Born At Midnight

"And oh, do death angels real y exist?"

It was probably the seventh or eighth question Kylie had pitched at Holiday during their meeting thirty minutes later. The moment Kylie's foot had stepped inside the office, the questions just started flowing.

"That's ... a lot of questions." Holiday smiled and motioned for Kylie to sit down.

Kylie set her phone down on Holiday's desk and took a chair. When she'd left the dining hal , she spent the last five minutes talking to Sara, celebrating the fact that her pregnancy test was negative, but now Kylie was back to focusing on her own mission of finding answers.

"Yeah, and I'm only getting started," she said. "I also want to know what else I could be. The other day you said-"

"Real y?" Holiday's brow arched. "So you've accepted that you're one of us?"

The question bounced around Kylie's head. "No. I just want to be prepared if ... that's what I discover."

The camp leader brushed her long ponytail of red hair behind her shoulder. "I heard you had Helen check you for a tumor."

"Who told you?" Kylie asked, imagining the whole camp teasing her about it. Or even worse, teasing Helen. The girl seemed even shyer than Kylie and the last thing Kylie wanted was for her to get hel because of something Kylie had talked her into doing. Holiday shook her head. "It wasn't like that. Helen was excited that she discovered how it worked and wanted to share it with me."

Kylie nodded. She understood how Helen felt and didn't begrudge her sharing the news with Holiday.

"But you stil aren't a believer, are you?" Holiday asked, meeting Kylie's gaze.

"I could stil be..."

"Crazy or schizophrenic."

"Right," Kylie said, relieved that Holiday understood.

Holiday sighed as if exasperated and Kylie's relief evaporated.

"It's just I don't think either of my parents are gifted. And you said this is most likely hereditary. Plus, I can't see into people's head and see any patterns. Helen said she could always do it."

"That's Helen. Most of us with ghost whispering powers-it just appears one day." Holiday sighed. "And there could be a hundred reasons why your mom or dad hasn't shared this with you. You..." She held up her hands. "What am I doing? My job isn't to convince you. It's to help you find your own answers."

Kylie almost apologized for disappointing Holiday because she honestly liked her, but how could Kylie just believe this without some proof?

"Let's get back to your questions." Holiday paused as if recal ing the list. "Do death angels real y exist? I'm assuming you heard about the legend of the name Shadow Fal s."

"Yeah," Kylie said. "Is it true?"

"I've never seen the shadows. Of course, it wasn't quite dusk when I was there."

"I mean the death angels?"

"Wel , I haven't ever seen a death angel either. But I know several people who claim they have. Some think they exist only in the legends, but since al supernaturals are considered legends, it's hard to say they don't exist."

"Are they known to be evil?" Kylie asked, her curiosity stemming from both Fredericka's fear and Miranda's hesitancy to talk about them later.

"Not necessarily evil. They are thought of as powerful ghosts who are ... avengers. It's believed that they right the wrongs of the supernaturals. And stand judgment of them."

"Is that why everyone seems so scared of ghosts?"

"Yup, that would be the reason." A smile twitched Holiday's lips. "Frankly, we scare the bejeebies out of most supernaturals. Remember the FRU?"

Kylie nodded and inwardly admitted it scared the bejeebies out of her, too.

Holiday placed her right elbow on the table and then rested her chin in her open palm. "To be honest with you Kylie, death angels per se may not exist, but I see al my ghosts as being a lot like we think death angels are. I mean, I've actual y had several protect me in different ways. Sure some of them need something from us, but more times than not they are here to either help us, or to help us help someone else. As scary as this al seems to you, you should know that it's a special cal ing. Very few supernaturals have this gift. It's said that it is bestowed on only those with worthy spirits, good hearts, and courage."

"But I'm not those things," Kylie said, pleading her case. "On Hal oween, I wouldn't even go into the haunted houses."

Holiday chuckled. "I didn't say you were perfect, Kylie. Heaven knows that I have my faults as wel . But our hearts want the good to win. We're stil afraid, we stil make mistakes, but if we listen to what our hearts want, we wil find the right way." She rested her left hand on top of Kylie's. Kylie looked at their hands joined together on the table. "Is being a ghost whisperer a common gift for fairies? And elves?" Kylie remembered the bus driver sensing when Soldier Dude had dropped by for a visit. "At lunch, the elf, the one who drove the bus that brought us here, she knew the ghost was there."

