Deathless (12 page)

He had spent his first couple of days here riding the city’s three trolley lines, getting off the train at every stop and trying to sense Leesa’s vibration. When he failed, he hopped back onto the next trolley that came along and repeated the process all over again at the next stop. The trolley provided excellent coverage of central San Diego and the southern coastal strip of the county, but his search produced no results. Next, he risked a small bit of his anonymity by spending a week crisscrossing the rest of the county in a series of taxis, stopping every mile or two and getting out of the car to try to sense Leesa. He changed taxis every few hours to prevent any of the drivers from wondering in more than an idle fashion what their strange passenger was doing.

His was certain his painstakingly thorough search had taken him within a mile or two of every residential section in the sprawling San Diego area, with no luck. Either Leesa was not in San Diego, or he was completely unable to sense her. He wasn’t sure which he hoped was true.

Next, he had visited several public libraries to use their computer systems. Distrustful of the cyber grid and unsure who might be monitoring entries and searches, he seldom used computers and so was not very skilled with the machines. He was loath to enter Leesa’s name or phone number lest it somehow attract attention in the system, but it was a risk he felt he had to take. He tried to minimize the danger by changing computers and libraries frequently. After lots of searching, he had finally located a few people search sites that seemed promising, but none of them would provide any detailed information without first receiving payment via a credit card. That, of course, left him out.

So now he had to make a decision. He had come outside to think about his choices. He could ask someone in the library to help him. Maybe one of the young people who seemed so skilled and comfortable with computers would know a way to locate Leesa without a fee, or, failing that, perhaps he could entice the person to use their own credit card in exchange for a cash payment. But such a request would be at least a bit unusual and was likely to provoke some curiosity. His other choice would be to hire a professional investigator—which was how he had learned Leesa’s phone number in the first place—and rely on professional discretion. Dominic wasn’t comfortable with either choice, but he had hit another in a long series of dead ends and had to do something. Speed was beginning to become increasingly more important than caution.

15. STUDYING

F
inals were way worse than midterms, Leesa quickly discovered. Not only was there twice as much material to study and remember, but the exams counted as a much bigger portion of the final grade, making the pressure that much greater. Everyone in the dorm was feeling it—everyone but Stacie, that was. Stacie was a brainiac who never studied past eleven o’clock and still got nothing but A’s. She was always smiling and energetic, when glassy stares and dragging gaits had become the norm.

If Leesa had the time, she was sure she could make some decent money simply by recycling the piles of energy drink cans that kept the big trash bin outside the dorm overflowing. She could make a few bucks just from the cans she and Cali were going through.

But, alas, there was little time for anything but studying, eating and sleeping—and little enough for the latter two. She couldn’t believe she would have to go through this hell seven more times before she graduated. She sure hoped it got easier with experience.

She did most of her studying in her room, but went to the library for an hour or two every day, just for a break in the routine. The library was also a great place to be reminded that lots of kids were even more stressed out about finals than she was. Some looked like they hadn’t slept—or showered—in days.

Leesa took a couple of short walk breaks every day to clear her head and stretch her muscles. Sometimes she dragged Cali, Stacie or Caitlin along, other times she went alone. She seldom went far, usually just wandering about the area near the dorm. The weather remained cold, but luckily it was clear. She wasn’t sure how she would handle it if it snowed or sleeted. Her walk breaks were pretty much the only thing keeping her sane.

She was fairly sure she had done well on her first three finals, but the dreaded physics exam was looming tomorrow. It promised to be the toughest by far, so she wasn’t planning on getting much sleep tonight, if any. Complex equations and theorems flitted around inside her head like bees buzzing around a hive. She just hoped she would be able to tame the little pests when she sat down to take the test.

She wasn’t the only one feeling the stress. Girls wandered the halls of the dorm like lost souls, wearing no makeup, their eyes swollen and bloodshot. If zombies truly did exist, Leesa thought, they could hide out pretty well in any dorm on campus during finals week. She was scared to look in a mirror, afraid she would see something very similar staring back at her.

Yellow light leaked under doors and soft music filtered through the walls at all hours of the night as many kids pull all-nighters. Leesa had been up until the early hours twice already this week—but tonight was going to make those nights seem like nothing. It was nearly two o’clock now, and she was still at her desk, pouring over her physics textbook. With plenty more still to go.

Three empty cans of Red Bull filled the straw wastebasket beside her bed, with another half-f can waiting on the corner of her desk. She wasn’t in love with the taste of the drink, but she had been downing a couple of cans every night all week and was beginning to worry she might be getting addicted to the stuff. Still, there was nothing like an energy drink for staying awake, except maybe for some of the illicit drugs she was sure some of the other girls in the dorm were using. Leesa would never allow herself to go that route, no matter how tired she got. Red Bull was more than enough for her. If she couldn’t stay awake drinking Red Bull, then she had no business being awake in the first place.

Her head was beginning to feel heavy and the numbers on the pages were starting to blur, so she reached for her Red Bull. Pink’s “Greatest Hits…So Far” CD was playing softly in the background, and the singer was crooning something about not wanting to be a four o’clock in the morning girl. Leesa was pretty sure four o’clock would find her right where she was now, still studying and probably reaching for another can of Red Bull.

As she had already done several times this week, she paused her hand a few inches from the can and waited to see if might magically slide over into her hand. Once again, the can just sat there, mocking her. And once again, Leesa felt foolish. She was thankful nobody was watching.

Just for the heck of it, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard, trying to picture the Red Bull sliding across the desk into her grip. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes. Had the can moved a fraction? She couldn’t be sure. She looked closer, but there was no way to tell. It was probably just wishful thinking, some instinctive rebellion by her brain against the complex laws of physics that had been tormenting her all night. She was wasting valuable studying time, she knew, but this was more fun. Besides, she didn’t think a little break now and then would hurt. In fact, it was probably good for her.

She picked up her pencil and drew a light arc on the desk along the bottom of the can, marking its position. She squeezed her eyes shut again and tried to picture the can sliding into her hand, waiting at least fifteen to twenty seconds this time. When she opened her eyes, the can was right where it started, behind the pencil mark. Oh, well, she thought, so much for that.

She grabbed the can and chugged the liquid down, resisting the temptation to hold her nose while she drank. When she had emptied the can, she tossed it into the wastebasket. It landed with a clang atop its comrades and stayed right where it landed. What was she expecting, she thought? That it was going to jump out of the basket and start dancing on the floor?

She shook her head. Break time was over. Back to the fun and games of physics.

16. SAD NEWS

L
eesa 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’d 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.