Pure: Ignis Part 5

Simon had been extremely skeptical of my story, but to his credit, he had agreed to help me. But shortly after that, GM and I had been forced to flee to Russia. Despite what had happened to his brother, Simon knew very little about what had taken place in Russia, and the two of us had never spoken about Gleb again. I wondered if he'd believed anything I'd said then-or if he'd thought I'd gone temporarily insane.

Simon continued to look at me nervously. Eventually, he looked down and scuffed a shoe on the linoleum floor, producing a sharp sound that echoed noisily in the empty hall.

He took a deep breath and gave me a resolute look.

"People are saying that you were out with that guy again this weekend."

"That guy?" I didn't want to be offended-Simon was my friend-but I couldn't help resenting the tone of his voice.

"You know-the one you were dancing with at Irina's Halloween party."

"His name is William-I told you that."

"Yeah-William. You were seen with him at the skating rink yesterday."

"I was 'seen'?" I said. "You make it sound like some kind of horrible secret."

I winced a little on the inside as I said the words. My meetings with William had been a secret from GM. I hadn't kept them a secret from anyone else, though.

Simon ran a hand over his hair. "Katie, please just listen. I didn't come here to offend you. I'm talking to you about this because I'm worried about you-I care about you. It's just that this guy William has been seen all over town, and n.o.body knows much about him. He's even been seen here at school a couple of times, and I'm pretty sure he isn't actually a student."

Simon stopped and gave me a level stare. "How much do you actually know about this guy?"

"I know enough," I said.

I couldn't admit to Simon that I knew very little about William. William's stolen memories were partially to blame for my lack of knowledge, of course. But there was no reason why William couldn't tell me about his life since he'd moved to Elspeth's Grove. There was no reason, for example, why he couldn't tell me where he lived. But as he had done yesterday, William always claimed that he was keeping me in the dark for my own protection. I found his silence very frustrating.

"You know enough?" Simon was incredulous. "Katie, this guy-"

"William," I said firmly.

Simon sighed.

"William," he said, speaking the name very deliberately, "sounds like trouble."

I bristled. "William is not trouble. He's the best thing that ever happened to me."

A look of pain came into Simon's eyes, and I regretted having spoken so quickly. I didn't regret the words themselves-I meant them very sincerely. But I could have spoken to Simon more carefully-it hadn't been that long since he had had his crush on me.

I looked at Simon closely then. He had seemed to accept that the two of us were better off as friends, but was it possible that he still saw me in a romantic light?

"I don't think that he's good for you, Katie," Simon said. "He's been filling your head with crazy stories-telling you that there's a dead guy after you. It's like he's got some kind of hold on you."

I sighed inwardly. So Simon did remember what I'd told him back in October. There was a lot more I could tell him now. But I knew he wouldn't believe me, and none of it would make him like William any better.

Simon continued. "That-William has also been seen wandering around in the Old Grove. And you do know a girl was attacked there last night, don't you?"

"No," I said, startled. "What happened?"

The Old Grove was south and east of my house-in the opposite direction of Hywel's Plaza. It was the place where our town's founder, Elspeth Quick, had supposedly hidden from pursuers who had wanted to burn her for witchcraft. It was a place that was reputed to be the site of hauntings and other supernatural activity.

"Some weird guy grabbed her, tore her neck up," Simon said. "Travis Ballenski told me. His dad's a cop. The police haven't released the girl's name yet, but Travis did tell me that she's going to be okay. She's still in the hospital right now. You know, you have to be really sick in the head to do something like that. They don't know who it was who attacked her, but, Katie, I wouldn't be surprised to find out it was this William guy."

I suddenly felt chilled. I knew that William wasn't guilty. But what Simon described did sound like a vampire attack, and I had a pretty good idea who was behind it-either Anton or Innokenti-or possibly even both of them. I was glad the girl was okay, but I was alarmed by the attack-very alarmed. It meant that the vampires had not left-they were still hanging around town.

Simon continued. "Katie, you should take a warning from this. Like I said, how much do you actually know about this William guy? He kind of seems like a drifter. And drifters aren't usually good news."

"William is not a drifter," I said angrily.

Simon ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't seem to be getting through to you. I don't know what I have to say to you to get you to be concerned about your own safety."

"I'm perfectly safe with William," I said.

