Wheres Wren? he asked during a commercial break.
School.
Shouldnt you be there, too?
Christmas break starts tomorrow.
He nodded. His eyes looked dull and distant. Every time he blinked, it seemed like maybe he wasnt going to manage to open them again.
A nurse came in at two in the afternoon with more meds. Then came a doctor who asked Cath to wait in the hall. The doctor smiled at her when he left the room. Well get there, he said in a cheerful, comforting voice. We had to bring him down pretty fast.
Cath sat next to her dads bed and watched TV until visiting hours were over.
* * *
There was no more cleaning to do, and Cath felt uneasy being in the house by herself. She tried sleeping on the couch, but it felt too close to the outside and too close to her dads empty roomso she went up to her room and crawled into her own bed. When that didnt work, she climbed into Wrens bed, taking her laptop with her.
Their dad had stayed at St. Richards three times before. The first time was the summer after their mom left. Theyd called their grandma when he wouldnt get out of bed, and for a while, shed moved in with them. She filled the freezer with frozen lasagna before she moved out.
The second time was in sixth grade. He was standing over the sink, laughing, and telling them that they didnt have to go to school anymore. Life was an education, he said. Hed cut himself shaving, and there were tiny pieces of toilet paper stuck with blood to his chin. Cath and Wren had gone to stay with their aunt Lynn in Chicago.
The third time was in high school. They were sixteen, and their grandma came to stay, but not until the second night. That first night theyd spent in Wrens bed, Wren holding Caths wrists, Cath crying.
Im like him, shed whispered.
Youre not, Wren said.
I am. Im crazy like him. She was already having panic attacks. She was already hiding at parties. In seventh grade, shed been late to class for the first two weeks because she couldnt stand being in the halls with everyone else during passing periods. Its probably going to get worse in a few years. Thats when it usually kicks in.
Youre not, Wren said.
But what if I am?
Decide not to be.
Thats not how it works, Cath argued.
Nobody knows how it works.
What if I dont even see it coming?
Ill see it coming.
Cath tried to stop crying, but shed been crying so long, the crying had taken over, making her breathe in harsh sniffs and jerks.
If it tries to take you, Wren said, I wont let go.
A few months later, Cath gave that line to Simon in a scene about Bazs bloodlust. Wren was still writing with Cath back then, and when she got to the line, she snorted.
Im here for you if you go manic, Wren said. But youre on your own if you become a vampire.
What good are you anyway, Cath said. Their dad was home by then. And better. And Cath didnt feel, for the moment, like her DNA was a trap ready to snap closed on her.
Apparently, Im good for something, Wren said. You keep stealing all my best lines.
* * *
Cath thought about texting Wren Friday night before she fell asleep, but she couldnt think of anything to say.
The Humdrum wasnt a man at all, or a monster. It was a boy.
Simon stepped closer, perhaps foolishly, wanting to see its face. He felt the Humdrums power whipping around him like dry air, like hot sand, an aching fatigue in the very marrow of Simons bones.
The Humdrumthe boywore faded denims and a grotty T-shirt, and it probably took Simon far too long to recognize the child as himself. His years-ago self.
Stop it, Simon shouted. Show yourself, you coward. Show yourself!
The boy just laughed.
from chapter 23, Simon Snow and the Seventh Oak, copyright © 2010 by Gemma T. Leslie
TWENTY
Her dad and Wren came home on the same day. Saturday.
Her dad was already talking about going back to workeven though his meds were still off, and he still seemed alternately drunk or half-asleep. Cath wondered if hed stay on them through the weekend.
Maybe it would be okay if he went off his meds. She and Wren were both home now to watch out for him.
With everything that had happened, Cath wasnt quite sure whether she and Wren were on speaking terms. She decided that they were; it made life easier. But they werent on sharing termsshe still hadnt told Wren anything about Levi. Or about Nick, for that matter. And she didnt want Wren to start talking about her adventures with their mom. Cath was sure Wren had some motherdaughter Christmas plans.
At first, all Wren wanted to talk about was school. She felt good about her finals, did Cath? And shed already bought her books for next semester. What classes was Cath taking? Did they have any together?
Cath mostly listened.
Do you think we should call Grandma? Wren asked.
About what?
About Dad.
Lets wait and see how he does.
All their friends from high school were home for Christmas. Wren kept trying to get Cath to go out.
You go, Cath would say. Ill stay with Dad.
I cant go without you. That would be weird.