The Dead Girl's Dance

Claire felt filthynot just from getting groped, which continued to happen, but because she was sopping with other peoples sweat by the time Eve squirmed them through to a small clear space on the other side of the room, next to the stairs. It must have been the Wall-flower Corner; there were some shy-looking girls, all dressed in mock-Goth finery, grouped together for comfort and (Claire suspected) protection. She felt an instant sympathy for them. Great party! Eve screamed over the pounding beat of the music. Wish I could enjoy it!

Any sign of Sam?

No! Not in here! Lets try the other rooms!

After the chaos of the main dance room, the kitchen felt like a study hall, even though it was still filled with people talking too loud and gesturing too much. More punch-filled coolers in here, which was driving Claire crazy; she was thirsty, but no way was she adding being drunk to her problems just now. Too much was at stake.

Her ears were still ringing. At least, in here, there was room to breathe. Claire reflexively searched for her cell phone, remembered it getting crunched under the wheels of the white van,and cursed under her breath. What time is it? she asked Eve, who consulted her own black Razr (decorated, of course, with skulls).

Ten, she said. I know. We have to hurry.

Somebody grabbed Claire by the arm, and she recoiled in fright, but then she recognized him under the makeupIan, the guy whod told her about the party. The one whose name theyd used to get inside. Claire? he asked. Wow. You look great!

He looked less geeky now, more edgy, with spiked black hair and vampire-style makeup. Claire wondered uneasily how many actual vampires were infiltrating this party tonight. Not a pleasant thought. Ohhi, Ian! Eve was scanning the room, and as Claire glanced at her, Eve shook her head and mimed going to the next room. Claire begged her not to go, at least with her eyes, but the thick makeup probably disguised her desperation.

Im so glad you came! Ian said. He hardly had to raise his voice at all to be heard over the roar; he just had that kind of voice, and plus, it was a blessedly dull roar in here. Can I get you some punch?

Umdo you have anything thats not, you know?

Right, yeah. How about some water?

Water would be wonderful. Where the hell was Eve? Shed ducked behind two tall guys and now Claire couldnt see her, and she felt alone and very vulnerable just standing here in her fake Goth getup, and God, this makeup itched; how did Eve stand it? Claire wanted a shower, wanted to scrub her face clean, and wanted to put on plain jeans and a plain T-shirt and never be adventurous again.

Shane. Think about Shane. She felt an uncomfortable twist of guilt that shed ever let him slip out of her thoughts, even for a minute.

Ian came back with a bottle of water, the top already off. Here you go, he said, and handed it over. He was drinking water, too, not the punch stuff. Crazy, huh?

Crazy, she agreed. In a town full of vampires, this was just about the craziest idea she could imagine, putting a bunch of drunk, horny college kids in a place where vampires could blend right in. Did you see where my friend went?

Girls, Ian sighed. Always travel in packs. Yeah, she went into the library. Come on.

Claire gulped water as she followed him, stepping carefully over the legs of several people whod decided the kitchen floor looked like a good place to sit down for a chat. And oh God, what was that couple in the corner doing? She blushed under the makeup and looked quickly away, focusing on the back of Ians neck. Hed missed a spot on the makeup. It looked pink.

The next room had people, too, but not quite as many as the kitchen and it was practically deserted compared to the dance room. Library was a generous word. It had books, but not as many as Claire would have thought, and most of them were old textbooks. Some were being defaced by people wielding black markers and pens, giggling with one another over the results.

No sign of Eve.

Huh, Ian said. Hang on. He went to ask a question of another guy, taller, dressed in a silky-looking black shirt open halfway down to reveal a strong, muscular chest. It took a while. Claire swigged more water, grateful for the moisture because even the library was steaming hot, and almost wiped at her face before she remembered the careful makeup job.

There was no sign of Sam in this room, either. While Ian was talking, Claire went over to one of the girls defacing books. She looked vaguely familiarmaybe somebody from chemistry? Anna something?

HiAnna? It must have been right; the girl looked up. Have you seen Sam? Red hairmaybe wearing a brown leather jacket? Although he had to have taken it off, in this heat. Blue eyes?

Oh, sure. Sam. Hes upstairs somewhere. Anna went back to her book sabotage, which seemed to involve drawing devils and pitchforks. Upstairs. Claire needed to get upstairs, but most importantly, she needed to find Eve. Fast.

Ian came back. She went upstairs, he said. Shes looking for a guy named Sam, right?

Yeah, Claire said. Would you mind if?

No, sure, Ill go with you. He looked at the drained bottle in Claires hand. Want some more?

She nodded. He grabbed a bottle from an ice-filled cooler and handed it over. She cracked the seal and took another life-giving mouthful as Ian led the way to the stairs.

The heat was making her feel slow and disconnected. She wanted to pour the cold water over her face, but realized just in timeagainabout the makeup. Stupid makeup.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, and it was like dancing around land mines; people were sitting on just about every step, some talking, some mumbling to themselves, some passing joints back and forth. Oh man. She really needed to get out of here, fast.

The upstairs landing seemed like a paradise of open space, and Claire clung to the handrail and breathed for a few seconds. Ian came back to get her. You okay? he asked. She nodded. I dont know which room hes in. Well just have to look.

She followed him. He swung open the first door on the hall, and behind him she saw about ten people talking very intensely. They all looked at Ian with a definite Get out vibe, and as he shut the door, Claire realized that all ten of them were vampires.

Not Sam, though, but given what Sam had told her, and what shed heard from Michael and Eve, that made sense. Hed be hanging around the humans, right? The vampires didnt want any part of him.

