Betraying Innocence Read Free Page B

pressing a clammy hand to the front of her shirt.
    She inhaled shakily as she padded back to the bed , but all hopes of sleep were gone. She gave a frustrated yank of the covers and pitched them back. Mitzy grumbled at her from his resting place when the covers landed in a heap on top of his head. He untangled himself and hopped off the bed with a grunt. He cast her a nasty glare before curling up on a nearby box and going back to sleep. Ana rolled her eyes as she snatched up her fluffy pink robe and threw it on. She shoved her feet into her sneakers and tiptoed downstairs.
    Several steps creaked and she made a mental note to remember which ones for the future. She wasn’t the sneak-out-of-the-house sort, but it was something handy to know. At the bottom, she turned down the hall to the kitchen and frowned. The basement door was open. Not all the way, but open enough to show a slit of pure blackness where it gaped. Ana thought nothing of it as she hurried forward and shut it. She continued on into the kitchen and maneuvered her way around the boxes to the sink. It wasn’t until she went through all the trouble to get there that she realized she had no cup and she was in no mood to go box diving.
    Wishing she’d thought of that before coming down, she turned, only slightly deterred by the prospect of making the journey back through the maze of boxes. She swayed a little as her weary body protested all the movement. She stuffed her knuckles into her eyes and rubbed the grit collecting in the corners. She yawned. And that’s when she saw it, a bright, sparkly bit of light where she thought there shouldn’t be any. Her thigh caught a box as she twisted back to the sink and the source of light poking through the lace curtains over the window. The stone basin felt cold under her hand as she leaned over and pulled back the fabric to squint into the night.
    Glinting stars stared back at her. She couldn’t ever recall having seen so many claiming the heavens before. They were nonexistent in the city. Below, a pond shimmered beneath the glow of the moon. The wind whistled through the tall grass. Crickets chirped. It was such a drastic change from the commotion of the city. Even at that hour, people were rushing to get places. Not in Chipawaha Creek. Everyone was sleeping there, except her … and the pale boy standing over her pond.
    Ana squished her knuckles into her eyelids and rubbed. She blinked her eyes and stared hard at the slim, unmoving figure peering down at the ripples in the water. Around him, a white glow seemed to halo him, like he had swallowed a lamp and the light was spilling out of his pores, illuminating the space around him. He stood with his back to her, hands in his pockets, blond head bent. She couldn’t make out much, except he wore a long, black cape draped over his hunched shoulders. The wind lifted the corners, making it flap like wings around his legs.
    Ana wondered if she should get her parents. They would certainly know what to do. But the boy didn’t look like a threat. He looked about her age. Plus, he just seemed really sad. Maybe he’s lost, she thought, pressing her nose against the glass. It made sense. Why else would he be standing in her yard in the middle of the night? Or maybe he was hurt and just needed to call someone to come get him. But he didn’t seem hurt.
    More and more, she contemplated waking her parents. They could go out there and deal with the kid. But each time she was reminded that her parents had to be up early in the morning to leave for work so if it turned out to be nothing, just some kid trespassing, they would be furious. Maybe she should just leave him alone. Eventually he would need to go home … unless he was lost.
    “Ugh!” Ana stuffed the heels of her hands into her eyelids where a steady throbbing had begun. This is not solving anything, she told herself. She would just go out there and ask if he was all right. She would stay on the porch, far enough away so