forest and the red hair. I grabbed on to her arm. “You haven’t seen a guy hanging around here lately, have you? A guy that creeps you out?”
She looked down and tried to shake me off. “Boundaries, much?”
I tightened my grip. “I’m serious, Cyn. If you see someone who tries to talk to you and is acting skeevy, stay away from him.”
“Why?”
I
had
to tell her about it. No matter how crazy it made me sound. “I had this dream, and it might have been about you. Or maybe it was about Kristen. She had red hair too. But it was
dark
red hair, like yours, and a boy was chasing her … or me. He was chasing me. Or … I don’t remember.”
She pulled her arm away and gave me a strange look.
“Just … be careful, okay?” I said.
Because Vincent liked redheads. And Vincent obviously wanted to play.
As soon as I got home from school that afternoon, I told Caspian about the perfume bottle left in my locker.
“Any idea who put it there?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. But the look on my face must have spoken for me.
“So you think it was him?”
“I think that I saw him there too. After lunch. He was in the hall and he grabbed my hand.”
Caspian jumped up. “Do you still have the perfume? Where is it?”
“I threw it away.”
He started pacing. “I can’t believe this. He’s stalking you! How am I supposed to protect you? We need some backup. I need to let Kame and Uri know about this.”
“What are they going to do? Follow me around?” I groaned. “I don’t want that.”
Caspian stopped pacing and looked me in the eye. “From now on, I’m going everywhere with you. When your mom drops you off at school and picks you up, I’ll be there. Hell, I might even start going to class with you.”
I put my hand out, next to his. “You don’t want to do that. You’ve already gone to high school once. Who wants to repeat
that
experience?”
“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” he replied.
“So come pick me up. Every day, if you want. Like glue?”
“Like glue.”
Chapter Nine
N OW OR N EVER
… he summoned up, however, all his resolution …
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
O n Wednesday I found a pile of broken glass surrounding my locker. I wasn’t sure if it was something left behind by Vincent or just the remains of someone who’d been careless with a Snapple bottle, so I told the janitor about it, and when I came back after my next class, it was gone.
Everything changed on Friday, though. On Friday … it got weird.
I was trying to open up my civics book to page 352 in class, when it fell across my desk with a heavy thump and opened to a page on its own. It opened because there was something stuck inside it.
I leaned in to get a better look.
There was a pile of small crescent-shaped crusty-looking things sitting there. Almost like dried-out pieces of hard candle wax. All of them were yellowed, except for one. It was bright red.
Picking up one of the yellow pieces, I examined it.
Is this earwax?
That thought grossed me out, and immediately I put the yellow thing down. Using my pencil, I poked at the red one. It was shiny, and had a slightly rounded tip.
That
can’t
be earwax. It almost looks like a …
Fingernail.
It looked like a fingernail.
And then I saw the words scrawled across the pages:
they keep growing even after you’re dead
I slammed the book shut and stood up so hastily that my chair hit the ground behind me, and everyone turned to look. I couldn’t tell if they were looking because of the noise the chair had made, or because of the noise
I
had made. Something between a gasp and a scream.
Ms. Huffner stopped writing on the chalkboard. “Is everything all right, Miss Browning?”
“No … I … It’s …” I just stood there, looking down atthe pile of
fingernails
someone had put in my book. “I need to …”
It wouldn’t come out. My words were stuck inside me and the room was spinning, and why was Vincent
doing
this to me?
“Do
She looked down and tried to shake me off. “Boundaries, much?”
I tightened my grip. “I’m serious, Cyn. If you see someone who tries to talk to you and is acting skeevy, stay away from him.”
“Why?”
I
had
to tell her about it. No matter how crazy it made me sound. “I had this dream, and it might have been about you. Or maybe it was about Kristen. She had red hair too. But it was
dark
red hair, like yours, and a boy was chasing her … or me. He was chasing me. Or … I don’t remember.”
She pulled her arm away and gave me a strange look.
“Just … be careful, okay?” I said.
Because Vincent liked redheads. And Vincent obviously wanted to play.
As soon as I got home from school that afternoon, I told Caspian about the perfume bottle left in my locker.
“Any idea who put it there?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. But the look on my face must have spoken for me.
“So you think it was him?”
“I think that I saw him there too. After lunch. He was in the hall and he grabbed my hand.”
Caspian jumped up. “Do you still have the perfume? Where is it?”
“I threw it away.”
He started pacing. “I can’t believe this. He’s stalking you! How am I supposed to protect you? We need some backup. I need to let Kame and Uri know about this.”
“What are they going to do? Follow me around?” I groaned. “I don’t want that.”
Caspian stopped pacing and looked me in the eye. “From now on, I’m going everywhere with you. When your mom drops you off at school and picks you up, I’ll be there. Hell, I might even start going to class with you.”
I put my hand out, next to his. “You don’t want to do that. You’ve already gone to high school once. Who wants to repeat
that
experience?”
“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” he replied.
“So come pick me up. Every day, if you want. Like glue?”
“Like glue.”
Chapter Nine
N OW OR N EVER
… he summoned up, however, all his resolution …
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
O n Wednesday I found a pile of broken glass surrounding my locker. I wasn’t sure if it was something left behind by Vincent or just the remains of someone who’d been careless with a Snapple bottle, so I told the janitor about it, and when I came back after my next class, it was gone.
Everything changed on Friday, though. On Friday … it got weird.
I was trying to open up my civics book to page 352 in class, when it fell across my desk with a heavy thump and opened to a page on its own. It opened because there was something stuck inside it.
I leaned in to get a better look.
There was a pile of small crescent-shaped crusty-looking things sitting there. Almost like dried-out pieces of hard candle wax. All of them were yellowed, except for one. It was bright red.
Picking up one of the yellow pieces, I examined it.
Is this earwax?
That thought grossed me out, and immediately I put the yellow thing down. Using my pencil, I poked at the red one. It was shiny, and had a slightly rounded tip.
That
can’t
be earwax. It almost looks like a …
Fingernail.
It looked like a fingernail.
And then I saw the words scrawled across the pages:
they keep growing even after you’re dead
I slammed the book shut and stood up so hastily that my chair hit the ground behind me, and everyone turned to look. I couldn’t tell if they were looking because of the noise the chair had made, or because of the noise
I
had made. Something between a gasp and a scream.
Ms. Huffner stopped writing on the chalkboard. “Is everything all right, Miss Browning?”
“No … I … It’s …” I just stood there, looking down atthe pile of
fingernails
someone had put in my book. “I need to …”
It wouldn’t come out. My words were stuck inside me and the room was spinning, and why was Vincent
doing
this to me?
“Do
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