Heather

She kept on laughing. I shot her what I hoped was a mean look. She put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath. "I’m sorry. I had to wait and see your face. Word got around about how you refused Brent in class, and well, you’re fresh meat now."

She started cracking up again. It wasn’t funny to me.

Refused Brent? "What?" I gave Xander a pleading look.

"When you got between me and Brent, you turned him down and opened yourself up to new claims." He took a bite of his roast beef. "The girls are pissed." He said the last word in a high pitch squeal. He was enjoying this. The bastard.

"Let me get this straight. All the girls hate me now and the guys want to see if they have a shot?"

"Yep," he said.

"Great. Just great." How did I always manage to get myself into the worst situations? "But you’re not mad?" I said to Serena.

"It’s too funny to get mad over. Plus, I happen to think you’ll end up with Brent."

Xander frowned. "You don’t know that."

I pushed my tray away and put my head down on the table.

Someone tapped my shoulder. "You should really eat, Heather."

I swirled in my chair to see Gabriel standing behind me. I gave him my best scowl and he took a step back. "How come they’re not like this with you?" I said to Serena.

"Long story."

I waited for her to say something else, but she stayed quiet.

The guys backed off after I started eating. I found that eating slowly was key. If I ate too fast, then I’d feel full, but it wouldn’t last for more than a few minutes. It took me forever to actually fill up, but hopefully that would be enough to keep myself from Hulking out for now.

Serena and I walked to the dorms together after dinner. The air had cooled. The cicadas’ song soothed me as we strolled. By the time we got to the dorm, the girls were already huddled around the TV watching the news.

"What’s going on?" Serena asked.

Callista glared at us. "Shut up."

I truly despised that girl. She was starting to really get on my nerves and I was sure if I ever lose control of my wolf, I would make sure she was the one I targeted.

The reporter on screen had hair teased into a big lump on the back of her head, making her look a little alien-like. The banner said her name was Rebecca Nunez. "...have been tracked by the FBI since they crossed the Oklahoma–Texas border. If they continue at the same speed, the killer or killers could be in the Greater San Antonio area in days. Victims have been brutally murdered, throats ripped out and their bodies drained of all blood..."

Nikki leaned into her sister. "So they were right? They’re coming here."

Wait a second. Drained of blood? They couldn’t be talking about what I thought they were about. Could they? "A vampire?"

Callista glared again. "Vampiresss." She went back to watching the TV. "They’re being messy. They want us to know they’re coming."

"Why would they do that? What would they gain by finding us?"

Callista swiveled around and shoved my arm. She was trying me.

I just have to hold on a couple more days and then they’ll finally be here. They’ll take care of her.

How did she know for sure that the vampires were

coming here? And who exactly were they going to take care of? I had a feeling it was me, but maybe that was narcissistic.

Something she said stuck with me though. My first night here when I’d tried to run away, I overheard Mr. Langdon and Brent talking about some threat coming south. Maybe it was my fault that they were coming here? Or mine and Brent’s fault.

That didn’t sit well with me. Especially if Callista was referring to me in the vision I had.

"Come on. I have a TV in my room," Serena said.

Leslie followed us and shut the door. I sat on the fuzzy magenta rug and tried to think rationally, but that proved hard.

Serena plopped on her bed and grabbed the remote.

"—recommend that you stay indoors after dark. Authorities asked that if you see anything suspicious, call 9-1-1 immediately. The governor’s office released a statement—"

Serena muted the TV. "The governor’s office doesn’t know squat." She looked to Leslie. "You think the vamps are planning something?"

"Maybe. Probably. I hope we don’t have to move the school."

"Move the school?" I asked.

"Every once in a while, bloodsuckers try to find the school," Leslie said. "But they’ve never gotten this close to any of them. If they actually found us, we’d have to move or else face God knows how many attacks."

That made sense, but it still seemed like overkill. Not to mention bad timing. I didn’t want to move any farther away from my family than I already had. "How can you be sure it’s vampires?" I asked.

"Throats ripped out. Drained of blood," Leslie said.

"I’m sure even you’ve seen a vampire movie."

I didn’t like the way she talked to me, but tried to ignore it.

Serena patted my shoulder. "Don’t worry. I’m sure some Cazadores will fix this whole problem before the vamps get anywhere near us."

"Do vampires and werewolves talk at all?"

Leslie snorted. "Don’t be ridiculous. The only time we talk is when we’re killing them."

Maybe my visions were still off. They definitely weren’t like they were before. Maybe the "they" Callista had been talking about were werewolves since they were connected with her father. But why would she be thinking about that while the reporter talked about a brutal murder?

If I was right and Callista had something to do with the vampires, what could I do about it? And who would believe me?