16. SAD NEWS
LEESA CLOSED HER BLUE BOOK and exhaled deeply, stretching her arms out in front of her and enjoying what felt like her first real breath in almost two hours. A glance at the sweeping second hand on the old-fashioned clock on the classroom wall showed she had a whole thirty seconds left before time was up. She had barely made it, but finished was finished—and boy, did she feel finished.
The exam had been a beast, but she thought she had done okay. A couple of science geeks had turned in their booklets early, but most of her classmates were still frantically scribbling, trying to solve one last problem. Leesa was confident she had gotten at least a C, and maybe even a B. Definitely good enough for physics, for sure. All her studying had paid off. She had been up until six that morning, grabbed two hours of sleep, and then snuck in some last minute cramming before the exam. Now she just wanted to go home and crash.
She grabbed her parka from the back of her chair and walked her booklet up to the front. She dropped it on top of the three or four already there just as the professor, a preppy blond guy in his late thirties, called an end to the exam. He nodded at her and favored her with a small smile—her reward, she guessed, for finishing thirty seconds early. Leesa smiled back before turning and heading for the door. She felt like skipping. No more physics! Ever!
Her mood grew brighter still when she saw Rave smiling up at her from the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing his purple and brown flannel shirt and black jeans. The noon sun made his dark copper hair almost shine. Seeing him there melted away some of her fatigue as she limped down the steps.
“What a nice surprise,” she said.
Rave kissed her on the forehead. A little more of her tiredness vanished.
“How did you do?”
“Good enough, I think.”
“I bet you’re glad to be done, huh?”
“Ha! ‘Glad’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m beat. I only got about two hours sleep last night. But I think it was worth it.”
“And yet somehow, you still look beautiful,” Rave said, smiling. “What’s your secret?”
Leesa blushed. Her fingers reached for her hair, but she had clipped it up into a tight bun this morning, so there was nowhere for her hand to go.
“And here I thought volkaanes had good eyesight,” she said, grinning. “But I’m glad you think so.”
“I do,” Rave said. His face turned serious. “Can you put off going home to sleep for a bit? I need to talk to you.”
Leesa was struck by a sense of déjà vu, but this time knew she wasn’t imagining it. Rave had surprised her by meeting her here after her physics midterm and had told her he needed to talk to her that day, too. She would never forget that morning—how could she? That was the day he had revealed his true nature to her and let her see the blue flames flicker from his fingertips to demonstrate his inner fire. And she had kissed him for the first time that afternoon, a quick peck on his lips so brief it barely counted as a kiss, yet had filled her with a feeling beyond anything she had ever imagined. It seemed like such a long time ago, but it was only two months.
Now he needed to talk to her again. She wondered what it could be about.
“Of course I can,” she replied. She gently wrapped her fingers around his forearm. “Do you remember the last time you said that to me here?”
Rave smiled. “Yeah, I do. We went to lunch. I especially remember dessert. It was delicious. It left me wanting more—much more.”
Leesa squeezed his arm lovingly. She knew he was talking about their kiss.
“So, what is it? Don’t tell me you have more strange secrets to share.”
“No, no secrets this time.” Rave’s eyes drifted down to the ground for a moment. “You’re not going to like it, though. I know I don’t.”
“Uh, oh,” Leesa said. She certainly did not like the sound of that.
Just then, a thick cloud drifted in front of the sun, dimming the day. She hoped it was not an omen. She sat down on the edge of the steps, barely noticing how cold the stone was.
“Go ahead, tell me,” she said. “May as well get it over with.”
Rave sat down next to her.
“Before I get to that, I wanted to let you know I went out to the cemetery in Higganum after we talked.”
Leesa was surprised. With finals and everything else going on, she had forgotten Rave’s promise to go take a look at the place. Now the images from her dream flashed back into her head, as clear as the night she dreamt them.
“What did you find?” she asked, not sure whether she wanted him to have found something or not.
“Not much. Nothing specific, anyway. But something felt just a little bit off. I cannot explain it any better than that, or make any guesses what it was. I just had a sense that something was wrong.” He shrugged. “I know it’s not much help, but I wanted you to know.”
Leesa sighed. She should have suspected it would turn out something like this, with no clear cut answer in either direction. That seemed to be way things were going lately.
“Well, at least you tried,” she said. “Thanks for going. And for letting me know.”
“Have you had any more dreams like that?”
She shook her head. “No, thank goodness.” She considered telling him about imagining the Red Bull can moving, but decided against it. That was probably just her overtired brain—no need to concern him with that. Besides, he said he needed to talk to her. She wanted to give him his chance.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about,” she asked.
Rave took her hand in both of his. “I have to go away for a little while.”
Leesa’s heart sank. She had definitely not expected anything like this.
“What? Why?”
“It’s the solstice,” Rave explained. “The Council of Elders is afraid it may magnify the pull of Destiratu, so they have decided we should leave. We are too close to the vampire lair here. It is too dangerous under these circumstances. For everyone.”
Leesa tried to process what Rave was saying. It was all so complicated. She barely understood Destiratu, and now he was saying something about the solstice. Balin had mentioned something about the solstice, too, she remembered now.
“Where will you go? For how long?”
“Up north. To some hidden caves in the mountains of New Hampshire. There are no vampires anywhere around there.”
That’s so far, Leesa wanted to say, but she held back the words. Rave was clearly troubled by having to leave, and she did not want to add to his anguish.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked instead.
“A couple of weeks, at least. Until we are sure the effects of the solstice are gone.”
“When are you leaving?” Leesa knew it would be soon—the winter solstice was just four days away.
Rave put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“This afternoon.”
He felt Leesa stiffen in his embrace. She obviously had not expected it would be today.
“You could come,” Rave said. “I have already gotten permission for you to join us, if you wish.” He did not expect her to accept, but he had to offer.
Leesa snuggled against him. She wanted nothing more than to go away with him, especially since there would be no school for almost three weeks. But she knew she couldn’t. Not now.
“Oh, Rave, I wish I could. But I can’t leave my mom and Bradley. Not this soon.”
“I know.”
Rave eased Leesa away from his chest and looked directly into her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to disappear into his beautiful eyes.
“Promise me you’ll all be careful,” Rave said. “The vampires are going to be extra hungry, especially on the solstice and the few days after. They will not want to draw attention, so they will be hunting in secluded places, where people are alone or in very small numbers. Populated areas should be safe. Stay out the woods and avoid empty areas, especially at night.”
“We will, Rave. I promise. Don’t worry about us.” She forced a smile onto her face. “This is one time I really wish you had a cell phone, though,” she said, forgetting for the moment she didn’t have one right now, either.
“If you need me,” Rave said, “just tell Max. I can be here in a couple of hours.”
Tell Max? What the heck was he talking about? “I don’t understand,” Leesa said. “What’s Max going to do, go racing off to New Hampshire like Lassie to fetch you?”
Rave smiled. He had no idea who Lassie was, but he got the idea.
“No, that won’t be necessary. Max and I have established a bond. I cannot explain it exactly, but the bond gives us a connection. If you tell him you need me, I will be able to sense it through his thoughts.”
“Really? You’re not kidding?”
“Yes, really.”
“That’s so cool.” Leesa grinned, struck by a new thought. “What if I told Max I loved you? Would you hear that, too?”
Rave laughed. “I would, yes.” He enfolded Leesa in his arms once again. “But I don’t need Max to know that.”