Kissed By Moonlight (31 page)

"Stephanie... Move away from him," Vick said.

"It's okay. Look? He's not going to hurt me. He's not going to hurt anyone."

Then Vick's father put his face up to the window.

"Now!
You can kill him right now! Stun him!"

Adam growled, the vibrations of it moving through me, as he shoved me away. It was too late, though. Someone up above fired their
taser, the electrodes latching into his flesh.

The lines buzzed as electricity pumped into him. Even with all his strength, his muscles froze up and he toppled to the floor convulsing.

"Stop!" I screamed up at them, "Stop!"

"Victor, kill him now. Stab his heart with that knife and I promise I'll forget about all this nonsense. Show me you know how to make the right choice!"

The shocking stopped. Little wisps of smoke rose up from the contact points on Adam's furry body. He lay on his back, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. His eyes rolled madly with pain, and little whimpers escaped his throat.

Vick looked at Adam. He raised his knife. I started to move myself between them, but he shot me a look and I stopped.

"I've made my choice," Vick said.

He shuffled over to stand between Adam and the door. Grunting with the pain, he raised the knife up in front of him.

"Adam isn't a monster. He doesn't deserve to die. I'm not going to kill him... And neither are any of you. Unless you kill me first, that is," Vick said.

There was a scuffle up on the roof. I looked up in time to dodge something small and shiny that cracked when it hit the floor. It was the
taser. I shielded my face and looked up again.

Several of the people up there were holding another person back. My heart leapt. They'd rebelled, holding back the person stunning Adam!

"Just let him go! Let them all go!" a woman called down.

"He's not a monster! Did you see what he did?" another man said.

Adam collapsed to the ground then.

"Adam!" I said, running over to kneel beside him.

At first, I didn't know what was happening. He was getting... smaller somehow. Then the fur began receding, the snout drawing back into his face. He was turning back into a human!

The change happened quickly. With the fur gone, all those stab wounds were plain to see. They wept blood for a few moments longer,
then began closing up on their own.

"Well I'll be damned..."

It was Vick's father. He'd opened the door and was looking at us all. Vick raised the knife higher, ready to defend us against his own flesh and blood.

"You can put that down, Victor. No more tricks. I've... I've never seen or heard of anything like this."

In the light, I got a better look at the man. He was built a touch heavier than his son, but they had the same face. I imagine ten years ago they even had the same hair color. But now, Victor Sr.'s hair was mostly grey. He also had some hard lines to his face, doubtless earned through decades of what appeared to be a brutal and unforgiving profession.

I sat down and cradled Adam's head in my lap, smoothing the hair off his forehead. The transformation took a lot out of him, I knew. He probably wouldn't awaken for another hour or so yet.

Vick didn't lower the knife. It seemed he wasn't done yet.

"We're letting him go," Vick said. It wasn't a question.

His dad's lips tightened for a moment, then he nodded.

"And we're never going to bother him again. We're going to leave this house and never come back."

Again, that flash of irritation followed by a nod.

Vick studied his father for a few moments, apparently trying to decide if the older man was being truthful or not. My poor heart started to race again. I couldn't deal with another round of all this.

Vick let the knife slip out of his fingers and clatter on the floor. He turned around to face me.

"Are you okay?"

I was exhausted and starving. My body shook and ached from all the adrenaline that had pumped through it in the last twenty four hours. I'd watched someone get stabbed, and I'd learned who really killed my friend. It was enough to crush anyone.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to hold back the wry grin that threatened to make my cheeks hurt.

"Let's clean up this mess," Vick said, looking again to his father.

"You're the boss," Victor Sr. said.

Chapter 47

"Oh my God!"
I said, nearly dropping my cell.

"I know! Isn't it amazing?" my mom said.

She still didn't sound 100% back to the woman I'd grown up with, but then again, I guess she'd never be that woman again. When you go through something as life-altering and life-threatening as cancer, it leaves its mark on you. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

But that was beside the point.

I'd been sitting at my desk, typing up a paragraph on crazy women in literature for my English class. Adam laid on the bed behind me. I could hear the quiet rustle of pages as he through a textbook, trying to catch up.

My fingers still hurt a little from the near case of frostbite going through the woods to his house, but they were well on their way to getting better.

Snow removal expert Jim had been pissed at first about his truck, but we brought it back undamaged. When he saw that we'd filled the tank for him, he was all smiles and "Glad I could help!" type stuff.

But all that was also beside the point.

Adam sensed my change in demeanor. I could feel him standing behind me, tense.

"Are... are you sure?" I said.

"They're already drafting up their articles for all those medical journals!"

My mind still reeled from what she'd said just a minute or so earlier. I couldn't quite let myself believe it.

"But they're certain?" I said, pressing the question.

I could practically hear my mother rolling her eyes at me all the way back in Los Angeles. A shock of apprehensive excitement went
through me again. It felt like someone with electric fingers was stroking the curve of my spine.

"Yes, Stephanie! They're certain. It's gone into remission. The tumor's already shrunk to a quarter of its original size. They say at this rate they won't even have to operate to remove it! My body's just going to take care of itself."

"Oh my God, mom..." I said, covering my mouth, not caring that I was just repeating myself over and over.

