Dhampyre Chronicles: Twisted Dreams Part 6

A familiar blond head bobbed through the sea of students toward us. My gaze darted around, hunting for an escape route, but there was none. Flynn's eyes were locked directly on me.

"Hey, Beth," he said, coming to a stop directly in front of me, his large body blocking the way. "How're you doing? I've been worried about you."

"I thought I told you it wasn't your job to worry about me."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I know it's not my job, but that doesn't stop my brain from working. You seemed really upset last night, which I totally get, but then that carny guy was ha.s.sling you ..."

I could feel Laurel watching the interaction with curiosity.

"I was fine. It was just a shock."

"You never explained how you predicted what happened."

Laurel b.u.t.ted in. "It was you? You're the one who warned everyone?"

The heat in my face increased. "I saw a screw pop out and roll to the ground, and the plate was coming loose."

"But you just said you didn't see anything?" Laurel said, confused.

"Sorry. I didn't want everyone to know."

I looked past Flynn's shoulder to see two police officers striding down the corridor toward us. "Oh, you've got to be kidding," I groaned. Was anyone going to give me a break today?

"Miss Bandores?" The male counterpart of the police duo asked, his eyes flicking between me and Laurel.

I lifted my hand as if answering in cla.s.s. "Yeah, that's me."

"My name is Officer Logsdon," he said, then gestured to the woman at his side. "This is Officer Russo. Sorry to interrupt your first day, but I'm afraid we're going to need to ask you a few questions. Is there anywhere we can talk?"

Practically the entire school had stopped what they were doing, and now stood silently watching the interaction between me and the police officers. So much for keeping my head down and fitting in. I didn't know the campus well enough to know what rooms would be free, and I certainly didn't want to take them back to my room. Despite having an uncle in the police department (well, he was more a family friend than a real uncle), I still had an innate fear of authority. I was always certain I was doing something I shouldn't be, or would let something slip about what kind of creatures made up my family.

All I managed as a response was a shrug.

The officers exchanged a glance. "How about we talk in the patrol vehicle?" Officer Logsdon offered.

I shrugged again. "Sure."

The sea of students lurking in the hall to find out what was going on now parted like the Red Sea as the cops walked between them, followed by a sheepish me. I kept my head down, my long hair falling over my face, my stomach in knots. Most of these people probably didn't know what the police wanted with me, but I doubted it would stay that way for long. I understood how the gossip mill worked. Even if people didn't know what was going on, they'd probably make something up until they did.

I followed the officers out to the parking lot where my own rental car was parked. The cop car stood out like a beacon. The only thing getting more attention than the car was me. Officer Logsdon opened the back door of the patrol vehicle and I slipped into the back seat. Both officers climbed in the front and twisted back around to speak to me.

"I'm guessing you already know why we need to talk to you," the female officer, Russo, said.

I hazarded a guess. "The accident at the carnival last night?"

She nodded. "That's right. We had a number of people report that you predicted the accident about to happen and were actually trying to move people away from the ride only moments before the car spun off." She picked up her notes, "A Riley Draiodh said-"

I cut her off. "Who?"

"The young man working the ride. He says you seemed absolutely certain of what was about to happen. You told him the car was going to spin off into the crowd of people, something which happened only moments later."

I shrugged, while storing away the knowledge of his name for turning over later. Riley Draiodh ...

"It was a lucky guess," I told her. "I saw a screw come loose and the car looked like it was lifting off the platform. Anyone else who noticed it would have a.s.sumed the same thing."

"But no one else did notice, did they? And there must have been fifty people standing around that ride."

"Are you trying to say I had something to do with it, and suddenly changed my mind and so warned everyone to get out of the way?" Despite my fear of authority, I couldn't help the sarcastic tone that entered my voice.

"Is that what happened?" Officer Logsdon said, not a trace of humor on his face.

"No, of course not! I only got here yesterday."

Officer Russo continued, "This is very serious, Miss Bandores. Several people were hurt in the incident, and the carnival has been shut down. If you know anything, I suggest you tell us now. It'll only look bad on you if we find out at a later date that you withheld information."

"I don't know anything else!"

