Our plans can’t wait until tomorrow, thought Abby. I don’t know how I’ll find Carrie, but when I do, I’m going to keep an eye on her by myself.
Abby had to work in the Quad Caf for the dinner shift. She was glad, since she realized she missed David being with them. He didn’t always talk a lot, but she was used to his being around. Jerry waved at her as he entered the cafeteria, then took a seat next to Lenny. Every time she looked at them they were waving their arms and talking nonstop. She was sure that horror movies was the topic of conversation. Jerry had met his soulmate.
Sissy never came through the line. Abby would bet her share of the gooey enchiladas she kept dipping up that Sissy had gone to the hospital. Maybe that would cheer David up. He was the lowest that Abby had ever seen him.
“I’ll walk you to the library,” said a voice that came from the gathering shadows. It was Martin Beecher, and it seemed he had been waiting for Abby to finish work. “How is David?”
“He’ll be all right,” Abby said, falling in step beside Martin. She was glad for his company.
Martin smiled at her, and she noticed how attractive he was with his unique combination of dark red hair and bright blue eyes. “Maybe we can take a break, get something to eat, after we hit the books for a while,” he suggested.
“I — I’m not sure.” Abby didn’t want to be tied down if she saw Carrie. “I’m really tired. We spent most of last night talking to the police.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Of course you did. I’ll just walk you home later. I hate for you to walk back to the Quad alone after dark, what with everything that’s been going on.”
“Thanks for worrying.” Abby smiled. She didn’t want him to give up on her.
After looking up some books, she headed straight for the stacks. She was in luck. Staring at a shelf of American history books, she heard whispered arguing. She sneaked to the end of the floor-to-ceiling shelf of books. There in the next aisle was Carrie with her boyfriend, Quinton Brooks. Abby knew him only by sight and from the few remarks Carrie had made about him. But he looked angry.
Carrie whirled around and started in Abby’s direction. Abby ducked back and watched her storm past. Quinton followed her, then stopped and stared, his face as dark as tornado clouds.
Abby didn’t hesitate. Martin wasn’t at the table, but she’d explain later where she’d gone. Grabbing her books, she jammed them into her tote.
Out on the library steps, she glanced in every direction. Carrie was practically running, but Abby spotted her disappearing into the shadows towards Varsity Pond.
Running lightly, Abby followed. She planned to stick tight to Carrie Milholland. She was going to find out where her roommate disappeared to every night.
Chapter 16
At first Abby thought Carrie was heading for the dorm. That wasn’t going to answer any questions if Carrie went to their room and went to bed early.
Carrie slowed to a walk, enabling Abby to catch up. She was careful not to get too close, but Carrie never looked back. Abby waited in shadows while Carrie walked under a street lamp.
As she reached Varsity Pond, Carrie hesitated, then seemed to follow an impulse to detour into the woods. This made it easier for Abby to follow close behind. But when Carrie collapsed on a park bench and started to cry, it was all Abby could do to stay hidden, not to go sit beside her, comfort her, find out what was wrong. Well, she knew what was wrong. Carrie and Quinton were fighting.
Finally Carrie took a few ragged breaths, blew her nose, and took a deep breath. Suddenly Abby heard her speak.
“What are you doing here?” Anger filled Carrie’s voice. “You followed me, didn’t you? I told you we were through.”
The bench was mostly in shadow, and Abby could barely see Carrie.
She didn’t recognize the low, deep voice that answered, but she was sure it was Quinton Brooks. She couldn’t understand exactly what he said. The next sound was obvious. The smack of a hand on a face.
Carrie started to cry. “Stop it, Quint.”
“You went to the police, didn’t you?”
“Stop it! I told you I wouldn’t see you again. We’re through.”
“I won’t let you go.” Another smack. He was hitting Carrie.
At last Abby understood. The bruises on Carrie’s face, that’s where they’d come from. Quinton Brooks had been beating up on Carrie.
The next sound was not a slap, but it was still flesh hitting flesh. Should Abby show herself? Go to help Carrie?
