I hadn’t even considered looking for housing. Nor had I told Oliver and Leanne about having to move off campus, though they knew about independent study. Instead I’d spent the week scribbling notes in my notebook, trying to determine who my attacker was and why he or she was trying to kill me. My sleuthing skills had still gotten me nowhere.
I stretched and looked around. I jolted when I realized I was alone. Somehow I managed to outlast even the most academic of my peers. Pulling out my phone, I checked the time.
“Crap, eleven-thirty?” I hadn’t meant to stay this long. I packed up my bags and put on my coat.
As I grabbed my bag, I heard a rustle from the far side of the library. I froze, listening.
When I was certain no one was there, I walked past the rows of musty, leather-bound books, their embossed covers shimmering gold in the low lamplight of the library.
Just as I left the library I heard it again: a rustle coming from somewhere behind me. I hurried my pace, determined to get out of the spooky old castle. It was eerie here at night.
The candlelight flickered in the wall sconces, making the light dance along the rough stone walls. Behind me I heard a growl.
I turned. An enormous black dog with glowing red eyes stood in front of the library doors I’d exited not a minute before. The Moddey Dhoo, according Professor Mead.
Great. That was a true legend?
The dog’s hackles rose and it barred its teeth. Saliva dripped onto the floor, where it sizzled away. It inched towards me.
“Good doggy,” I said, edging backwards. The exit was down the next hall. With my speed I could probably outrun the dog. Only, I had no idea what I was dealing with. Demonic dogs weren’t really my forte.
It growled louder, and it began to pace back and forth, agitated. I saw the dog pause and its muscles tense. Then it charged me.
I turned on my heel and sprinted for my life. I could hear its paws clicking on the stone floors behind me. Some phantom dog—that thing sounded real to me.
I flew down the hall, barely losing momentum to turn the corner. At the end of the hall was the exit. Behind me the Moddey Dhoo snarled. It sounded much too close.
Putting in one last burst of energy, I plunged through the exit. I glanced behind me in time to see the dog jump through the solid oak doors.
I swore. I’d really hoped the dog would stay inside the castle.
In front of me was Peel Castle’s expansive lawn. Wisps of fog obscured the far side of the campus where my dorm was. I ran blindly in that direction.
Through my pants I felt the dog’s hot breath. It was right on my heels. My muscles protested as I forced them to move faster.
I didn’t slow down until the dog’s growl became a distant noise. I glanced back. The Moddey Dhoo stood in the middle of the grassy lawn, staring calmly at me. As I watched, the dog slowly faded.
I shivered as its glowing eyes finally winked out. The dog was an omen of death.
This time I was in deep.
***
“Kill me. Please.” Leanne moaned when I woke her up the next morning. “That would be the kind thing to do.”
Her and Oliver hadn’t come home until the wee hours of the morning, so I hadn’t had a chance to mention my encounter with the ghostly dog.
“Want something to eat?” I asked, holding up the bag of pastries I’d bought an hour earlier, a peace offering in case she didn’t like being woken up.
I’d barely touched my own breakfast. I had been anxious all morning about seeing the Moddey Dhoo, even going so far as to research what I knew about the demonic dog. It was more of the same: the dog was an omen of death.
She sat up in bed. “Sure, what’d you get?” she asked, scrubbing her face with her hands. I handed the bag to her and watched as she pulled out a Danish and began to nibble it.
I took a tasteless bite of my croissant. “Leanne, I have something to tell you.”
“What?” she asked, yawning.
“I saw the Moddey Dhoo last night.” I glanced up from my plate to watch her reaction.
She stared off in the distance. Then, slowly, she looked at me. “You saw … ?” She trailed off, “But that’s impossible,” she said. “The only people that see the Moddey Dhoo—”
“Die. I know.”
Her gaze sharpened on me. “Let me give you a reading.”
I raised my eyebrows. “But I thought you just saw stuff.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I foresee things, but it’s more accurate if I give you a reading.” She reached out. “Here, give me your hand.”
I put down my croissant and gave her my hand. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths in and out. All was still for a few minutes.
Suddenly, her hand tightened over mine, and her eyes darted back and forth behind her closed lids.
“I see a mansion. People are wearing formal attire.” Could she be talking about Andre’s birthday gala?
Leanne’s fingers dug into mine. “There’s a fire. Trapped. So many people trapped. All of it burning down. I see you. I see Andre, and a gun, aimed at you. The trigger is pulled and …”
She let out a muffled moan and dropped my hand. Hesitantly she opened her eyes. They were red.
“Gabrielle,” she said, “you will die if you go to this event.”
Chapter 22