Then the pieces of ice fell to the floor, scattering around me like confetti. It hardly made a sound: The shards were so thin that they melted almost instantly. As the frost lines vanished from the walls and windows, and the room swiftly warmed to its normal temperature, droplets of water began to fall on me from the thawing ice above.
I sat in the middle of it all, so stunned I couldn’t move. I’d been too scared even to scream. The only thought my dazed mind could form was, What the hell was that?
As soon as I could move again, I scrambled out of the records room, hurried downstairs, and dashed out of the north tower almost without caring if I were caught. I didn’t stop running until I got back to my room and dived beneath my covers. There I lay with damp hair and pounding heart, all thought of sleep forgotten, clutching my quilt to my chest as I tried to understand what had just happened.
Could I have been hallucinating? I’d never hallucinated before, so I couldn’t be sure what it felt like. But given that I wasn’t running a fever or on drugs, I doubted the explanation was that simple.
Had I somehow fallen asleep and started dreaming? No way. As vivid as my dreams had become lately, I’d never dreamed anything like what had happened upstairs. My chilly feet still felt damp from the ice that had melted all around me.
Another explanation came to mind, but I didn’t want to accept it. That can’t be right. Those are just old stories my parents told me. Even when I was a little kid, I didn’t think the stories could possibly be real.
I didn’t sleep that night. Outside the window of our dorm room, the sky paled slowly into a gray, cloudy dawn. Not long after daybreak, Raquel stirred, groaned, and kicked irritably at the covers.
“Raquel?” I whispered.
She blinked at me. Her short black hair stuck out in all directions, and her oversized white T-shirt hung off one shoulder. “You’re up early.”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” I screwed up my courage. “Hey, if I ask you something that sounds a little bit—well, a little bit crazy—you’ll hear me out, right?”
“Of course.” She swung her feet out of bed, as if readying herself for action. “You listened to me last year when I was convinced something was creeping around on the roof, remember?”
Something had been creeping around on the roof—a vampire intent on hurting her—but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to mention that now, or ever. Carefully I began, “Do you believe in—well, in—”
“God? Nope.” Raquel’s smile told me she was joking around to make this easier for me. “Santa Claus? No again.”
“I figured that one out already.” I swallowed hard. “I was going to ask if you believe in ghosts.”
I was prepared for Raquel to laugh at me. Who could blame her? I was prepared for her to pepper me with questions about why I was saying such a thing. I thought I was prepared for whatever her reaction might be. But I was wrong.
“Shut up.” She scooted backward on the bed, putting distance between us. “Just shut up. Right now.”
“Raquel—I just asked—”
“I said shut up!” Her eyes were wide, and her breath was coming fast. “I don’t want to hear you say anything about that ever again. Not ever. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, hoping it would reassure her. Instead, she only looked more panicked. Raquel pushed herself out of bed, grabbed her shower bucket, and stalked toward the door, even though it was still hours before our first class. She slammed it shut behind her. From down the hall, I heard Courtney sleepily call, “What is the damage down there?”
I wished I knew. All I understood was that I’d just witnessed something inexplicable—and the mere mention of it terrified Raquel even more than the reality had scared me.
The adrenaline rush that started in the records room ran out in the middle of my morning psychology class; one minute I was taking notes on Adler’s theories and the next I felt like I was about to dive face-first onto my desk. Exhausted, I propped my head on one hand and did my best to keep writing. By the time class was over, I could tell that the rest of the day would feel like eternity. Normally I would have tried to run up to my room for a quick nap, but Raquel might be there, and things between us were definitely weird right now.
As I trudged down the hallway, jostled by sweater-clad students on every side, I glimpsed a friendly face. “Hi, Balthazar.” I meant simply to wave at him as I went.
He smiled at me more warmly than he ever had before. “Hey, you,” he murmured as he changed direction and slung his arm possessively around my shoulders. Only then did I remember that Balthazar and I were pretending to be dating. His lips against my ear, he whispered, “At least try to look happy.”
“Actually, I’m glad to see you. Is there some place we can talk?”
“Sure. Come on.”
Balthazar led me through the hallway and down the stairs to the ground level of the school. Several people saw us along the way, and I noticed a few raised eyebrows and some whispering. Even though our relationship was only a sham, I couldn’t help feeling sort of proud that I was being seen with such a gorgeous guy—or being amused when I imagined Courtney’s reaction.
But as we walked through the great hall toward the main door, we were seen by someone else.
Vic’s ever-present smile faded as he saw me walk by with Balthazar’s arm around me, and my heart sank. Vic and Lucas were still good friends, and Vic had already taken risks to smuggle Lucas’s letters to me. Looking at me now, he had to think that I was cheating on Lucas—and it wasn’t as though I could tell him anything different.