The Purity of Blood: Volume I

by Jennifer Geoghan

  As hard as I tried, I was never able to really convince myself that Daniel was up to anything sinister. Yes, there had been something overtly personal in the way he had looked at me in the hallway that day, but I simply didn’t have the vanity to presume he’d seriously ever given me much thought after that. Strange as all this was, it must be coincidence.

  A week passed. A week of much the same, sleep, wake, class, eat, study, rinse, repeat. As I walked out of Capen Hall this morning, I was greeted with a particularly beautiful fall day here in upstate New York. Thankfully the weather alone was enough to make me forget most of my troubles. While walking to and from my morning’s classes, I savored the slight nip in the air that the ever present sun wasn’t chasing away as it had before. Fall was here, and Fall always brought change.

  After a quick lunch in the Student Union Building food court, I stopped into the school store. In need of a few things, I picked up a couple of new notebooks and a thick sweat shirt with NPU emblazoned on it in purple. The evenings were getting chilly enough to warrant an extra layer over my tee-shirts. After I dropped it off in my room and exchanged books, I headed over to the library to do some research. I had a few hours to kill before meeting Tabitha for a game of racquetball, and I wanted to use the time to follow up on some leads I’d found last time I’d gone fishing online for genealogy info on the family.

  Yes, I know, I should have been studying for class, but I felt like being a bad girl and playing mental hooky from my academic endeavors for the afternoon. I was completely caught up in all my classes anyway, so I didn’t feel too guilty about it. Pulling out my laptop, I settled into my regular table in the strangely deserted genealogy section of the library. It was a corner seldom frequented except by me and a few local blue hairs that came to do research of their own on occasion.

  Switching on my laptop, I started browsing some of my favorite research sites following up on the leads I’d scribbled in my notebook. As it usually does when I get deep in research mode, time passed all too quickly and before I knew it a couple of hours had come and gone.

  Ready to mop up the court with Tabitha once again, I exited out the back door of the library and started across the faculty parking lot towards the back side of the gym. I’d never walked back here before, but it looked just like the rest of campus. When a stiff breeze began to blow, I heard the sound of dead leaves scraping across the pavement of the parking lot. Instinctively, I turned and looked in the direction the wind had come from. As I did, I unexpectedly locked eyes with Daniel. He was standing on the far side of the small lot next to the open door of a shiny black car. Before I had time to react, he quickly ducked in the car and sped out of the lot.

  It wasn’t until I finished crossing the lot that it dawned on me what had looked so familiar. His was the same black sports car that had been hidden of the trailhead last weekend. I was positive. It was a very distinctive car. Foreign, Italian, if I wasn’t mistaken.

  A hundred questions began to swirl around in the confusion of my mind. Questions with no answers, at least none that I wanted to admit could possibly be true. Was he stalking me? And if so, in Heaven’s name, why?

  Unfortunately, I knew what this meant. It meant it was time for me to confront Daniel, face to face. I was terrified at the prospect of knowing without a doubt that only inches would separate us, not a room or a long hallway, and those steely blue eyes would once again bore deep down inside me. But I simply couldn’t go on without some measure of reassurance that, illogical as it was, he wasn’t out to do me harm. No, he’d never threatened me with words, it was his body language and the intent behind his facial expressions that concerned me. Not that I didn’t think I could take care of myself, but why should I have to? He was my teacher – more or less. All I should be worried about was getting a good grade in his class.

  The next day, I staked out a spot on the edge of the quad in front of the faculty tower and waited. I was the stalker this time. I knew from Tabitha’s class schedule that Daniel taught an Early American History class that would start in about thirty minutes on the opposite side of campus.

  Leaning against the retaining wall, I waited anxiously as I watched the grassy knoll in front of the Faculty Tower’s main doors. If I was right, he should be exiting the building any time now. My heart was racing in my chest. I knew I was being irrational, but what could I do about it? Well, I could do something, but that would require concentration, and I wasn’t sure I could muster myself into the proper frame of mind in that moment.