"Yes, there have been studies that say it is more common with fairies and elves. But it's not unheard of for others to have this ability. While certain gifts are bestowed to different species, each being can have less or more, depending on their spirits or their links to the gods and goddesses."

"So what else could I be?"

"This morning when I touched you and you sensed that I was trying to calm you ... the fact that you could feel that is ... wel , unusual. General y speaking, another fairy, depending on their level of power, may be able to sense it, but ... honestly, I've never heard of anyone sensing it through touch."

"So assuming I'm not human, I'm also not fairy?"

"I didn't say that. What I can say is that whatever species your gifts stem from, your lineage to the gods is closer than most. I think you are just coming into your powers and who knows what al awaits you."

Kylie just stared. Holiday acted as though her words were supposed to make her feel better. "But do we know-if I am one of you-that I'm not like a vampire or werewolf?" Kylie held her breath as she waited for Holiday to answer.

Holiday shrugged. "I'm guessing if you were of that species, we would have seen some of the normal characteristics that are linked to them. However, there are a few of al species that are what we refer to as atypical. Their heritage is with one species and yet they lack certain characteristics, and are often gifted in other ways. The studies seem to conclude that, perhaps, these individuals are the very few that have combined genetics of two or more species. Not that it has real y been proven."

Oh, great. She could be a hybrid. Just like her sociology teacher's car.

"So ... normal y, you real y don't have half of one species and half of another? I thought Miranda said they've been mixing forever."

Holiday smiled. "Yes. But general y, the species with the closer lineage to the gods is the one passed on in the DNA. Here again, the gifts of the child may vary, but the basic characteristics seem to remain true for each species, such as the transformation into a wolf, or the need for blood to survive-if the virus is active."

Kylie's mind was trying to wrap around al this information. "Isn't there some blood test that could tel if I'm anything at al ?"

"Regrettably, no. Oh, they are stil trying, believe me. However, it's legend that the gods made our blood the same as humans, and unidentifiable as a matter of survival. If normals, or even one form of a supernatural, could test for certain species, they might be able to eradicate certain types."

Kylie conceded that point. If she'd found out two weeks ago that vampires and such existed, she'd have been al for trying to eradicate them. But now, after knowing Del a, Miranda, Derek, Holiday, Helen, and even Perry-the little twerp-Kylie would never agree to it. Then she remembered she wasn't the only one who didn't know why she was here. "Is there any kind of supernatural that isn't hereditary?"

"Wel , as I mentioned earlier, in rare incidences it has been known to skip generations. Especial y in the instances of vampirism. Then there are humans who are simply turned by either vampires or werewolves, but it's suspected that even in those cases, the victims who survive being turned have been touched in some way by the gods. Or demons."

Demons? Okay, Kylie wasn't ready to deal with them just yet. "But you don't think I'm a vampire or a werewolf, right?"

"I think it's unlikely."

Which basical y meant, if Kylie wanted to get to the bottom of this, she'd have to go to her parents. And just how in the heck was she going to do that, assuming her parents were as clueless about this as she was? Knowing her mom, if Kylie started asking questions, she'd get herself pul ed out of camp and stuck in a loony bin.

* * *

During the art hour later that afternoon, Kylie was paired up with Helen and Jonathon. The teen had removed al his piercings except his left earring. Kylie also noticed the way he carried himself, as if somehow becoming a vampire had given him a double shot of confidence. Even Helen seemed quicker to smile and total y comfortable with her new role as fairy/healer.

Kylie remembered Holiday saying how the camp would make most of them feel relieved because they always sensed they were different. Kylie saw that relief in Helen and Jonathon-it was as if they'd final y discovered who they real y were. It was just one of a dozen or more things that made her different from everyone else here at camp. She couldn't help but wonder if this failure to identify with her supernatural self wasn't another sign of her not being anything but human.

