Shadow Lake Vampire Society - Wendi Wilson Page 0,51

when pressed for details, he said he didn’t know. A disappointing answer, to say the least.

Did Dean Purty have any information? I made a mental note to find a way to ask him the next time I was able to get a private audience. Out of everyone at the camp, Charles Purty had to have some knowledge of what happened.

Did that mean he’d known about me before I showed up at this camp? The implications swirled in my brain.

Another thought wiggled like a worm just under the loamy surface of my spinning mind, a thought I didn’t really want to look at too closely. The vision... or dream? Hallucination? Whatever it was, the images I saw indicated I would be bitten by a vampire at some point. Not just bitten— killed. And I couldn’t even prepare since I had no details, just blurred shadows.

A looming sense of dread wriggled up my spine, taking with it all good feelings I had left. It felt good to have Levi on my side, but what about the other vamps? Could one of them be the figure I’d seen?

If a vamp wanted to attack me, I had to stick up for myself. The question was how? On the walk back, I’d peppered Levi with questions about his kind. Holding my hand, he’d seemed happy enough to answer them. Garlic was a myth, so was sunlight, though it did make them uncomfortable. It hurt their eyes and skin much like someone with Albinism. They stayed out of direct sunlight as much as possible, causing humans to create those myths. They didn’t turn into bats. They didn’t fly, though they were incredibly fast and incredibly strong. Nearly indestructible.

So how could I defend myself?

I rolled onto my back and blew out a breath. This was going to be a long summer.

Strangely, all this mortal danger I was in didn’t make me want to run or cause my system to shut down. Somehow being here was making me stronger. Mom and Dr. Whitely would be so proud. Too bad I couldn’t tell them exactly where my inner strength was coming from.

Speaking of Mom, I needed to call her soon. I’d been here nearly a week and hadn’t once checked in. She was probably worried sick. Quietly, I leaned over the bunk and slid my arm into my bag, fishing around until I found my cell phone. I listened to make sure everyone was asleep before palming the device, tiptoeing to the back door, and slipping outside.

The back porch of Saka’am was old and creaked like crazy, but I’d learned which boards to avoid. I’d been doing an awful lot of sneaking around in the dark, but wasn’t that what summer camp was for? My campers were too young to do much nighttime necking, but the older kids would definitely take advantage.

My eyes darted up, scanning the distance between the cluster of girls’ cabins and the boys’. Levi stayed in Chu Chua, the middle cabin.

I could make it there in two minutes. Knock on his window.

I shook my head. I was supposed to be texting Mom.

Dropping my eyes, I pressed the power button on my phone and waited for it to turn on.

A twig cracked behind me. Senses alert, I whirled in time to see a dark figure barreling up the path toward me.

It all happened so fast. One moment, I was standing on the bottom step. The next, I was being carried at an alarming rate across the campus. Hands like vice grips held my ankles while someone else pinned my arms and chest to their substantial body.

I was so shocked it took me a few moments to struggle. “Hel⁠—

Something was shoved into my mouth, cutting off my scream. Thick cotton gagged me as someone hissed in my direction. “Shut up, meat sack, or we’ll really make you pay.”

The voice was gruff. Male. Even in my panic, I thought I recognized the deep timber belonging to Lars.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no! Was this it? Was this my vision?

Struggling against the hands on my ankles caused the owner to dig fingernails into my skin. “We can do whatever we want as long as we don’t leave any big marks,” a second voice said.

This one was female and also recognizable. Sarah.

She’d come for me. I should’ve known.

Heart hammering, my mind raced through escape options and came up with nothing. They were bigger and stronger. I was pinned and helpless. My only hope was that they’d said they couldn’t leave