I told him an abbreviated version of the story, my gaze never leaving his face.
A miasma of emotions seemed to pass over Rafael’s face as I told my tale, but he never interrupted me. When I was done he finally spoke. “You need to be careful.”
“What?”
“You’re getting a lot of attention on campus.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Don’t you?”
The comment about my pedigree flooded through my mind for a second, but I decided not to tell Rafael about that. He was a vampire, after all. “I’m just a girl.”
“You’re more than just a girl.”
“What am I then?”
“I don’t know. You just need to be careful.”
Rafael walked me back to the dorms. No matter how many questions I asked him, though, he refused to answer any more of them. He didn’t even say goodbye when he dropped me off at the front door.
As I watched him leave, though, I noticed that he was prowling around the parking lot like he was hunting. I wondered if he was looking for dinner – or more rogue vampires. I could only hope it was the vampires.
Twenty-One
The next morning I woke up with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was supposed to be a simple, fun and exciting time in my life had turned into a huge clusterfuck.
I went to breakfast with Paris – but I wasn’t exactly chatty. My mood was dark and dour. She noticed.
“Where were you all day yesterday?”
“Classes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I wanted to tell Paris everything that had happened, but I didn’t even know where to start. Plus, there was always the concern that she wouldn’t believe me.
“What are you doing today?”
I sucked down some pop. I had a feeling I would need the caffeine.
“Just classes.”
“You want to meet at the UC for coffee afterwards?”
“Sure.”
That would at least give me more time to think about what I should say to Paris – and how.
We walked to class together in a comfortable silence. I could tell Paris wanted to grill me, but she was oddly silent. Finally, she said something.
“You weren’t raped or anything were you?”
The question stunned me. “What?”
“You’ve been weird since I found you in the parking lot last night. I’m worried that something happened to you.”
Something had definitely happened to me -- just not that. “No, I wasn’t raped.”
“Have you talked to Will?”
“No. Have you talked to Mike?”
“No.”
“Are you still going to?”
“Yeah. I just don’t know what to say.”
“Just be honest.” Look at me giving advice, when my own life was falling apart around me.
“Are you still going to talk to Will?”
“I don’t know.” I was being honest. Everything had changed over the course of the past two days. I didn’t know if I could take anything else in my world shifting.
We separated when we got to the building. I went to my first class of the day and essentially zoned out through the entire thing. I tried to listen during my astronomy class with Paris – but I didn’t have a lot of luck there, either. My next class was Journalism 101 with Professor Blake. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to that.
I plodded down the hallway, dragging the trip to the classroom out as long as possible. I’m not one of those people that rips the Band-Aid off. I feel the need to prod and cajole it for a while. When I entered, Matilda waved excitedly when she saw me. “How are things?”
“Fine.” I really wasn’t in the mood for her particular brand of enthusiasm today.
“Have you seen … ?”
I cut her off. I couldn’t listen to her Rick No. 1 infatuation any longer. “No. I haven’t seen Rick in the past two days.”
“Not at all?” She seemed concerned.
“I’ve been busy.”
The class went silent as Professor Blake entered the room. I saw him check my usual seat to make sure I was there, but then he ignored me for the rest of class. He thankfully stayed away from any paranormal assignments as well.
After class, I found myself lingering and I couldn’t explain why.
Professor Blake noticed as well. “Do you need something?”
I looked around. The rest of the classroom was empty. Even Matilda had left. I figured she had caught on to my irritated attitude (thank the Force for small favors) and wisely decided to avoid a tense walk back to the dorms with me.
I opened my mouth to answer Professor Blake and then snapped it shut. I honestly didn’t know what to say.
“Let’s go to my office.”
I don’t know why I followed him, but I did. The walk to his office on the second floor was made in complete silence -- an uncomfortable silence at that. When we made it to his office, Professor Blake unlocked it and then held the door open for me. I walked in silently. He shut the door behind us.
“I wasn’t sure I would see you in class today,” he admitted.
“I’m here for an education. I’m not going to let anyone derail that. Not even you.”
“I’m sorry about how things went yesterday.”
“What, exactly, are you sorry about? That you purposely took me into that place to make me uncomfortable or that you’re keeping something from me?”
Professor Blake sighed. “You just have to be combative, don’t you? I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“See! That’s what I’m talking about. You have to be cryptic and talk down to me like I’m twelve.”
“I’m not talking down to you. You must understand, though, that you’re young. You’re new to this. There is so much you don’t know.” Professor Blake gazed out his office window before continuing. “Why are you here? I thought you were done with us.”
“Maybe I want to know more.”
