Last Bitten(6)

“I’m sure you can figure something out with the RA. We already notified him of the situation.”

“Andy knows about this?”

“Yes, he’s aware, and he’ll help you move. But you can’t take anything with you right now. This could be a crime scene, if she dies.”

“Can I see her?”

“It’s family only, at this point. Remember, don’t leave town,” repeated Blithe.

Nia closed her eyes. The detectives left without another word. If only she could run off. She could go home, but no. There were sour feelings there from her mother—too much money, too much money—her mother had complained about the first-quarter tuition and board. The bill had come in higher than expected. Nia was forced into a job to contribute or they’d pay nothing. Nia’s father had disagreed with the whole thing, had a soft spot for his only girl.

“The knife!” Nia checked the previous night’s pile that she’d kicked under the bed. There was no knife. Her cobalt eyes just about bugged out of her head, and the nausea washed over her again. “I left it in that cubicle. I’m done for. But they never mentioned Johnny.” None of it was making sense to her.





“Why is this happening to me?” Nia said, stuffing some things into her suitcase. She didn’t care about their orders. She unplugged the coffee maker and shoved it on top of the heap then zipped it all closed. This is my stuff.

“Why, hello there,” said Andy, hanging in the doorway like the oddity he was. He was in control this time, and it read all over his face like a football player that had just scored that hard-fought touchdown.

“Where do I go then?”

“Well . . .” He grinned as if the horny genius was finally going to get what was coming to him—a fine piece of ass. “I know, as the RA, that there are rules to be followed, but considering these dark and horrific circumstances and the thrift of your eviction, there is only one bed open in McCann—a spare cot in my RA suite. I know. I know. Really, you don’t have to thank me or anything. I did have to pull some major strings to get this set up.”

She could feel the lie—he hadn’t done a thing. There were probably other places she could go, but Nia didn’t really have any other options at this point, and lastly, she didn’t have the power, so she nodded and watched the geek practically get erect from the excitement of having the female of his dreams stay in his room. She grimaced inside. It was awful, to say the least.

“Let me help.” he interjected, covering the bulge with one hand.

Only bad things can come from this, she thought, rolling her case down to the other end of the hall and into his room, which was covered with astrological charts, space paraphernalia dangling from the ceiling, and one large, white telescope, which she knew was used for other things besides just looking at stars. His room was neat and tidy and four times the size of her own room. A life-sized alien figure stood against the far wall, black eyes watching them.

“You get this room for free?” Nia asked.

“Yip, but you know, RA—it’s not that easy, not like people think. Do you know how much drinking and pot smoking I have to deal with nightly?”

“Pot’s legal now. Who cares?”

“Not under twenty-one.”

Nia sat on her new cot, all done up in white sheets and a white blanket. “Thanks. I know I could have just been booted elsewhere.”

“No problem. I’ll go and let you get settled in. You still want to go for breakfast?”

“I owe you double now, don’t I?”

“Yeah, but now that Hana is away, I figure you’ll need time, you know. I don’t want to push anything.”

“I’ll get settled. Maybe I’ll meet you down there in the few, okay?” Nia held her stomach now.

Andy left, and Nia lay back on the cot, unable to shake the nausea. It was getting so strong that she ended up inching back out in the hall toward the communal bathroom. A quick minute later, she was vomiting violently in the white toilet—bright blood. The taste of iron was so strong, she had to hurl again.

She hung her head over the awful rim. “Oh, Hana. I’m sorry I left you in that club. It’s my fault. I should have found you. I was scared. I’m dying,” she said. Nia knew it deep down, knew that her life was fading. She could feel it, like the veil between this world and the next was thinning and she could poke a hole in the atmosphere and reveal something dark, something evil.

Whispers echoed around her as she fell to the floor dizzy. Next she saw black and that was it.



***



“Wake up. Wake up.” Several voices echoed underneath the sound of a siren. “Nia, you are in an ambulance. You have lost much blood. We’re transfusing you.”