The blond boy stepped behind Miranda and grinned at Kylie. "Wouldn't want to be you," he said as if joking, then he fol owed Miranda out. Knees locked so she wouldn't crumble, Kylie came to her senses long enough to realize that at least half the crowd had gone. And of her bus buddies, the only ones remaining were Pale Girl, Goth Girl, Derek, and the guy with al the piercings.
"Okay," Holiday said. "Now, what I want is for al of you who know why you're here, to move to the far left. Al of you who don't, move to the far right."
Kylie remembered her feeling that this was about more than her trip to the police station and started to move to the right, but she noticed everyone shifting to the left. Not wanting to be singled out any more than she already had been, she went to stand beside Derek. He shot her a look of disbelief. Deciding to practice the whole eyebrow thing, she crinkled her forehead. When she looked over, only four people stood on the right side of the room. One of them was the pierced boy from her bus. Holiday looked at both groups and Sky walked in and stood beside the redheaded leader. "Okay, righties, come with me. Sky is going to talk to everyone else." Holiday started out, then stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. Her gaze slapped right into Kylie. "Come with us, Kylie."
Shocked the women knew her name, she shook her head. "I know why I'm here," she lied.
"Real y?" asked Holiday.
Deciding to take a stab at it, she said, "I got caught at a party where drugs were found."
A few snickers fil ed Kylie's ears.
Holiday frowned at the snickerers and motioned Kylie forward.
"Is it because my parents are getting a divorce?" she asked, feeling desperate.
Holiday didn't say anything, but then she didn't have to. The look she shot Kylie reminded her of her mom's don't-go-there stare. And the one time Kylie had gone there, she'd been grounded for a month. So Kylie fol owed Holiday and the four others out of the dining hal . When they walked past the crowd standing outside, Kylie felt al the eyes turn toward her. Miranda nodded and mouthed the words "good luck."
For some reason, Kylie suspected the girl's intentions were genuine.
Then Kylie spotted Lucas Parker standing beside the goth girl who'd raised her hand and asked about Kylie in the big meeting. They had their heads together, whispering, and they both stared at Kylie as if she didn't belong there. And damn if Kylie didn't agree with them. That's when Kylie realized that Lucas was dressed goth, too. Or at least he wore a black T-shirt. Of course, he looked real y good in that shirt. It fit his upper torso-
his very lean yet muscular upper torso-like a glove. So unfair, how guys didn't have to fol ow any fashion guidelines to look good. Realizing she was staring at the guy's abs, and that the goth chick was smirking at her, Kylie turned away and pretended she hadn't noticed the girl's rude expression. Now if she could just pretend none of this was happening. Right then the pierced guy fel into step beside Kylie. She glanced at him and tried to smile. They might be strangers, but at least they'd ridden the same bus and he seemed just as clueless as she was. He leaned in. "You wouldn't have brought any drugs with you, would you?"
Kylie's jaw dropped open in shock and mortification. Just shoot me now. Friggin' great. Thanks to her little slip in the dining room, everyone now considered her a druggie.
* * *
Holiday, her red hair flowing down her back, led them into a smal er cabin with a tin roof, located right behind the dining hal . From the woodenplank porch hung a sign that read CAMP OFFICE. Kylie and the other four fol owed her to a back room that looked like a classroom.
"Have a seat, guys." Holiday leaned against the desk in the front as she waited for everyone to settle in. Kylie felt the woman's gaze on her every few seconds as if she thought Kylie might try to bolt. Much to Holiday's credit, the idea had crossed Kylie's mind more than once. Hence the reason she chose the desk closest to the door.
Yet something kept Kylie from running, something besides the fact that she had never excel ed at the fifty-yard dash. Something more than fear of being caught trying to escape.
Curiosity.
For an unknown reason, Kylie sensed that whatever Holiday had to say, it was going to explain things. And Kylie desperately wanted an explanation.
"Okay," Holiday said, and offered everyone what appeared to be a relax-everything-is-cool kind of a smile. Nevertheless, it was going take more than a smile to convince Kylie.
"What I have to say is going to be a relief to most of you, because deep down you've known that something was ... different. Some of you have known it al your life, some of you have only recently come upon your destiny, but either way, this is probably going to be a shock." Holiday's gaze shifted to Kylie. "You guys are here because you are special. Gifted."
Holiday paused and Kylie waited for someone to ask the question, and when no one did, she blurted it out. "Define special."
"We've al read about the supernaturals, thing of legends, and from childhood, we're taught that they don't exist. The truth is that they do exist. Not everyone in the world is alike. And some of us are a lot more different than others. Some of us were born like this, some of us were changed. But no matter how this happened to you, if you are here it is because this is your destiny. It was chosen for you."
"Wait a minute," Kylie said before she could stop herself. "What are ... I mean, are you saying that ... that things like ... like-"
"Vampires exist?" Pierced Guy asked. "Oh, shit. I knew I wasn't crazy. That's why I got real y sick."
Kylie had to swal ow to keep from laughing. She'd been about to say things like angels, but this was ... it was stupid. The boy had obviously done too many drugs. Everyone knew that ... that vampires and crap like that didn't exist.
She waited for Holiday to correct the guy. And then waited some more. During that second delay, Kylie remembered how cold Pale Girl's touch had been. She remembered Blond Boy's ever changing eye color, she remembered Miranda's disappearing toad. No. She refused to let herself start to ...
"That's right, Jonathon," Holiday said. "They exist. And yes, you were turned last week."
"I knew they weren't just dreams," said the other girl. "The wolf I dreamed of. It was real."
Holiday nodded.
"No." Kylie held up her hand and shook her head so hard that blond hair brushed back and forth across her face. "I'm not going to believe this."