She had her shoes and socks off before she opened the door to the mud room. Snatching a pair of booties from a rack next to the door, she zipped inside, passed by a four-story stone fireplace, ran under seven wrought-iron chandeliers, down the central hallway and all the way to the back, where the restroom doors were marked with moose silhouettes—one with antlers and one without.
She picked the one without antlers, crossed her fingers and opened the door, finding (much to her relief) two female…humans, she guessed—parked in front of the mirror.
“I guess the parafreaks are here,” one said after Hailey closed her stall door.
Hailey wondered what a parafreak was and if that was a bad thing.
“Let’s get out of here before they muddy the place up,” the other answered, and Hailey listened to the bathroom door shut behind them. When she stepped up to the sink to wash her hands, she recoiled at her reflection in the mirror.
“Good lord,” she whispered as she turned on the water. “Definitely a bad thing,” she murmured.
With the exception of her booties, every part of her was covered in dirt, bugs, and other unidentifiable ick. The whites of her eyes really stood out. She looked like a mud monster.
Did I really meet Asher looking like this?Hanging her head and squeezing her eyes shut, she gripped the sink, torturing herself by rethinking every word she’d said to him.
Oh, it’s no wonder he didn’t kiss me again, she whimpered inside. At least she could wash her hands and face now. If only Tomas were around to put her hair in order.
She tapped her finger on the sink.
“I wonder…” she said out loud as she peered into the mirror. “Tomas,” she called softly. She peeked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching her speak to her reflection.
“Tomas?” she said again, but the only supernatural thing in the glass was a crazy-haired mud monster. “Oh, if only you could come here, Tomas,” she begged quietly.
“HIER” came through in frosty letters on the mirror.
She perked up.
“Tomas? Is that you?”
“SCHMUTZIG” followed in bigger letters and a familiar set of hands shot out of the glass and shoved Hailey’s head into the sink.
“Gently,” she told him, and he actually handled her with a little more finesse as he rinsed her hair. It took several minutes and a whole bottle of ghost shampoo, but when Tomas was done, Hailey had a neat, clean, delightfully perfumed and trendy bun.
“Thanks,” she said, and Tomas frantically waved his hands at her through the glass.
“What is it?”
“D.O.P.P.L.E.R.” frosted across the mirror.
“What about them?”
“Gefahr”
Hailey mouthed the word, but she didn’t know what it meant and shook her head, adding “Gefahr” to “Schatz” to her mental list of Tomas-words to research. She was pretty sure they were German.
“Tomas, I’m sorry, that’s way beyond the German I know. I have to look it up. Is there anything else?”
“bin entwichen” appeared briefly but long enough for Hailey to take a mental picture of it, and then Tomas saluted and disappeared as another mud monster waddled through the ladies’ room door wrapped in a wet sleeping bag.
Hailey nodded to her and exited.
Other ParaScience students were shuffling in to Chinook Hall from the porch. Falling in step behind them, she entered a large banquet room opposite the fireplace, finding inside no fewer than fifty round tables, each set for fifteen people. Near the door, she found one occupied by only five students, all soggy and dirty.
“May I join you?” she asked with her most friendly smile.
Nobody answered.
Instead, they all stiffened and stared, either at random objects around the room or at their place setting. One whispered something sharply to the student on his left. That student looked over his shoulder and whispered to the student sitting on his left. Then without a word, without even glancing at Hailey, all five of them slid their chairs back, got up, walked away, and sat down at another table, leaving Hailey, shoulders drooped and sitting alone at the giant table for fifteen.