My heart had fallen at the mention of the carnival closing. Did that mean the boy, Riley, would leave now? It seemed strange to think I might not see him again. I wasn't sure if it was one of my predictions, but I'd felt sure our paths would cross again.

The female officer checked her notes again, though I was certain she'd already planned exactly what she was going to ask me. "We also had an incident on Route Forty-Six yesterday afternoon in which you seem to have been involved."

I'd had to report the accident in order to claim on my insurance for damage to my car.

"Well, yes, but that had nothing to do with me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She studied my face and I shrank. "That happen to you often?"

I bristled. "Not normally. Must be something about this town."

She responded only with a "hmm," and scribbled something on her notepad.

"Anyway," I said. "Is it okay if I go now? My next cla.s.s will start soon, and I don't want to be late quite so early in the term."

They exchanged a glance.

"All right," Officer Logsdon said. "If we need to ask you any more questions, I a.s.sume we can find you on campus."

"Yes, I'm staying in Caraway dorm."

Officer Russo leaned across the back of the seats and handed me a card. "If you hear anything or think of anything else, please give us a call."

My fingers closed around the card which contained her name and number. "Sure. No problem."

That seemed to be good enough for the moment. I climbed out of the car and tried to ignore all of the curious glances and whispers behind the backs of hands directed at me. I slouched further, trying to make myself as small as possible, wis.h.i.+ng I could shrink enough for people not to notice me altogether. Sudden hot tears burned at the backs of my eyes, an overwhelming homesickness sweeping over me. Why had I bothered to come here? My parents had been right. I should have stayed close to home rather than trying to form a new life for myself. I could never escape what I was.

I slunk into my next cla.s.s without even looking up to try to spot Laurel. I took a seat near the front and tried to concentrate as my new English Lit professor introduced herself and started to explain the course. Lifting the lid of my laptop, I did my best to hide behind it.

By the end of the lecture, my stomach was growling, signaling lunch time. I'd not had time to eat breakfast that morning and was starving. I didn't want to go into the dining hall, but I couldn't keep hiding.

You saved lives, I told myself. You shouldn't be ashamed of what you did. You should be proud. So what if people are talking? They always talk. Give it another twenty-four hours and they'll be gossiping about some other poor soul.

I wasn't a coward. I needed to be strong, and if that meant walking into the dining hall with my head held high, then that was exactly what I intended to do. I could hear my parents' voices in my head. You're tough, you're strong. You've already been through more than any of these people could comprehend.

I slipped my laptop into its case, and then put it in my bag, together with my text books. The bag was heavy, but I barely noticed as I slung it over my shoulder and headed out of the lecture hall to join the river of students. From my tour earlier in the year, I knew where the dining hall was located, so I headed there. The south dining hall was a new extension on the old building, with slanted gla.s.s panels as a roof which let in huge amounts of light. Round tables with comfortable padded seats were positioned around the middle of the large s.p.a.ce. A number of leather couches were grouped together in one corner. The double doors were already propped open in expectation of the busy lunch period. Many of the tables already had students sitting at them. Most of the students who were relaxed and chatting easily with each other were older, second and third years. The few people lurking awkwardly around, trying to figure out which queue they were supposed to join, or with trays of food in their hands, wondering where to sit, were newbies like me.

There was a certain amount of comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one who felt out of place.

I joined the line for food, resolutely ignoring everyone else. I debated the salad bar, and decided after the day I'd already had that I deserved a burger and fries. I even added a chocolate milkshake to the mix. I'd probably have every other teenage girl in the room gasping in horror at my selection, but my half vampire genetics didn't allow me to put on weight. My weight had stayed exactly the same since I was fourteen. Besides, I wanted the comfort of some serious fat and carbs.

With relief, I spotted an empty table. Quickly, I crossed the dining hall and slid into one of the chairs, placing my tray on the table. I lifted my burger to my mouth, taking a huge bite, but I wasn't allowed any time to immerse myself in the comfort of processed food as someone sat down opposite me.

"You know that's not good for you?"

I lowered my burger to stare into his green eyes, and chewed and swallowed too fast. "What are you, Flynn? My subst.i.tute parent?"

He c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "Far from it, I'd hope. And I'd really hate to be your parent. Considering the cops turned up for you at school today, I think you'd drive them into an early grave."

