Vampires Rule

Deciding Who to Kill

Jack finished reading the diary in six days.

He stretched out on the sofa, a throw pillow beneath his head and feet resting on the opposite arm. The diary's secrets whipped around in his head. He'd hoped to find some useful information on Jersey, but there hadn't been any. On the other hand, he'd enjoyed reading about Silver and how the two of them were meant for each other.

He closed his eyes on a breathy sigh, feeling kind of lonely. Silver and her parents were hunting on the other side of the county, and Billy was patrolling their land in case his vampire friends returned. No sooner had the thought of loneliness entered his head than the front door opened.

Footsteps followed. Billy tossed his coat onto the arm of the sofa before sinking into the chair near Jack's head. "Man, I'm exhausted. Sometimes I forget how much land we own."

Jack smiled at the word 'we.' His brother hadn't used it before. He'd seen Jack as an outsider, an unwelcome intruder. Perhaps there was hope for them yet. They were headed in the right direction at least.

"I didn't catch wind of anything out there," Billy said. "I think we're safe for tonight."

Jack sat up and faced his brother. He looked at Billy, unable to help remembering the kid who had followed him everywhere. It was sad how much had changed in his absence. They'd been close back then. Now they had an ocean of resentment between them, and Jack had no idea what to do to make things better.

Billy kicked his shoes off. He crossed his ankles and wiggled his toes in the dark socks. For a moment he actually twiddled his thumbs. One thing hadn't changed; Billy still had a low threshold when it came to boredom.

The dark circles beneath his eyes and lines around his mouth attested to the hard times Billy had endured. He rarely smiled. Billy picked the television guide off the coffee table and began to leaf through it. He settled back in his chair, looking tired but comfortable.

"We should talk," Jack said.

Billy's eyes snapped up, and surprise registered in them. "What? Why?"

"I'd like us to be brothers again."

"What are we if we aren't brothers?"

"We're strangers sharing a house." Jack reached over and yanked the guide from Billy's hand. He tossed it back to the table. "Seriously, we need to talk before we cross some line that we can't get back over."

Billy had heard enough. With a sigh he stood and walked out of the room. He went into the kitchen to prepare a snack. Jack followed. Billy pretended not to notice as he opened the stocked refrigerator and practically climbed inside. In seconds he came out with an armful of food.

"It was nice of Vanessa to go shopping for us," Jack said.

"Yeah." Billy dropped a hunk of cheese, bottle of mayo, and some leftover bacon onto the breakfast bar. He slapped some of each between two slices of wheat bread. "I wonder if she got us some chips."

Jack placed his palms against the bar and leaned over it. "The first day I showed up you were happy to see me. Remember that? Of course you thought I was still a vampire then and tried to kill me five seconds later, but when you found out I wasn't a vampire, you hugged me. Remember?"

"Is there a reason we're strolling down memory lane right now?"

"You are happy I'm home, aren't you?"

Billy rolled his eyes. He took his sandwich back to the living room and plunked down on the sofa this time before grabbing the remote. A couple presses of his thumb and they were watching golf.