited to make sure he was out of sight and then pulled the shadows back in around her and headed back to Sarah's apartment.

She slipped back inside Sarah's apartment. Sarah and Erica were in the shower again, so Tiffany settled down to wait. Vash, can you hear me? she thought, but she heard no reply. She could only hope that Vash would be able to hear her when she got closer to him.

When Sarah and Erica emerged from the shower they got dressed and headed over to Mike and Jill's apartment. Tiffany stayed as close as she dared, but she wasn't able to get inside. Settling down in front of their living room window she thought, Vash, can you hear me? to Vash again. There was no response. I wonder… she thought, and went to the door. Taking out her copy of Sarah's key, she went to try it. She nearly dropped the key and accidentally banged her hand against the knob when she went to catch it. Her obsidian ring hit the knob and she heard a click. She examined her ring, but it didn't appear to be damaged. Taking hold of the knob again to try the key, she found it was now unlocked!

Was it unlocked the whole time? But I was sure I heard Jill lock it after they went inside… she thought. She put her key into the lock and tried to lock the door, but it clearly didn't fit. Looking down at her ring she wondered, Is that what this ring does? Open locks? I wish I'd known that before! She went back to the window and looked inside. Mike was teaching them karate or something and Vash was watching intently. They were all looking away from the door, so she carefully swung it open just enough for her to slip through and closed it behind her.

Tiffany locked the door and slipped into the shadows of the entertainment center. No one reacted, so she was sure they hadn't seen her. They continued their training for a while, took a short break, and then went right back to it. Tiffany was beginning to think that this might be something useful to learn, but she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

After their training Sarah went to make lunch and the others sat in the living room and talked about confronting Sarah's parents. Tiffany was getting very angry thinking about Sarah's parents and found another of her throwing knives had appeared in her hand. She shoved it into her pocket with the other one and tried to calm herself.

They finally settled on going to see them the next day, after Sarah emailed them. Tiffany vowed to herself to be there to protect her, though she knew Mike could take care of that by himself. After lunch they started looking into other ways they could train. Tiffany realized she'd obviously missed something, as it seemed they were preparing for something. I wonder what I missed? she thought.

Sarah opened a portal to go back to her apartment with Erica, so Tiffany dashed through it before it closed. Sarah and Erica started going through books and Tiffany sat back to see if they said anything about what they were doing. They didn't. In fact, they didn't say anything at all! They were looking strangely at each other, so she could only assume they were talking through their bond.

They read for hours, and then took a break to eat. Tiffany's stomach was growling at her, but she didn't dare leave. Not until she'd come to some kind of resolution. She was concerned that Vash hadn't heard her, but he had apparently been helping in their training somehow, so she was hoping to be able to contact him if she tried again. Sarah's apartment was out of his range, though.

After eating they walked back to Jill and Mike's with Tiffany following close behind. Once again she had to use the ring to get in. Following a brief conversation Sarah opened a portal back to her apartment and they all walked through it. This time Tiffany was unable to follow without being detected, so she had to make her way there the old fashioned way. When she finally got back inside Sarah's apartment she was playing a video game. Sarah had said something about this game having something in it that Erica could benefit from, so Tiffany got as close as she dared to watch.

The game went on for hours, but it was more interesting than Tiffany had thought it would be. It was a lot like an interactive story. Most of what happened was already set, but you got to move through it as though you had control over the outcome. Sarah was quite good at it, and seemed to plow through her opponents with ease. As she went bits and pieces of information were revealed which told Tiffany what a chrysalis was, and what it could do for Erica. After the game Jill and Mike went back to their apartment through a portal and Tiffany followed them.

Vash, can you hear me? she called again, thinking that this was her last chance to get through to him before she'd have to face that man again.

She felt something, so she called out again. Finally, after four tries, she got an answer.

Tiffany? You're even harder to hear than you were before. What is wrong? he sent back.

Some guy approached me earlier today and he knows I've been following you guys around. He also thinks that Sarah had something to do with all the damage where you guys trained, and also with John's death. He's some kind of policeman or something and threatened to arrest me if I didn't spy on Sarah for him! He also said not to contact Sarah or her friends or he'd arrest us all. What can I do? she thought frantically.

Calm down Tiffany! We'll figure something out. I think it would be best if I told the others about you. Is that okay? Vash replied.

Tiffany sighed and thought, I've thought of doing that anyway, so yeah, go ahead. And please tell them I'm sorry!

I will, and I'm sure they'll understand once I explain everything to them. Vash said.

Thanks! Should I stick around, or should I go? she thought.

It's quite late. It might look odd if you stayed any later. I suggest you go home and come back first thing in the morning. I'll tell Mike and Jill tonight, and we'll tell Sarah and Erica in the morning. Hopefully by the time you arrive we'll have everything settled about you and can start working on dealing with this mysterious man. Vash said.

Okay, I'll come over first thing. Should I come here or Sarah's? she replied.

Sarah's, that's who you're supposed to be watching, anyway. Vash said.

I'll see you there, then. Goodnight, and thanks! Tiffany said.

You're welcome. I'm glad you're finally doing this. Goodnight. Vash replied. Tiffany hurried back to her car, keeping the shadows close the entire way. She could only hope that she could stay away from him long enough to talk to the others!

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