Nightmare by Robin Parrish

really loved her fiance if
she was willing to risk his future by going on these trips with
someone like me. Or maybe her reasons for doing it were just so
important they blinded her to all other concerns.
    Another thought occurred to me, and I had to suppress a
tiny laugh.
    "What?" she asked, not offended and ready to join in on the
joke.
    "It's just an odd picture...." I tried to explain. "A minister...
married to one of the richest women in the world. Who happens
to be defying his wishes and his beliefs by investigating things he
probably thinks are dangerous and better left alone."
    Jordin nodded knowingly. "People never quite seem to `get'
me and Derek. I know we're an unlikely pairing."

    "Hey," I said, "I'm the product of an unlikely pairing. I'm not
gonna judge. So, what, were you childhood sweethearts?"
    I was half joking, but she replied, "We were, actually. Best
friends since kindergarten, in love since high school."
    "So," I said, trying to get a better picture of the two of them
in my head, "do you ... share his beliefs? His worldview?"
    Jordin almost seemed surprised that I'd asked. "Oh, of course,
totally! That's one of the reasons we met and fell in love-we went
to the same private Christian school growing up."
    "Huh," I said, without humor. "You don't strike me as a
typical Christian."
    "What's a typical Christian?"
    I paused. "In my experience, they tend to be very closedminded. But you're not."
    She sort of shrugged. "I suppose that's true. About some
things."
    Okay. Kind of makes sense, I decided. More than it did before, anyway. Jordin and Derek's union would certainly present its share
of challenges when her money was someday combined with his
ministry. I couldn't imagine a scenario where that would end
well.
    But it really was no stranger than my own parents-a devout
Catholic married to a strict agnostic. There were always those
who beat the odds.
    "But he doesn't believe in ghosts, right?" I asked. "I mean,
you said you had a big argument. It had to be about that."
    "He doesn't think it's all in my head or anything," she said,
quick to defend her beloved. "He's never condescending. He's not
that kind of guy. He thinks the stuff we're investigating is real. But he doesn't believe in ghosts. He thinks it's ... something
dangerous."

    I knew exactly what that meant.
    "So if Derek doesn't want you to be doing this, and you love
him as much as you say you do, why are you defying him?"
    I was pretty pleased with myself for finding a way to ask the
same question I'd been asking of Jordin since this whole thing
began. But she was too clever to let me get away with it.
    "I told you ... it's none of your business, Maia. No offense,"
she added quickly.
    I sighed. "Well, you're going to have to tell me sooner or later,
'cause as long as we keep taking these trips, I'm never going to
stop asking."
    "Fair enough,"Jordin replied. "When I'm ready to talk about
it, I'll tell you."

    Derek found me at St. Luke's Hospital the morning after the
attack, around eight-thirty. I was poring over a book on criminal
psychology that one of my dorm mates-who also offered to let
me crash on her bottom bunk-had been kind enough to let me
borrow. Even in my condition, I was trying to work ahead for
my first class of the semester, which was scheduled to begin that
afternoon. And I was determined to be there.
    Word had spread overnight about the girl in Hogan who
was hurt in the night, but in the absence of facts, fiction was
distributed without qualm. The most prevalent story was that
some kind of bomb had gone off in my room, utterly destroying it but miraculously leaving all the other rooms on my floor
untouched.

    I was covered in scratches and bruises over nearly every square
inch of my skin, but thankfully nothing was broken. I'd had
more stitches than I could count, in numerous places, but all
things considered, I was very fortunate. And at least my face
had been spared aside from a