The Hidden House by Dubois ViVi

Author:Dubois, ViVi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Rik ignored me at school the next day.

It’s not like I tried to talk to him. I wanted to give him space, but he wouldn’t even look me in the eye in the hallway. It stung.

He’d cut his hair though, which made him look a tad less suspicious. Maybe he was fine on his own after all? I wanted to respect his choice, the last thing we needed was for him to have an 'episode' in science class.

But the more I thought it over the more frustrated I became.

All I’d done was told him the facts. We’d joked, shared secrets, I’d started to think maybe we could get along. I’d even told him that my neighbours weren’t human just to get him to open up. But now he was acting like I didn’t exist.

As I walked home that evening, I decided to go tell Morden and Simon what had happened the night before. Gertrude was at work, so I braced myself for the fallout of the previous day’s drama.

I was shocked to see the house in pristine condition. Morden greeted me and ushered me in and Simon appeared in the corner of my eye and followed. Yet still, something was off. They weren’t fighting this time, but they weren’t speaking either.

Morden just sat, prim and proper, at the kitchen table, eating his third bowl of blood pudding, and Simon lurked in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, leaning his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked directly at me as he spoke.

“Your puppy will come back.” he said, after I’d gotten them up to speed. “If he doesn’t, the transformation will probably kill him or he’ll go rabid.”

“Wow, that doesn’t make me feel better, thanks for that Simon.” I said, rolling my eyes. “I don’t think I could have stopped him. Should I have tried? Locked him in the basement or something? Was that an option?"

Morden put down his spoon with a clink and I looked at him. He had this subtle smugness about him that made me want to hit him.

"Either way it's not your problem anymore." The vampire said in a voice that was far too cheerful for this kind of discussion. "He rejected your help. Let him ruin his life if he likes, he's probably done you a favour."

“You haven't even met him,” I said flatly. "He's not a bad person, he’s just scared. That's what people do. They get scared and run away from their problems. This is scary stuff." I paused, then added. "I know I want to run away from everything sometimes."

Morden paused, spoon lifted and hovering at his lips. I could see shame glaze over his eyes. I should have felt guilty for reminding him so often, but I didn’t. A trip to the hospital was not something to sweep under the rug. I wasn't going to let him off that easy.

Simon, who had been staring at the wall during this short exchange, took his brother's silence as an opportunity to get my attention.

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