The Birch House

Chapter Twenty Two

Chase wasn't talking to the cops. Not about his dad, and not about anything. He just sat like a lump, eyes down, and refused to answer any questions from the human patrol officers; I didn't know what to say... or, more importantly, what not to... and stammered out a lot of I dont know and I was in my room sort of answers. Alyssa - more self-possessed than I had ever seen her - stepped in to say that she'd heard the intruders downstairs breaking things, and she'd pulled me into her room and locked the door for protection. It sounded good. I supported it with a lot of nodding.

"Is that so?" A new voice, from behind the cops, and they parted ranks to admit two strangers. Detectives, it looked like, in sport jackets and slacks. One was a woman, frost pale, with eyes like mirrors. The other one was a tall man with gray close-cropped hair.

They were wearing gold badges on their belts. So. Detectives.

Vampire detectives.

Alyssa had gone very still, hands folded in her lap. She looked carefully friendly. "Yes, maam," she said. "That's what happened."

"And you have no idea who these mysterious intruders might have been," said the male vamp. He looked... scary. Cold and hard and scary. "Never saw them before."

"We didn't see them at all, sir."

"Because you were... locked in your room." He smiled, and flashed fang. Clear warning. "I can smell fear. You give it off like the stench of your sweat. Delicious."

I fought back an urge to whimper. The human cops had backed up a step; one or two looked uncomfortable, but they weren't about to interfere with whatever was about to happen.

Which... was nothing, right? There were rules and stuff. And we were the victims!

Then again, I didn't suppose the vamps cared all that much for victims.

"Leave them alone," Chase said.

"It speaks!", the woman said, and laughed. She sank down into a crouch, elegant and perfectly balanced, and tried to peer into Chase's face. "A knight-errant, defending the helpless. Charming." She had an old-world accent, sort of like blurred German. "Do you not trust us, little knight? Are we not your friends?"

"That depends," Chase said, and looked right at her. "You take your orders from Martin, or the Founder? Because if you touch us... any of us... you have to take it up with her. You know who I mean."

She lost her amused expression.

Her partner made a noise, halfway between a bark of laughter and a growl. "Careful, Frieda, he snaps. Just like a half-grown puppy. Boy, you don't know what you're saying. The Founders mark is on the house, yes, but I see no bands on your wrists. Don't be stupid and make bold claims you can't back up."

"Bite me, Dracula," Chase snapped.

Frieda laughed. "A wolf pup," she said. "Oh, I like him, Franz. May I have him, since he's a stray?"

One of the uniformed cops cleared his throat. "Maam? Sorry, but I can't allow that. You want to file the paperwork, I'll see what I can do, but-"

Frieda made a frustrated noise and came back to her feet. "Paperwork. Fah. In the old days we would have run him down like a deer for insolence."

"In the old days, Frieda, we were starving," Franz said. "Remember? The winters in Bavaria? Let him howl." He shrugged and gave Alyssa and I a smile that looked a little less terrifying than before. "Sorry. Frieda gets carried away. Now, you're sure none of you knew these intruders? Mystic's not that big a town. We're all pretty close-knit, especially the human community."