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Chapter 20

Dude,

Well, I definitely picked the right ti couple of days Who knows? I

When Laura calledmy last entry, I had followed her into the kitchen But not as her friendI was more than a little alar Since unpleasant things had a way of happening when she was angry or frightened, I had ainterest in her state of et her to drink a Snapple The act of doing so nice and mundane seemed to calm her That&039;s when I realized she was ry

"Marc, I am so sorry you had to see that I just don&039;t knohat to say"

"Laura, it&039;s not your fault Hey," I joked, "how do you think I&039;d feel if my oldbeyond your control"

"Maybe it isn&039;t beyond my control"

I wasn&039;t sure I liked the sound of that "It&039;s fine, Laura, I don&039;tup in the foyer certainly add some spice to my day Nobody likes the pop-in And like I said, it&039;s not your fault"

"No It&039;s my oing to ask you so and now I can&039;t, because of her"

"Ask azed into her bottle of Snapple, which I doubt held any answers "It&039;s just, I told Betsy I&039;d look after you and Tina while she was gone So instead of co I couldet in the way, I proet in the way? There are twenty bedroo But come on, Laura Cut the bullshit"

"I don&039;t-"

"Betsy asked you to look over Tina, too?"

"Well" Laura looked down for a uess I think she felt bad about leaving you behind"

I shrugged "It&039;s moot I didn&039;t have the vacation tiot to stay in Vampire Central and handle any undead-related stuff that coone Which leaves thee andto live in"

"No, I can&039;t, now" Her knuckles whitened on the bottle "Not with these-these people tracking -"

"Wait This has happened before?"

Laura didn&039;t say anything She didn&039;t have to The Snapple bottle shattered in her hand, spraying tea and glass all over the place

"Oh my God! I&039;et a towel and-"

I was instantly on my feet, hauled her to hers, and hustled her over to the sink "Laura, if you don&039;tto slip some Valium into your next Frappuccino Now hold still and let me look"

I carefully exaain She had a couple of ers, and that was all Nothing arterial, no dae to the tendons that I could see

"Noher a dish towel and stepping around the broken glass "From now on it&039;s strictly sippy cups"

The only reason I was letting her clean up was because it was the only thing that would make her feel better Laura was nice-a little too nice She alwaysto blow Looked like this ht be the week

"You said this has happened before?"

"Yes" She wiped up glass and tea, being careful to get even the smallest pieces "Those people They always find me Always"

"So they show up at your apartment, too?"

"My apartmentMy parents&039; house"

"I&039;ll bet the host of a smile "What do they ith you?"

"To servethe noet towel over the sink (after she&039;d shaken the glass into the garbage)

"Serve you, what? With toast?"

A real s"