  What was it about him that both scared and attracted me at the same time? Although I hated to admit it, I guess I was just as much attracted to Daniel as everyone else, but I didn’t think it was all about his looks. It was something else, something I didn’t yet understand about him. Maybe it was that I sensed his confidence or perhaps a deeper intellect than any man I’d ever known of his age group. He seemed too young to be so melancholy. I’d have thought it would have taken decades of regret and longing for what one couldn’t have for a person to have his face form that unsettling expression as its default position. He couldn’t be more than twenty three or twenty four years old, way too young to have his face wear an expression of such unfulfilled need. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I really had no idea what it was that drew me to him. It was just as much a mystery to me as the man himself was.

  Behind me I could hear the sounds of the construction crew working on the new classroom building. It wasn’t slated to open for another year, yet they seemed to be putting it up at a feverish pace. They were currently erecting the superstructure. I glanced around to see what looked like a massive steel skeleton taking shape. Today there were a pair of giant cranes lifting up the next section of steel beams to the waiting workmen perched precariously high above me.

  Out of the corner of my eye, my attention was drawn to a glint of light as the doors of the faculty tower opened. Daniel strode out of the building in a pair of black jeans and a charcoal gray long sleeved button down shirt. I watched as he made his way across the quad taking care not to intrude on the gatherings of students out enjoying the sunny afternoon. He was extra careful to avoid a bunch of girls playing Frisbee who were haphazardly running all over the quad. He shot them an icy glare as one of their number maybe accidently, probably purposefully almost collided with him. Rudely ignoring them, he continued on.

  I knew it was only a matter of moments before he’d spot me. I wasn’t trying to hide. On the contrary, I was careful to pick this very public place for my confrontation. I may not intellectually have believed he could possibly want to do me harm, but I wasn’t stupid enough to be alone in a room with him given the circumstances.

  A cool breeze prickled the back of my neck as I watched his approach. Suddenly his head snapped up as he caught me in his sights. There was that look again, like I’d just said something to absolutely revolt him. He stopped in his tracks, appraising my stance. Yes, he wanted to avoid me, I could see it in his eyes, and at that moment he knew there was no possible way to get around me.

  A little slower now, he again started in my direction, carefully eyeing me as his gait steadily increased. There was just something about the way he walked, the way he shifted his weight from side to side that was completely fluid. He was almost cat like in his movements, and I couldn’t help but stare. It was mesmerizing.

  My face began to flush, my heart now beating faster, pounding away inside the confines of my chest. I hadn’t exactly rehearsed what I was going to say and suddenly found myself wishing I’d given this a little bit more thought.

  As the distance between us closed faster than I’d have liked, my palms began to sweat. Then he stopped just short of me.

  “Miss Donnelly?” he said, part statement, part question. “You seem to want something, or do I presume too much?”

  He knew my name?

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

  Cocking his head to the side he stared at me, or was it through me. Su
ddenly there was a commotion in the quad behind him. It was the Frisbee girls. In an instant, Daniel’s head snapped around faster than I would have thought humanly possible. Whatever the trouble was, it had diverted all his attentions that way.

  At that same moment I heard a faint cry from above and a snap. When I quickly turned my head to see where the sound had come from, I was just in time to see a steel beam swinging wildly on a cable tethered to the top of one of the cranes. It was coming straight for us.

  Without thinking, I jumped on Daniel and tackled him to the ground, taking us both deep into a thick stand of nearby shrubbery. As I dove for cover taking him with me, I could feel the wind of the beam as it passed behind me and the tangle of bushes that mercilessly pulled at my hair and clothes. We were both completely buried in the bushes, my shove having been a lot stronger than I’d have thought myself capable of. Unsure of what had just happened; I felt a sudden surge of adrenaline coursing through every inch of my body. It was a not unpleasant sensation that made me tingle all over. Well, everywhere except my leg. My lower right leg felt like it was on fire. Momentarily stunned, I was still lying on top of Daniel, but was too dazed to move for a few moments.