Of course she should. She stepped out from behind the clump of small pines and ran towards Carrie. She heard Carrie groan, down near the ground.
“Carrie, are you all right?” Abby neared the couple. “Stop that, Quint.” She called his name as if she knew him. Could she talk him out of beating up on Carrie? How could she stop this?
“Who are you?” he growled. “This is none of your business.” A dark shadow loomed in front of her.
“Carrie is my roommate. You’re hurting her and it isn’t the first time. I’m making it my business.” She addressed the voice in the darkness, the black form in front of her.
Before she could decide what to do, what else to say, Abby felt Quint’s fist punch the soft flesh of her own stomach. She bent double with pain, gasping, trying to breathe.
Then she smelled the rotten odor that was so familiar. The musty, sweaty, dirty sock smells. She heard the deep, guttural growl, the moaning.
My God, it was here. Right behind her. But before she could move aside and let the monster attack Quinton Brooks — she couldn’t help but hope it would — Quint punched her again.
His knuckles colliding with her chin jerked her head back, swung her around and away from Carrie on the ground.
She heard one last roar as the ground came up to meet her body slamming against it. The deepest black void of all closed around her.
Chapter 17
The first voice that penetrated her darkness was Martin’s.
“Abby, Abby, are you all right? I told you I wanted to walk you home. Why didn’t you listen to me? This campus isn’t safe right now.”
Abby felt as if her eyes were weighted with tiny sand bags. Her body was a balloon filled with lead and her legs had steel bands holding them down. But she was able to pull her lips into a tiny smile at knowing, one, she wasn’t dead, and two, Martin was there, holding her in his arms.
“Oh, Abby.” Maybe he saw the smile. His lips brushed hers slightly. “If you can smile, you can speak. Tell me you’re all right. Whisper, I’ll hear it.”
“I — I’m okay, Martin,” Abby whispered. “I — I —” She tried to sit up. “Keep — keep kissing me. I know that will help.”
For a couple of seconds Martin’s lips were warmer, firmer on hers. “Take it slowly. I’ll help you.” Martin pulled her to a sitting position and held her tightly in his arms. His warm body, his strength was so comforting, she wanted to stay there forever.
“Hummmmm” was all she could manage to say.
But Martin must have decided this was not the time or the place for a love scene. He changed the subject, pulling Abby back to the present. “This place reeks of that thing. Did you see it? I think it went after Quinton first. He’s hurt badly, or looks as if he is. I just got a glimpse of him before the ambulance took him to the hospital.”
“Carrie?” Abby whispered again.
“Scared to death, but she’s all right. She’s over there, talking to the police. Maybe they’ll do something now. This person — thing — that’s attacking people is definitely not carrying out a fraternity prank. Surely they know that now.”
“Abby? Can you talk to us?” A strong voice came from above her. She realized it was Officer Mooney.
“I — I think so.” She tried to stand and nearly fainted.
“I think she’s in shock, Officer,” Martin said. “Maybe she should go to the hospital, too. Just to be sure she’s all right.”
“No, no, I’m fine. I just feel weak. An
d — and —” She remembered. “I know why my stomach hurts and my jaw feels broken. Quinton hit me. It’s coming back.”
“Quinton Brooks hit you?” Martin asked. “Whatever for?”
“He — he was beating up on Carrie. I got in the way. I — I had followed Carrie when she left the library. I wanted to know where she went every night. You know, Officer Mooney, because of the — the evidence on her bed. But now I know how she gets all those bruises. I learned the hard way. Quinton has been beating up on her for some time.”
“Yes, Abby, we know that. She finally got up the nerve to turn him in last week. She’s been staying in a safehouse. But it’s hard for us to make sure a guy stays away from the girl he’s abusing.”
“They had a fight in the library. She left, and Quinton followed her. He started beating up on her again when she stopped by the lake.”
“Why did she stop there by herself?” Martin said. “It looks as if whoever or whatever is attacking people hangs out there. You should have known that, too, Abby.”
