Cursed by the Fountain of Youth

Chapter 9

Nick ran across campus. He could hear the fear and panic in Fae's voice. If anyone so much as put a hand on her, he'd rip them to shreds.

Bursting through the doors, he spotted Fae immediately through a group of campus police officers. She looked ghostly white. With her white-blonde hair and light blue eyes, the paleness of her skin made her look washed out—like a ghost. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, seeing her in this state.

He ignored the campus 'girl scouts' and went straight to Fae. Kneeling, he brushed her hair away from her face. "You okay?"

She blinked back tears and nodded.

He looked up at the crowd and then to the campus officers. He lifted his badge. "I'm Special Agent Nick Chase. I need you to seal off the exits and take the students and staff to the common area. When the other investigators get here, the students will all need to be questioned and the building will have to be searched. I appreciate that you didn't enter the room. You don't know how many idiots have ruined perfectly good evidence by blundering through a crime scene."

They nodded and mumbled their agreements.

Minutes later, the place was crawling with investigators. And seconds after that, the news reporters descended like vultures looking for scraps.

Nick decided he would be the best one to question Fae. He knew how investigators could be—hounding her with questions while she was still in such a fragile state. He would not allow her to be put through that.

He reached out his hand. "You think you can stand?"

She started to nod, but then shook her head. "I don't think so."

Scooping her up off the ground, he felt her trembling in his arms. She was in shock.

Nick spotted Don coming through the door. "Don," he shouted. "Can you get her a blanket?"

Don looked over and frowned. "Sure."

"I guess you're rethinking whether I'd make a good investigator now," Fae said. "I see one dead body and I fall apart."

"Fae," Nick said disapprovingly. "Even a seasoned investigator would have a hard time stumbling onto something this grisly—especially off the job. The agents coming on the scene now have had time to mentally prepare."

Carrying Fae behind the entrance desk, he lay her down on a couch. He shrugged off his jacket and rolled it to place under her head. The place was empty—the dorm mother had been taken to another location to be questioned.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better," she said with her eyes closed.

"Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"

"Yeah," she breathed.

Don handed Nick a blanket, and he draped it over her.

"Are you sure you're ready to talk about it?"

She nodded.

Pulling out his electronic recorder, he switched it on. "Tell me what happened."

"My roommate called tonight and told me she forgot her jewelry box in her old closet."

"Her old closet?"

Fae nodded. "That used to be our dorm room. They moved us out when a pipe broke and it flooded. I went in the room, opened the closet door, and there she was."

Nick's heart skipped a beat when he thought about how close Fae might have come to being murdered herself. "Was it your roommate hanging there?"

Fae shook her head adamantly. "Oh no. Heavens, no. I don't know that girl...at least, I don't think I do."