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When I got inside, I found Billy in the family room.
"What was Valentine doing here?" I asked.
"I've got to talk to you," Billy said urgently.
"What's going on?"
"Valentine told me I had to stop hanging out with Stormy." I could hear the agitation in his voice.
"What? He came over to say that?"
"He asked if I knew about Stormy, and I asked what he meant. He asked if I knew anything unusual about her, and I said, 'Yes, she's afraid of mirrors.'"
"Then what did he say?"
"He seemed relieved at first. But then he got all threatening. He told me that Henry and I shouldn't hang out with her anymore."
"He's not your father or Stormy's."
"I know, that's what I told him."
"And what did he say?"
"That I'm not like her and by hanging out with her I could put her in danger." He laughed. "Me, dangerous?" I laughed, too.
"Then he asked to read my blood."
I stopped laughing. "Did you let him?"
"No. I was angry at him. That's not right for him to come over here and boss me around. Besides, what business is it of his who she hangs out with?"
"Well, I'm glad you stood up for yourself."
"I think I know why he's acting like that."
"You do?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes. I think he's in love with Stormy, and he's threatened by me and Henry spending time with her. They were close friends in Romania, but now she has learned there is more to life than guys with black fingernails and white hair."
I couldn't help but crack a smile. "I think you are right," I said, nudging my little brother in the arm. "Well, there's one person you and Henry won't be hanging out with anymore," I said. "And he just skated down the street."
Chapter 15 Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
Alexander and I had done our best to keep Billy and Stormy apart - but I felt responsible that they should be together again since their last time together ended abruptly. A few evenings later, Alexander texted to say that he'd pick me and Billy up to get ice cream at Shirley's Bakery with him and Stormy. Billy came into my room while I was getting ready for our outing.
"Don't you knock?" I asked.
"Did you know the picture of me and Stormy didn't turn out?" he asked.
"No," I lied. "That sucks. Are you just now looking at it?"
"I noticed it that night, but I was looking at it again this afternoon. You can't even take a picture right!" Billy argued.
"Don't worry," I said. "Alexander has - "
"But it's weird," he interjected. "She should have been in the photo."
"I guess I moved."
"No, that's not it."
"Then I guess she moved."
I'd used this excuse before on Becky, but my brother wasn't buying it.
"No, she didn't," Billy protested. "Henry and I enlarged it on the school computer. If you had moved, you wouldn't have gotten me in, either, or you would have gotten more of her. If she moved, it would have been blurry."
"Then I don't know what happened," I finally said.
"I think you do."
"I have no idea what you mean. What are you saying?"
"She didn't show up. The only explanation is that she's invisible on film."
I laughed. "Are you crazy?"
"No," he said. "It's scientific fact."
"Well, I didn't want to show you this. I wanted Alexander to give this to you himself. But now you've spoiled it!" I pulled the portrait of Billy and Stormy out of my closet. "Here - " I said, handing him the painting.
"This is so cool!" he exclaimed, gazing at the picture as if it were really her. "It looks like what the picture would have looked like."
"Yes, isn't that awesome?" I asked proudly.
"How did Alexander know that I'd want this?"
"I don't know. He just made it."
"He had to have known that the picture wouldn't turn out."
"He did not. Don't go all crazy conspiracy theorist on me."
"She's allergic to garlic and is afraid of mirrors," he said like a young Sherlock Holmes. "It's no coincidence, is it?"
"No," I said. "It's on purpose. Her parents purposefully altered her genes and personality to make her that way."
"That's why she doesn't have many friends," he deduced. "That's why she lives in isolation in Romania. That's why Valentine said she was different. He knows about her."
"Knows what?"
"That she's a vamp - "
The doorbell suddenly rang. And just in the nick of time. I raced down the stairs, and Billy chased after me.
Alexander and Stormy were waiting outside.
"Billy is asking a lot of questions about Stormy," I whispered to Alexander as I took his hand and hurried to the car.
"Like what?"
Billy caught up to me. "Hey, Alexander, Stormy."
The Sterling siblings greeted my brother.
"Thanks for the portrait of me and Stormy," Billy said to Alexander. "That was awesome!"
"What portrait?" Stormy asked.
"Alexander made a picture of you and me at the dance. The same one that Raven took of us. It didn't turn out, so I was really lucky you made this." He pulled out his phone. "I'd like to take another picture of us," Billy said. "And this time I'd like Alexander to take it. I bet he'll do a better job than you." We all froze. None of us knew what to do. Take the picture and have it not turn out again?
"We'll do that when we get home," I said, pushing my brother out the door. "We need to get to Shirley's before there's a line." I tried to talk as much as I could on the way to Shirley's Bakery. I didn't want my brother bringing up to Stormy that she was missing from his photo.
"So are you and Valentine good friends?" Billy asked after we got to Shirley's and ordered. We were walking along the downtown square and taking in the evening air.
"Yes, I've known him most of my life."
"Do you hang out a lot?"
"I don't have many friends at home. So I'd say yes, he's one. But since I came to this town, I have even more friends," she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Maybe we could get together tomorrow," Billy said suddenly.
"Tomorrow?" she asked. "Maybe later... How about after sunset?"
"I was thinking before. We could hang outside. Henry has a tree house. It will be better to see it during the daylight hours."
