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I saw Jessica and Nicole slip through the door as Mrs. Vaughn reached for my arm. I slipped, then let the keys fall to the floor just as I heard a loud crash behind me. When I turned around, I saw Billy faking a spill, bowling over a stack of plastic cups. Mrs. Vaughn rushed past me, and I snatched my keys up, walking backward toward the door as teachers started converging on Billy. Across the gym I saw Principal Garrison excuse himself from a conversation to march toward Billy.
I turned and ran toward the door, slipping through. Nicole hugged me when I made it to the other side.
“Your brother should be getting kicked out any second now.” I laughed. Together we ran down the hall that led to one of the front entrances of the school that was locked from the outside. We squatted down, pressing our noses close to the glass. After a few minutes, we heard raised voices outside, and eventually we saw Billy walking away from the main entrance, waving his arms back and forth as the Principal advanced on him. Eventually Principal Garrison waved his arm, and I heard a threat of the Sheriff being called. Billy yelled he was going home and started toward the drive that led down the hill, toward the trailer pack.
We ran back down the hall, making a right, taking us farther from the gym toward the entrance that led to the student parking lot. I made it there first, but when I glanced back, Jessica had caught up with me, and I noticed her shoes were in her hands. I opened the door to the student parking lot, and we saw Billy running along the pavement from one of the side streets in front of the school. He sprinted across the pavement where I saw his Camaro parked, then up the walk to us. “Such brilliant educators. I miss this place.” He laughed.
As he ran up the steps, he pointed to the parking in front of the main entrance. “Kyrie’s car is still there. I saw it,” he said as he rushed inside.
I crossed my arms as we all moved into a circle. “Okay, fuck. Then she should be in here somewhere or …” I ran my hand through my hair. “Let’s check out the school, and if we find nothing, we head to the Archer house.”
We all nodded, heading in separate directions, and I cursed my plan. I knew what we were up against, and I knew it was something I needed to face alone. My friends had long lives ahead of them, futures I wanted them to see. The word was a fantasy to them, a horror story, all make believe. Vampire. Moroi. Demon.
He’s full.
I’d begged for death countless times on the ranch. I’d give up my waking nightmares and my sleepless nights for Kyrie. But I couldn’t ask my friends to do the same.
I checked empty classrooms with my friends, giving thumbs ups each time I caught one of their eyes in the hallway as we moved further away from the gym, and closer to the end of the school, closer to the Archer house.
As I walked down the hallway toward the classroom at the edge of the school, I heard someone say my name in the dark of an open door, and the pitch black entrance of the AG room made me shiver, but I walked in behind an ivory train of fabric like a fool—a lamb heading to slaughter—as I shut the door behind me.
When I stepped in front of the window on the far wall, next to Sorina as she stared into the night, she reached for my hand. “You cannot go there.”
I laced my fingers with hers, and turned toward her, tipping her chin up. “Where?” I asked.
Her eyes were incredibly blue in the dim light of the classroom. Her touch calmed me, soothed, and set me on fire. I pulled her closer, pressing my forehead to hers. “The Archer house,” she whispered. “He’s waiting for you there. He thinks you can open the door.”
“Who is?” I asked.
“The Deacon,” she replied.
“Why’s he waiting forme?” I asked, running my hand up Sorina’s arm. It had always been about the girls. The girls on the ranch. The missing girls here. What did I have to do with any of it?
“He has Kyrie with him. He has Valerie with him.”
I dropped her hand as I walked toward the door, and in a flash, Sorina blocked my way, her eyes black. “You cannot go there,” she repeated, and her voice sounded ancient, hard.
“I have to.Wehave to. And you know that shit doesn’t work on me anymore.” On the first day of school her magic had worked. I remembered the way I’d smeared the applesauce on Kyrie’s nose, remember her laugh. I’d do anything to make my friend laugh again.
“Who is thiswe? You and your mortal friends?” she hissed. “Or us?”
I shook my head, trying to move around her. Sorina spread her arms wide, covering the door. It would have been comical, her five foot nothing and scarcely a hundred pounds attempting to block my way. But I knew what she was, that she could stop me if she wanted to.
“I have to,” I said. “But no, not with my friends. I don’t want them with me.”
“What if you die?” she asked as she stepped forward, reaching for me.
I backed away, out of her grasp. “I’ve wanted to die my whole fucking life,” I admitted.
The black of Sorina’s eyes vanished in a blink, and I saw blue, the red of a tear forming. “You would go into a trap, knowing you’ll lose? That you are the prey?”
“Aren’ttheythe prey? Quit playing games, and tell me whatIhave to do with this,” I demanded.
Sorina shook her head. “They’re bait.”
“Why does he want me, Sorina? Why?” My voice was deep, and the room shuttered and shook.
Sorina looked around, a look of fear and bewilderment on her face. When she looked at me she looked both frightened and awestruck. “I’ll tell you the prophecy if you sit down with me,” she said, moving from the door.