Abby’s head was clearing. She must have hit it when she fell. She groaned as she moved again, though. Her stomach still felt caved in and her jaw ached. She fought nausea.
“I — I wasn’t thinking about the monster, Martin. And Carrie may not have known David was attacked here. She had other things on her mind.”
“I’m going to order a full search of this area of campus,” Officer Mooney said. “If the attacker is a student, he can get away easily, but he’d have to hide his costume. Maybe we can find that, or some clue to lead us to it, or him.”
“Does this guy always smell like a year’s supply of dirty socks?” Mooney asked.
“Yes, all musty and rotten.” Abby struggled to her feet, but leaned on Martin. “Has there ever been a performance of a horror play on campus? Maybe he found a really old costume in one of the trunks in the drama department.”
Maybe someone helped him find it. Her mind flew to Sissy. Maybe she helped the guy in the beginning, but when she was attracted to David, the guy got angry or jealous and hurt David to get back at Sissy.
“Good idea, Abby,” Mooney said. “We’ll search there, too. And your dorm. All the dorms if we have to. I’m afraid he’s going to kill someone.”
Abby shivered.
“You’re cold, Abby.” Martin took off his jacket and put it on Abby. “I’m taking her home, Officer Mooney, if that’s all right with you.”
“Yes, fine. We know where she is if we need any more information about tonight.” Mooney turned back to where his men were aiming lights around the water. Abby realized she’d been sitting on the path above Varsity Pond, near one of the pole lights. She didn’t ask how she got there.
“How’d you find me?” She did wonder about that.
“When I saw you were gone, I didn’t know whether to be insulted or panicked,” Martin explained. “I decided I’d go for alarm first and if you’d left with another guy, I’d deal with jealousy later.”
Jealousy? Abby wondered, picking out that one word. Martin would be jealous if she left with another guy? She liked that idea. It warmed her even more than his jacket, which smelled of some earthy aftershave.
“I didn’t see you anywhere when I got outside, but I guessed you might have headed for the Quad or the chem lab — I know you go there a lot when you leave the library.”
“You’ve followed me before?” Abby accused.
“Oh, great, now you’ll think I’m one of those obsessive-compulsive types. No, I didn’t follow you. I overheard you say where you were going once, and then Gina told me you’re there a lot, trying to raise your chem grade.
“Anyway, both the Quad and Griswold Hall are in the same direction, so I walked that way. Then I heard all that noise by the pond. By the time I got there, Carrie was hysterical. I ran to call the police. When I got back, I found Quinton looking like a disaster zone, Carrie bent over him crying. Finally I heard moaning and found you a few feet away, nearer the path. Maybe I shouldn’t have moved you, but I dragged you into the light. You know the rest of the story.”
“You sat by me until the police came.”
“Of course. Oh, Abby, that thing could have attacked you instead of Quinton.”
Abby shivered again at the idea. But she started to feel angry, too. If Quinton hadn’t punched her out, she might have been able to see the monster, get some idea of what it looked like and maybe even identify who it was.
“Come on, Abby,” Martin urged. “I’m taking you to your room. You’re going to feel worse tomorrow. And you may look like a Saturday night brawl.” He laughed a little.
“I don’t know why men like fighting each other.” Abby rubbed her jaw again. “Getting punched out hurts.”
“Most of us don’t like to fight. But it comes in handy to know how. Haven’t you ever been insulted, or so angry you felt like hitting someone?”
“I guess I can understand a little. I wanted to hit Quinton when he hit Carrie. But all I did was yell at him. And get in his way. That wasn’t very effective, was it?”
“Abby, could Carrie have been carrying a knife?” Martin asked, his tone sober.
“You mean, she could have gotten angry enough to cut Quinton?”
“Women have been known to fight back. Eventually. When they’re pushed too far. Maybe when he hit you, her friend —”
“But that wouldn’t explain why this whole place smells like the monster.”
“I guess you’re right.” Martin took Abby’s arm.
A crowd had gathered at the other end of the path, under the other light. As Abby and Martin approached it, people began to murmur. “Are you all right, Abby?” someone asked.
