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Chapter 238
The storm Leesa had been wondering about arrived with a flourish the next morning. Not snow, though, as she had been thinking—unfortunately, the air wasn’t quite cold enough for that. Instead, great sheets of rain pounded down, driven at a sharp angle by a howling wind out of the northeast.
Rumbling explosions of thunder had pulled Leesa from her bed shortly after eight o’clock. For a brief moment she had been startled and frightened, wondering in her half-awake state if she was under some kind of magical attack, but then she recognized the thunder and lightning for what they were. She quickly slipped into her terrycloth robe and fur-lined slippers and went to the side window, where the view of the storm would be best. When she pulled the curtain open, she was not disappointed in the least.
Snug and warm in her robe and slippers, she stared in wonder at the fury of the storm. The morning was dim and gray under dark, low hanging clouds, with pelting ra
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 239
The storm had weakened considerably by the time Leesa and Cali headed for the library after dinner. It was still raining, but nowhere near as hard as it had been that morning, and the wind had died down to almost nothing. Still, it was a cold, wet night, and both girls were wearing raincoats and carrying umbrellas. Since it had rained all day, the sidewalks and streets were minefields of giant puddles that reflected pale golden circles of light from the streetlights above. The falling raindrops made the reflections shimmer and dance. Leesa imagined that some of the puddles might be deep enough to dive into, though of course she knew that was foolish.“This is kind of fun,” she said, enjoying the unsettled weather as always.“Which part?” Cali asked as she swerved left to avoid a puddle that covered most of the sidewalk. “Freezing our asses off, or having to watch every step we take so we don’t fall into one of these monster puddles a
Leesa's Advent Chapter 240
Not too far from campus, another bit of magic was also in play.Three figures stood in the darkness of a deserted cemetery. In front of them were three freshly filled in graves, the loose dirt and sod atop them turned muddy by the storm. Two of the figures held umbrellas up against the diminishing rain. The third squatted close in front of them at the edge of one of the graves, protected from the rain by their umbrellas.“We know the bodies were dug up here from the police reports,” Rome said to Smith and Jones. “I can sense that magic was used here, but what kind exactly, I cannot tell. It’s been too long and the traces are too faint. But it was not the kind that could reanimate the dead, of that I’m certain.”The men thought for a moment.“Perhaps the magic was used to unearth the bodies,” Smith suggested.“And then the reanimation was performed elsewhere,” Jones said, finishing the thou
Leesa's Advent Chapter 241
Six or seven cars sat in the lot, telling her there were ample potential victims inside. She hoped at least one of the drivers had come here alone. Keeping to the shadows, she skulked as close to the building as she could and peered in through the long plate glass windows. Most of the diners sat in pairs or trios, eating and chatting away, but there were two men seated in booths by themselves. The guy closest to her seemed to be nearing the end of his meal. Satisfied that a bit of patience would soon be rewarded, Leah melted back into the trees and waited for her opportunity. While she waited, silent and invisible as a wraith, a dark SUV pulled into the lot and swung into a spot not too far from where she hid. Leah watched closely, unable to see into the vehicle past the bright glare of the headlights, but thinking perhaps she might get lucky and the driver would be alone. She readied herself to pounce, just in case The motor shut off, leaving the night in sudden sil
Leesa's Advent Chapter 242
Shortly before noon on Saturday morning, Leesa and Cali walked out of the dorm together. Yesterday’s storm had blown out to sea, leaving a blue sky dotted with giant cotton ball clouds and temperatures that had climbed into the low fifties. The warmer air was carried by a stiff breeze out of the southwest. Leesa was wearing her grey sweatshirt with SAN DIEGO written in dark blue script on the chest, while Cali had donned a black and white striped knit sweater that had big purple streaks zigzagging down across the front. Both girls were wearing jeans.Dominic would be coming by in a little while and Leesa wanted to intercept him before he entered the dorm. She didn’t know that the BSI agents had been outside her dorm last night, nor did she know how close she and Cali had come to running into them on the way back from the library. Even so, she did not want to take the chance the agents might come around when Dominic was there. She had no idea how sensitive the Rome
Leesa's Advent Chapter 243
“It’s just a guess on my part, but yes. It’s one reason why we waziri kept such a low profile for so many centuries. The xenorians are zealots. And like most zealots, they are ruthless in following their beliefs. They do not care how many innocent people suffer in their quest to destroy anyone with magic. They have killed far more ordinary humans than they have people with magic, but to the xenorians that is simply the cost of what they seem to think of as a holy quest. They are totally heartless in their zeal.”“This is way worse than I thought,” Cali said. “The woman was totally creepy, for sure, but I never expected anything like this. Maybe you and Leesa need to get away from here, at least until we know Smith, Jones and Rome are gone.”Leesa watched anxiously as Dominic pondered the idea. She did not want to leave, especially with Rave gone. With no means to contact him, how would he ever find her when he returned? I
Leesa's Advent Chapter 244
The next week, zombies returned to Leesa’s dorm. Not the lurching, lumbering, flesh-eating kind that you needed to stab in the eyeball with a pen to kill—no, these were Leesa’s schoolmates, turned zombie-like by the arrival of midterms. The transformation had begun on Sunday night, but really picked up steam on Monday and Tuesday. Long hours of reading and studying combined with little or no sleep turned many of the kids in her dorm into creatures resembling the walking dead. They had dark circles under their eyes, slack jaws and lank, unwashed hair. Fortunately, Leesa was not among them—not too badly, at any rate. Her midterm schedule was really pretty favorable: one test on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a day off on Wednesday, and then two of her easiest exams on Thursday. She only had four tests instead of five because Dr. Shader had assigned papers to her English class in lieu of a midterm, and had very kindly not made the papers due until the following week.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 245
“I’m pretty sure this welcoming committee is not here for me,” Bradley said, smiling. Leesa dropped down onto one knee and wrapped her right arm around Max’s shoulder, using her other hand to give the golden retriever his favorite greeting, a vigorous chest rub. His tail wagged furiously as he panted into Leesa’s ear. Finally, she stood up. Her mom was waiting for her, arms outstretched. Leesa melted into her mother’s embrace, certain she would never tire of hugging her. For most of her life Leesa had received nothing more than perfunctory hugs from her withdrawn mom, but that had all changed since Professor Clerval, with some help from Rave, had injected her mom with the blood of a grafhym, a one-fanged vampire. Her mom was pretty much back to normal now, and Leesa was enjoying it immensely. As she stepped out of her mother’s embrace into an almost equally warm hug from Aunt Janet, Leesa marveled at how much her family life had changed. For most of her child
Leesa's Advent Chapter 246
The last thing Leesa thought about before she fell asleep that night was the sound of Max’s four short barks and the feel of his wet tongue across her cheek. She was certain that woof, woof, woof, woof just had to mean “I love you, too,” and the lick could have been nothing else but a kiss from Rave. After all, Max’s tongue had felt unusually warm, hadn’t it? And Bradley had been the first to voice that interpretation, so that gave it extra credibility.She drifted off to sleep with a peaceful smile on her face.Rave carried her in his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as he ran through the woods, moving faster than any forest animal could dream of running. The scent of the green growing things filled her lungs, awakening her senses. Rave’s chest felt even warmer than usual and she turned her face into it, feeling the hard beat of his heart against her lips.His every movement echoed through her body; each footfall f
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