Simon hung his head for a moment, and then looked up at me. "What does your grandmother think of him?"

Simon knew GM well, and I knew he liked and respected her.

"GM has invited William over to dinner tonight," I said.

Simon threw up his hands. "Then I give up. Just promise me that you'll be very, very careful."

"I will," I said.

The warning bell rang, and Simon looked around.

"I guess we'd better get going," he said.

Simon really didn't look too pleased about the idea-he looked as if he would prefer to stay with me and argue about William.

People began to file into the hallway, and we joined the crowd.

The two of us walked together in silence until we arrived at my cla.s.sroom.

"I'll see you at lunch, Katie," Simon said, and he looked so worried that I felt very genuinely sorry for him.

I wished I could rea.s.sure him, but I had a feeling that nothing I could say would make him trust William.

I went in to homeroom.

I sat through the announcements, and then went on to first-period Social Studies. I tried to pay attention to the lecture, but I couldn't help thinking about the girl who had been attacked. I had a terrible feeling that she wouldn't be the only one. I was glad I'd asked William to come see me at school today.

I needed to tell him about the attack.

Eventually, the bell rang, and I moved on to second-period English. My friends Charisse and Branden were both in the cla.s.s, and I spotted them as I walked in. Charisse had dark brown skin and black hair was arranged today in a cl.u.s.ter of curls on top of her head. Branden was pale, tall, and long-limbed, and his brown hair was, as usual, falling in his eyes.

It was unusual for the two of them to have arrived in the cla.s.sroom ahead of me-they had a tendency to linger in the halls. Right now they were standing together and talking in low, serious tones. The two of them were dating and were really happy together-though they didn't look terribly happy at the moment.

I said hi as I walked past them-they looked like they didn't want to be disturbed at the moment-and Charisse reached out to grab my sleeve.

"We need to talk after cla.s.s," she said.

"Okay," I replied, a little surprised.

Charisse smiled her thanks, and I moved on to my desk.

Mrs. Swinburne, our subst.i.tute teacher for the rest of the year, was seated at her desk, calmly sorting papers into neat piles. After our original English teacher, Mr. Del Gatto, had disappeared, a sub named Mr. Hightower had been brought in.

I felt a wave of revulsion wash over me as I thought of him.

Mr. Hightower had been sleek and superficially handsome. He had also been Gleb Mstislav's son Timofei, in disguise. Timofei had been responsible for Mr. Del Gatto's disappearance and eventual death. After Timofei-as Mr. Hightower-had gone missing himself, Mrs. Swinburne had taken over as the sub. And then, after Timofei had followed me to Russia and had met with his own death there, Mrs. Swinburne had been asked to remain until the year was out-and it was hard to think of someone who was more of a contrast to Timofei. Mrs. Swinburne with her permanently prim expression and cloud of fluffy brown hair was eminently respectable. Timofei had been all flashy disingenuousness.

I heard fierce whispering nearby, and I looked around. Irina Neverov, her glossy dark hair pulled into a smooth ponytail, was giving her friend Bryony Carson a sibilant harangue. I thought for a moment that Irina might be talking about me-she often was-but this time she didn't appear to be paying any attention to me.

I watched them for a moment. I wasn't surprised to see that Irina was doing all of the talking-Irina was clearly the leader and Bryony and her other friend Annamaria were her faithful followers. I seldom saw the three of them apart. But I was surprised to see that Annamaria was not in her usual spot at Irina's side, and both she and Bryony looked tense.

I had a feeling something was wrong.

As I watched the two of them, Irina glanced up and glared at me. I looked away quickly.

Irina and I had been friends a long time ago when we both were small. But as we'd entered high school we had most definitely grown apart-until we'd reached a point at which Irina wouldn't speak to me unless she absolutely had to. Things had thawed between us after Irina had been kidnapped and both of us had been trapped down in the tunnels that stretched under the Mstislav mansion. Irina's memories of the event were hazy, but her ordeal had changed her for a time. She had even gone so far as to invite me to her father's Halloween party-the same party where I was reunited with William. But things had gone sour again between Irina and me shortly after that, and I wasn't entirely sure why. It seemed that we were once again not on speaking terms.

When the bell rang to signal the start of cla.s.s, Mrs. Swinburne rose and closed the door. I happened to glance back at Charisse, and she gave me a significant look. I could tell something was going on with her-this wasn't a typical talk she wanted to have later.

