Chapter 15

Once the room was empty, I rose, collected my books, and strolled through the unusually quiet halls. Not a chance, I thought, there was absolutely no way I was going to health class.

Andrew may have left school, as I suspected, but his follower, John, was still around.

I slipped into the stairwell leading to the upper level of the auditorium. Even if the door had chains on it, the turn of the stairs would shield me from anyone roaming the halls.

I ascended as cautiously as I could manage. Upon reaching the top, the door handles were secured with a chain. Locked. Oh well, I mused. Unable to lean my back against the wall, I knelt, then curled my legs under me. I rested the side of my head against the cool wall. fleetingly, I pondered whether they would inform my father of my absence from class again, or if they would assume I had left to prepare for the full moon. It no longer mattered at all. I shut my eyes.

The coolness of the wall provided relief to my bruis