Sarah Benadine is Dead

Chapter XXI, Part II

Ollie, Jared, and Ginger told their siblings to go home without them. They'd been waiting patiently by the front door; lying almost too easily, Ollie, Jared, and Ginger told them they had work for class that they needed to do at school. The excuse was accepted without question. All three promised resolutely to walk home together—with Dexter Bradbury, of course—and to be home long before dark. As for Shannon and Dexter himself, Professor Nadig allowed them to use the school telephone to call home to provide the same excuse. It seemed perfectly reasonable.

The reality of what they were doing was much darker. And it was only the first step.

They gathered, oddly enough, in Allison's dorm room. They all agreed it was the safest place. Tuly was in the infirmary and Maggie and Francine most likely wouldn't return to the dormitory until after dinner. There would be no one to overhear. After months of separation, Allison Groves stood with Shannon, Caleb, Dexter, Ginger, Jared, and Ollie as if those months had never happened. To further cement the illusion, they were discussing the same thing they had been the last true time they'd been together.

Shannon Malone thought that maybe there were things in life that had to be dealt with and there was no designated person to deal with them. Maybe some things had to be faced by whoever got the chance. Perhaps the person with the chance in this case was her. She thought the others understood that; she thought they realized they couldn't change her mind.

None of them had to like it, though.

"This is a bad idea." Ollie had been repeating that phrase ever since the seven of them had gotten to Allison's dorm room. The others were mostly ignoring her; Shannon was, at least, and she figured Ollie was saying it more for her own benefit than anyone else's. Shannon didn't need it; she already knew.

"You really want to kill them, huh?" Allison said, talking over Ollie completely. "The vampires?"

"They got Toni, Allison," Shannon said. "Almost killed her."

Allison looked at her with pursed lips, eyebrows drawn together. Shannon looked back almost defiantly, waiting for the other girl to say something. Finally, Allison just nodded, her shoulders slumping.

"How are you gonna find them, Shannon?" Caleb asked. "I don't really think you should just wait around outside at night. That was stupid enough the first time."

Shannon sighed. "No, you're right. And I don't really know if I'll be able to find them. But...I have an idea."

"Oh no," Ollie moaned, her voice very small.

"Allison had an idea, too," Jared said. "It didn't go so well."

"You know, I can hear you, asshole," Allison snapped.

"Mine is better," Shannon said. Allison squawked indignantly.

"Oh, good. Better." Ollie sounded on the verge of some sort of breakdown. Frantically, she chewed on her nails.

"What is it?" Caleb asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Well, think about it," Shannon said. "That night, outside, we were standing by the door into the kitchen. And Ollie found Diane Merriweather in the dining hall. And Signora Moretti said something went after her chickens—the coop's just outside the kitchen door. I think...I think maybe the vampires...I don't know, stay close to the kitchen and the dining hall? That's where everything seems to happen."

"But...where?" Dexter asked. "If there were vampires in the dining hall or kitchen, I think someone would have seen them by now."

"I don't know," Shannon admitted. "But maybe...what's underneath the dining hall? Do any of you know?"