After cla.s.s, Charisse appeared at my desk and waved to Branden as he left the room.

I picked up my things quickly, and I stood up. "What's up?"

Charisse smiled and shot a glance around the room. "Not in here. Let's talk out in the hall where we'll be a little more anonymous."

I nodded, and we moved out into the hall.

With students chattering all around us, Charisse dropped her smile.

She lowered her voice. "It's my mom."

"Your mom?" I asked. "Is she sick?"

"No."

Charisse seemed hesitant to go on, but she had said that she wanted to talk-so I waited patiently for her to speak as we walked.

"My mom is dating again," Charisse said after a few moments, and her voice shook just a little bit.

I was startled. "She's dating? Already?"

"Shhhh!" Charisse hissed. "Not so loud. And yes."

"But what about the divorce?" I asked. "It can't be final yet."

"It isn't," Charisse replied. "But she said that the marriage is as good as over, and that the official end is really just a technicality."

"I suppose that's true," I said.

I was trying to tread very carefully here. Even though we were best friends, Charisse was not big on opening up to people, including me. Charisse's parents had separated in October just before all the trouble with Gleb had started. At the time, Charisse had claimed not to be bothered by the impending divorce-however, she had also suddenly begun to put a lot of energy into her relations.h.i.+p with Branden-and the two of them had actually tried to get married-even though they were both underage.

Since Charisse and Branden had called off their illegal marriage plans, Charisse had continued to say very little about her parents and their divorce. I had a feeling that it troubled her a lot more than she would say, but I never said anything about it unless she brought it up. I hoped she knew that I would support her and not judge her.

Charisse lapsed into silence once again, and I could see signs of strain around her eyes. I wasn't entirely sure how to help her.

"Does your dad know?" I asked after a moment.

"I don't know," Charisse replied. "I don't know if it would make any difference if he did."

Charisse stopped suddenly and closed her eyes tightly. Then she shook her head.

I stopped beside her, concerned.

She opened her eyes and the look she gave me was full of fear.

"This guy my mom is seeing is strange-really strange. And someone needs to talk to her about him. She won't listen to me about him at all. She gets really stubborn. Once upon a time, my dad was the only person who could talk to her when she got that way. But now, of course, he's out of the picture. And even if they were on speaking terms, which they aren't, she would hardly take his advice on romance."

I suddenly felt chilled, though I didn't know why. Surely, it wasn't unusual for a child, even an older one to feel uneasy when a newly single parent started dating-so Charisse's anxiety was probably perfectly normal. But all the same, there was something very convincing about her fear.

Charisse was genuinely worried.

"What do you mean this guy your mom is dating is strange?" I asked. "Strange in what way?"

"I don't know exactly." She gave me a glimmer of her usual smile. "Maybe it's nothing."

"Charisse," I began carefully, "you shouldn't force your feelings underground. If something feels off to you, you should talk about it."

Charisse frowned, and then gave me an oddly desperate look. "I don't know what it is, Katie. I really don't. He certainly hasn't done anything wrong. And it's not anything he's said, either-in fact, he's very charming and polite. I can't actually pin anything on him, and yet-"

She paused, and when she went on her voice was small and frightened. "Katie, I think this concerns you too. Would you-that is, I need you to-"

Charisse stopped suddenly and drew back as if she'd been caught at something. She looked around and gave me a small smile. "This is my hallway. I'd better go. You should forget what I've said. I really shouldn't have brought this up at all."

She turned to go.

"Charisse, wait," I said.

She turned back and waved, but she kept going.

I had no choice but to hurry on to cla.s.s.

I was growing increasingly anxious to see William. I never knew when or where he would show up when he came to see me at school. I just hoped he would appear soon. I needed to see him-I needed to hear him. I clutched my charm-it made him feel nearer somehow.

Third period and fourth period pa.s.sed, and I didn't see William. I went to lunch, and I sat with Charisse, Branden, and Simon like I usually did. All traces of Charisse's earlier uneasiness seemed to have vanished-she and Branden were teasing each other back and forth. Simon seemed to be working harder than usual to make me laugh, but I wasn't in a terribly humorous mood. I was beginning to worry that maybe William wouldn't show up today. GM would be really unhappy if she agreed to have him over for dinner and then he didn't show.