“Arebothhis parents sick, or just one of them?” Tiffany asks me.
“Lorena already told us she doesn’t want to betray his trust,” says Zach, who has been helping me field our friends’ curiosity.
“Sorry,” says Tiffany, shrugging her shoulders as she sits back in her chair. “I was just wondering.”
“Pardon me.”
The deep voice makes Tiffany’s spine go rigid, and the four of us look up at Director Minaro. “Lorena, may I speak with you a moment?”
I follow her a few paces, out of earshot of the others. “As I am sure you remember, today was when you and William were slated to perform and discuss yourRomeo and Julietscene for the class.”
I nod in assent, even though I hadn’t given it any thought.
“I think we should put a temporary moratorium on Shakespeare club,” she goes on. “So you are off the hook for this presentation. Given that you are in history club, your extracurricular requirement has been met.”
“But only until he’s back, right?” I ask.
She tilts her head in an almost pitying way. “Have a good holiday.”
FALLING ASLEEPfeels impossible.
I can’t fathom going home after everything I lived through these pastthree months. I feel like a completely different person, and what worries me most is that Salma doesn’t know the new me.
How long am I willing to keep William’s secret from her? Our whole friendship?To the grave?
If I don’t tell her, this will become a wedge between us that only grows over time. There will be a huge part of my life that I will be doomed to carry alone, forever. Even if I wanted to tell her or someone else down the line, why would they believe me?
How big does the lie have to be, and how long do you have to keep telling it, before you become an irredeemable liar?
At 4:00AM, I yank off the covers. I’m heading home in a few hours and will have plenty of time to catch up on sleep then—but there’s something I have to do before I leave this place.
I make sure Tiffany and Salma don’t stir as I put on my winter coat and sneak out of the room with my phone. I sidle through the dimly lit passages, and tonight I’m less afraid of getting caught because we’re practically already on vacation—
I hear footsteps and duck into the game room.
Hiding under a table, I keep my eyes trained on the entrance I came in through, watching for anyone following me. After a stretch of silence, I keep moving.
I use my phone’s flashlight to make it up the first tower’s crumbling staircase. Yet when I approach the first section that’s in disrepair, I can’t see the cracks and craters in the stone—wooden planks have been placed over those steps, making them safer to climb.
William must have done it.
For me.
My heart speeds up along with my feet, and as I swing open the penthouse door, I remember the vampire welcoming me to Thornfield Hall.
Frigid air blows through the room, and I button the top of my coat. Using my phone for light, I spot the box of uniforms on the floor, and when I peel back the layers of cotton, I see his suit’s shiny threads buried at the bottom.
I stride up to the loose rock in the wall, and it’s a lot heavier to dislodge than the vampire made it look. I manage to drop it to the floor, where it lands with a dull thud, and I’m just glad this tower is too far for anyone to hear.
Reaching into his hiding place, the first thing I touch is smooth and icycold. The metallic box with the letter the vampire found in Minaro’s office. I can also feel a book—Hamlet—and more metal, which must be the framed portraits. Everything is here.
If William compelled Zach to forge his student file, and he didn’t pack his things to go to Hanover, then one thing is clear: He had no intention of abandoning Huntington.
Not until he met those damn vampires.
I consider taking these things with me. Both for safekeeping and for show-and-tell when I tell Salma about him. I pull out the copy ofHamlet,and a piece of paper slips free from the play’s pages.
I kneel to pick it up, and when I see what’s on it, I freeze.
