Chapter Seventy-Six: Carol's POV
He got out, his eyes scanning all four of us with that trained assessment, checking for danger.
"How did this happen?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral.
"I don't know," I said again. "I was at the campus store, and then..." I paused.
How to explain? That I'd walked like a zombie all the way, conscious but completely unable to control myself?
"I was brought here. All of us were."
Leon's jaw tightened, but he didn't ask more questions. He opened the SUV's back door. "Get in. I'll take you back to campus."
Caitlin and the other two squeezed into the back seat. I headed for the passenger side, and Leon gently caught my arm.
"You're sure you're not hurt?"
"I'm sure."
He looked at me again, nodded and released me. I slid into the passenger seat, and he walked around to the driver's side.
As soon as the engine started, someone in the back seat started crying again. The boy murmured something soothing, but it didn't help.
Leon drove in silence, his hands steady on the wheel.
He took us straight back to campus, pulling up in front of the main dormitory building. The three students practically tumbled out of the car, still clinging to each other as if letting go would make them disappear.
Caitlin turned back once, her face streaked with tears.
"Thank you," she managed to get out, and then they were supporting each other as they stumbled toward the building entrance.
"Don't stay at the dorm tonight," Leon said. "Come back to the manor."
"Someone's targeting you," he looked at me. "With all due respect, you just spent several hours under someone else's control. You were dropped in the same place where Edmund and Theodore traded weapons. This is not a coincidence."
"I know."
"If someone's targeting you, Simon won't let you continue staying at school."
But I still couldn't agree to go back.
The manor meant facing Simon, dealing with all those things I'd been avoiding these days.
I wasn't ready yet. Not ready to look into his eyes and pretend that kiss hadn't crossed some wire in my brain.
"Thank you for your concern," I said finally. "But I need some time. Some space. Just tonight."
Leon didn't react. He just looked at me without moving.
Finally he sighed softly.
"Fine." He said, though the word sounded reluctant. "But if anything else happens, anything at all, you call me immediately."
He dropped me off at the dormitory building.
I watched his taillights disappear around the corner, then walked in on legs that were still weak.
That night I couldn't settle down at all. I tried to study, but the words blurred together on the page.
I tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes I saw that vampire woman, felt that terrible blank absence of control, that fear of being trapped inside my own body.
Emma went to a study group—no one to talk to, and the thoughts in my head were even harder to bear.
That blonde vampire. Whoever she was, she had the same ability as me, to control people's consciousness.
Except she was much stronger. She'd taken me over completely, dragged me halfway across the city like a puppet.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled to Maurice's number.
I paused at the keyboard for a while, then finally typed: Something happened today. I'll tell you tomorrow when I come verify the results.
His response came almost immediately: Are you safe?
Still safe.
Good.
Emma didn't come back until almost ten, chattering about the study group and some drama between two classmates.
I made appropriate noises but wasn't really listening. My mind was still stuck in that warehouse, trapped in that feeling of not being able to control myself, stuck on the fear and confusion on those three students' faces that matched my own.
"Hey," Emma flopped onto her bed and glanced at me. "You okay? You seem really out of it."
"Just tired."
She scrolled through her phone for a while, then suddenly sat up. "Oh my god."
"What?"
"Those missing students." She turned her screen toward me—a news report. "Remember? The ones who started disappearing two weeks ago?"
My stomach dropped. "What does it say?"
"Five have gone missing. Their families are very anxious and demanding a full investigation." She kept scrolling, her eyes widening. "They're saying someone might be trafficking students. That's so disgusting."
I didn't respond.
That night I barely slept, my mind replaying the reports of those missing students, replaying the sight of Caitlin and the others huddled against the wall, replaying the expressionless stare of that blonde vampire.
The darkness outside the window gradually lightened, from pitch black to deep gray, then from deep gray to hazy white.
Emma had fallen asleep at some point, her breathing light, occasionally turning over. I kept staring at the ceiling until it was fully light.
I stared at the ceiling until dawn.
After it was fully light I managed to doze for a bit, but woke up soon. I woke feeling heavy all over, like I'd been soaking in water all night.
I washed my face and went back to bed to bend down and tie my shoes. My hand hadn't even touched the laces when there was a knock at the door.
I opened the door to find two police officers standing in the hallway. Their uniforms crisp, looking particularly neat in the morning light coming through the window.
The female officer was taller, dark hair pulled tightly back, holding a small notepad with her pen pointed at the page.
The male officer was stocky, weathered face, that expression of someone who'd seen too much. He looked at me carefully, so carefully it made my skin prickle.
"Carol Valodin?" the female officer asked.
I nodded, my throat dry.
"We need you to come down to the station with us," she continued, her voice professional but not too harsh. "The students who went missing yesterday have been found. But we still have several unsolved missing persons cases. We're hoping you can help us clarify some details."
My heart sank. Found.
"Missing?" I managed to squeeze out, trying to keep my voice steady, but my mind was already replaying yesterday's events. "They weren't missing. We were all—"
I stopped. This didn't sound right no matter how I said it.
We were all controlled by a vampire and dumped in an abandoned warehouse? That didn't sound like an explanation, more like crazy talk.
"We can discuss the specific details at the station." The male officer's tone was still polite, but the underlying meaning was clear—this wasn't up for discussion.
"Okay," I said, trying to appear calm. "Let me grab a jacket."
The ride to the station was quiet. The city slid past the window, a blur of gray buildings and overcast sky.
After arriving at the station, they led me to a small room with a table and four chairs.
This kind of place had probably witnessed plenty of uncomfortable conversations. They told me to wait.
I sat down, the metal chair cold even through my jeans, my mind calculating what to say next.
The door opened, and Caitlin walked in.
She looked different from yesterday in the warehouse—her designer clothes replaced with something more low-key. Though her makeup was carefully applied, it still couldn't hide the tear tracks.
But when her eyes met mine, I saw the same fear as when we were in the warehouse.
Behind her came another student. The dark-haired girl who'd been crying, and when she saw me, her body tensed.
Caitlin's expression changed, fear transforming into something almost like hatred.
"That's her," Caitlin said, her voice shaking but loud enough to carry. "She's the one who brought us there."