Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon by Dr. Bon Blossman Page B

else?”
    “Uh, well, you know how she’s suspended from school and all ? ” Lauren rasped before stealing a side-glance at Willow for support.
    Willow nodded, folding her arms across her belly.
    “Yes . She might be expelled . One could only hope, ” I said with a bitter tone, sh ifting my hair over my shoulder as a group of sophomores walked by at a slow pace , grimacing at me as they attempted to overhear our conversation.
    “Well, some people saw her in the student parking lot talking to Camber Johnson , ” Lauren said .
    Immediately my mind responded with a scream. I stared into Lauren’s eyes . I couldn’t speak. The crowded hallway morphed into a haze, faces turned into prisms. Lauren was the only thing in focus.
    She hesitated before continuing, “ Supposedly, s he asked Camber if she could be a member of th e vampire cult.”
    My neck hinged downward; I shook my head in disgust.
    “I don’t even know what to say right now,” I trailed off .
    Popping my head around Lauren to view the hall clock, the time was quickly d iminishing before the next bell. I said a quick goodbye and sprinted towards my next class. Calculus.
    Wolfe nodded at me in a formal mann er as I crossed the threshold a nd passed by his new seat at the front of the classroom . The room w as darkened by the black clouds ; the wind gusts battered the windows along the wall — the s torm added to the gloomy aura that perpetually surround ed me.
    We had become strangers. During class, he sneaked on his phone every time Mrs. Garcia faced the whiteboard . I assumed he was sending text messages by the amount of typing he was doing . Figures. A new relationship was forming , and they probably couldn’t get enough of each other.
    My phone vibrated , and for a moment, I thought I might have been a lucky recipient of one of his text messages . I wasn’t. It was from my father about Janice being transferred into the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital . Great. While Wolfe talk ed to his new love interest, I received word about my sick nanny.
    The rest of the day, the clock’s minute hand barely trudged along . I couldn’t keep my mind off Janice and want ed nothing more than to visit her in the hospital . I felt I could make her better if I w ere there with her. Eyes on the window, I gazed at the relentless rain, anticipating the lightning bolts and thunder rolls . Unable to listen to the teachers’ lecture. Incapable of participating in the busy work .
    Finally, when the bell dismiss ed school, I rushed out the front, throwing myself in to the car with Agent Bronson — completely forgetting to use my umbrella, I was drenched.
    We headed to the police station for my meeting with Detective Chase . The agent suppl ied most of the conversation during the car ride , which made it less awkward for me . After a few minutes , my phone vibrated for a text message. My mother. She asked me to call her . S he answered in a solemn voice, which made my lungs seize.
    “Mom ? ” I said cautiously . “What’s up? Janice okay? ”
    I was so afraid it was grim news about Janice — I almost didn’t want to ask . My subconscious mind thought it couldn’t be distressing news as long as I was oblivious.
    “Fiona, where are you right now?”
    “I’m in the car with Agent Bronson, going to the police station to meet with Detective Chase. Why, what’s wrong ? Is it Janice? Can I go to the hospital yet? ”
    “ I heard from the vet this morning.   It’s Luminal. I don’t know how else to say this, Fiona. He’s dead , he died late last night , during his sleep, I’m so sorry . ”
    At an instant, I was ca tapulted into a vivid nightmare . Tears streamed down my cheeks , following each other like cars on a highway . A sick spasm of unease settled in my stomach. I lost control , b arely g etting the words out to tell my mother goodbye .
    After gasping for air, I dropped my phone on the floorboard, head dropped in to my hands . I launched a full-blown ,