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nice. Evan turned on some music—he was playing the Blue Leaves on his iPod—and Alexis rolled down the window. She closed her eyes while the air cooled her, and ran her fingers over Evan's leg. She felt him tense slightly, and she smiled, dragged her fingers a little higher, and then pulled her hand away.
    Ten minutes later, they were back on campus. They were even able to park close to their building, because so many people were still out at the clubs.
    Alexis casually took Evan's hand as they walked to their dorm, and smiled when he didn't pull away. They stopped outside the main entrance. Alexis put her hands behind her head and stretched, hoping that the movement was sufficiently languid. From the way Evan's eyes traveled over her body, she was pretty sure it was. "God, I feel so gross. I need a shower," she said.
    Evan pulled his eyes back up to her face and pulled his damp shirt away from his skin. "I know what you mean. I'm going to go hose myself down."
    "Want some company?"
    Evan blinked and licked his lips and moved his mouth, but no sounds came out. Alexis pushed her chest up a little, shook her shoulders just slightly, and raised her eyebrow. "Well?" she asked.
    Evan gave a nervous laugh. "Very funny." He looked down at the ground, and then out at the quad, and then at the light hanging overhead. "Well, thanks for coming out with me, um, with us tonight. I had a really good time."
    Alexis deflated a little, but gave it one more shot. "Me, too. We should do it again some time." She stood up on her toes and leaned in to kiss him, but Evan got his hip in between them, and gave her an awkward hug.
    "Goodnight, Alexis. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"
    "Sure, that's way better than seeing me in the shower," she muttered.
    "What was that?"
    "I said I'll see you in the morning."
    "Great, goodnight." He smiled and waved, still a bit awkwardly, and swiped himself into the building.
    Alexis watched the door close. "Are you kidding me? Do you need a written invitation? A map? A sign that says open for business?"
    She made a face and dug her cell phone out. No calls, no messages. She sent Caitlin one more text: We're back on campus. Worried about u. Call me.
    "I hope she's all right," Alexis said, then went inside to shower.
    ***
    Caitlin's shirt was ruined.
    That shouldn't have bothered her, really. What should have bothered her was all the blood.
    Her injury really wasn't that bad, all things considered. The vampire—Jesus, the vampire —had bit her on the shoulder, not the neck, and even though it was messy, it wasn't enough to really hurt her. So, bright side?
    The wound was ragged, but not very deep. Caitlin moved her arm, and it felt all right. She experimented with moving her shoulder around, but that made her wince. She had hand-shaped bruises on her arms, her hip hurt—probably from being dumped on the floor—and she had a kink in her neck, but again, it wasn't too bad. Not compared to what could have happened.
    God, what could have happened. A tidal wave of terrible images rushed over her, courtesy of all the stupid horror movies, TV shows, and news reports she'd ever watched. She pictured herself lying in an alley somewhere, her eyes dull and lifeless, her mouth hanging open, a trickle of blood running from one corner. She pictured the swarm of police officers, taking notes, snapping photographs, and tsk-tsking her fate. She pictured her mother, distraught, inconsolable, damning the day they let her go off to college alone, and her father, trying to comfort her while holding in his own rage. She felt like she was going to be sick.
    She buried her head between her knees and forced herself to breathe. Losing control wouldn't do anyone any good, least of all herself. If she was going to get through this, if she was going to escape, she needed to keep her head straight. She could panic when she was safe at home.
    Okay, she needed to take stock of her situation. The room was huge, nearly fifty feet on each side, and