Chapter Thirteen

Deme woke to sun streaming in through the window, the sheet draped over the lower half of her body and her head aching. With the brightness of the light shining into her eyes, she couldn't see the rest of the room.

Movement at the far corner captured her attention, but the angle of the sun blurred her vision. "Cal?"

"Afraid not." The figure moved out of the corner and closer until Deme could see who it was.

"Dr. Masterson?" Heat rose in Deme's cheeks as she pulled the sheet up to her neck, hiding her naked breasts she was sure the president of the college had already gotten an eyeful of. "What are you doing here?"

"I regret to inform you that your services are no longer required as the resident assistant of the Gamma Omega dormitory."

"What?" Deme sat up straight, dragging the sheet with her. "Why?"

"Several of the girls have informed me that you've broken the most important rule of the dormitory. A rule you, as the resident assistant, are supposed to be enforcing."

Guilt raised the temperature even higher on Deme's body thermostat and she gulped. "Which rule?" she asked, knowing full well that fornicating with a man in your dorm room was top on the list of no-no's of the Gamma Omegas, although she was positive a majority of the girls had violated that rule more than once.

"If you'd bothered to read the manual, you'd know." The college president lifted the folder with the manual inside and tapped it against her palm. "No men in the dormitory after the door is locked at eleven o'clock." Her brows rose on her forehead as her gaze skimmed over Deme and her rumpled sheets. "I'm sure you've broken other rules as well, based on your state of undress."

"My apologies, Dr. Masterson." Deme forced what she hoped was an apologetic smile. All the while her head ached as if she'd been on an all-night bender. "Would it help to tell you that I won't let it happen again?"

"No." Dr. Masterson crossed her arms over her chest. "It wouldn't surprise me to get calls from some of the parents with their concerns over their daughters' well-being."

"You're telling me," Deme muttered.

"What was that?" The older woman's eyes narrowed.

"Understood. I'll need time to arrange for alternate accommodations. I'll let you know the moment I find some."

Even before Deme finished her sentence, the older woman was shaking her head. "I want you out by this evening."

Deme gasped. "I can't. We won't be finished." Hope plummeted to her belly.

Ms. Masterson's jaw tightened, her arms still firmly crossed over her chest. "Finished?"

Back-paddling like a kayaker facing a waterfall, Deme grasped for the first thing she could think of. "I'm working on a project with some of the students. I need to finish it before I can go apartment hunting."

"That would be your problem."

"Please, Dr. Masterson. The other girls are depending on me to make sure we get it right." She sat up straighter, hating to beg to a woman she'd had doubts about last evening. "Let me stay another day. That's all I ask."

The president of the college drew in a long, deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, "One day." She followed quickly with, "Too many strange things are happening around here. I don't want your involvement to make things worse." She pointed at Deme. "If you do, you'll discover that I can be your worst nightmare. Do you understand?"

A cold chill raced down Deme's spine and didn't dissipate even after the other woman left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Just what did she mean by she could be her worst nightmare? Did Dr. Masterson have any idea what Deme's nightmares had been about lately?

Deme tossed the sheets aside and got out of bed, her legs sore, the place between her thighs tender. She must have been really tired when Cal had visited her last night. Her memory was pretty sketchy on a few things. Based on her nakedness and soreness, she could assume they'd done more than just sleep. Why she couldn't say no to the man was beyond her level of comprehension.

Her brows drew together as she stared around her room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The plain white walls needed some form of decoration to make them less sterile, but other than that, the room was no more threatening than any other dorm room on campus.

Deme scratched her head. Had she dreamed of being in a jungle last night? Something about moss-covered walls, heat and humidity tugged at her subconscious, but not enough to wrap her mind around. Next time she saw Cal, she'd ask him if she'd talked in her sleep.

Deme slipped into a bathrobe and tossed a clean towel over her shoulder before emerging from her room. A shower sounded damned good about now. Then she'd get on with the investigation. She had only one more day to eke out any information she could from the Gamma Omegas before her cover was blown. Just as well. Enough time had passed since her sister's disappearance.

Halfway to the bathroom, the muffled sound of sobbing reached Deme through Rachel Taylor's closed door. Really wanting the shower, she almost ignored it and moved on, but the sobbing grew louder.

Deme raised her hand and knocked on the door. "Rachel?"

"Go away."

"It's me, Deme, the R.A." Okay, so she technically wasn't the R.A. anymore, but Rachel probably hadn't spoken with Dr. Masterson yet. "Let me in."

