Monsters Are Forever

12. Is Everything Alright?

Anna spent the first half of Monday at school trying to decide what to do. Rudi was still staring at her expectantly in class, and Mia was acting incredibly strange. Actually, Anna was getting the distinct impression that Mia hadn't managed to solve her problems with Rudi after all, especially with what had happened at the movie theater this weekend. Mia might not really be acknowledging it, but it was pretty obvious what had happened. She'd been jittery and anxious when she got there, then she disappeared for about ten minutes. And when she came back, she was fine. Even Zev noticed something was off – and he wasn't even one of them. Did Mia really think she hadn't been caught?

Anna really wanted to discuss it with Mia, but she didn't get the chance until science. She knew Mia wouldn't be all that happy to have this conversation, especially with Rudi sitting in class with them, but Anna really needed to know.

"There was a very strange article in the paper this weekend." Anna said when Mia sat down. It might not have been the most subtle way to bring it up, but Anna wanted Mia to know exactly how serious this was. She didn't actually seem to understand just how out of hand all of this had gotten.

"Really? About what?" Mia asked. She tried to sound casual, but her eyes darted away for a second.

"There was a girl who passed out at the movie theater." Anna told her. "Actually, it seemed to be about the same time we were there."

"Really?" Mia said again, sounding surprised by the news. Then after a minute she added, "You still read the papers?"

"Of course." Anna told her. "I want to make sure no one's getting suspicious of us."

Anna was surprised that Mia would think she'd ever stop checking. Even if all their friends knew what they were now, that didn't mean they could afford to get careless. If enough people in the city got suspicious, it could make hunting almost impossible – did she forget what started to happen freshman year? And there was no way Anna was going to let something like that happen again. If something was going on in this city, she wanted it taken care of immediately – before it got noticeable again.

"I think we'll be ok." Mia told her.

Anna stared at her for a minute, wondering how Mia could be so caviler about this.

"Do you think there could be someone else here?" Anna asked finally. "I mean, other than you, Carmine and I?"

"Probably not." Mia told her. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"So, what do you think happened?" Anna asked, staring levelly at her.

She was almost positive it was just the three of them too. Which, of course, left only one possibility as far as Anna was concerned. The only reason Anna had even asked that question at all was to give her friend the benefit of the doubt. And to give her the chance to admit it on her own.

"It's probably just a coincidence." Mia shrugged. "She probably just got sick or something."

Anna just looked at her for a minute. She looked so nonchalant sitting there, Anna probably would have believed Mia if it wasn't for the way she'd been acting recently. And as much as Mia didn't seem to want to admit it, the timing on that attack was too perfect to be a coincidence.

"Just don't let it happen again." Anna told her finally.

Mia just nodded, glancing down at the table in embarrassment.

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Anna might have been annoyed with Mia, but there wasn't much more she could do about it. She'd already talked to her; now all she could do was watch the papers and make sure Mia really did get it together. But as much as she didn't want to admit it, it was starting to look like there really was only one way to make sure none of this fell apart: she was going to have to break up with Luke.