  Then I felt gentle hands reach in and touch my leg, appraising the injury. What an odd sensation. Moments later, the bushes above my head parted and an arm reached in to grab my hand. It was Ben, his eyes full of fear.

  “What the hell happened?” he asked. “Are you alright? You could have been killed.”

  It almost sounded like he was scolding me.

  “Ben. I – I think I hurt my leg,” was all I could manage in response.

  He leaned down and gently pulled my hand to lift me up. As he did I realized another pair of hands were guiding me from behind. They were Daniel’s hands. His arm was under mine as if expecting to support all my weight. Still fuzzy around the edges, I looked up to see the beam swinging wildly from a thin cable with a smaller broken cable swinging below it.

  “I think the cable hit my leg as it passed,” I murmured weakly to no one in particular, still staring up at the wildly gesticulating pendulum. With the assistance of the two men, I tentatively stepped out of the bushes.

  Ben was staring at me in horror, as if only moments ago he’d thought I was dead. I looked away. I didn’t want to see those brown eyes staring back at me that way. I turned only to be confronted with Daniel’s face. He wore a bewildered expression like a lost little boy and was staring down at my leg as if he was confused about something.

  Realizing that the pain in my leg had quickly begun to fade, I began to shift my weight to test my strength on it

  “No, be careful,” Daniel said with a forceful whisper in my ear as he clutched my arm tighter.

  I looked up. His eyes were a mixture of fear and confusion now. I looked deep into their strange shade of blue for a long moment not knowing what to make of their expression. I had come here to confront him, but for some reason I felt the odd desire to console him now instead.

  I gave him an unwilling smile then looked down at my leg as I shifted my weight onto it. Ben still had my other arm and I leaned on him for support as I did. The pain was almost gone now and I stood firm on both legs. I wasn’t sure how this could possibly be, but I wasn’t about to question it. Staring down at my leg, a long dirty mark on the side of my jeans where the cable had made contact was plainly visible. How was it possible I had not been injured when it hit me? Glancing over at Daniel, I could see he’d noticed the mark as well.

  “Well, other than being a little rough around the edges, you look no worse for wear,” Ben said, smiling down at me now while picking leaves out of my hair. “What on earth were you doing? You could have been killed!”

  Daniel looked as if he would have liked an answer to that question as well, but as I looked from one handsome face to the other, I was at a loss for an immediate answer.

  Fortunately a few nearby students had run over all too eager to tell us what they’d witnessed.

  “You should totally be on the football team,” one guy said. “You tackled him like an all-star.”

  “I thought you were both dead,” a small blonde girl gushed. “When I saw that beam coming right at the both of you like that. Well, I just can’t believe you’re both alive.”

  I’d saved Daniel’s life. It had just dawned on me. Daniel was in shock, probably for the same reason. He was just standing there staring at me. At me this time, not through me.

  Then for no logical reason I could possibly explain, I was struck with the sudden intuition that this moment – this small moment in my life was about to change everything.

  “I think I’d better walk you back to your room,” Ben said.

  Not trusting that I seemed to be alright, he picked up my bag, slung it over his shoulder and offered me his arm. Taking it, we turned to go. But after a few steps, I paused for a second and looked over my shoulder at Daniel. He was still standing in the bushes, softly staring after me. Silently he mouthed “Thank you.”

  I gave him a weak smile and continued away on Ben’s arm. After a few paces, I glanced up to see Ben looking back over his shoulder. When I followed his gaze, I found he was staring back at Daniel. They were exchanging a look of what appeared to be pure, unadulterated hatred, but for the life of me I couldn’t understand why.

  Chapter Four

  SARA

  It seemed that over the course of the afternoon, news of the accident had spread quickly around campus, though thankfully no one seemed to know the names of those involved. This was a great relief to me. If anything made me uncomfortable, it was finding myself the center of attention in any situation.

