Covert Maneuvers

"It's alright to make mistakes, you're only human

Inside everybody's hiding something

Take time to catch your breath and choose your moment

Don't slide..." -Dido, "Slide"

Hey folks, this is Bree. As we mentioned in our last entry, we've been wondering why Gia (apparently) tried to mislead us by pretending she didn't know anything about vampires. Ordinarily, we would have pursued that immediately, but Gia has been having a bad couple of days. She got bitten by a werewolf, and now she's a werewolf too - which is hard on the body, but she seems to be taking it even harder still emotionally. We decided it was best to give her space for a few days.

A few days have come and gone, though... and it's not just idle curiosity. If Gia had contact with vampires in the past, there's a good chance that would eventually become our problem if she becomes part of our family. If bad vampires were going to come try to murder her, that would be a good thing for us to know, so we could do our best to prevent it.

I decided to go for the direct approach this morning while we were all getting our breakfasts. I was pouring my cornflakes. (Gosh, I love cornflakes! I normally don't get excited about food, because I struggle with disordered eating patterns, but cornflakes make me happy. But anyway...) Without looking up from my bowl, I asked, "So Gia, how do you know about vampires, and how come you acted like you didn't?"

Gia looked pale, wrapped up in her fluffy blue bathrobe, and started to reply automatically without thinking, "Because..."

Our eyes met over the cereal bowls. The secret was blown. She hadn't answered me directly, but she also hadn't stated more convincingly than before that I was wrong and she really hadn't known. It was clear that she did. We all knew that. Apparently Gia decided it was time to come clean.

"I... haven't been entirely honest with you..." Gia admitted haltingly.

"I knew it!" Molly yelled. "She is a vampire!"

There was a lot of eye-rolling, and Felicity hastily shushed her. For various reasons, we knew that Gia couldn't be a vampire. We've seen her go out in the day with no ill-effects. As an elementary school teacher, she has a job where you can't arrange to avoid attending work on sunny days, even in Northern Canada, because night shifts and irregular scheduling aren't an option. We've also seen her eat regular food; the night she came over and she and Maia made us pasta alla carbonara, Gia ate it too, and she even had second helpings. Our resident vampires have also confirmed Gia isn't a vampire, which alone is proof because they can recognize each other, and combined with all the other evidence just makes it impossible.

We're fairly sure Gia was a human before the werewolf bit her last week. She was just a human who apparently knew about vampires.

Gia shook her head. "No, I am... I was... just a regular mortal."

She looked down, like this was going to be a horrible thing to admit, and I wondered what could be that bad. When she spoke again, I realized just what could be.

"I was working for The Elders," Gia said. "They sent me here to keep an eye on you and report back."

"How did you end up working for evil vampires?" I asked. My brain preferred to focus on that than to try to sort out the other part. The part where we trusted her, and she turned out to be a spy.

Kaya frowned, like something didn't make sense, but for the moment she didn't say anything.

Gia replied, "My family - my parents and my brother - were killed by rogue vampires."

With what was probably unnecessary sarcasm, Kirsten said, "I'm sorry for your loss, but... yeah, going to work for killer vampires yourself makes total sense as a response!"

No one shushed her, because we were all feeling pretty stung at that point.

Gia shook her head. "I didn't know they were killer vampires at the time. I thought they were the good guys. They avenged my family for me. I thought they would protect us humans from other vampires. By the time I figured out what they were really about... I was scared, and I didn't know how to get out. When they gave me this 'assignment,' I admit I jumped at it, because I could put some distance between me and them without them watching me all the time, and I could try to sort out my thoughts and decide what to do next."

Maia looked like she'd been stabbed. This probably hurt worse than a knife, I thought.

"So you just pretended all this?" Maia asked shakily. "You pretended... that you loved me?"

Gia shook her head, desperately, looking like she was about to cry. "No! The Elders only told me to make friends with you. The rest of it... those feelings were true. That part was really me. I didn't expect that to happen, and it made me feel horrible to deceive you about why I met you - but what has happened since wasn't fake. I promise!"

There was silence for an awkward span of time. Then I said quietly, "Well... she is still here."

"Hm?" Maia asked absently.

"We fought The Elders weeks ago," I clarified. "Gia's 'assignment' pretty much definitively ended then. But she's still been hanging out with us, even though she didn't have to anymore."

Maia looked a little hopeful, and Kaya nodded, like all this finally made sense. "Gia is telling the truth now," Kaya said.

I'm not sure if our readers remember what Kaya's power is - it's empathy. She can feel echoes of other people's emotions when she concentrates on them. That's why she was confused when Gia admitted why she became part of our lives; that didn't fit with what Kaya perceived of Gia's feelings since.

Gia looked fearfully at Maia, tensing like she expected rejection, but she said softly, "Is this something we can work through?"

Maia thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, I think it might be."

I can't report on their conversation beyond that point, because that was when the rest of us decided to make a strategic retreat. We took our cereal downstairs to eat so the two of them could talk in private. I don't know what will happen with Maia and Gia's relationship.

In spite of all this, though, I can honestly say I hope it works out. I believe that Gia is a good person who lost her way for awhile. If she stays with us, I think she'll find it again. She wouldn't be the only one who has found a new path with this family.

Love,
Bree