The Birch House

Chapter Twenty-seven

I decided on the way home that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to blurt all of it out to Chase... not about Millie, or his dad, or the vampire Harry. Instead, I made dinner (tacos) and waited for Alex to rejoin the world. Which he did, as soon as the sun was safely under the horizon, and looked just as normal and angelic as ever.

I somehow got the message across to him that I needed to talk in private, which resulted in Alex drying dishes in the kitchen while I washed up. How that happened, I wasn't sure - it wasn't my turn - but the warm water and smooth suds were kind of soothing.

"Did you tell Chase about Millie?" Alex asked when I was done relating the days events. He didn't seem bothered, but then, it took a lot to faze Alex. He might have been wiping the plates a little too thoroughly, though.

"No," I said. "He gets a little, you know, about her."

"Yeah, he does. Okay, you need to be careful, you know that, right? I'd ask Chase to go with you to class, but..."

"But that's probably what she wants," I finished, and handed him another plate. "To get us both together so she can use us against each other. Right?"

Alex nodded, eyebrows going up. "All she has to do is grab you and she's got him. So be careful. I'm... not much use, outside of here. Or any use, actually."

I felt bad for the flash of anger in his eyes - it wasn't directed at me but at himself. He hated this. Hated being trapped here while his friends needed him.

"I'll be fine," I said. "I got a new cell phone. Mom and Dad sent it."

"Good. You've got us all on speed dial?"

"One, two, and three. And 911 on four."

"Sweet." Alex hip-bumped me. "How are classes?"

"Okay." I couldn't work up any enthusiasm for them right at the moment. "We're not talking about Chase's dad?"

"Nothing to talk about," he said. "You stay out of the coffee shop, and stay away from Martin. If Chase's dad was in there, he was probably just taking a look around. Martin might have sent him on his way. He does a good regular-guy act." Alex ought to know, I reflected. Martin had done a good enough regular-guy act to charm his way into the house, where he'd killed Alex, trying to make him a vampire. The house had saved Alex... partly. A kind of supernatural apology for having failed to protect him in the first place. The house did things like that. It was creepy, and occasionally flat-out scary, but it was at least mostly loyal to whoever was in residence.

Martin, though... Martin was loyal to Martin. And that was about it.
"So we do nothing?" I asked.

"We do the best nothing you've ever seen." Alex put the last plate away and tossed the towel over his shoulder like a bartender going on break. "Meaning, you do nothing, Evie. That's an order."

I gave him a cockeyed mock salute. "Yes, sir, sorry, sir."

He sighed. "I liked you better when you were this timid little kid. What happened?"

"I started living with you guys."

"Oh, right."

He fluffed my hair, smiled, and ambled off toward the living room. "It's game night," he said. "I made Chase swear, no video games tonight. I think he's blowing the dust off of Monopoly. I wouldn't let him have Risk. He gets crazy with Risk."