Wrong room, Ian said unnecessarily, and moved to the next one. She couldnt see over his shoulder, but he closed it in a hurry. Really wrong room. Sorry.

There were about ten doors on the hallway, but they didnt get that far. Claire was feeling kind of light-headedin fact, she was dizzy. Maybe it was the heat. She took another gulp from the bottle, but that just seemed to make her feel nauseous. As Ian opened the fourth door, she said, I dont feel so good.

Ian smiled and said, Well, that was fast, and shoved her into the room. I thought I was going to have to work a little harder,but youre pretty easy.

There were three other guys in the room. She didnt know any of them. No, wait, one looked familiar.

The jerk from the UC coffee bar, the one whod been so mean to Eve. He was one of them. She turned toward Ian, confused, but he was locking the door.

Her knees felt wobbly, and so did her head. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrongbut she hadnt had anything to drink. Shed been careful.

Not careful enough. The first water bottle hed brought her, hed opened it first.

Stupid, Claire. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But hed seemed sonice.

You dont want to do this, she said, and backed up as one of the guys reached for her. There wasnt a lot of space. It was somebodys bedroom, most of it taken up by a bed, a dresser with the drawers hanging half-open. Dirty laundry piled in a corner. Oh God. It hit her hard that Eve had no idea where she was, she had no cell phone, and even if she screamed, no one would hear her over the music. Or care.

She remembered what Eve had done that terrible evening after the biker shoved his way in. You need a weapon. Yeah, but Eve was older and bigger, and wasnt drugged at the time.

She nearly tripped over a baseball bat sticking out from under the bed. She grabbed it and took up a bleary, weaving batting stance. Dont touch me! she said, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Eve! Eve! I need help!

She took a wild swing at Ian, who was strolling forward, and he ducked it easily. She reversed and slammed the butt end of the bat toward him, and that one, he didnt duck. It hit him squarely in the mouth, and he staggered back, bleeding.

You bitch! he said, and spit blood. Oh, you are gonna pay for that.

Hold up, said the coffee bar jerk, who was leaning against the door with his arms folded. You put the full dose in her bottle, right? And she drank it?

Ian nodded. He fished around in the laundry pile and found a sock to press against his mouth and nose. Good. She hoped it was filthy. And had athletes foot on it.

Then all we have to do is wait a couple of minutes, the jerk said. Shes not going anywhere except to la-la land. He high-fived his buddies. Ian continued to glare at her. They were all between her and the door. There was a window, but it was the second floor and she wasnt even steady enough to stand, much less free-climb. Claire gripped the bat in sweaty, numbed hands, and saw sparkles at the edges of her vision. Everything looked bleary. She felt waves of heat sweep over her, and then an icy chill. Michael? Was Michael here? No, Michael couldnt leave the house.

Somehow, she was sliding down to a sitting position on the floor. The bat was still clutched in her hands, but she was tired, very tired, and she felt so sick and hot.

Somebody rattled the doorknob. Claire summoned up whatever was left of her strength and screamed, Help! Get help! Eve!

Ian said, and grinned at Claire with bloody teeth, Just somebody looking for a place to screw. Dont worry, baby. We wont hurt you. Not that youll remember, anyway.

She pretended to be worse off than she really was (although truthfully, she was pretty bad) and, mumbling, let her eyes drift half-closed.

Thats it, the coffee bar jerk said. Shes out. Get her on the bed.

Shed never really done this before, but she was imagining hard how Eve would have handled it. She let the bat kind of wobble and fall to rest in her lap, aligned with her leg, as if it had gotten too heavy to hold up. (Not quite. Just nearly. )

And when Ian walked up to grab her, she brought the bat straight up with as much force as she could manage. It smacked him right where it would hurt the most, and Ian crumpled with a high-pitched, breathless scream, huddled in on himself.

Claire forced her legs to hold her, and slid back up to a standing position. She was leaning for support, and lucky to be in a corner, where the two angled walls let her look like she wasnt about to topple over. Her arms were shaking, and the guys would have seen that if shed tried to raise the bat, so she tapped it casually against her leg. Who wants some? she asked. I wont hurt you. Much.

It was all show, and they only had to wait. Coffee Bar Jerk knew that, all too well, and she could feel the drugwhat the hell was it?stealing away her concentration, her strength, making her slow and stupid and all-too-easy prey.

Shane, she thought, and forced herself to stand upright just a little longer. Shane needs me. Im not letting this happen.

Youre bluffing, Coffee Bar Jerk said, and came around the bed. Claire took a swing at him, missed, and smacked the bat into the wood so hard it rattled her teeth.

He grabbed the bat on the backswing and easily twisted it out of her grip. He tossed it to one of the other two guys, who caught it one-handed. That, he said, was really stupid. This could have been real nice and easy, you know that, right?

I have Amelies Protection, Claire said.

He grabbed her by the throat of her sheer black skull-printed shirt, and dragged her forward. Her legs folded when she tried to pull away.

I dont care, he said. Im not from this stupid town. None of us are. Monica said that was the way to go, to get around the dumbass rules, whatever they are. Whoever Amelie is, she can kiss my ass. After youre done doing it.

The door to the hall gave a dry, metallic pop, and swung slowly open. Claire blinked and tried to focus her eyes, because there was someone standing there. No, two someones. One had red hair. Wasnt there something about red hair? Oh yeah. Sam had red hair. Sam the vampire. Sam I Am. Michaels grandpa, wasnt that just too weird?

The door no longer had a knob on the outside. The one on the inside fell out with a dull thud to the carpet and rolled under the bed.

Claire! Oh, that was Eve. Oh my God

Excuse me, Sam said, but what did you say about Amelie?