The House Read Online Free PDF Page A

strangers; didn’t we all. But there was only the four of us
staying there at the moment - five now Stripes was back - so her
door remained unlocked. I entered softly, trying not to startle
her.
    “Marie, Marie,
wake up.” I shook my mentor gently. She was more like a grandmother
to me than anything else. She had helped to raise me after my
parents were killed. I’d been only seven then and my grandfather
hadn’t known enough to raise a shifter child on his own.
    “Trixie …
Trixibell. What’s wrong child?” Marie was groggy with sleep,
probably why she’d called me Trixibell. Which I hadn’t been called
since I was twelve and old enough to make it known that I didn’t
like it.
    “Marie, I need
to talk to you. Could you come down to the meeting room when you’re
ready? I’ll get everyone else there,” I sighed; it was going to be
a very long night.
    Marie just
glanced at me, saw the blood and nodded. “I’ll be down in a
moment.”

 
Chapter 3
     
    The meeting
room was far too large for the five of us. The table seats about
twenty when we want it to, but only has twelve matching seats. The
dark wood didn’t hold fond memories for me. I doubted anyone looked
upon this room with fondness. It was where we met to discuss
whatever had most recently gone wrong, or occasionally where to
spend money on improvements. When we had spare money for
improvements that is.
    The last person
through the door was Marie. She had put on her typical attire,
making her look like a 1950’s housewife. Although none of us had
ever seen that century. Her face was empty of make-up and I could
see the faint lines around her mouth and eyes. The lines hadn’t
been there when I first met her. She looked good for eighty-two
though, with her hair a perfect white and turned under at the nape
of her neck. I sometimes wondered if Marie’s hair was naturally
white or if she dyed it. I wasn’t brave enough to ask and risk
insulting her.
    I looked around
the room; I’d have preferred to brief Marie with just Stripes and
us, but that just wasn’t going to happen. James and Hercules hadn’t
lived at the House that long, only about half a year, but they’d
integrated themselves thoroughly into our routines. I guess they
had integrated themselves into our lives as well. I couldn’t really
imagine my life without them there any more. Their expressions were
tight as they took their seats.
    “Hello
everyone. Sorry to get you up so late.” Ok, so the only person who
hadn’t already been awake was Marie, but I had to say it, if
nothing else, to keep from having to tell them the real reason for
the meeting. I knew in my heart I was stalling and my death-grip on
the table did nothing to help my nerves. I felt like I should be
standing. I had called the meeting and it felt like I should lead
it. It would be too awkward to imagine standing and starting again.
I had to mentally remind myself that I was amongst family. This was
not a formal occasion of any kind and nothing was expected of me. I
wished I’d asked to talk in the living room.
    “What’s wrong
Trixibell, child … what’s got you so rattled? It’s not like you.”
Marie was right. I didn’t normally get rattled so easily. This had
just brought up old memories that I worked very hard to keep
buried. I released the table very slowly before I started to speak.
I took a moment to gather the thoughts that had been scattered to
the winds in the past hour, and collected myself. I felt like I was
sitting a little straighter in my chair by the time I cleared my
throat to start.
    “Please, please
let me finish before you all interrupt and start ranting. You need
to hear the whole story,” I said, as calmly and clearly as I could.
If we weren’t careful everyone would go crazy within two seconds of
starting and we’d never finish. I was amazingly tired. I wanted to
go to bed before dawn and the adrenaline had worn off.
    I glanced at
Stripes and she nodded; she trusted me to tell the