Crossroads (Crossroads Academy #1)
Page 47
Chapter Eighteen
I oversleep in the morning, courtesy of the snooze button. When I finally wake up, it’s all I can do to get myself out of bed I’m so tired. Last night’s dream was especially draining. The dreams are getting worse. I have to figure out how to control them, but I’ll have to worry about that later. Right now I need to get to class. Anya’s right. Maintaining normalcy is important. Besides, she won’t be happy if she thinks I intentionally disobeyed her instructions.
I dress quickly in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt and throw my hair up in a knot. There isn’t time for much else. I’m dying of thirst and feel the beginnings of hunger pains. I hurriedly pour two pouches of blood into a thermos and head for class. Feeding in the hallways is discouraged, but I haven’t got a lot of options since I’m already late. Breaking such an insignificant rule is the least of my worries right now.
It looks like I might actually be on time when Anya grabs my arm roughly and leads me into an empty classroom. My first thought is that I’ve been exposed. But if that were the case, she would have come to my dorm, wouldn’t she? I go with my second best guess.
“I’m sorry,” I begin defensively. “I know I’m not supposed to be feeding in the hall, but I overslept.”
She waves me off. She’s smiling. Now I’m really confused. If I’m not in trouble, then what is so urgent?
“It’s your lucky day!” She pulls my laptop from her shoulder bag and hands it to me. “The librarian found it.”
That can’t be right. It doesn’t even make sense. “What do you mean the librarian found it? I told you, someone took it.”
“Then they must’ve brought it back.” She shrugs as if this is a perfectly reasonable explanation. “I went to the library to see Professor Toddy thinking I would warn her about the theft and notify her of your missing laptop. The next thing I know, she tells me that she found it on her desk this morning. It was just lying there when she showed up. She had no idea where it came from or who it belonged to.”
“Why would someone steal it and then bring it back the very next day?” I’m not convinced this is as straight forward as it seems.
“I don’t know, Katia. Guilt? Fear? Inability to actually break the pass code and use it? Who cares why they returned it? I thought you’d just be thrilled to have it back.”
I turn the case over in my hands inspecting it for signs of damage. It looks perfectly sound, just as I left it, but I still don’t have a good feeling about this. It will be impossible to tell if the security codes have been broken. All I can do is assume that they haven’t been compromised until I have evidence to suggest otherwise.