"He didn't have to. Thierry gave me the address in case of emergency. The Red Devil didn't have to say anything. And now here I am." The flash popped again. "Okay, that was even worse this time."
I glanced past George at the dark and silent parking lot, and then grabbed his shirt and dragged him into the room, closing and locking the door behind me.
"Are you crazy?" I sputtered.
"What?"
I tried to breathe normally. "Whoever this guy is could have just used you to find out where I am right now. He may have followed you here."
He shook his head. "No way. He wouldn't do something like that."
I listened to the shower still going in the bathroom. Damn, that man loved his hot water.
I smoothed out George's shirt under his winter jacket from where I'd wrinkled it. "I know he saved my ass, and for that I'm very grateful. But I don't know anything else about him.
What if he's one of the bad guys?"
"Bad guys don't save people." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Look, Sarah. Relax. I know the other day with the stake was really traumatic for you, but don't let it make you even more paranoid than you already are. If the Red Devil was one of the bad guys he would have let you die, not brought you back to the club."
Paranoid. Yeah, that sounded about right. "You really think so?"
"The Red Devil is not a bad guy."
I let out a long and shaky breath and willed my heart to stop beating so fast. "Maybe you're right." A great sense of relief flooded over me and I gave George a hug. Then I eyed him now that I was able to focus again and noticed he was dressed to the nines in an expensive red silk shirt and black leather pants. "Why are you all dressed up? Got big plans tonight?"
He shrugged. "Well, since I was in town I was hoping I might be able to come to the reunion, too."
"To help keep an eye on me for the Red Devil?"
"Well that, of course, but, I would assume, there's free fruit punch of some kind? Possibly some finger sandwiches? A good old small-town hootenanny?"
"You can come, but if you tell Thierry why you're really here he's going to blow a gasket, and even though I'm not entirely sure what a gasket is, that would not be a good thing."
"Then I won't say a word." His gaze moved to my hand. "New ring?"
I rubbed it. "It's from Thierry."
His eyes widened. "Is it an engagement ring? Did he pop the question?"
"Of course not," I said bluntly. "He's already married, remember?"
He sighed. "You are absolutely no fun today. Did somebody take her depressing pill this morning?"
"Do I really sound that bad?"
He nodded. "Don't worry, we'll have fun tonight. There's dancing, right?"
"Allegedly."
He shook his head sadly. "You're even starting to sound like Thierry now. He's starting to rub off on you. I think that's the problem."
I pointed at the door. "Begone with you. I will see you at the high school in an hour."
He went. I shut the door after him.
I tried not to think about the Red Devil potentially following George all the way to my hometown to find out where I was. The thought was decidedly creepy. Who was this guy?
What were his ulterior motives?
Was I starting to sound like Thierry? All careful and cautious? Maybe that's the way you became after being less than an inch away from getting killed. Careful and cautious.
And tonight I would have a very careful and cautious evening with some mild dancing with old friends. Possibly some of that fruit punch.
With any luck, the sparkly red dress I'd borrowed from Amy would be the most exciting thing to happen to me tonight in my single-minded quest to feel normal and be happy.
Fingers crossed.
The reunion dance was being held in the gymnasium of the Abottsville District High
School, and I had to admit that Missy and her crew had done a wonderful job of making it look like something out of a fairy tale. Sparkling lights flickered across the dance floor.
The walls were adorned with murals that looked like castle walls.
The last time I'd been here had been for my graduation ceremony. I'd whipped that little tasseled hat off and thrown it into the air so quickly that by the time it hit the ground I'd already moved to Toronto to start university and find my way in the big city.
It was just after eight o'clock by the time we got there. The dance was to go until midnight. Four hours of walking down memory lane seemed like more than enough, especially now that I felt on edge about the Red Devil's motives. I tried to relax and feel normal, but it was difficult. The red dress I'd borrowed from Amy was even shorter than
I'd anticipated, and the low-cut neckline barely covered the fading but really itchy stake wound on my chest. I'd positioned my name tag over the general area, so that helped a bit.
"Why is George here?" Thierry asked.
I glanced over at the dance floor. George waved at me.
"Oh, didn't I mention that to you? He wanted to come and I said he could. I think he's lonely."
Thierry had been in such a good mood, by his standards, that I didn't want to put a damper on the evening by telling him about the Red Devil's continued interest in my well-being.
Maybe it was early, but there weren't as many people in attendance as I'd expected. In fact, at first glance I didn't even see anyone I remembered.
"Sarah?" I heard from over my shoulder. "Oh, my God. Sarah Dearly! I don't believe this!"
I turned, relieved to see somebody I definitely recognized. I smiled at the pretty woman with dark red hair and a cute black shift dress on her trim figure. "Claire!" I hugged her.
"Wow, it's so great to see you."
She smiled so widely it could be classified as beaming. I didn't. I'd trained myself to smile without showing off the fangs. Kind of a subdued Mona Lisa deal.