“What is?”
“Nic pining over Colin, like she has a shot.”
Like you do with Cameron? With effort I choked the bitchy reply because lately it seemed that every horrible thing I whispered came true in some form. I didn’t want to believe the horror was inside the house, so to speak, but if I was the source of the darkness at Blackbriar, then I had to keep my mouth shut.
“She looks sick,” I said.
“No shit.” With a curl of her perfectly lipsticked mouth, Allison brushed past me and headed to her next class.
But I didn’t mean it as she thought, not that Nicole was disgusting. On closer inspection, she seemed pale and weak, physically ill. Like something’s sucking the life out of her. I was willing to bet Colin Love was the leech draining her dry.
During lunch, I went to the library instead of the cafeteria. Unable to believe I was about to do this, I sighed and typed two words into the search bar: psychic vampires. Each time someone went by I covered my screen, guilty as a sophomore trying to disable the browser locks to look at p**n . But I read all kinds of crazy stuff about creatures who fed on energy, not blood, and didn’t have the weaknesses associated with the traditional kind. They seem completely human, but tragedy, discord, and despair follows in their wake. You will know these demons because they are not born of woman and have no navel.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I tapped my fingers on the cubbyhole that held the computer I was using.
“What is?” Jen asked.
I jerked, surprised to find her at my shoulder and already reading the screen. Shit. My mind went blank, and I waited for her to head off to everyone how crazy I was.
“You write fic, too?”
I didn’t answer, and her tentative smile widened into a grin. “Come on, it can’t be worse—or weirder—than mine. I have like a hundred and eighty thousand words devoted to Draco.”
“Wow.” The light came on. Obviously I knew about fanfic, and I read it for my favorite pairings, but I’d never written any. “Uhm. Actually this is research.”
“For a story?”
Relief spilled through me, softening my locked shoulders. “You got me. I’ve never done any creative writing and I thought it might help to do some reading first.”
“It’s best to jump in,” Jen advised, perching on the chair next to me. “If you think about it too much, you’ll get nervous. Just make everything up and check your facts later.”
“Okay.”
I wasn’t sure if that was good writing advice, but she seemed really excited, so I put the computer to sleep and followed her out of the library. Break was almost over anyway, and she had a lot to say about my alleged project.
“From what you were looking it, I’m guessing it’s paranormal. I can’t remember if I’ve ever read about psychic vampires, but bloodsuckers were really popular for a while. Do your mind-leeches sparkle?”
I thought of Colin Love and his air of predatory malice. “Nope.”
“That’s probably best if this isn’t fanfic.”
“No, it’s original.” And completely problematic. I can’t take much more. If the opposition was behind this, then they were winning. Honestly, for me, that would be the best possible outcome, because it meant Kian hadn’t betrayed me, and I’d brought the darkness through the deal, not careless, malicious words. It would be easier to bear if that were so. If bad things were happening because of Wedderburn because I wished them true …
I shook my head and gave Jen my full attention.
“If you want me to look at it once you finish, I’ll be happy to. I’m in an online group, but it’d be cool to have a local crit partner, too. We can trade feedback.”
“If I ever do. Right now it feels like there’s no solution to my problem.” That wasn’t what I meant to say; it just came out.
“Oh, are you stuck on the plotting?”
“Definitely.”
“Then tell me your scenario and I’ll see if I can figure it out. I’m really good at this. There’s a professional writer in my group, and I help her sometimes.”
“It’s kind of complicated.”
“Then we can Skype about it tonight.”
Remembering Vi … and Ryu, I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to confide in Jen, even on a theoretical level.
“Maybe. Hey, there’s Davina. I haven’t seen her since—”
“Yeah.” Her face lost the animation my supposed story had generated. “We should hang out with her.”
I nodded and headed toward the other girl. Though she had always been thin, there was a new air of fragility about her, as if one more blow could break her. The Teflon crew are dropping fast. The impulse came on too strong to resist; right there in the hall, I hugged Davina and she gave as good as she got.
“Thanks. I didn’t see you at lunch.”
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t know you were coming back today.”
“I didn’t want to, but my mom said a week was as long as she was giving me for a boyfriend I never introduced to her.”
That’s on Russ.
“I doubt my mom would give me a day, even if she did meet him,” Jen said.
“I need to talk to you two.” I’d never skipped, but we could hide on campus. The grounds were spacious enough that if you didn’t pass the gate, it was impossible to find you before class ended.
“I don’t want to be here anyway,” Davina muttered.
Jen didn’t answer, but she must’ve been curious because she followed me out. There was a steady stream of students walking between buildings, but I didn’t turn toward the Stinkatorium or the science complex. Instead I found us a quiet corner, nestled in the trees, out of sight from the main building. The groundskeeper was working on the other side of the property today, so we had some time. In the distance, I heard the final bell ring.
“So what’s up?” Jen asked.
I took a deep breath. Now I’d find out if they were really my friends. If not, my insanity would hit the fan and splatter all over school by the end of the day. The prospect didn’t even bother me, as things had gotten so screwed up that the idea of people saying mean things seemed like the least horrible consequence.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence, what happened to Russ and Brittany.” With judicious editing, I managed to tell the story without making it sound ridiculous. I concluded, “If you notice, it all started after that new teacher arrived.”