A Girl in the Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Five

You're a pile of filth. I knew, and even you knew, Tali. I said, 'she's going to lunge. She has urges and she lives with two other people. She. Will. Lunge. And where were you last night? Oh, that's right, you were out a club grinding with a human and ruining your relationship with one of your only two friends.

"Yes, I know," I said. Jen raised one of her brows. "Pardon me. I was thinking. Go on."

"There's not really anything else to say. It was just really, really scary. Like, the scariest situation I've ever been in in my life," she said.

"What did you do?" Kai asked.

"Scream. As any normal person would." She hugged herself. "I kicked her and hid under the bed and Stella pulled her off of me. We ran into the bathroom and locked the door and called campus safety. Molly was like, going crazy. She was banging on the door and like, clawing at it with her nails. I wasn't even scared that whole time. I was pissed because I'm so sick of her doing things like this. I mean, today was by far the worst. But she's been sick and cranky all week and then the second she's better it's 'hey let's go out and get wasted.'"

"I know how that feels," Kai said. "I tell people constantly that you don't have to drink to have a good time, but people are legit immune to thinking that if they're not wasted there's no point in doing anything!"

"Let's get back to the focus of this discussion," I said. "So, what happened when campus safety arrived?"

"You mean after it literally took them fifteen minutes to finally show up?" Jen sat up a little higher. "I could walk across this campus in fifteen minutes. But, anyway, Stella and I were all the way in the back corner of the closet and barricading ourselves with suitcases when they finally knocked. They stood around and just kept knocking! Then after they knocked like five times, they opened the door and I heard Molly make this noise...like a growl or something. I'm thinking she went at them. There were like, all these noises.

Stella wanted to stay back but I was like, 'no way, I want to see what's going on,' because I heard Molly scream. I open the door and I see Molly on the ground in handcuffs and I could see that they tased her. They took her out. I was standing there in my pajamas and getting questions. We had to sign paperwork and fill out statements. I haven't seen her since. I was telling Stella that I think they're kicking her off campus, but I guess she hasn't been back to the room all day. I don't really know. I've been camping out here for the past six hours."

"This is really stressful," Kai said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," I said. "I think it would be best for you to go be with Stella. She seems distressed as well."

"Yeah, I know." Jen placed her tablet back into her bag. "I'm getting sick of sitting here anyways. Thanks for talking to me, you guys. Even if you're a little weird."

"Everyone's a little weird. It makes us who we are!" Kai said, with far too much enthusiasm.

Jen's eyes shifted back and forth before she parted with us. The ceiling fans creaked above us in the empty lobby. Kai gathered her checkers and packed up Old Portable. I leaned forward and sorted out this new information in my head, searching for any memories wanting to come to light. As usual, there was nothing but rage and negativity.

"I assume Ace is still angry with me," I said.

"I think he's mad at me too, so don't worry about it."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't get on the bus with him. Hiatus called me and said he wants me to come back, but I keep telling him no. I won't go back without you. You already left us once, and look at where that got you. I don't think I could live with myself." Her eyes wandered around the lobby like they were looking to find the answer there. The statues and old paintings of donors and esteemed professors gave no response. "Ace is right. There's something going on with you. You need help, Tali. We can get you it."

"What I need to actually get is Molly...and Tristan."

"Tristan? What happened to him?" She stood up. "Do you think they took him?"

"Think? He's been gone the whole damn day."

"Where do you think they're holding him?"

"On campus, for sure." I looked out the lobby doors at the skyline. "If this got out to the Tampa PD it would get out to the media. That's the last thing Beck wants. My guess is, they're both being held at the office across campus until they can figure out what to do with them."

"I feel like you already have a plan."

"Absolutely."

I put my hood up and started walking towards the door, then down the concrete steps. The rain was pounding. The parking lot was filling up with water, so I took the sidewalk. Kai was right at my side, where I wanted her.

"Wait, so what is it?" Kai asked.

"Step one. We return to Tristan's room where my backpack is." I walked up the steps to the Van and opened the door. Soaked students trailed in behind me. My sneakers squeaked along the floor. "Step two: I retrieve what is in that backpack."

"Your m—"

"I know you're excited, but stifle yourself. We're in public." I opened the back door of the Van. We took a right to the covered walkway outside Austin Hall. "Step three: we walk to the office."

"Oh, and then we break in like total badasses and save the day!"

"Wouldn't that be lovely? To have it that easy?" I scanned the fake ID and the doors opened. "I think this will involve careful negotiation, unfortunately." I pressed the elevator button. It opened immediately. We stepped inside. The doors closed. "We also can't blatantly disregard this as a trap. Remember, I've been here for days, sometimes in plain sight, and I haven't been tracked down. Beck plays it off like him and campus safety are dimwits, but in actuality they know how to work things out to their benefit." I rubbed my stomach. "Exhibit A."

"Oh yeah, how are you feeling?"

"Much better." The doors opened. We stepped onto the black and white linoleum tiles of the hallway. "Did Ace take back his...special friend he lent you?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I didn't even mention it when he left. I knew that if I said nothing, he'd forget."

"Excellent." I knocked three times but wasted no time and opened the door anyway. Liam jumped up from his desk. "Don't mind us, Liam. We're just passing through."

I went over to the bed. Kai was gasping and poking me. I looked under it, lifted the sheets, and then turned around. The room was far messier than usual. Sheets were tossed on the floor. Drawers were opened with clothes tossed everywhere. The two other desk chairs were in the middle of the room, one of them upside-down. My backpack and sketch book were missing. This all felt was to familiar. I was met with Liam's terrified eyes when I looked at him.

"What the hell happened in here?" I asked.

"It was security," Liam said, his voice quivering. "They flipped the whole place and took all your stuff with them."