Stolen Night by Rebecca Maizel Page B

dining room in Hathersage, were long burned out.
    I bet Rhode hated modern-day pizza. Too messy.
    Justin grabbed a box of slides. When he reached up I saw the leather necklace again. I rose up on my tiptoes to try to get a better look at the silver pendant.
    ‘Andrea’s not speaking to me,’ he said with the slightest of smiles.
    ‘Sorry about that,’ I replied, and we moved back to the desk.
    Justin handed me a dropper and some iodine. With a wink he commented, ‘I’m not.’
    I attempted to nap later that afternoon, only to be awoken by sirens screaming on to campus. I threw off my covers and ran to the window, looking down at the scene below.
Security guards directed students to the sides of the pathways. Across the quad teachers were corralling students into the union and away from Hopper.
    The sound of another police siren travelled in a wave, swelling loudly as the car curved along the pathway and stopped in front of Hopper. I tried not to think about Tony’s death in that
very building. I caught sight of Vicken and Rhode standing just to the side of the building. Rhode’s blue eyes locked on mine.
    With a casual nod of his head he requested I come down. In a heartbeat, I followed his orders. As if I could ever say no.
    ‘What happened?’ I asked. There were hundreds of students on the green. People inside the union stood against the circular windows pressing their hands against the
glass.
    ‘I need to get into the art studio,’ a student said to a police officer. She held a portfolio under her arm. ‘My portrait is due tomorrow.’
    ‘Hopper Building is going to be off limits for a couple of hours,’ the officer said, moving out of the way for a security guard.
    ‘Did someone else die?’ a student asked.
    ‘Just go back to your dorm, please,’ the officer ordered.
    ‘Someone else totally died!’ the student cried. People were already taking out their cell phones.
    A third police car pulled on up. Its siren was off, but the blue lights swirled around and around. Vicken pulled on my shirtsleeve and we walked down the side of Hopper, away from the fray.
    ‘One of the gymnasium windows at the back is open,’ Vicken said with a nod. The back of the building met the bottom of the large hill that led up to the archery plateau.
    ‘Let’s go,’ Rhode said.
    ‘Casual,’ Vicken said, always thinking like the soldier he had once been. ‘Slow.’
    One by one, we walked around to the back of Hopper. Once we stood together at the gym windows, I said, ‘Odette. It’s got to be. She warned us in the herb shop. She said she’d
be back. And I sensed her this morning.’
    ‘You sensed her?’ Rhode asked.
    ‘I felt someone watching me. I can only assume it was Odette.’
    ‘Well, there’s just one way to tell for sure,’ Rhode said. ‘We need evidence. Clues.’
    ‘Clues,’ I parroted. I ran my hand along the windowsill. The pane was horizontal and at least three feet tall, but narrow. I could easily fit through, but Vicken and Rhode would have
to wait for me to open a door to let them in. I reached the handle on the inside, opened the window wider and slid into the gymnasium.
    I landed on the floor in the darkened room. I took a few steps and then looked back through the window.
    ‘Go,’ Rhode whispered.
    ‘She shouldn’t go alone,’ Vicken said.
    ‘I’ll be fine,’ I replied, and tiptoed towards the double doors. I pushed them ever so slightly, just enough to peer both ways down the hallway. Once I turned the corner of the
first floor, I would be in the administrative section of Hopper building. The headmaster’s office was there along with the admissions. I hurried quietly, finally turning the corner. Voices
echoed from the offices.
    As a vampire, it is of the utmost importance to remain confident. As the years go by, you gain more and more confidence. It was hard to find that confidence now as a mere human. I hunched over,
careful to tiptoe in my heavy boots. I crept towards the