The sobbing subsided. After a full minute and a half, just when Deme thought the girl was going to ignore her, the door opened a crack and Rachel looked out, her hair hanging like so much black straw around a face deeply marked with acne scars.

Deme gasped. "Rachel?" She could have kicked herself as soon as she made the sound.

Rachel's eyes welled with yet more tears and she slammed the door.

Thankfully, Deme got her foot in the crack before she could shut it all the way. But the impact on her toes made her cry out in pain. "Holy cow! Open the damned door before you cripple me."

Rachel clapped a hand to her mouth and flung the door wide. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Playing on the girl's guilt, Deme winced. "I'll be okay, I hope." She moved into the room and closed the door behind her. "Now tell me what all the crying is about."

Rachel turned away. "I can't do it anymore. I can't be someone I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

"The sorority. I've asked to be moved to another dorm. I can't take it anymore."

Deme gripped the girl's arms and forced her to look her in the eye. "Take what?"

"The lies, the secrecy, the rituals. I don't care if I'm ugly on the outside."

Deme studied the girl, who a day ago had been another Zoe clone, perfect complexion, perfect hair and face. Today, she met the exact description Aurai had given Deme about her roommate—hopelessly homely, but sweet. "You aren't ugly, Rachel."

"I wasn't when you met me, but I am now." She stared into Deme's face with red-rimmed eyes. "Look at me!"

Deme choked back a lump in her throat. This girl wanted so badly to fit in she'd practically sold her soul to the devil to be beautiful. "You're more beautiful to me now than any of the Zoe clones in this dorm." She hugged Rachel to her and stroked the back of her head as the younger woman's shoulders shook with the force of a new wave of weeping.

"I wanted to be pretty, just once." Rachel's tears soaked through Deme's robe.

"We all want to be accepted."

"But not the way they're doing it." Rachel pushed away, scrubbing her sleeve beneath her nose. "It's wrong."

"Tell me, Rachel." Now was her chance to get to the bottom of the Gamma Omega shenanigans. "What rituals are they performing?"

Rachel strode across the room, wringing her hands. "Apparently Zoe found a book in the library. A book of spells. She decided to use it as part of the sorority initiation, only it didn't work out exactly as planned."

"How so?"

Rachel looked across at the empty bed that used to be Aurai's.

A lump the size of Texas rose in Deme's throat, and she fought back the ready tears thoughts of her youngest sister inspired.

"That night was horrible." Rachel buried her face in her hands, her body shaking. "They swore me to silence, but I can't be quiet anymore." She looked up through her tears straight into Deme's eyes. "My roommate disappeared that night." She shook her head side to side, her eyes glassy as if seeing the drama replayed over and over. "She was lifted into the air, her robe wrapping around her like she was in a funnel cloud."

Deme took a step toward Rachel. This was the most she'd heard about her sister's disappearance from anyone. "Then what?"

"The candles had blown out and there weren't any lights coming from any of the nearby buildings. A cloud must have passed over the moon because it got really dark. I could hear her scream as though she was being drawn into a vacuum, dragging her away in a final blast of wind." Rachel blinked, her brows drawing down low over her eyes. "You see why I couldn't tell anyone? Who would believe me?" She clutched at Deme's arm. "You believe me, don't you?"

Deme pulled Rachel into her arms and hugged her again. "Yes, sweetie, I do."

After a long minute, Rachel pulled away enough to brush the tears from her cheeks. "Now Mike is in the hospital because of me."

"Why do you think it's your fault?"

She snorted. "My vanity. I wanted so much to be like the other girls. The spell Zoe used made it happen."

"What exactly was this spell?"

"It makes ugly girls like me…" She ducked her head, her cheeks reddening. "It makes them pretty."

"You are pretty without spells and rituals."

"That's what Mike said, but when I drank from the vial, I became beautiful and Mike couldn't control himself around me. It made him an animal." She wrapped her arms around her middle. "It made him attack me…and made me attack him."

"What's in the vial?" Deme took Rachel's hands. "Are you sure Zoe didn't drug you?"

The younger girl's mouth drew into a tight line. "No. It was the spell."

"But she could have put some kind of date rape drug in the bottle."

Rachel shook her head. "The spell and the potion in the vial are what made me beautiful and then aggressive. I've never hurt another human being in my life. Neither has Mike. When he found out what he'd done, he couldn't live with himself." Rachel's voice caught on another sob. She swallowed hard and continued. "He tried to commit suicide. Thank God he failed. I told him it wasn't his fault, but he wouldn't listen. That's when I decided enough was enough. I stopped drinking the potion. I haven't been out of my room since. They'll know as soon as they see me."