“Did something happen last night?”
I thought about telling him about Rafael, but something deep inside me told me that wasn’t the smart way to go. “No. I made it home fine.”
“Then why, all of a sudden, do you want to know more?”
“Two nights ago I was attacked in the parking lot. I killed a man.”
“You killed a vampire.”
“I killed a man and he turned to ash. I want to know why that happened.”
“I don’t know why that happened.”
“Why does everyone on this campus seem to think they know something about me?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do not lie to me,” I seethed. “You’re bad at it and I’m sick of your shit.”
Professor Blake sighed. “People think you already know about the supernatural because of where you come from.”
“This Dog Man thing again?”
“It’s hard to believe you grew up in that small town – a town filled with werewolves – and you don’t know anything.”
“How do you know it’s full of werewolves?”
“I’ve been there.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
“When was the last time?”
“Last November.”
I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t think of anything that stood out from last November. “Why were you there last November?”
“What do you remember about last November?”
“Homecoming.”
Professor Blake snorted derisively. “What else?”
I thought for a moment. “Not much. It snowed early. We got to go skiing on the first day of deer season.”
“They cancelled school?”
“No. We always get the first day of deer season off. The boys go hunting. The girls go shopping usually. But since we got snow a bunch of us went skiing instead.”
“What else?”
“What do you mean? There was noth
ing else.”
“There was something.”
I thought some more. “One of my classmates died in a hunting accident,” I finally said. “Conner Dalton. He was out hunting with a bunch of friends and he accidentally got shot.”
Professor Blake nodded slowly.
“That’s what you were talking about?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying Conner wasn’t killed in a hunting accident?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“So what killed him?”
“A werewolf.”
I was silent for a moment. My heart was racing, though. “How do you know that?”
“The signs were unmistakable. He was mauled by an animal -- a big animal. You don’t have bears. So what else could it have been?”
“Why were you there?”
“To handle the situation.”
“Meaning?”
“I had to make sure that Conner stayed dead.”
“What do you mean?” I felt like I was swimming in quicksand sometimes when I was talking to Professor Blake.”
“A human can get turned into a werewolf from an attack.”
“And, was Conner?”
“No. The attack was too bad. Conner was dead.”
“So you were just there for a day and left?”
“No. I was there for three days.”
“Why three days?”
Professor Blake sighed. “This is the type of thing you would learn in class. But I’m going to answer it for you. Essentially, werewolves are active for three days a month. Not one.”
“What three days?”
“The day before the full moon, the day of the full moon and the day after the full moon.”
“See! That is just like Buffy,” I exclaimed.
“You need to stop doing that,” Blake admonished.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “So why were you there three days?”
“I was hunting.” Blake’s response was simple.
“You were hunting the werewolf?”
“Yes.”
“Did you find it?”
“No.”
“Would you have killed it if you found it?”
“Yes.”
“Even though a werewolf is still human?”
“It’s still a monster that kills.”
“Do all of them kill?”
“What do you mean?” Professor Blake looked confused.
“Nothing,” I said a little too hastily.
Professor Blake didn’t look like he believed me, but he let it go. “I think it’s important for you to at least give us a chance,” he finally said.
I sighed resolutely. I knew I wouldn’t get the answers I was looking for unless I at least pretended to be a part of Blake’s cause.
“I’ll go to a class,” I sighed. “Just one to start.”
Professor Blake smiled at my acquiescence. “Good.”
I got to my feet. “Just one class for now. I can’t promise anything.”
“It’s a start.”
“The start of what?”
“Your future.”
I couldn’t help but think that Professor Blake’s vision of my future was vastly different from my own.
Twenty-Two
When I left Professor Blake’s office, I made my way over to the UC to meet Paris for coffee. I looked around the cafeteria, but didn’t see her. I got my café mocha and sat down at an empty table to think. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the alone time I so desperately needed.
“Did you stay after class to talk to Professor Blake?”
I looked up to see Matilda sliding into the chair across from me. She had her own coffee. Great.
“Yeah. I just wanted to ask him about the assignment,” I mumbled.
“He is so cute.”
“Hmm.” Why wouldn’t she just go away? Instead, she kept chatting aimlessly. I watched her tuck her curly brown hair behind her ear as she flirted with a group of guys at a table across the aisle. At least she could multi-task – irritate me, entice them. Two birds, one stone.
“You don’t think he’s cute?”
“He’s a professor. He’s not my type.”
“He’s everybody’s type.”
“Not mine.”
“You have a boyfriend, right?”
I wasn’t so sure I did anymore, but I didn’t want to start sharing with Matilda. I had a feeling if I started she would spread my personal business all over the dorms before the night was out. “Yes.”
