Deathless (26 page)

The warming seemed to take longer than it should have, and Leesa knew why. It wasn’t just the cold and the sweat that chilled her—it was the nightmare that had yanked her from her sleep.

Tonight’s dream had been the most realistic and most disturbing yet. It was the raw violence of this new vision that was so upsetting. None of her other dreams had contained any violence at all. Even the vampire nightmare, as dangerous and threatening as it felt, had not displayed any actual violence. This one was different. The zombies tonight had not just stumbled around a graveyard or peered plaintively into a window. No, these creatures had attacked the campers, forcing the men to defend themselves and their children. Leesa had heard the bullets penetrating the monsters’ rotting bodies with a wet, almost sucking sound. She had seen their heads explode when the shooter adjusted his aim at his daughter’s instructions.

And such realism! That was what made the whole thing so much more frightening. When the zombie stuck its gruesome face into the girls’ tent, Leesa had almost felt like the thing was trying to get at her. She could still hear the creature’s low, gasping moans, and swore she’d been able to smell its foul, decaying stench as well. She shuddered at the memory.

The worst thing about the dream was the way it ended. Leesa could still picture the two black forms lumbering through the darkness toward the car, but she could not make them out in the darkness. Were they the fathers, escaping from the zombies? Or were they two of the creatures, seeking more flesh to feast on after finishing off the men? Leesa hoped and prayed it was the fathers, about to rejoin their children and drive away from that cursed place.

A sudden realization struck her. Not knowing how the dream ended was
not
the worst thing. No, the worst thing by far was that she didn’t know whether this horrible vision was also going to come to pass—or if it already had!

35. GOOD MORNING

L
eesa paced in small circles around her room, unsure what to do with herself now that she was awake. Her friends probably weren’t even home from their dates yet. If they were, their boyfriends would still be with them and wouldn’t be too thrilled if she suddenly showed up at their door. Some of the girls on her floor were still up—she could hear music and voices down the hall—but she didn’t really feel like hanging out with anyone but her close friends.

She thought about using the time to do some studying, but the way she felt right now she knew she wouldn’t retain anything she read. There was always the TV, if she could find something that wasn’t scary, stupid or boring—not always the easiest thing this late on a Friday night.

On a whim, she sat down at her desk and switched on her laptop. When it booted up, she went right to the Google search page. She stared at the screen for a few moments, trying to decide exactly how to word her search. This was no ordinary inquiry. She knew her efforts would most likely be futile—it was probably much too soon—but as long as she was up anyhow, she wanted to see if she could find any mention of a story that might match her dream in any way.

She typed in several dozen searches, using different combinations of words like “zombies,” “attack,” “camping,” “girls” and any other words she could think of. Lots of choices popped up—zombies were an incredibly popular topic—but as she expected, none of them were even remotely close to what she was seeking. For future use, she made a mental note of the search combinations that seemed to produce the most promising results and then turned the computer off.

Now what to do? The dorm had grown quieter during her internet search, though she could still hear faint strains of music from down the hall. Just for something to do, she limped to over to her back window and peered out. She saw two people walking at the far end of the courtyard, but other than that, the quad was empty.

For what seemed like the ten thousandth time since she had met him, she wished Rave was here with her, or that she at least had some way to talk to him.
Oh, Rave, why are you so far away? I need you here with me.
Feeling his strong arms around her would be the best, of course, but just hearing his voice would be pretty good, too. Unfortunately, neither was a possibility. She thought about calling her aunt tomorrow and asking her to bring Max out for a visit, so she could at least send some loving thoughts to Rave. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as a phone call or text, but it would be better than nothing. She decided if she still felt this way in the morning, she would call her aunt.

She moved away from the window and sat back down on her bed. She was exhausted, but she wasn’t sleepy. She never would have imagined someone could be so tired without being sleepy, but she knew it was true. Grabbing the remote from her desk, she switched on the television and lay down on her side. She flipped through a bunch of channels before settling on a Train concert on MTV—not her favorite band, but passable. Watching a music show wouldn’t require any real concentration from her tired brain.

Finally, her eyes grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep. Just before she fell asleep, she managed to flick off the TV.

For a change, her sleep was peaceful and untroubled. She dreamed she was with Rave, the two of them lying close together on a soft blanket in a meadow filled with red and gold flowers, his wonderful warmth soaking into every inch of her body. The sky was a bright blue canopy above them, the sun a shining yellow jewel, and the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of the colorful blossoms. She had never felt happier or more relaxed. She wished she could remain there forever.

When she finally felt herself coming awake, she didn’t want to open her eyes, did not want to let the illusion vanish. She snuggled her cheek against her electric blanket, pretending it was Rave’s warm chest, and let out a contented sigh.

As she came more fully awake, she realized something was not right. The bed beneath her blanket was firm and uneven, not soft and smooth like it should have been. She opened her eyes and found herself looking not at her blanket, but at a brown waffle-knit shirt. Twisting her head upward, she saw Rave smiling down at her. She was cradled in his arms, her head against his chest.

Was this another dream? If so, it was one she definitely did not want to end. She was tempted to close her eyes again to prevent this wonderful vision from slipping away. Instead, she reached up and caressed his smooth, warm cheek.

