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Ithunted Stalked

She stepped back into her roo

But she was oddly afraid As she hadn&039;t been in ages

She stayed awake, staring at the sky, certain the darkness was turning a still deeper red as she watched

Her friends had felt it, too, she thought That hy they&039;ve been so nervous about her trip

This was ridiculous, she told herself When the conference had been announced, it had iued her And now she was coh her initial exciteed? she wondered Or was it all in her mind?

Suddenly, she felt dizzy The world before her seeer in her bedrooe stood aaround him in the breeze

And he was the epito her An ancient evil that lurked soe and distant memory that couldn&039;t be

The Master

The name flashed unbidden to her mind She banished it iain, in her own room, the peace and beauty barely disturbed by distant sounds fronolia blosso her mind, she told herself i in Roround

A disembodied voice announced arrivals and departures in a hts of the airport were all around her

Yet she felt as if the world had darkened behind her, as if a shadoere following her As she walked toward Custoht behind her were closing in on her Panic al followed, that she could feel hot breath-fetid breath-at her nape Chills shivered up her spine

She thought she heard her na voice

But when she turned, there was no one near her Busy people, bored, anxious, were hurrying through the airport No one seeain before she reached her final destination And there, in the exquisite historic hotel, she felt the darkness again as she walked to her room

She locked the door securely behind her, then waited, afraid, watching the door, wanting to believe she had worked with one too many an antisocial paranoid and their fears had si

She turned away

Then there was a sound, a clicking, as if soain, the whisper in her hter

You can&039;t hide Wherever you go, I will find you

"Are you co with us?" Mary dee of Jeremy&039;s bed at the former seventeenth-century"I can&039;t believe I got the invite So It&039;s aprivate club There&039;s not even a sign on the door She says people will be there from all over Europe It&039;s in the ruins of soarian couple in the cafe, and they said it&039;s alet into the local club scene, especially the "castle" vaet this They supposedly brought in a famous dominatrix to be the hostess Celebrities even couarantee you, it&039;s the coolest thing we&039;ll do all year"

Mary was gorgeous, an energetic pixie with brilliant blue eyes and a cascade of wheat blond hair Jere out withhim hadn&039;t suddenly becoet into this club, but she was scared, and she wanted friends with her

In high school, he h he&039;d never been a first-string player, he&039;d made his way onto the football teauitar because she loved musicians He&039;d never set out to be one of the in-crowd, but somehow, in his quest for her approval, he&039;d becoh, and that had soirls but Mary

He had to adely because of her But he was past that He enty-two, ready to graduate-with honors-and either accept a decent job offer, or head off to grad school He had gained four inches since his eighteenth birthday, and tiiven him shoulders and a chest He was serious and studious, so other girls seemed to appreciate Once, he had worshiped Mary, now he saw her from a clearer perspective, but he still loved her, just reed to join her on this trip for their last spring break Still, this wasn&039;t exactly like visiting England, or even France or Italy

This was Transylvania They had started in Bucharest, explored Walachia before heading into Sighisoara and dining in the ancient home-now a restaurant-where Vlad Tepes, the man who&039;d become known as Dracula, had been born They had strolled medieval towns, visited dozens of churches, heard about history and architecture Their guides had all spoken English The Ro to spend lots of money to travel, to feel a part of myth and mystery-and buy souvenirs

There were twenty students in their group, and luckily everyone got on well Even better, they had crossed paths with an international convention of psychologists a few days earlier, and one of theiven a lecture at school She had spent her free afternoon with the him He had to admit, he&039;d developed a little bit of a crush on her In fact, compared to her, Mary had started to see

He had an uneasy feeling about this invitation of hers, too He&039;d heard a little about the kind of parties she was talking about Rue scene, they were run by a group of people who actually believed that they were vampires

"Mary, I don&039;t like it"

"Don&039;t be a wuss, Jeremy I&039;m a journalism major Think what I can do with this story"

Mary&039;s idea of journalism had landed them in several uncomfortable situations already For about six otten into a serious relationship with a pretty English ot sick, and never returned They had called each other every night for a while Then the calls had become fewer and fewer Even their e-mails had dwindled, until they&039;d finally drifted completely apart

So here he was in Transylvania, and here was Mary, ready to use hiain No, that wasn&039;t fair, he told hiood friend

"I just don&039;t think it&039;s a good idea"

She laughed "Oh, Jere What&039;s the et laid?"

"Mary," he murmured He hated it when she talked that way, no matter how liberated the world was supposed to be

"Please, Jeree of private sex clubs-there was an article in the paper a few n on the door People come from all over, because they can do what they want to do there"

"Yeah Have silly rituals and slice their thumbs and suck each other&039;s blood That&039;s pathetic, Mary"

"No, it&039;s not No one is allowed to push anyone else into doing anything they don&039;t want to do The woman rote the article said she wasn&039;t hit on as ly And if there was already an article-"

Mary sighed "Jeremy, I want to take this story national An expose-what&039;s going on here and in the States Look, I&039; alone Nancy agreed to couy with us And, if you don&039;t go, what are you going to do? Play soaood job"

To his a "I want this story so badly, Jereo"

She jumped up, a brilliant smile on her face "I knew you wouldn&039;t let me down Ever"

"Listen, Mary, when I say we have to leave-"

"We leave Fine Now, quit worrying I always land on et there?" he demanded

"It&039;s too cool We head up that path toward the e" Mary shook her head, suess I&039;ht

But he wanted her to be happy, so he kept his o, but he still didn&039;t like it

He was still unhappy when Mary went to her rooone, he went outside The psychologists were all in the restored judicial palace across the street, now a four-star hotel

He walked into the lobby and asked for Jessica Fraser, but she was already out for the evening

What the hell was h that he wouldn&039;t dreah to dread the fact he was going to go

He hesitated, then left a note

A precaution

Soone