“Oliver!” Chloe calls out. “Oliver, could you come in here for a sec?”
I sense his hesitation. I sense his sorrow, too, how he wants to curl into himself, and it makes my heart feel weak and fragile, like it felt when I was a boy.
But the scratching stops, and his footsteps echo softly against my old creaky floorboards. He stops in the doorway of the kitchen and stares up at us.
“Hey.” Chloe kneels in front of him and signs the rest. “Theo and I were talking, and we think it’s best if I call someone to come talk to your parents. Someone from the government.”
Oliver flicks his eyes over to me. “I want to stay here,” he signs. “With Theo. My parents won’t come looking.”
Chloe looks back at me, her eyes big and imploring.
“Chloe’s right,” I say, even though I don’t want to. “If you’re missing, this is the first place they’ll check.”
Oliver ducks his head down, looking at the floor. Then he signs, “Who are you going to call?”
“People who can help,” Chloe says, speaking the words so that he looks up at her. “It’s their job to help kids like you,” she signs. “And I’ll be right next door the whole time. I’ll give you my number so you can call or text me if you need to, okay?”
Oliver nods.
“There’s just one thing. You have to keep Theo a secret.”
Oliver looks up at me again. He doesn’t seem upset by these instructions. “Because they won’t understand,” he says to me. “Right?”
“Yes.” I give him a smile, trying to be like Chloe—sweet and understanding and not burning alive with the need to slaughter everyone who has ever hurt him. “Remember when you first visited me? And I said no one could come into my territory because it—” I glance at Chloe, who’s watching my hands intently. “Because I’m a ghost and it would be dangerous for them?”
Oliver nods.
“Well, if you tell these people Chloe calls about me, they’ll want to come over here.” My heart hammers in my chest. Each beat sounds like the wordblood. Oliver blinks at me, and I hope that’s good enough. I don’t know if I can say much more.
“And since they’re trying to help you,” Chloe says, “Theo wants to make sure they don’t get hurt. Right, Theo?”
She and Oliver both look at me. I nod, trying to fight against the buzzing in my veins.
“Okay,” Oliver says. “Even though it won’t help. They won’t believe them.”
“Won’t believe who?” Chloe says gently.
“My parents,” Theo signs. “People always believe my parents, and not me.”
The rage flares like a fire doused with gasoline. But Chloe reaches over and pulls Oliver into a hug.
“I believe you,” she whispers. “So does Theo. And so will the people we call. I promise.”
27
CHLOE
By the time Oliver and I get back to my house, it’s nearly lunchtime. I half-expect to find his parents waiting on my front porch, but there’s no sign of them
“They think I’m still in my room,” he tells me when I ask, once we’re inside. “They won’t check on me ’til dinner time.”
“No lunch?” I say quietly.
He shrugs, and I make a split-second decision. “How about you stay here for lunch? I can make you a grilled cheese. How’s that sound?”
Oliver nods, and I try to ignore the tight knot in my stomach as I head into the kitchen. He trails behind me and sets himself up at my kitchen table, pulling out the drawing he was working on at Theo’s house. He keeps his arm looped around it, like he wants to hide it from me.
I whip up the sandwich, although my mind’s distracted. I don’t want to call CPS in front of Oliver, but I’m still nervous about sending him back home. Honestly, it’d be easier if he could just stay on the peninsula with Theo, wouldn’t it? I said that was the first place his parents would look, but it really isn’t. My house is.
