Chapter 14.

WELCOME TO ELLIOT: JUST SIGN HERE.

The first things I noticed were the coats. They were of a dark grey fabric, and funny looking wooden toggles cinching up their fronts. Giant hoods draped off the backs. They had lots of pockets, lots of chalk stains, and reached all the way down to the knees. Every student wore one, but it was the middle of the summer. I mopped the sweat off my brow and turned to Rei.

"What's up with the coats?"

"What coats?"

"Those coats."

"You mean those robes."

"No, I mean those coats."

"Dieter?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

My shoulders sank.

"Okay."

Dimly lit paths curved this way and that across the campus. A tranquil pond sat front and center, and a large lawn stretched out around it. The students were scattered about in little gatherings. One group had clearly just pillaged the votive candle section of Linens and Things. I counted three dozen. I had no idea why they needed so many candles, but the three students were going through the trouble of lighting every last one of them. I swatted the air in front of me. The bugs sure liked their offering.

We pa.s.sed two girls crouched around a swirling flame. A little humanoid the size of a mouse stood at the center of the fire. At first I thought it had been set alight, but then I looked closer. The little creature was the one responsible for the blaze-like he was made of fire or something. I did my best to play it cool. I put on my best "why yes, I too have summoned fiery man-creatures from beyond" face and kept walking. Then it occurred to me that the existence of fiery man-creatures from beyond required that there be an actual "beyond" from whence fire folk came. This hurt my head.

Rei glanced over at me and nodded. "Exactly, Dieter. Just avoid having the cattle and keep walking."

I cleared my throat. "A cow. It's 'don't have a cow.'"

Rei frowned. "I fail to see why it must be a female."

I stifled a snicker.

One of the two girls working with the fire creature looked up.

"Hey, Trish, a fresh grubby!" she said to her friend. "Howdy, newbie."

Witches could have Texas accents? Who knew?

"Ma'am," I said, tipping my invisible hat.

The heavily freckled Texan witch started giggling, but once she noticed Rei, she suddenly became very interested in the ground.

Trish waited till we were further down the path before she drove the stake in.

"Lucas isn't monitoring her anymore?" she whispered. "G.o.ds...they should just get it over with and slit all our throats."

I considered giving Trish a piece of my mind, but Rei jabbed her finger into my side.

"Forward, grubby," she teased. "We voyage to them-there buildings."

As we approached the towering building at the center of campus, I started to get anxious. There were more people here, and my Sight kept flaring. Waves of curiosity coursed over me. It felt like I was being poked and prodded. I double-checked the fly on my jeans. The attention was making me paranoid.

A guy that looked like he belonged in the NFL caught my eye. His huge frame was hunched over a little clay man, and he was laughing and waving his hands about. The clay thing was making its way through an obstacle course constructed of stuff borrowed from someone's desk. I watched it jump up and down on a stapler like it was a diving board. It looked like the clay thing was getting ready to leap over the adjacent in-out box. Mr. Super-Jock broke away from his work to watch Rei and me walk by.

"Aw, s.h.i.t...she managed to escort him without snacking?" His voice was a freakin' gravel factory. "d.a.m.n. There goes my beer money."

The muscular blond crouched next to him frowned.

"Roster, do you always have to be such an a.s.shole?"

"Sorry, shug," Roster said, bursting into another round of laughter.

The little clay man splattered to the ground.

"Oh, d.a.m.n!" Roster shouted. "Man Dough ate it on the front summersault. Medic!"

Roster and the blond busied themselves re-attaching appendages. But while Roster might have lost interest, the other students hadn't. His comment had opened the floodgates. A kid ran around chasing a girl using his fingers as fangs. The other girls pointed and chuckled. Growing bolder, he drew his dark grey outer garment around him like a cape.

"I vant to suck your b.o.o.bs!" he shouted.

I imagined ripping out his trachea.

It would be simple. Just dig the 'ole fingers in, wrap them around the tube, and yank.

I wiped off the beads of sweat beading up on my brow.

Whoa, I thought. When the heck did I ever think like that? I dropkicked the thought out of my head with a nervous chuckle. Only then did I notice Rei's hand wrapped around my left arm. She might have looked calm, but her jaw was taut. I tried to focus on something else. I made busy identifying buildings.

In front of us, at the edge of the lawn, was the main one. It was an ancient looking three-story stone monster. It looked just like it did on the brochure. It was called Central Hall and was where most of the cla.s.ses were held. To the right of Central were the large circular auditorium, cafeteria, and student lounge. I could see throngs of students eating, studying, and relaxing inside. On the other side of Central sat the ma.s.sive library. A trickle of students made their way in and out its large bronze doors. Strange...

I checked my watch. Near midnight. Vegas was a 24-hour town, but wasn't it a bit late for rural Connecticut?

I knew that Elliot's living communities (aka dorms) were behind Central Hall, but we weren't headed there yet. Rei led me into Central and up three ma.s.sive flights of stairs to a door labeled Administration. To my surprise, the whole place was buzzing with activity. A number of well-dressed men and women hustled about the office.

The receptionist stood to greet me, but her pleasantries were cut short when she caught sight of my escort.

"Oh..." the old spectacled lady said, her earnest smile growing forced. "h.e.l.lo, Ms. Bathory. Good to see you decided to return for another semester. I respect your...tenacity. And this must be the famous Dieter Resnick! Goodness me, I've heard a lot about you! My name is Betty Strouse. I manage this little madhouse."

It occurred to me that Ms. Strouse's make-up looked like cake batter.

Rei stifled a giggle.