“He’s in Alpha Chi, right?”
“Yeah.”
“All those guys are so cute and so … just yummy.”
“I haven’t really noticed,” I admitted.
“How could you not?”
“I guess I’m just more into my boyfriend than the others.” A brief flash of Aric pushed into my mind. I pushed it right back out.
“That makes sense,” Matilda didn’t seem to notice my lack of interest in the conversation. “Is he hot?”
“I wouldn’t be sleeping with him if I didn’t think he was hot.” That was the truth.
Matilda giggled. “I bet he’s hot.”
I chatted with Matilda for another twenty minutes before excusing myself. “I have to run to the book store.” I had given up waiting for Paris, and I desperately needed to get away from Matilda before I started screaming at her to shut up.
“I’ll go with you.”
Great. I got up from the table, tossed my empty coffee cup into the garbage and walked down the hallway to the bookstore. Matilda was babbling about something, but I was tuning her out. I could care less what Rick No. 1 smelled like.
When we got to the bookstore, I separated quickly from Matilda. She was distracted by a group of guys by the magazine rack anyway. I could only hope I’d be able to get my supplies and exit without her rediscovering me.
I wandered up and down the aisles for a few minutes until I found a stack of blue books. I needed them for my English classes. I was deciding how many to purchase when I felt a presence behind me. For a second, I thought that Matilda had found me again. The presence behind me was decidedly male, though. I swung around to smack into Aric’s broad chest. This was getting to be an everyday occurrence – not that I minded.
“We need to stop running into each other like this,” I muttered.
Aric chuckled throatily, almost like a growl. “I don’t mind.”
“I bet.”
Aric ran his hand through his dark black hair to push his bangs out of his face. He looked down at me appraisingly. “Buying blue books?”
“Nothing gets past you.”
“Are you always this … verbally aggressive?”
“I’m aggressive physically, too.” Whoops. That came out wrong.
Aric’s already dark eyes went even darker as he regarded me. “I’ll have to take your word for that. For now.”
I didn’t know how to take the statement so I decided to ignore it. “What are you here for?”
“Just to browse.”
My eyes narrowed dangerously. “Are you following me?”
“Why would I be following you?”
There was no answer to the statement that wouldn’t make me seem full of myself, I realized. I might as well let him think I was full of myself, I figured. “Maybe you think I’m hot.”
“Maybe,” Aric agreed.
“I keep running into you.”
“Just lucky I guess.”
I decided to change my approach. “You’re fraternity brothers with my boyfriend.”
“Is that a question?”
“Just an observation.”
“Yes. I know Will.” I could see the hint of distaste that flashed over Aric’s face. It was gone as quickly as it was there, though.
“You don’t like him?”
“I don’t spend a lot of time with him.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t spend a lot of time with any of them.”
“But you live at the frat house.”
“No, I don’t.”
That took me by surprise. “I saw you there.”
“I said I didn’t live there. I didn’t say I never went there.”
“You were there in the morning.”
“Keeping tabs on me?” Aric couldn’t hide his smile – or his dimples. What is it with weird guys and to die for dimples anyway?
“If you don’t live there, why were you there so early in the morning?”
“I had to pick up a book I left there the night before.” Aric didn’t stumble across the answer, but I still knew it was a lie.
“You should be more organized.”
Aric smirked. “Are you organized?”
“We weren’t talking about me.”
“What were we talking about?” I felt my skin sort of hum as Aric leaned in slightly. “Let’s talk some more about you?”
“Let’s talk about you,” I tried to shift so I wasn’t so close to Aric. He wasn’t exactly making that possible.
“What do you want to talk about me for? I’m boring.”
No one that looked like him could be boring, I thought. As if he was reading my mind, Aric smiled warmly.
“Why don’t you like Will?” I was trying to catch Aric off guard.
“I just don’t have a lot in common with him.”
“You’re fraternity brothers with him,” I pointed out.
“That doesn’t really mean anything. Do you have things in common with your roommates?”
“Yes.” Well, Paris at least.
“Even that uptight little blonde one?”
He had me there. “No, but I didn’t choose to live with her. I just got placed with her.”
“Well, I didn’t choose Will either.”
“What did he do to you?”
“What makes you think he did anything to me?”
“You have to dislike him for a reason.”
“He’s cocky.”
“And you’re not?”
Aric smiled again. “Maybe. I can back it up, though.”
I definitely didn’t want to go there. “You dislike him because he’s cocky?”
Aric ignored the question. “How long have you been with him?”
“On and off for four years.”
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