Page 39 of The Mist of Stars

I shrug then shove open the door and step out into the cool night air. “Nothing, hopefully.” I shut the door and meet him around the front of my car.

He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and stares at the castle, the windows glowing in the darkness of the night. “So … you kissed her?” He finally speaks the question I know he’s been dying to ask. And it’s the question I’ve been dying not to answer.

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have,” I tell him as we trot up the stairs. “It was really shitty timing on my part.”

“Ya think?” he throws back at me with a smirk. “Dude, it’s so like you to kiss her when doomsday is knocking at our door.”

We reach the double doors, and I push one open, stepping into the hallway. A few students are wandering around with books in their hands, but other than the sounds of soft chatter and footsteps, the air is quiet.

Except …

“Do you hear that humming?” I ask Laylen as he steps up beside me. I scan the walls, the doorways, and the people around us, searching for the source.

Laylen shakes his head as he lets the door swing shut. “No.”

My gaze travels upward to the ceiling, to the upper floor, to where that simulator is that sucked Gemma and I into a vision. Why can I hear it suddenly? And better yet, why can’t Laylen?

“Come on; let’s go find him before he has to teach a class.” I nod for Laylen to follow me as I start down the hallway.

We head for his office first, because it seems like the most probable place he’d be. The door is cracked open, but the lights are off. Assuming he isn’t in there, I start to turn away when I hear a thud from inside.

“Did you hear that?” I ask Laylen as my finger hovers above my waist holster where my knife is secured.

Laylen is flowing with uneasiness as he eyeballs the cracked-open door. “That, I did hear.”

I inch toward the door, taking cautious steps. When I reach it, I carefully push it open. The moonlight is flowing in from the window across from us and casts shadows on the desk and chair. I fumble to find the light switch, but when I flip the light on, I wish I hadn’t.

The professor is slumped over in his chair, lying in a puddle of blood and scattered papers.

And it’s clear that he’s dead.

12GEMMA

Aislin lives in a beautiful two-story home located on the top of a sloped hill that has a view of the town that is currently glittering in the distance like the stars in the sky.

“The storm faded quickly,” I note as I gaze out her bedroom window. “I feel like the death walker is what started it.”

“It’s possible.” She’s moving around the room behind me, going from her dresser to her bed where her suitcase is, half-packed with her clothes. “I think we should read about these creatures more. I mean, we had like a super quick course about them in history freshman year, but I barely remember anything.”

“Me, too.” I turn away from the window and check my phone.

No new messages.

I tell myself to breathe, that perhaps my parents are on a mission. They are keepers, after all.

I pocket my phone and walk to the bed. “What can I help with?”

“Um … You can pack up my soap and shampoo,” she suggests as she tosses me a smaller bag. “Just put them in here.”

I give her a salute then leave her bedroom, heading for the bathroom a few doors down.

Hum …

Hum …

Hum …

I slow to a halt and peer around, turning in a circle. The hallway is wide with high ceilings and ivory-trimmed walls. The chandelier light glimmers across the crystal vases that dot the shelves, and the paintings on the walls add a hue of color to the gray walls.

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