The Birch House

Chapter 20

It was a long, long day. I eventually stretched out on one side of the bed, Alyssa on the other, each of us wrapped in our own separate cocoon of misery and heartache. We didn't talk much. There didn't seem to be a lot to talk about.

It was almost dark when the doorknob rattled, sending me into a heart-pounding terror seizure; I advanced slowly, and whispered, "Who is it?"

"Chase."

I unlocked fast and opened up. Chase came in, head down, carrying a tray on which sat two bowls of chili, which made sense, because it was nearly the only thing Chase knew how to fix. He set it down on the edge of the bed, next to Alyssa, who was sitting like an unstuffed rag doll, limp with grief and dejection.

"Eat something," he said. Alyssa shook her head. Chase picked up a bowl and shoved it in her direction; she took it just to avoid wearing it, and glared at him.

I saw her expression change into something else. Blank at first, then horrified.

"Its nothing," Chase said as I came around to see. It wasn't nothing. It was bruises, dark ones, spilling over his cheek and jaw. Chase avoided looking at me. "My fault."

"Jesus," Alyssa whispered. "Your dad-"

"My fault," Chase snapped back, got up, and headed for the door. "Look, you don't understand. He's right, okay? I was wrong."

"No, I dont understand," I said, and grabbed his arm. He pulled free without any effort at all and kept walking. "Chase!"

He paused in the doorway and looked back at me. He looked bruised, beaten, and sullen, but it was the desperation in his eyes that scared me. Chase was always strong, wasn't he? He had to be. I needed him to be.

"Dad's right", he said. "This town is sick, it's poisoned, and it's poisoning us, too. We can't let it beat us. We have to take them out."

"The vampires? Chase, that's stupid! You can't! You know what'll happen!", Alyssa said. She put the bowl of chili back on the tray and got off the bed, looking tear streaked and forlorn but more like herself. "Your dad's crazy. I'm sorry, but he is. And you can't let him drag you down with him. He's going to get you killed, and Evie and me, too. He already-". She caught her breath and gulped. "He already got Alex. We can't let him do this. Who knows how many people are going to get hurt?"

"Like Ash got hurt?", Chase asked. "Like my mom? They killed my mom, Alyssa! They were willing to burn us up in this house yesterday, don't forget, and that included Alex."

"But-".

"This town is bad," Chase said, and looked at ne, almost pleading. "You understand, right? You understand that there's a whole world out there, a whole world that isn't like this?"

"Yes," I said faintly. "I understand that. But-"

"We're doing this. And then we're getting out of this place."

"With your father?" Alyssa managed to put a whole dictionary of contempt into that. "I don't think so. I look good in black, but not so great in black and blue."

Chase flinched. "I didnt say... look, just the three of us. We get out of town while my dad and the others-"

"We run?" Alyssa shook her head. "Brilliant. And when the vamps have a big party and roast your dad and his buddies, what then? Because they're definitely going to come looking for us. Nobody escapes who had any part in killing a vampire, you know that. Unless you really believe that your dad and his idiot muscle are going to be able to take down hundreds of vamps, all their human allies, the cops, and, for all I know, the U. S. Marines."