  After Ben dropped me off in my room and made sure I was comfortable, he quickly left. I was grateful to him for whisking me away from the scene of the incident before anyone else arrived, and just as thankful he hadn’t lingered in my room afterward. It was kind that he was concerned for me, but he also seemed confused about something. I’d seen it in his eyes when he’d turned in the doorway of my room to go. Would I ever understand men? Somehow it seemed unlikely. Why should I be any different from the rest of my half of the human race?

  Knowing there was no way I could concentrate anyway, I blew off my afternoon classes. It was unlike me, but fortunately they were ones where attendance wasn’t mandatory. I curled up in a ball on my bed and watched mindless TV to drown out the persistent voices in my head. I wished I’d been able to confront Daniel as I’d intended. With all that happened, my original problem was still left unresolved for me to churn over and over in my mind. I considered a second attempt at ambushing him, but after how well my first attempt had gone, I wasn’t sure how wise a course of action that would be. After all, maybe God was trying to tell me something. Perhaps the swinging beam was his way of saying leave it alone.

  Later that afternoon Darcy stopped in to do laundry and to make sure I hadn’t forgotten what she looked like. I hadn’t seen her all week except when I’d passed her last Tuesday in van den Berg Hall coming out of Modern American Lit. She was an excellent distraction from the whirlwind of my thoughts, and I listened to endless stories of her strange pledging activities while she sorted clothes into piles or folded them. She was hoping to convince me to pledge next year, but it seemed doubtful. It wasn’t that I was a loner or anything, but I guess I enjoyed my solitude too much for all that sisterhood to seem like a good thing.

  She spent the entire afternoon with me before she left for dinner and whatnot with the rest of her pledge class. She seemed to be enjoying her sorority experience so far, which made me happy for her. At the very least, she seemed her usual carefree self, so very unlike me. I, on the other hand, had many cares pressing down on me.

  With some effort, I managed to get off the bed and tidy myself up enough to go to dinner and not embarrass myself too much. Darcy was right; I really should put more effort into my appearance. Old tee-shirts and jeans punctuated with sweats made up almost the entirety of my wardrobe. But honestly, who d
id I have to impress?

  Although I hadn’t been injured in the incident, I still felt drained. I had to guess it was the after effects of my adrenaline rush. As I pulled the covers up to semi make my bed, I picked up the jeans I’d worn this morning to place them in the dirty pile. That’s when the black mark on the old blue denim caught my eye. I still didn’t quite understand how the force of it hadn’t snapped my leg in two, let alone that I didn’t even have any kind of a welt.

  Dismissing the thought, I closed the door behind me and slowly made my way down the back stairs. Even though my leg wasn’t bothering me, my first instinct was to favor my other leg. Strangely enough, I had the odd feeling my body knew something I didn’t, if that made any sense at all.

  Unlike my out of the ordinary morning, my evening was blissfully uneventful. As on any other night, I picked up a tray and got in line. Out of sheer habit, I selected something inoffensive for dinner, chose a drink, picked up my silverware and headed for the usual tables we occupied. I was the first to arrive this evening, but that didn’t surprise me. I was about fifteen minutes early.

  I started to slowly eat as I read the book I’d brought along to kill time with before everyone arrived. I’d just gotten up to a really good part when I was suddenly startled by the clanging sound of trays hitting the table. With a jump, I looked up to see Mike and Tabitha sitting down on the other side of the table followed by Ryan, who took the seat next to me.

  I wasn’t in a very talkative mood so I listened to them for a while. Their conversation centered mostly on classes and that accident over by the construction site. Each of them had heard a different version, none of which bore much resemblance to the truth. Preferring to remain anonymous, I made no attempt to correct them or inform them of my involvement.

  As our meal wore on the events of the day slowly receded farther into the back of my mind, and I began to contribute more and more to the conversation. As they usually did, my friends distracted me from my problems, allowing me to smile again and breathe without feeling as if it was some chore.