Page 10 (1/2)
10
12:00 AM
MIDNIGHTERS
"My eyes are what?"
"They&039;re" The girl took a step closer, peering into Jessica&039;s eyes Jessica raised a hand to her own face, and the girl flinched as if afraid of being touched, then looked up at the sky with a puzzled expression
As her eyes o, just like the panther&039;s
Jessica took a step back froed to cats or raccoons, owls or foxes - things that hunted in the dark Not people The girl&039;s eyes looked normal now, but after that momentary reflection, she seeht," Dess said
Rex quieted the other tith a wave of his hand He took a step closer, peering into Jessica&039;s eyes with a calm intensity
"Jessica," he said quietly, "look up at the moon, please"
She did so for a few seconds but dropped her eyes back to Rex suspiciously
"What color is it?" he asked
"It&039;s" She looked up again, shrugged "No color And it gives ," repeated the other girl, whom Dess had called Melissa
Dess piped up "Today she said the sun doesn&039;t bother her I told you she was totally daylight No dark glasses or anything"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Jessica suddenly cried, surprising herself She hadn&039;t meant to shout, but the words had launched themselves out of her
The startled looks on the others&039; faces were so
"Ion? What are you talking about? And what are you doing in my dreaiggled but half turned away as if embarrassed Melissa cocked her head
"Sorry," Rex said "I should have told you: this isn&039;t a drea suddenly that she believed hi in her chest had all been too real This was not a dream It was a relief not to pretend to herself anymore
"What is it, then?"
"This is ht," he repeated slowly "It&039;s 12 aed color, this has all happened in a single le ht"
Jessica peered through the car windshield at the frozen woman at the wheel The look of concentration on her face, the hands tight on the wheel She did look as if she were driving but trapped in a frozen instant
Dess spoke up next, her voice without its usual nasty edge "There aren&039;t really twenty-four hours in the day, Jessica There are twenty-five But one of theht to see For most people it flashes by in an instant But we can see it, live in it"
"And &039;we&039; includes &039;me&039;?" Jessica said quietly
"When were you born?" Rex asked
"Huh? You mean this is because I&039;m a Leo?"
"Not your birthday, what time of day?"
Jessica pondered the question, re how many times Mom and Dad had told this story
"My mom went into labor in the afternoon, but I wasn&039;t born until thirty-soht"
Rex nodded "Midnight, to be exact"
"Midnight?"
"Sure One out of every 43,200 people is born within one second ofhappily "Of course, we&039;re not exactly sure how close you have to get And we&039;re talking real ht here"
"Yeah My birth certificate says 1 as ti its nonlight with that inhuman flicker "In a lot of cultures people believe that those born at the stroke of hosts"
Jessica nodded That actually sounded falish last year - Kidnapped? or Treasure Island? - had been about that Sohosts of dead old
"The real story is a bit more complicated," Rex continued
"I&039;ll say," Jessica said "If that panther was a ghost, we seriously need new Halloween decorations"
"Midnighters don&039;t see ghosts, Jessica," Rex continued "What we see is a whole secret hour, the blue tihters," Jessica repeated
"That&039;s the word for us Midnight is ours alone We can walk around while everything else in the whole world is frozen"
"Not everything," Jessica said
"True," Rex ads and slithers, and some other stuff, live in the blue tiht and vice versa They can&039;t get into the other twenty-four hours, like et into the twenty-fifth"
"Only us et to live in both," Dess said happily
"Yay," Jess said "I&039;m thrilled"
"Come on, haven&039;t you ever wished for an extra hour in the day?" Rex asked
"Not an extra totally weird hour! Not an extra hour where everything tries to kill me! No, I don&039;t think I ever wished for that"
"Wow, you are so daylight," Melissa said
"I&039;ve got to ad his Mr Calain "But it&039;s usually not like this Nors don&039;t care much about us at all They&039;re like wild ani stupid, but they don&039;t go out of their way toattacked for no reason is new to me"
"It&039;s pretty much new tostupid, all right? One of those slithers ledtried to kill ure this out," Rex said ned a locker at school that wouldn&039;t open She guessed that none of those darklings had ever come after him
"I knew you were different," Melissa said, "even before psychokitty tried to eat you" She closed her eyes, tipping back her head as if s funny about the way you taste"
Melissa&039;s face went blank, al the car Jessica rolled her eyes Melissa was calling her different?
"But right noe should get you ho up at the sky "There&039;s only about five minutes left"
Jessica started to speak, awas getting explained Everything these people said confused her more
"Fine" As she said the word, Jessica realized how good home sounded The panther must still be around somewhere
Rex and Melissa pushed their bikes, walking next to Jessica Dess rode in slow circles around them, like a bored kid forced to travel too slowly