We head back to my dorm room and open our books. Hallie’s more focused than me, but we both make good headway on our reading for next class.
As the night goes on, I notice her getting a bit…antsy? Restless? I realize with a start that she hasn’t been hunting latelyand I wonder if I should be worried. It’s weird to think that she’s anactualvampire, who sleeps in a coffin during the day and is capable of drinking human blood. She’s so…normal? Easygoing? It’s hard to imagine her biting someone.
The door opens and Rae comes in. She sees me looking at Hallie and her lip twitches.
“Hi Rae!” I say, too brightly.
“Hi,” she mutters.
I look. She’s not wearing any shoes. I wonder if she ever does? There’s so much I don’t know about shifters.
“Ooh!” Hallie claps her hands together, making me jump. She turns to Rae. “Are you hungry?”
“Uh…”
“I need to hunt soon. Want to go together?”
Rae stares at her as though she’s grown another head.
“C’mon,” Hallie says, getting to her feet. “We’ve both got to hunt. I’ve seen your pack at night, it’s pretty similar.”
Rae doesn’t say anything. I look back and forth at both of them. I know enough about the magical world at this point to realize that this is a strange offer, but I feel an excited twitch in my stomach.
“I’ve noticed,” Hallie says, her voice a little lower. “That you’ve been avoiding your pack a bit lately. It’s probably safer to hunt with someone else, especially…”
“Ok,” says Rae. Hallie breaks out in a huge grin.
“Great! Let’s go now!” she tosses her book and glasses into her bag and heads toward the door. “Maggie, see you in a few hours!”
Wordlessly, Rae slips out of her clothes and follows her.
After Hallie and Rae leave, I take a break from studying. As my candle burns down, I find myself drifting off.
In my dreams, I’m haunted by red, demonic eyes and chattering voices.
“Maggie!”
“P-Pan?” I lift my head off my arm. There’s a little patch of drool on my sleeve. The candle is almost down to the wick. “What time is it?”
He’s sitting on the windowsill. His fur is mussed and specked with…blood?
“Pan, what happened?” I rush toward him, scooping him up in my arms. He looks unharmed, although he’s panting very quickly.
“The vampire and the shifter!” he puffs, his tiny claws digging through my cardigan. “They were hunting together, on the outskirts of the woods, and the panthers ambushed them!”
My stomach twists. “Are they ok?”
“The shifter took the bulk of it. The vampire wasn’t as badly hurt, she healed up quickly.” Pan looks at me intensely with his beady eyes. “The vampire’s bringing the shifter back here, I came first to tell you!”
“We have to get my mom! She’ll know what to do.”
“No…” growls a low voice.
I turn to see Hallie standing in the doorway. In her arms she’s holding Rae’s sinewy form, her limbs and head dangling precariously. My heart flutters.
“Youcarriedher?”
“Maggie, I’m a vampire!” Hallie says. “I’m young, but I’m still strong.”
