At ten o’clock, Crissy was expected to be in her pajamas, have her teeth brushed, and be ready to go to bed. Instead she was perched in front of the television, watching some low-production horror movie. Christoph had always adored the madness and gore of such movies, and Crissy had grown up watching them with him. When Christoph walked into the room, Crissy turned to look at him.

“Why aren’t you ready for bed?” he asked, his voice no where near as harsh as Crissy expected.

“I wanted to finish the movie first. Can I?”

He looked at the screen and smiled. It was one of his favorites. He dashed over and flopped down on the couch beside her. He put an arm snugly around her shoulders. “Remember when we used to watch this together all the time?” he asked, eyes still on the screen. “You would always get scared and I’d have to wrap you up in my arms until the scary parts were over.”

Crissy half-smiled herself, wanting desperately to be able to return to those times, before their parents died, and before Christoph fell into insanity. He was always so good to her, treating her more as if she were his own child than his sister. He was protective, gentle, kind, and supportive. He was everything a girl could hope for in a big brother. “By the way,” Christoph said during a dull scene, “we’re going to a party tomorrow night at Kurt’s house.”

Crissy nodded. She was used to being dragged along to all of the parties Christoph was invited to. She didn’t like being around large crowds, so she would search the place until she found a quiet little area and stay there until the whole thing was over. But she loved to get out of the house for a while, and be in situations where Christoph couldn’t hurt her.

“You can bring Sara if you want.”

Crissy looked up at him with wide eyes. “Sara?”

“She’s your friend, isn’t she? I’m sure she’d like to go. Why don’t you invite her?”

“I thought you didn’t want me to be around her.”

He grinned. “I changed my mind. She’s kind of cool.”

Crissy was confused. He never acted so kindly. What if he was turning back to normal? She felt a little brave so she worked up the nerve to ask him something else. “Christoph, can I invite two friends?”

He looked at her strangely. “You have two friends?”

“Well, he’s not exactly a friend. Just some guy who talked to me today. He seemed nice.”

“A guy?” Christoph asked, raising an eye brow. “What’s his name?”

“Zac. He looks really weird. He’s got black hair, black eyes, lots of piercings...”

“I think I know him. What were you doing talking to someone like him? He’s a freak.”

“He talked to me. I wasn’t friendly. He just kept talking.” Crissy quickly said, worried that Christoph would get the wrong idea.

Christoph turned his attention back to the screen as a cloaked figure slit a girl’s throat. Over the ill-faked shrieks, Crissy heard him say “I’ll check him out tomorrow. Then we’ll see about inviting him.”

“Really?!”

He looked back down at her and smiled. “Could it be that my little sister is in love?”

Crissy turned a bit red. “Of course not! He’s too strange.”

Christoph laughed and nudged her playfully with his elbow. “You don’t have to hide it!”

Crissy protested, but in her heart she felt nothing but joy. Christoph was acting so much like his old self. He was being playful, kind, and supportive. Perhaps the insanity was only a strange phase that he was going through. Maybe it was the only way he could deal with the death of their parents, and now he was coming to terms with it. She felt like jumping up and singing songs of victory, but she held back. She couldn’t get her hopes up too quickly.

Suddenly Christoph stood up. “It’s time for you to get ready for bed.” He bent down and picked her up. He slung her over his shoulder and laughed as he stumbled through the house and toward her bedroom. Crissy laughed too, a rare occurrence, and gave a small cry as he quickly flung her down onto her bed. He walked out the door and, before he closed it behind him, turned and smiled. “Good night, Cris.”

Crissy was still in shock. His behavior tonight was more than strange. But she couldn’t complain. For once, things were going great. She was going to a party tomorrow and this time she would have friends with her. It would be wonderful. She fell back into the folds of the pillows and sheets. She was too excited and happy to even bother changing into her pajamas. So she fell asleep in her white cotton dress, smiling.