I had to bite back a smile at the idea of my vampire father and vampire-blood taking mother meeting an early grave. "The cops only wanted to ask me a couple of questions," I told him, wiping grease off my chin.

He leaned forward. "And what did you tell them?"

"Exactly what I told you."

I refused to enlighten him about anything else. Though Flynn had so far seemed like a good guy, I didn't really know him. He might take whatever I told him and spread it around the gossip mill. I had a feeling enough people were talking about me already.

Another figure approached the table, and I glanced up to find Dana, the school's newspaper editor, standing there. She gave me a smile and slid into the seat next to Flynn.

"I hope you guys are finalizing the article I gave you to work on."

I glanced guiltily at Flynn. "Yeah, sure we are."

"Great, cause I need it by tomorrow to get it into the first print run."

I made myself smile back, though the last thing I'd thought about was the article. "Not a problem. I was just running over a couple of facts with Flynn."

Dana glanced to both sides of herself, and lowered her voice. "To be honest, Beth, I can't help wondering if I should take you off this report to work on something more interesting." She seemed to remember who she was sitting next to and glanced at Flynn. "Sorry, Flynn."

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Not a problem."

"What do you mean?" I said, though I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

She leaned across the table, conspiratorial. "I hear you got a front row seat at last night's accident at the carnival?"

I s.h.i.+fted in my seat. I didn't want to lie to her. I had hoped to make the newspaper a bit of a home away from home, and, as lame as it seemed, I wanted Dana to like me. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"So how about you write me up a piece on what happened? You can tell everyone your point of view. It's the sort of thing that will make the front page."

She hadn't even seen any of my writing yet, apart from the few pieces I'd emailed her once I'd decided on which college I wanted to go to. This was a huge opportunity, but did I really want that much attention? Plus, this was a criminal investigation now. What would the police make of me plastering my story all over the front page of the school newspaper?

I said so to Dana and she screwed up her face in consideration. "You have a point. Let me check out what the law is in regards to you reporting the story, and I'll get back to you. But if it looks like there's no problem, will you do it?"

I couldn't see any other way around the situation. "Sure."

Dana began to get to her feet. She touched Flynn's shoulder. "You coming or staying?"

He glanced to me. "I thought I might hang out with Beth for a while."

Something about the tightness of her jaw and the hard glint in her blue-gray eyes at his words made me certain she hadn't really been asking him. "Are you sure about that?"

I'd been sure they weren't a couple before, but now I wasn't so certain. There was some kind of connection there, even if it wasn't romantic.

Flynn gave me an apologetic smile and got to his feet. The pair slunk away, shoulder to shoulder, Dana's red curls close to Flynn's buzzed blond head.

I turned my attention back to my burger. The meat had grown cold, the grease starting to congeal. I picked it up to take a bite, but changed my mind and set it back down, my nose wrinkled. I took a slurp of my milkshake instead and then absently chewed on a cold fry.

Whatever might be going on between them wasn't really any of my business, I decided. Of all people, I should be one who knew the value of other people's privacy. I'd lived for years wanting people back home to not ask questions about my own home life.

Whatever was going on between Flynn and Dana had nothing to do with me.

Chapter.

9.

The afternoon cla.s.ses pa.s.sed by without event. I still felt eyes on me as I walked down the hall, and knew other students whispered behind their hands about me, but I did my best to ignore them. They would forget about me soon enough.

Wis.h.i.+ng I had a room to myself, and praying Brooke would have found somewhere else to hang out for awhile, I headed back to my dorm.

Brooke wasn't in, but someone else was.

My eyes widened in shock, and I glanced back toward the door, wondering if I'd imagined things or had walked into the wrong room. But when I looked back, there he was, all dark, tousled hair and piercing blue eyes, sitting on my bed. The shock of seeing him was like someone had punched me in the stomach, not only because of the strangeness of finding a boy in my room, but because the sheer beauty of him left me breathless.

I fought against my body's reaction in order to get my brain to function again, and force my mouth to come out with a normal reaction to finding someone who was practically a stranger sitting on my bed.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing in my room?"

The window behind him was open, the wind causing the drapes to lift as though someone was behind them. I frowned. Had the weather suddenly changed? I didn't remember it being breezy when I'd crossed campus.