She held up a blue vial and pressed it into Deme's hand. "Here, take it. I won't be needing it. I'm done with Gamma Omega. I was just fooling myself to think I'd ever fit in."

Deme took the vial and Rachel's hand. "You're doing the right thing. You don't belong with Zoe's group."

Rachel nodded, her shoulders sagging.

"Not because you're not beautiful, but because you're beautiful where it counts." Deme touched her hand to her chest. "Don't let anyone tell you that you're ugly. Do you hear me?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. That's what Mike said. If only I'd listened, he'd be okay, not in a coma." The younger girl slipped her arms into a hooded sweat jacket, pulling the hood up over her head. "I'm going to the hospital now to visit him. Maybe he'll be out of the coma today. Wish him luck, will you?"

"You bet." Deme stepped out of the room with Rachel and ran right into Zoe.

This girl had caused enough trouble with Rachel and Aurai to remain on Deme's blacklist for life. Even if something else was manipulating her actions, Deme couldn't seem to forgive her at this moment. "What do you want?" Deme asked, none too gently.

"Nothing. Should I want something?" Her gaze went over Deme's shoulder to connect with Rachel's, her eyes narrowing at the girl's appearance. "Just checking on my Gamma Omegas. This sorority sticks together, don't they?"

An implied "or else" hung in the air between Zoe and Rachel, making Deme's blood boil.

"Look, Zoe." Deme stepped in between the two coeds and stood nose to nose with the striking sorority president. "If anything happens to my new friend, Rachel, you'll answer to me. Got that?"

Her beautifully arched brows rose into her low-slung bangs. "I don't have a clue as to what you're talking about."

"Then I suggest you get a clue and leave us alone." Deme pushed past her and marched to the exit, shoving Rachel in front of her.

Deme had had her fill of Zoe Adams.

* * *

Cal had a job to do, or he would have stayed until Deme woke up. As it was, he'd eased her eyelids open to get a glimpse at her emerald-green eyes before he'd climbed out of the bed and dressed for work in campus maintenance. No more cat eyes. Whew!

Most of the night he'd lain awake, watching out for a return of the Chimera. He must have dozed off because when he woke, the room had returned to normal, no sign of algae, moss or the jungle humidity that had greeted him earlier.

Convinced the threat had abated for now, Cal rose from the bed, put on his jeans and slipped out of the dorm shirtless. The one he'd worn in had been ripped to shreds by the Chimera-possessed Deme. One thing was certain, she could not sleep in that room another night. He'd talk to her about it later.

First major stop on his list of assigned maintenance duties had to be the office of one Dr. Diane Masterson. What he hoped to find, he had no idea. Maybe he'd run into her and discuss her past and the attack that happened on this very same campus thirty years ago.

He couldn't imagine any woman in her right mind returning to a place where she'd been brutally raped. And to overlook the area where it had occurred day after day…

Cal couldn't begin to fathom the woman's reasoning. He hurried through the morning tightening faucets, unclogging toilets, replacing hinges and door handles, unjamming locks and performing the myriad other duties required by his supervisor. By noon, he was just heading for the administration building when his cell phone rang.

"Black speaking."

"Cal?" The voice sounded like Deme.

Cal's heartbeat quickened. "Deme?"

"No, it's Selene. Something weird's going on here at the theater. Think you can come give us a hand?"

"I'll be right there." His heart pounding, he dashed past the student commons, weaving his way through the maze of students lounging on the grass or sitting at the outdoor tables.

It never ceased to amaze him how the sun could go on shining when crazy, soul-defining and dangerous events happened. People could be dying and the sun would continue to rise and set.

He arrived outside the theater in time to see a stream of students gathering in front of the door, waving at their friends to come.

Cal ran past them and pushed through to the door. Gina stood in front of the glass double doors, refusing to let the students pass. When she saw Cal, she motioned him forward. "Thank goodness you're here." She opened the door and let him slide through. "I was here cleaning the theater aquarium when it started. Selene and Deme are on the stage."

The auditorium was half-full of gawking students, some pointing toward the stage, others pressing hands to their mouths, their eyes wide.

Selene stood on the stage looking up into the rafters. Deme stood beside her.

Cal's groin tightened just at the sight of Deme. He squelched his reaction and climbed the steps up the side of the stage.

"Have you tried to talk her down?" Deme had her back to Cal and didn't see him approach.