She nodded as she looked up to see who had asked. It was Jess. “Yes, I’ll be okay. Thanks.”
Before she looked back at the path, having to think about every weary step, she saw someone else staring at her.
Stan Hurley stood at one end of the crowd, his eyes glued to hers. She couldn’t read his expression, but goose bumps rose on her arms again at seeing him here.
It seemed like too much of a coincidence to think he’d just happened along like everyone else had. Then hung around to find out what was happening.
And then Abby saw an eerie smile flit over his lips.
Chapter 18
Abby worked really hard in chem lab the next day so she wouldn’t have to work at night. There was hardly a night that she came in the lab that Stan Hurley wasn’t there. She didn’t want to be alone with him.
Her extra credit experiment was almost finished — again. She’d found it difficult to remember her initial conception of the project — and she had to admit, the first experiment was partly an accident. A lot of famous discoveries were accidents, weren’t they? She wished David were here. He was such a genius in chemistry. Maybe she’d cut her class before lunch and go see him. The bandages were coming off today. He would need support.
She did just that. On the way, she stopped at Burgers Etc., the long, silver diner midway between campus and town. She knew David would be ready for some real food by now.
Coke in hand, she slipped into his room, wanting to surprise him. Just as she opened her mouth to say, “Surprise!” she caught a glimpse of David’s face. The Coke dropped from her hand, liquid and ice spilling around him on the bed at the same time a gasp escaped her mouth. “Oh!”
David’s eyes had been closed, but he wasn’t asleep. He raised up on one elbow and stared at her as if she were a total stranger. Then he went limp, turned his face away, and stared out the window.
“Pretty bad, isn’t it?”
“I — it’ll be better when the scratches heal.” What else could she say now that she had made a scene as well as a mess? “I’ve made a terrible mess.” She hurried to scoop up ice in her empty cup. “Let’s ring for the nurse and get you another sheet.”
“Ask for a new face at the same time, will you?”
“Oh, David.” Abby sat on the chair by his bed instead of
continuing her cleanup. “I’m so sorry. But no kidding, when the scratches heal, you’ll probably only have tiny scars.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The stitches and welts created angry hot pink designs on what had once been the most handsome face Abby had ever seen outside of the movies. David could have been a model or a movie star if he wanted to.
Think fast, Abby, she ordered her brain. “I brought you a burger from Burgers Etc. And fries, too. Here, sit up. If the nurse comes in, she’ll take it away from you. There’s a rule that hospital patients can only have carrot mush and green Jell-O.” Rattling the bag, she spread out David’s picnic.
“I’ll eat if you’ll stop pretending, Abby.” Slowly, David sat up, looked in the white paper bag. “No ketchup?”
“At the bottom of the fries. They may be soggy, but think what’ll be on the hospital lunch tray.”
Abby sat for a few seconds, unwrapping the silver paper from her own burger. The greasy smell filled her nostrils, making her stomach churn. She took a bite anyway, chewed slowly.
“Okay, you look awful. Have you considered plastic surgery?”
“The doctor wants to wait and see. Maybe I’ll grow a beard. And a mustache. And my bangs long.” David’s attempt at humor was lame. “This food is wonderful, Abby. Thanks.”
“Has Sissy been in?”
“Yes. I asked her not to come back. I can’t stand the way she looks at me.”
“She’ll be all right. It’s just that the initial shock is — is —”
“Yeah. I hope my mother won’t come. She’ll make a scene.”
Abby didn’t know what else to say. The silence became awkward. “I guess I’d better get back to school. I cut my English lit class, but I don’t dare cut history.”
“Abby,” David took her hand. His brown eyes looked concerned. “Don’t walk across the campus by yourself at night until this thing is caught.”
Abby hadn’t told David about Quinton Brooks punching her out. Or his being attacked. She figured he’d hear soon enough, and she didn’t want him to worry about her. She’d carefully covered her bruises with makeup, and he apparently hadn’t noticed them.
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