The doorway let them into a small meeting room open only to fraternity members and their guests. The room was cluttered with coats and sweatshirts piled atop tables and hanging from metal hooks. Music from the band in the main room filtered in through the cement walls. Leesa and her friends wasted no time peeling off the sweatshirts they wore over their skimpy costumes and hanging them on a couple of empty hooks.“Look out, guys,” Cali cooed. “The hotties have arrived.”Leesa's pirate outfit consisted of a white button shirt tied in a knot just below her breasts to bare her abs, a pair of black shorts, and loose, knee-high black suede boots Cali had found at the local Goodwill store. Caitlin's gold hoop earring dangled from Leesa's left ear and her red bandana covered the top of Leesa's head. A curved plastic sword hung from a black sash around her waist. The two highlights of the costume were both Cali's idea. The first was one of her bras, whi

A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings human in name only filled the huge room. Rave shook his head as he scanned the jumble of costumed students, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He had mingled with groups of humans before, but never one so large or so boisterous. This was not his first new experience with humans since he'd met Leesa, he thought, smiling as he recalled their brief kiss. And he was pretty certain it wouldn't be his last.More than a hundred students were dancing to the beat of the classic “Monster Mash,” a song he had heard many times over the years. He liked the offbeat lyrics and rhythm, and found himself humming as he squeezed his way along the wall past the dance area. He had avoided the long lines out front by finding an unattended door in the back. The lock had provided little resistance—he simply ripped the door open and slipped inside, the noise covered by the pounding music. Once inside, he used his heat to weld th

“Once upon a midnight dreary…while I pondered…weak and weary,” intoned the tall young man standing behind the lead singer's microphone. He was wearing a Friday the 13th Jason mask and carrying a bloodstained machete that looked awfully real. His voice was deep and dramatic, and the room grew steadily quieter as he boomed out his lines, reading from a piece of paper.“While I nodded…nearly napping…suddenly, there came a tapping…as of someone gently rapping…rapping at my chamber door.”He certainly knows how to get a room's attention, Leesa thought as she held Rave's hand and listened along with almost everyone else in the place as he introduced himself as Butch Morrison, president of the BPDs.“That rapping is not Snoop Dog or Lil' Wayne, either,” he continued, pausing while a ripple of laughter flowed through the room. “Campus Security has asked me to share a few words with you.&

“Who's there?”The thick wooden door muffled Professor Clerval's voice, but Leesa was glad he was in his office. She had arrived early for her appointment, and with no yellow glow seeping from beneath the door, she'd been afraid he might not be here yet.“It's Leesa Nyland, Professor,” she called loudly.A moment later, she heard the click of the old lock and the door swung open. The office was dark, lit only by two flickering candles atop the professor's desk. No wonder she hadn't seen any light under the door.“Come in, come in,” Dr. Clerval invited as he stepped back from the doorway. As soon as Leesa was inside, he pushed the door closed and turned the lock.Leesa wondered why he was keeping the door locked. “I'm sorry I'm early,” she said, standing in the center of the small office and letting her eyes adjust to the dimness. The air was thick with the fruity scent of his pipe tobacco, and she saw

A column of smoke rose straight and thin from the short stone chimney atop the old log cabin—Leesa wished the thoughts in her head could be so simple. No chance of that, though, not with all she had learned in the past few days and all she now had to figure out and make decisions about. And that didn't even count the amazing trip that had carried her here. “Carried” was exactly the word, too. Rave set her down gently on the narrow dirt road in front of the old cabin, more a wide path than a road, really. She still didn't quite believe the trip she had just experienced—maybe she was dreaming. If it was a dream, it was one of the best she'd ever had, Rave effortlessly carrying her cradled in his arms from Weston to Moodus, moving easily through the trees, following old game paths where he could, at speeds that should have been impossible. The fifteen-mile jaunt had taken little more than an hour—a wondrous hour Leesa spent pressed against his chest, soaking in his delicious he