"Why?" Eve asked.
"Huh?"
"Why are you asking?" Eve made the turn onto Lot Street, and the glow of the windows of the Glass House -- home -- spilled out into the street. "C'mon, Claire. Someone you know thinking about it?"
"Um ... There's this guy at school. I just heard him say -- I wondered, that's all. "
"Well, quit wondering. His problem, not yours. Ready for the fire drill? Quick like a bunny. Go!" Eve braked the black Caddy hard, Claire threw open her passenger-side door and jogged around the back of the car, banged open the white picket gate, and raced up the walk to the steps with her house keys in her hand. She heard the engine die, and the noisy clatter of Eve's shoes behind her.
Eve's steps stopped. Stopped dead. Claire whirled, scared and expecting to see a vampire on the prowl, but Eve was just checking the mailbox, grabbing a small handful of stuff and then hurrying up the steps as she sorted through it. Claire stepped over the threshold, and Eve followed, hip-bumping the door shut behind them and shooting the bolt with her elbow, a feat Claire would never have tried -- or been able to accomplish with half that grace.
"Electric bill, water bill -- internet bill. Oh, and something for you. " Eve pulled out a small bubble-padded mailer from the pile and handed it over. "No return address. "
Who'd be sending her anything? Well, Mom and Dad, sure, and the occasional card from another relative. Her former BFF Elizabeth had sent a postcard from Texas A&M, but only the one. Claire didn't recognize the neat handwriting on the outside of the envelope. Eve left her to it and walked down the hallway, yelling to let Shane and Michael know they were back, to which Michael yelled back for her to get in here and make me some dinner, now, woman.
"News flash, boy, you're supposed to be evil, not redneck!"
Claire ripped open the package and upended it, and small jewelry box slid out into her hand. A nice one -- red velvet, with some kind of gold crest embossed on it. She felt the skin tighten up on the back of her neck. Oh no.
Suspicions confirmed as she flipped up the lid and saw the gold bracelet nestled on blood-red velvet. It was pretty, and it wasn't too big; delicate enough to circle one of her small wrists.
The Founder's Symbol was embossed discreetly in a small gold cartouche.
Oh, no.
Claire bit her lip and stared at the bracelet for a long time, then snapped the lid shut, put it back in the envelope, and went to join Eve and Michael in the kitchen.
"So?" Eve was getting down pots, and Michael was rummaging in the refrigerator. "Spaghetti okay with you?"