Ian came back. She went upstairs, he said. Shes looking for a guy named Sam, right?
Yeah, Claire said. Would you mind if?
No, sure, Ill go with you. He looked at the drained bottle in Claires hand. Want some more?
She nodded. He grabbed a bottle from an ice-filled cooler and handed it over. She cracked the seal and took another life-giving mouthful as Ian led the way to the stairs.
The heat was making her feel slow and disconnected. She wanted to pour the cold water over her face, but realized just in timeagainabout the makeup. Stupid makeup.
The stairs seemed to go on forever, and it was like dancing around land mines; people were sitting on just about every step, some talking, some mumbling to themselves, some passing joints back and forth. Oh man. She really needed to get out of here, fast.
The upstairs landing seemed like a paradise of open space, and Claire clung to the handrail and breathed for a few seconds. Ian came back to get her. You okay? he asked. She nodded. I dont know which room hes in. Well just have to look.
She followed him. He swung open the first door on the hall, and behind him she saw about ten people talking very intensely. They all looked at Ian with a definite Get out vibe, and as he shut the door, Claire realized that all ten of them were vampires.
Not Sam, though, but given what Sam had told her, and what shed heard from Michael and Eve, that made sense. Hed be hanging around the humans, right? The vampires didnt want any part of him.
Wrong room, Ian said unnecessarily, and moved to the next one. She couldnt see over his shoulder, but he closed it in a hurry. Really wrong room. Sorry.
There were about ten doors on the hallway, but they didnt get that far. Claire was feeling kind of light-headedin fact, she was dizzy. Maybe it was the heat. She took another gulp from the bottle, but that just seemed to make her feel nauseous. As Ian opened the fourth door, she said, I dont feel so good.
Ian smiled and said, Well, that was fast, and shoved her into the room. I thought I was going to have to work a little harder,but youre pretty easy.
There were three other guys in the room. She didnt know any of them. No, wait, one looked familiar.
The jerk from the UC coffee bar, the one whod been so mean to Eve. He was one of them. She turned toward Ian, confused, but he was locking the door.
Her knees felt wobbly, and so did her head. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrongbut she hadnt had anything to drink. Shed been careful.
Not careful enough. The first water bottle hed brought her, hed opened it first.
Stupid, Claire. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But hed seemed sonice.
You dont want to do this, she said, and backed up as one of the guys reached for her. There wasnt a lot of space. It was somebodys bedroom, most of it taken up by a bed, a dresser with the drawers hanging half-open. Dirty laundry piled in a corner. Oh God. It hit her hard that Eve had no idea where she was, she had no cell phone, and even if she screamed, no one would hear her over the music. Or care.
She remembered what Eve had done that terrible evening after the biker shoved his way in. You need a weapon. Yeah, but Eve was older and bigger, and wasnt drugged at the time.
She nearly tripped over a baseball bat sticking out from under the bed. She grabbed it and took up a bleary, weaving batting stance. Dont touch me! she said, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Eve! Eve! I need help!
She took a wild swing at Ian, who was strolling forward, and he ducked it easily. She reversed and slammed the butt end of the bat toward him, and that one, he didnt duck. It hit him squarely in the mouth, and he staggered back, bleeding.
You bitch! he said, and spit blood. Oh, you are gonna pay for that.
Hold up, said the coffee bar jerk, who was leaning against the door with his arms folded. You put the full dose in her bottle, right? And she drank it?
Ian nodded. He fished around in the laundry pile and found a sock to press against his mouth and nose. Good. She hoped it was filthy. And had athletes foot on it.
Then all we have to do is wait a couple of minutes, the jerk said. Shes not going anywhere except to la-la land. He high-fived his buddies. Ian continued to glare at her. They were all between her and the door. There was a window, but it was the second floor and she wasnt even steady enough to stand, much less free-climb. Claire gripped the bat in sweaty, numbed hands, and saw sparkles at the edges of her vision. Everything looked bleary. She felt waves of heat sweep over her, and then an icy chill. Michael? Was Michael here? No, Michael couldnt leave the house.
Somehow, she was sliding down to a sitting position on the floor. The bat was still clutched in her hands, but she was tired, very tired, and she felt so sick and hot.
Somebody rattled the doorknob. Claire summoned up whatever was left of her strength and screamed, Help! Get help! Eve!
Ian said, and grinned at Claire with bloody teeth, Just somebody looking for a place to screw. Dont worry, baby. We wont hurt you. Not that youll remember, anyway.
She pretended to be worse off than she really was (although truthfully, she was pretty bad) and, mumbling, let her eyes drift half-closed.
Thats it, the coffee bar jerk said. Shes out. Get her on the bed.
Shed never really done this before, but she was imagining hard how Eve would have handled it. She let the bat kind of wobble and fall to rest in her lap, aligned with her leg, as if it had gotten too heavy to hold up. (Not quite. Just nearly. )
And when Ian walked up to grab her, she brought the bat straight up with as much force as she could manage. It smacked him right where it would hurt the most, and Ian crumpled with a high-pitched, breathless scream, huddled in on himself.
Claire forced her legs to hold her, and slid back up to a standing position. She was leaning for support, and lucky to be in a corner, where the two angled walls let her look like she wasnt about to topple over. Her arms were shaking, and the guys would have seen that if shed tried to raise the bat, so she tapped it casually against her leg. Who wants some? she asked. I wont hurt you. Much.