Part 6 (1/2)

Something about the weapon-maybe the fact that it was so weird, so old-fas.h.i.+ oned-made it scarier than a knife. Thea pictured the way even a safety razor could slice flesh.

Mr. Adkins was backing away, arms held out as if to protect the students be hind him. His eyes were frightened.

I have to stop this, Thea thought. The problem was that she had no idea how.

If it had been an animal, she could have stepped out and tried mind control . But she couldn't control a person.

She started walking anyway, slowly, so as not to attract attention. She skir ted the edge of the crowd around the dance floor until she drew parallel wit h the masked guy.

Who by now had switched to a new question. ”Have you seen her?” he said. He kept asking it as he walked, and people kept backing away. Vivienne and Selene drew to either side with their dates. The razor glittered.

Thea looked toward the opposite end of the dance floor, where Blaise was standing with Kevin Imamura.

With no Buck, no Duane to protect her. But Blaise didn't look frightened.

That was one thing about Blaise-she had magnificent physical courage. Sh e was standing with one hand on her hip and Thea could tell that she knew exactly who was coming her way.

In between moving couples, Thea glimpsed something else. Eric was on the o ther side of the dance floor, holding two cups of punch in one hand and on e in the other. He was keeping pace with the masked guy, just as she was.

She tried to catch his eye, but the crowd was too thick.

”Have you seen her?” the masked guy asked a couple right in front of Blaise . ”I want to knoooow. ...”

The couple split like bowling pins. Blaise stood exposed, tall and elegant in her black suit, lights s.h.i.+mmering off her midnight hair.

”Here I am, Randy,” she said. ”What is it you want to know?”

Randy Marik stopped, panting. His breath made a m.u.f.fled noise against the pl astic. The rest of the huge room was eerily silent.

Thea moved closer, walking silently. Eric was pulling in from the other side , and he saw her for the first time. He shook his head at her and mouthed, ”

Stay away.”

Yeah. And you're going to tackle him armed with three party cups of punc h. She gave him a look and mouthed, ”You stay away.”

Randy's hand was trembling, making the razor flash. His chest was heaving.

”What /$ it, Randy?” Blaise said. The toe of one high heeled shoe tapped the floor impatiently.

”I feel bad,” Randy said. It was almost a moan. Suddenly his head didn't see m well connected to his neck. ”I miss you.”

His voice made Thea's flesh creep. He sounded like a person with the body o f an eighteen-year-old and the mind of a four-year-old.

”I cry all the time,” he said.

With his left hand, he pulled off the Halloween mask. Kevin recoiled. Thea h erself felt a wave of horror.

He was crying blood. b.l.o.o.d.y streams ran down from each of his eyes, mingli ng with regular tears.

A spell? Thea wondered. Then she thought, no; he's cut himself.

That was it. He'd made two crescent-shaped incisions under his eyes and t he blood was coming from them.

The rest of his face was ghastly, too. He was white as a corpse and there wa s fuzzy stubble on his chin. His eyes stared wildly. And his hair, which had always been strawberry blond and silky, stood up all over his head like ble ached hay.

”You came all the way from New Hamps.h.i.+re to tell me that?” Blaise said. Sh e rolled her eyes.

Randy let out a sobbing breath.

This seemed to make Kevin braver. ”Look, man, I don't know who you are-b ut you'd better keep away from her,” he said. ”Why don't you go home and sober up?”

It was a mistake. The wild eyes above the bloodstained cheeks focused on h im.

”Who are you?” Randy said thickly, advancing a step. ”Who . . . are . . . you ?”.

”Kevin, move!” Thea said urgently.

It was too late. The hand with the razor flashed out, lightning quick. Blood spurted from Kevin's face.

CHAPTER 6.

Kevin howled, clapping a hand to his cheek. ”He cut me! This guy cut me!”

Blood ran between his fingers.

Randy lifted the razor again.

Thea reached out with her mind. Not reached. She leaped. It was completely i nstinctive; she was scared to death, and all she could think of was that he was going to kill Kevin, and maybe Blaise, too.

She caught-something. Pain and grief and fury that seemed to be bouncing ar ound like a baboon in a cage. She could hold it for only an instant, but in that instant Eric threw two cups of punch in Randy's face. Randy yelled an d turned away from Kevin, toward Eric.

Thea felt a surge of pure terror. Randy slashed with the razor, but Eric wa s fast; he jumped back out of the way, circling to get behind Randy. Randy wheeled and slashed again. They were doing a macabre dance, going round and round.

Thea felt as if the fear was winding tighter inside her with each turn. But Eric kept out of the way of the flas.h.i.+ng razor until a rush of movement on the dance floor caught her eye. It was Mr. Adkins and two other teachers.

They converged on Randy and there was a lot of confusion. When it was over, Randy was on the ground.

Sirens wailed outside, coming closer. Eric stepped away from the pile on the floor.

Breathing hard, he looked at Thea. She nodded that she was all right, then sh ut her eyes.

She felt limp and wrung out and awful. They were going to take Randy away now, and she didn't think there was much help for him. He definitely seemed too far gone.

At that moment she was ashamed of being a witch.

”All right, people,” Mr. Adkins was saying. ”Let's move out of here. Let's get this place cleared.” He looked at Blaise, who was bending over a seated Kevin, holding a napkin to his cheek. ”You two can stay.” Then he put a ha nd on Blaise's shoulder. ”Are you okay here?”