“
Rave?”

His smile widened. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. This was no dream—it was a dream come true! No wonder she had slept so peacefully.

“
I can’t believe you’re here,” she said when she finally let go of him. “I’m so happy to see you.” She settled her neck into the crook of his arm, so she could look at him and savor his gorgeous features.

“
Me, too,” Rave said. He gently stroked the side of her head with his fingertips. Every stroke sent waves of pleasure shimmering through her.

“
How long have you been here?” she managed to ask.

“
A couple of hours. I don’t know why, but I had an almost irresistible urge to see you last night. So I grabbed Dral and Bain and headed south. When we got here, I could hear through the door that you were sleeping. It was unlocked, so I let myself in. You were on top of the covers, so I just lay down beside you.”

“
I think I fell asleep watching TV. I can’t believe I didn’t wake up when you got here. I must have really been out.”

Rave grinned. “We volkaanes can be quite stealthy when we want to.”

Leesa returned his grin. “I had the most wonderful dream about us. And now I know why.”

She picked her head up and looked over Rave’s chest. They were alone in the room.

“
Where are your friends?”

“
Outside in the hall,” Rave said.

“
Why didn’t you let them in?”

“
We can’t all be in the same enclosed space,” Rave explained. “It’s too risky.”

“
You think we might be in danger here?” she asked, surprised.

“
No, not really. But it’s best to be careful, especially now.”

A yell from outside the door interrupted them.

“
Holy crap!” exclaimed a female voice.

Leesa smiled. “Cali,” she said to Rave. “And I’m pretty sure I know what’s got her so excited.”

She got up from the bed and crossed to the door. Behind her, Rave stood up as well.

Leesa pulled the door open and saw Cali standing a few feet back from the doorway, her eyes shifting back and forth between Dral and Bain. She was wearing a camouflage pullover shirt and dark jeans with faded thighs. Leesa was pretty sure part of the “holy crap” came from Cali wishing she was more stylishly dressed for her surprise encounter with the two handsome Mastons. She had a big grin on her face anyhow.

“
Hi, Cali,” Leesa said. “You want to come in?”

“
I’m not sure. The scenery out here is pretty freakin’ nice.” Cali looked over Leesa’s shoulder and saw Rave. She raised her hand in a brief wave. “Since your guy is here,” she continued, “I guess that leaves these two hotties for me.”

“
Ha! Don’t you wish.” Leesa introduced Cali to Dral and Bain, then stepped aside and let her enter the room.

“
Here I was feeling sorry for you last night,” Cali said when she was inside, “stuck here by yourself while the rest of us were on dates. I didn’t know you were hosting a hunk convention.”

Leesa laughed. “Me, neither. Rave came by after I was asleep.” She moved beside Rave and put her arm around his back. “It sure was a great way to wake up, though.”

“
From the way you’re dressed, I’m guessing you didn’t wake up very long ago, either. I hope you two behaved yourselves.” Cali grinned. “Actually, I hope you didn’t.”

Leesa felt herself blushing. “Rave was a gentleman,” she said. “As always.”

“
Well, I guess no one’s perfect,” Cali said, laughing.

“
Oh, I don’t know,” Leesa said. “He’s pretty perfect for me.” Perfect, she thought, except for the tiny problem that kissing him could kill her, and she didn’t know if they were ever going to solve that problem.

“
Well,” Cali said, “I just came by to see what you were up to today, since we all abandoned you last night. But I can see you’re in good hands.” She turned to Rave. “So, are you Mastons all done with that pilgrimage thing?”

Leesa realized she hadn’t had a chance to ask Rave that same question. She felt herself holding her breath while she waited for his response.

“
No, not yet,” Rave said.

Leesa tried to hold back her disappointment.

“
But I couldn’t go another hour without seeing Leesa,” Rave continued, squeezing Leesa lightly around the waist. He gave an exaggerated shrug. “It was a long walk, but here I am.”

Cali laughed and Leesa felt herself grow warm inside.

“
Okay, I take it back,” Cali said. “Maybe he is perfect.”

36. WONDERFUL DAY

L
eesa and her perfect guy lay side by side again, this time on a dark gray cotton blanket they had spread out in the middle of Brennan Field, a wide, grassy meadow a short distance from the Weston campus. They lay on their backs, Leesa’s head cushioned by Rave’s arm, looking up at a bright blue sky striped with wispy cirrus clouds. Dral and Bain sat comfortably on the ground on either side of them, twenty feet from the blanket. No one expected any trouble with vampires on a bright sunny day like this, but the two volkaanes maintained their vigilance nonetheless.

Leesa had seldom felt so happy and relaxed. She wanted to try to mimic last night’s dream as closely as possible, to extend the wonderful feelings it had brought her, and Rave had readily agreed. Of course, there were no meadows filled with flowers within a thousand miles this time of year, so the thin green and brown grass of Brennan Field had to do. That was okay with her, though. An outing like this would normally have been impossible in the middle of winter. The ground beneath the blanket was frozen solid and the temperature of the air lingered somewhere in the mid-twenties, with a bit of wind adding to the chill. No girl in her right mind would want to lie out on the ground like this on a cold January day—unless the boyfriend she was snuggled up against happened to be a volkaane, of course.