I walked over to shake Ms. Strouse's hand. It was coated in sweat.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Strouse."

"Please have a seat, you two," Ms. Strouse said, retreating to her desk. "I'll page Dean Albright."

Rei and I sat-awkwardly. Rei had taken on a formal posture and didn't seem to be in the talking mood. She flipped through a small newspaper called The Daily Manangler with practiced indifference. "Cla.s.ses Start with a Poof!" was the headline.

The administration's office was adorned with some serious art. I was almost positive I'd seen the one with three women picking up hay somewhere before. It was painted in a palette of dreamy pastels that made me feel woozy. The furniture must have cost a mint too. Ms. Strouse's desk looked like something George Washington might have snored on. There was a computer sitting on top of her desk, but a large fern was draped over the monitor. Ms. Strouse was busy banging at the large plastic box next to it. The label said "IBM Selectric." This "Selectric" seemed to create letters by driving pieces of metal into a ribbon of ink.

A man wearing an actual bowtie approached her to discuss a piece of parchment.

Their conversation was in rapid-fire Latin.

I stared at my flip-flops and beat-up military duffle. My boots were still dangling off the bag by their laces. I decided to tuck in my western. I had never met a dean before. Should I have dressed up more? I sat and listened to the tick-tock of the grandfather clock. Stars above, what was I doing here?

I felt bad for Rei too. She probably just wanted to get this ch.o.r.e over with. Then she could go home, drain a few sheep, and kick back with her dog. I wondered if she microwaved the blood...

Behind her newspaper, Rei chuckled.

Ms. Strouse and bowtie guy tensed (preparing for the Carrie sequence, I presumed).

"Have you ever tried microwaving milk?" Rei asked.

"Then how...?"

"Like chocolate."

I smirked. Sometimes this partnering thing could be fun.

Five minutes later, Joseph Albright burst onto the scene, and what can I say, the man had presence. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and had the looks of one of the Euro-footballers that ran around with their shirt off after every goal. His curly black hair was immaculately coifed, and his broad grin boasted a 10K smile. I had just enough time to stand before the dean was grasping my hand with two of his own.

"Dieter Resnick, I presume. Great to finally meet you!"

The dean of student affairs had tumbled out of a fashion magazine. I was too busy envying his fine wool suit to speak.

"Now I must apologize for the nature of your enrollment-truly a terrible situation we put you in-but your case was a rather unique one. Oh the strings we had to pull. Had the whole office in an uproar. Betty was plain pulling out her hair! Had to go so far as to meet with de Rais herself. Plead the case, as it were."

"You met with her?" Rei asked, wide-eyed.

Ms. Strouse cleared her throat.

Dean Albright raised his hands in surrender.

"Right, right, the NDO. I'd forgotten. Thank you for reminding me." Albright rocked back and forth on his toes. "But I've digressed!" Albright spread his arms wide. "Welcome to Elliot, Mr. Resnick. I know things must be disconcerting at the moment, but I think you're going to love it here. The things you're about to see...the adventures!" His vibrant eyes met mine. I guessed this was the part where I talked.

"Well, sir, to be honest, I'd appreciate if things would just slow down a bit. It's just been one big shock after another."

Rei snickered once, tried to catch herself, snorted, then lost it altogether.

The girl liked her puns.

"Ah, Ms. Bathory!" Albright said, finally taking note of her. "Thank you so much for meeting up with Mr. Resnick."

Rei cut her own giggles off midstream and did her best to stand tall.

"Thank you, sir. It was my pleasure, sir."

I raised an eyebrow. It did seem to be a pleasure.

"No troubles I presume?"

"Well..." Rei frowned. "I'm afraid so, sir. I have a contact incident to report."

The steady flow of Ms. Strouse's keystrokes faltered.

"Go on."

"Yes, sir. As instructed, I intercepted Mr. Resnick outside of Chicago. He was unaware of my status, and I tracked him under close contact protocol to Penn Station. Upon arrival, contact occurred almost immediately. One Tier 2 magus and two minor trolls were sweeping the station. Their tactics were simplistic. The magus discharged an aggressive aura in the hope of spooking the target." Rei looked at me approvingly. "But the tactic failed. Mr. Resnick did not spook. I decided to take the initiative. I deployed myself as bait and-"

"Oh, G.o.d," Albright said. He leaned against a wall. "Ms. Strouse, please contact the emba.s.sy and-"

Rei c.o.c.ked her head to the side. "Sir, the men weren't ours."

"Are you certain?" he asked, doubtfully.

Rei bristled, and I experienced a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Of course I am, sir. They were mere mercenary sc.u.m. Not even the Loki would send s.h.i.te like that into the field."

Albright looked uncertain but nodded. "Very well, Ms. Bathory. Continue."

"Well, the three of them engaged in pursuit, and I proceeded to New York City Containment Point Gamma. That is when the first complication arose, sir. Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Resnick decided to pursue the hostiles."

Albright turned to me. "You didn't know Ms. Bathory's nature at the time?"

"Nature?" I was still trying to figure out what a Containment Point was. "Oh, you mean the whole vampire thing? No, sir, but I had concluded that she was a weirdo."

"Ah, damsel saving..." Dean Albright looked a bit nostalgic. "Once, when I was a boy, I-"

Ms. Strouse cleared her throat again.

Albright frowned at her. "It was related. Please continue, Ms. Bathory."

"Yes, sir," Rei said, her cheeks slightly red. "Once I arrived at CP Gamma, the men demanded I hand over my charge. This surprised me. Such information is confidential, no?"