"I've tried everything short of calling the fire department. I thought since you are her R.A., you might have more luck." Selene glanced around. When she spotted Cal she blew out a long breath. "Blessed Be, you're here. Maybe you can help."

"What's going on?" he asked, his gaze sweeping over Deme's face, noting the dark smudges beneath her eyes.

"Not what—who." Deme pointed up at the catwalk twenty-five feet above the stage. "Shelby Cramer is up on the catwalk and won't come down."

"And she's acting really funny," Selene added.

"Funny how?" Cal stared up into the shadows of the catwalk.

"She's growling and hissing at anyone who tries to climb the ladders."

At first he couldn't see the girl. Then a movement caught his attention and he spotted her. Crouched on the metal mesh, the pretty blonde stared down at the people gathered below.

A student hurried forward, handing Selene a flashlight.

"Oh, thank the goddess." Selene shined the light up at Shelby, the beam reflecting an intense red off the girl's eyes.

Shelby shrank back and hissed.

"That's not normal," Selene stated.

"Goes along with the way she's acting." Deme stared into her sister's eyes. "When did she start acting this way?"

"I don't know. She was quiet when she showed up for rehearsal, but she wasn't acting strange until halfway through the first act." Selene's gaze shifted to the young woman in the rafters. "Do you think the Chimera has her?"

Deme nodded. "That's where I'd put my money." She turned to Cal. "I'd have gone after her, but I'm not much bigger than she is. Can you help me take her?"

Cal's jaw clenched. "I'll get her." Before he could take two steps toward the ladder in the far corner of the backstage area, Deme's hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"I'm going with you."

"No."

"She's acting like an animal. If you chase her one way, she'll run the other. We need to come at her from opposite directions. Corner her."

"I don't want you up there." He didn't want to tell Deme what he was really afraid of. If Shelby was possessed by the Chimera, what was to keep the beast from possessing Deme as it had last night?

"I'm going." Deme took off toward the ladder leading up into the rafters.

Cal grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stop. "I don't want you up there."

"Why?" she demanded, her green eyes blazing, the air practically crackling between them. "Don't you trust me?"

"You, yes. The Chimera, no." His grip relaxed. "Do you remember any of what happened last night?" He asked the question softly enough only Deme and Selene could hear.

Deme frowned, rubbing her temple. "Not much. You came over late and we must have done something because I woke up naked."

Selene's lips twitched and she opened her mouth to comment. At a glare from Cal, she closed it.

Cal's face softened and his fingers rubbed her shoulders. "Let's just say you weren't quite yourself last night."

"Really?" She looked up at him, her frown deepening. At last she shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. "Well, I am myself this morning, and you can't do this without help."

Cal stared at her long and hard. Metal rattled overhead as Shelby ran along the catwalk, ducking low to stare at them beneath the thin handrails. "Okay, but you take direction from me."

"Fine."

Cal ran to the far backstage corner while Deme headed for the other. They arrived at the same time. Cal pulled himself up the ladder, keeping his eye on Shelby and Deme alternately.

He reached the top first and he waited for Deme. When she stood on the catwalk, he motioned her forward.

Shelby crouched in the middle of the walkway, her head swinging back and forth as she watched the movements of Deme and Cal. A low rumble rose from her chest, ending in a teeth-baring hiss.

Cal edged closer from his end. "Shelby," he called out, appealing to the girl buried beneath the Chimera's trance. After what had happened to Deme last night, he knew how easily the Chimera could manipulate others. He also knew that the person was still there and could be reached if you were persuasive enough. "Shelby. Come with me and you'll be all right."

Deme moved faster, closing the gap between herself and Shelby more quickly than Cal.

He picked up the pace, afraid that Shelby would attack Deme before he could reach her.

Shelby crouched lower, her catlike gaze shifting from Deme back to Cal. Her hands curled into claws, her body tensed. She was going to pounce.

"Watch out!" Cal yelled.

The girl let out an ear-piercing animal scream and leaped at Deme.

Deme, standing her ground, refusing to let the girl by, was hit full force in the midsection. She staggered, fell backward and landed on her back, Shelby on top of her. The structure shuddered, metal creaking, followed by a loud pop.

The old strut beside Deme that attached the catwalk to the ceiling beams broke.

The footbridge tilted sharply toward the front of the stage.

A collective scream rose from the students in the audience as Deme and Shelby slid toward the edge and the twenty-five-foot fall to the hardwood flooring of the stage.

Deme hooked an elbow around the strut on the opposite side and wrapped her legs around Shelby's middle as she slipped over the side.

