Page 17 of A Silenced Midlife

"Where's the bat?" Ava asked, scanning the room.

"Bat?" Sam croaked, his eyes wide. He looked like he'd seen a ghost, or worse.

"Little guy should be in the box," Ava continued. "He was last night. I checked on him right before we went to sleep." She turned to Sam, teasing, "Don't tell me you ate it?"

Sam paled. "No, I..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I think I was the bat."

"What?" The word erupted from Drew, Ava, and me simultaneously, a chorus of disbelief.

Sam's hand went to his face, dragging down as if to wipe away the absurdity of his own words. He stumbled over to the couch and collapsed into it. I followed, sitting close enough that our sides touched. My hand found his back, tracing small circles through the fabric of his shirt.

"Talk to us," I urged softly.

"Oh, It's all coming back to me. Last night, or yesterday, whenever it was for you."

"Sweetheart, we understand. Your night, our day. What happened?" I encouraged, keeping my voice calm.

He shivered at the memory. "I started feeling really weird. My whole body itched, then hurt. The itching got so bad... I thought I'd go crazy." He blinked hard several times, each blink slower than the last. "And then... I turned into a bat."

Drew hunched over, his large frame almost engulfing Sam's smaller one as he peered into his dark blue eyes. "You're gonna have to give us more than that," he said.

"Nothing to explain, really," Sam replied, avoiding Drew's gaze. "It was like a werewolf or shifter. I shifted, but into a little bitty bat. Not even one of the big scary ones."

Ava chuckled. "No, you were actually kinda cute."

"Thanks," Sam shot back, the word laced with a mix of sarcasm and laughter.

I leaned in closer to Sam, trying to comfort him. "Could be your new power, you know?" I suggested. "You know vampires get powers sometimes."

"I thought my psychic stuff was it," Sam muttered, looking down at his hands.

"Looks like you've got a two-for-one deal then," I said with a shrug.

Ava pulled out her phone. "Let's see what Jax has to say." She dialed, waiting for an answer that didn't come. With a sigh, she left a voicemail. "Hey, Jax, sorry. It totally slipped my mind that it was daytime. Call me when you wake up tonight, okay?"

She ended the call and looked back at us, worry all over her face. "So. Sam's a bat."

Sam sighed. "Super."

9

AVA

Olivia and Sam said their goodbyes, heading for home. Drew and I went upstairs, our footsteps thudding on the old wooden steps. We reached our bedroom, and I sat on the edge of the bed, reaching for my sneakers. Drew was already halfway into his boots when his phone buzzed.

"Hey Ian, what's up?" Drew hit the speaker button and tossed the phone on the bed between us.

"Got a weird one," Ian said. "Call from a tourist over at the Maple Grove B&B. Says it's raining there."

I looked up, puzzled. "Raining? So?"

"Chocolate. It's raining chocolate."

I stopped lacing my shoe. "Chocolate?"

"Yep. Thought you two might wanna check it out."

"Give us ten minutes. We'll be right there." I slipped on my other shoe and stood up, meeting Drew's gaze. He nodded, and we headed out to deal with another day in Shipton Harbor.

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