Their art assignment was to take a walk as a group of three, find a spot, and then sit and sketch the same thing. Kylie, her mind stil stuck on seeing the fal s, suggested that they take a walk to the waterfal s. She felt pretty sure she could find her way back to where Derek had taken her and then fol ow the sounds from there. Face it, she was curious, but both Helen and Jonathon refused to go, saying only that they preferred to stay away from that place. Instead, they walked down one of the trails and found an old tree that had been split in two from what she assumed had been lightning.

While Helen and Jonathon got into the whole sketch-a-tree thing, Kylie spent most her time trying to figure out how to approach her parents. Her mother already thought she was nuts because of Soldier Dude. What would she say when Kylie asked, point-blank, if her mom had any fairy ancestors, saw ghosts, or could transform herself into a unicorn.

Later, when Kylie met up with her hiking crowd, she almost bailed when she found out Lucas was leading the group. Then, afraid ditching would get her into trouble with Holiday, Kylie plastered a cordial look on her face that she didn't real y feel, and swore to ignore him. Fifteen minutes into the hike, she realized she didn't have to ignore Lucas because he did a championship-winning job of ignoring her. Half an hour into the hike, and not once had he addressed her personal y or even glanced her way. Not that she cared.

It was a downright shame Fredericka wasn't around to see how unimpressed the two of them were with each other. Okay, the truth was, Kylie counted her blessings that she and Fredericka hadn't crossed paths again. Somehow Kylie had to muster up some courage, or at least learn to fake some. Because sooner or later they were bound to come face-to-face again. Kylie's hands began to sweat just from considering it. And to think Holiday thought she had courage. Ha.

In the beginning of the hike through the woods, Kylie mostly hung with Miranda, when her roommate wasn't chatting it up with the five or six male hikers. Honestly, when it came to the opposite sex, Miranda reminded Kylie a bit of Sara. A little too out there. Then again, it might be Kylie was a tad jealous at how easily both of them could flirt.

Even though Kylie didn't consider herself unattractive, playing that whole giggly role didn't come easy for her. She was fortunate that Trey hadn't been turned off by her more subdued style.

Thinking about Trey reminded Kylie that he'd cal ed again during art class. He'd left a message, too, but she hadn't listened to it yet. Hey, he'd have to get in line. She had her own issues to deal with. But even as she tried to push thoughts of him away, she remembered him saying in their first conversation, I just want to see you. I miss you.

Her chest tightened, because damn it. She missed him, too.

Kylie felt Miranda nudge her with her elbow.

"This is Kylie. We're rooming together," Miranda said.

Waving at the group of guys walking on the other side of Miranda, Kylie quickly went back to checking the trails for water moccasins and pretending she wasn't listening to Lucas's spiel about the camp.

According to him, real dinosaur bones were actual y found here back in the 1960s. After a few more minutes, Kylie forgot about feigning disinterest and like the rest of the group-minus a few of the boys and Miranda-hung on Lucas's every word. Lucas took them up to a creek bed where an archeologist had roped off some prehistoric footprints. Kylie found the whole story fascinating. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Lucas's deep voice sounded hypnotic. She'd always found archaeology intriguing.

"So, are they stil excavating the site?" Kylie asked. "Couldn't there be even more dinosaur bones here?"

Lucas turned to her. "Not on camp property, they're not." His tone lost its earlier enthusiasm and his focus shifted back to the others so fast Kylie had no doubt that her being here annoyed the hel out of him. Surely he knew she hadn't chosen to be on his little adventure. If Kylie had any reservations about his attitude being a figment of her imagination, it died when Miranda whispered, "I don't see why that bitch Fredericka thinks he's into you. From what I can see, he barely tolerates you."

"I know," Kylie muttered, but even as the words left her lips, she recal ed how he'd looked at her last night in her PJs.

"I've been thinking about Fredericka and I swear, she's so evil," Miranda whispered. "I'l betcha she wasn't born at midnight. Some supernaturals lie..."

Kylie nodded, only half listening, and that's when it hit. "Oh my God, that's how I can do it. Thank you." Kylie gave Miranda's arm a good squeeze, and for the first time she felt as if uncovering the truth was in her reach.