His heart hammering against his ribs, Cal's first instinct was to dive for Deme and grab her before she fell. But he was too far away. Instead, he held tightly to the handrails until the shaking stopped. Then he was running down the listing walkway toward the two women. If they fell the way they were, both could die or be terribly injured.

After a full year without her, Cal couldn't lose Deme again.

* * *

The muscles in Deme's shoulder burned, the weight of her own body enough to make her cry. The additional weight Shelby represented was making it nearly impossible for her to hold on.

Footsteps pounding toward her on the grate alerted Deme to Cal's approach. Hope surged inside. But shifting metal beneath her killed that hope. "No!" she gasped. "Stay back! If you come any closer, the other strut will break."

As if to emphasize her point, the structure creaked loudly and the catwalk shuddered again.

Shelby clawed at Deme, trying to climb up her onto the catwalk. Her eyes were wide and feral.

"Shelby Cramer, I know you can hear me. Listen up, girl!" Deme yelled, her back and legs straining. She had to get through to the young woman. If she didn't, the Chimera would take them both to the ground in a very uncomfortable landing. One they might not survive.

The woman stopped clawing and stared up at Deme, her eyes narrowing, her lips pulling back over her teeth.

"You don't own her." Deme's arm was going numb. She reached up with her other hand and clutched at the strut to relieve the pressure on her elbow. She wouldn't last much longer. "Shelby, take your body back. It's yours!"

"I can get closer," Cal called out.

"No!" Deme said between clenched teeth. "It's too dangerous." With every muscle in her body screaming for release, Deme forced her voice to calm. "If you let her die, you die with her. What's it going to be?"

Shelby stared up at Deme, her chest rumbling with a low, wicked growl. Her eyes flashed red and then back to gray. The girl's head lolled backward.

Then as though coming up for her first breath of air, Shelby gasped, her eyes wide, her body rigid. "What the hell?" She looked down and twisted violently, almost jerking Deme loose from her hold on the strut. "What's going on? Help!" She wrapped her arms around Deme, clinging tightly, pressing her face into Deme's belly.

"Shelby…keep calm." Deme's arms and legs shook. "Can you reach up and grab on to the catwalk?"

"No! Oh, God. Help. Oh, God." She hung on to Deme with a death grip, refusing to let go.

"I can't hold on much longer, Shelby. You have to help yourself."

"Deme, we have to risk it." Cal inched forward. "I'm coming to you."

"It'll break." By this time, Deme's refusal was weakening. If she didn't get some relief soon, it wouldn't matter, they'd fall anyway.

Shelby turned her face toward Cal.

Cal lay flat on the catwalk and crawled toward them, distributing his weight across a broader surface to ease the strain on the lone strut standing between the two women and a tragic fall. The metal creaked but held.

When he got within two feet of Shelby, he reached out a hand. "Take my hand, Shelby."

"I can't." Her voice shook and she buried her face in Deme's belly again.

"Yes. You. Can." He scooted forward a little more.

Deme's arm was slipping, and her legs couldn't hold up under the strain. Shelby was sliding farther down her body.

"Give me your hand now," Cal shouted.

Shelby cried out and slapped her hand into his.

Deme's legs lost their grip on the girl and she slid free. "No!"

Shelby screamed. The metal of the catwalk groaned and jerked as the girl's weight shifted from Deme to Cal.

Deme, her arms shaking, struggled to pull herself up to the section of catwalk still firmly attached to the roof. She lay facedown, breathing hard. As the blood rushed back into her arms, the pain of a thousand pins and needles stabbed into her.

Dangling from Cal's grip, Shelby hung twenty feet above the hard wooden floor of the stage. "Help! Oh, God, please," she sobbed.

"I've got you," Cal said, his voice low, steady, calm. He reached with his other hand and pulled her up a little more.

"Why is this happening to me?" Shelby whimpered.

"Everything is going to be okay," Cal said.

Across the broken catwalk from Cal, Deme let Cal's words wash over her, warming her where she'd felt so cold. If he hadn't been there today…

When Cal finally had Shelby close enough, he grabbed the back of her jeans and hauled her the rest of the way onto the walkway, scooting her back to the undamaged portion.

As Deme lay gasping for breath, arms aching and her face pressed against the catwalk's grate, Cal's words washed over her. Everything is going to be okay.

She pushed to a sitting position, then stood, her resolve hardening. Tired of reacting to every curveball the Chimera threw at her. Deme realized the only way everything was going to get better was to make it happen.