The security officer stepped sideways to block her view.
“Nothing serious, just a girl who ran into a bit of trouble walking out here alone.” He smiled reassuringly.
“What kind of trouble?” Meredith asked, trying to see for herself.
He shifted, blocking her line of sight again. “Nothing to worry about. Everyone’s going to be okay this time.”
“This time?” Bonnie asked, frowning.
He cleared his throat. “You girls just stick together at night, okay? Make sure to walk in pairs or groups when you’re out around campus, and you’l be fine. Basic safety stuff, right?”
“But what happened to the girl? Where is she?” Meredith asked.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said, more firmly this time.
His eyes were on the black velvet case in Meredith’s hand.
“What have you got in there?”
“Pool cue,” she lied. “We’re going to play pool in the student center.”
“Have a good time,” he said, in a tone of voice that was clearly a dismissal.
“We wil ,” Elena said sweetly, her hand on Meredith’s arm. Meredith opened her mouth to ask another question, but Elena was pul ing her away from the officer and toward the student center.
“Hey,” Meredith objected quietly, when they were out of earshot. “I wasn’t done asking questions.”
“He wasn’t going to tel us anything,” Elena said. Her mouth was a grim straight line. “I bet a lot more happened than someone getting into a little trouble. Did you see the ambulances?”
“We’re not real y going to the student center, are we?” Bonnie asked plaintively. “I’m too tired.” Meredith shook her head. “We’d better loop back behind the buildings to our dorm, though. It’l look suspicious if we head right back where we came from.”
“That was creepy, right?” Bonnie said. “Do you think”—
she paused, and Meredith could see her swal ow—“do you think something real y bad happened?”
“I don’t know,” Meredith said. “He said a girl ran into a little bit of trouble. That could mean anything.”
“Do you think someone attacked her?” Elena asked.
Meredith shot her a significant look. “Maybe,” she said.
“Or maybe something did.”
“I hope not,” Bonnie said, shivering. “I’ve had enough somethings to last me forever.” They’d crossed behind the science building, down a darker, lonelier path, and circled back toward their dorm, its brightly lit entryway like a beacon before them. Al three sped up, heading for the light.
“I’ve got my key,” Bonnie said, feeling in her jeans pocket. She opened the door, and she and Elena hurried into the dorm.
Meredith paused and glanced back toward the busy quad, then, past it, at the dark sky above campus.
Whatever “trouble” had happened, and whether the cause was human or something else, she knew she needed to be in top condition, ready to fight.
She could almost hear her father’s voice saying, “Fun time is over, Meredith.” It was time to focus on her training again, time to work toward her destiny as a protector, as a Sulez, to keep innocent people safe from the darkness.
5
The sun was way too bright. Bonnie shielded her eyes with one hand and glanced anxiously around as she walked across the quad toward the bookstore. It had taken her a long time to fal asleep after getting back to their room the night before. What if some crazy person was stalking the campus?
It’s broad daylight, she told herself. There are people everywhere. I have nothing to be afraid of. But bad things could happen during the day, too. Girls got lured into cars by horrible men, or hit over the head and taken to dark places. Monsters didn’t just lurk in the night. After al , she knew several vampires who strol ed around during the day al the time. Damon and Stefan didn’t scare her, not anymore, but there were other daytime monsters. I just want to feel safe for once, she thought wistful y.
She was coming up on the area the police had been searching the night before, stil blocked off with yel ow tape.
Students were standing nearby in groups of two or three, talking in low voices. Bonnie spied a reddish-brown stain across the path that she thought might be blood, and she walked faster as she passed it.
There was a rustling in the bushes. Bonnie sped up even more, picturing a wild-eyed attacker hiding in the undergrowth, and glanced around nervously. No one was looking in her direction. Would they help her if she screamed?
She risked another look back at the bush—should she just take off running?—and stopped, embarrassed by the furious thumping of her heart. A cute little squirrel hopped hesitantly from under the branches. It sniffed the air, then dashed across the path and up a tree behind the police tape.
“Honestly, Bonnie McCul ough, you’re a moron,” Bonnie muttered to herself. A guy passing her in the other direction overheard her and snickered, making Bonnie blush furiously.
By the time she got to the bookstore, she’d gotten her blushing under control. Having the typical redhead’s complexion was a pain—everything she felt was broadcast by the flush or paleness of her skin. With any luck, though, she’d be able to handle a simple trip to buy books without humiliating herself.
Bonnie had started getting acquainted with the bookstore when she’d had her shopping spree yesterday, but she hadn’t real y investigated the book side of the store.
Today, though, she had the book list for the classes she’d registered for, and she needed to stock up for some serious studying. She’d never been a huge fan of school, but maybe col ege would be different. With a resolute squaring of her shoulders, she turned determinedly away from the shiny stuff and toward the textbooks.
The book lists were awful y long, though. She found the fat Intro to Psychology textbook with a sense of satisfaction: this would definitely give her the terminology to diagnose her friends. The freshman English seminar she was assigned to covered a slew of novels, so she wandered through the fiction section, pul ing The Red and the Black, Oliver Twist, and The Age of Innocence off the shelves as she passed.
She rounded a corner in search of the rest of the Ws, intent on adding To the Lighthouse to her growing stack of books, and froze.
Zander. Beautiful, beautiful Zander was draped graceful y next to a bookshelf, his white-blond head bent over a book. He hadn’t seen her yet, so Bonnie immediately ducked back into the previous aisle.
She leaned against the wal , breathing hard. She could feel her cheeks heating up again, that awful tel tale blush.
Careful y, she peeked back around the corner. He hadn’t noticed her; he was stil reading intently. He was wearing a gray T-shirt today, and his soft-looking hair curled a bit at the nape of his neck. His face looked sort of sad with those gorgeous blue eyes hidden beneath his long lashes and no sign of that fabulous smile. There were dark shadows under his eyes.
Bonnie’s first instinct was to sneak away. She could wait and find the Virginia Woolf book tomorrow; it wasn’t like she was going to read it today. She real y didn’t want Zander to think she was stalking him. It would be better if he saw her somewhere, when she wasn’t paying attention. If he approached her, she’d know he was interested.
After al , maybe he wasn’t interested in Bonnie. He’d been kind of flirtatious when he’d run into her, but he’d nearly knocked her down. What if he was just being friendly? What if he didn’t even remember Bonnie?
Nope, better to take off this time and wait til she was better prepared. She wasn’t even wearing eyeliner, for heaven’s sake. Making up her mind, Bonnie turned firmly away.
But, on the other hand…
Bonnie hesitated. There’d been a connection between them, hadn’t there? She’d felt something when her eyes met his. And he’d smiled at her like he was real y seeing her, past the fluff and fluster.
And what about the resolution she’d made the day before, walking to her dorm from this very same bookstore? If she was going to become a terrific, confident, stepping-out-of-the-shadows kind of person, she couldn’t run away every time she saw a boy she liked.