My eyes got wet. The words in my open
Microsoft Word document on screen got blurry, as though the digital ink could run.

Adam put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed, even as he leaned over and kissed the top of my head. His super-sensitive hearing must have caught what she'd said, I knew.

"I'm coming home as soon as I can!" I said.

"Oh, Stephanie, Christmas break is coming soon enough. Finish your exams and whatever else you kids do up there. I'll still be here."

She would, I knew. And she was right. I couldn't go, not yet. There were essays to finish, exams to study for. After that initial, awful blizzard, this was my first real winter with snow and I was just starting to enjoy it.

Waiting for that first hug when I got back would be worth it.

Besides, there was something else that I had to do. Thinking about it reminded me to check the time in the bottom corner of my screen. Almost two PM. Almost time for the last thing I had to do before I could put all this craziness behind me and become the person I should have been when I got here.

"So... tell me, sweetie. Have you met a boy, yet?"

Adam kissed the top of my ear, tickling me. I shot him a look, and he bared his teeth in that awfully wolfish grin of his. A couple days rest really did him good. He no longer wore that ratty leather jacket. And, wonder of wonders, he'd even shaved!

My man really did clean up nicely.

I wiped at my eyes as I smiled.

"Maybe," I said, "He's on probation for now, I think."

Adam clutched at his heart, giving a pained expression as he fell onto my bed. I stifled my chuckle.

"Really?
Why don't you tell me all about it? I feel like a whole new person, with a whole new life..."

I really did just want to sit there and talk to my mom for the rest of the day, cell bill and essay both
be damned. But my clock ticked closer and closer to two, and I needed to be somewhere.

"I want to. I really do. But... can I call you back later, mom? I'm going to be late for an appointment."

Adam looked at the clock. He'd apparently forgotten the time, too. He grabbed his new jacket from the hook by the door and tossed it over his shoulders. He shot me a look that said, "Come on, let's go!"

"Oh? Is everything okay?" mom asked, concern
tingeing her voice.

"Yeah.
It will be, anyway, after this is over with."

"Ah. Well, good luck I suppose. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, mom. I'll call you later!" I said.

I couldn't bring myself to hit the end call button. I waited until the line went dead from her side before removing the warm cell phone from the side of my face.

Adam started saying something, but I jumped out of my chair and bounded into his arms. He stroked the back of my head as the tears came again. I hugged him tightly.

"It's so incredible!" I said
, my voice muffled with my face pressed against his chest.

"Yeah.
That's so great. But, Steph, we have to go..." Adam said. I could hear the anxiety in his voice, and I remembered that this would bring closure for him, too.

With no small amount of will, I untangled myself from his arms. I wiped my face clean, checking in the mirror to make sure it wasn't too apparent. But they'd been happy tears, so they didn't leave me all puffy and red and stuffed up.

My phone buzzed on my desk, spinning from the force. Still wiping at my eyes with the heel of my hand, I picked up the phone.

"It's Vick. Everything's ready," I said.

Adam grabbed my coat and held it open for me. I slipped into it and pulled on my boots.

The sun was out, making the world brighter than ever. Thick sheets of snow still blanketed the campus, but the break in the weather gave the plows and janitors time to clear the roads, sidewalks, and paths.

A plow went by as we walked, scraping its shovel against the pavement, its engine gunning.

The snow even changed the smell of the place. Everything was fresh and clean. It was only an illusion, I knew. The snow just buried and froze things that would come out when spring melted it all. But for now, Redeemer's campus was pure and innocent.

There was only a light breeze. It plucked at my bangs, rustling the hair against my forehead as Adam and I made the trek all the way over to the fraternity house.

Of course, all that snow also concentrated foot traffic. We had to weave our way around knots of people making their way around to classes, meals, or dorms. All that snow also amplified sound, it seemed. The campus was alive with talk. Despite the scare of the murder, people were even laughing openly again.

I knew there was no way they could all know that things were going back to normal, but it felt that way. Was there something in that fresh winter air that told them?

We rounded the little bend between the trees and brush. Up ahead, the frat house stood at the end where the road curved into a looping driveway. I stopped at the sight of it.

Adam put his arm over my shoulder and pulled my close. We breathed on the same rhythm, the hot air from our bodies pluming together in one cloud in front of our faces.

"Are you ready?" he said.

"Yeah. I think so, anyway. Let's get this done."

I wished there was a way to fast-forward time like it was a movie. I just wanted to get to the end. I wanted it so badly. I didn't want all that intervening time and the events it would bring.

"You can do this. We can do this," Adam said.

He let his arm fall from my shoulder and I caught his hand. We gave each other reassuring squeezes. I had to admit, it really did feel good to not have to go through things alone anymore.

I didn't know just how valuable it was to have another person willing to help carry some of your burden. You accumulated far more baggage over the course of your life than a lot of people would believe. More than any one person can handle alone, really.

By sharing the weight, you could both get through whatever comes.

"Okay, okay..." I said, more to myself than to him.

I looked around in the trees all around the road and the frat house, trying to drag out the moments before I had to set foot in there.

Adam started walking, not letting go of my hand. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I knew that I shouldn't. If he stopped and let go, I think I might just turn around and go back to my dorm room.