Chapter 27

Jared McCall went back into his classroom, glad to see his students still discussing the topic he’d left them with when he’d ran out of the room a few moments ago. It was funny how grief could sneak up on him. He never would’ve thought a topic as broad as preparation before a fray could trigger such deep emotions in him, but just the mention of a specific battle he’d fought with Chell had him weeping like a small child. If any of his students noticed, they said nothing, though a few had sympathetic looks on their faces now as he walked back to his desk.

Jared managed to get himself together enough to move on to the next part of his lecture, but his mind kept going back to the new student he’d met in the hallway. She’d said her name was Rachael, but he hadn’t been thinking logically enough to ask her last name. There was something different about her. If Graham had mentioned her, Jared couldn’t remember it. They hadn’t talked as much lately as they usually did. Seeing Graham just reminded him that Chell was gone, and he didn’t want to look for reminders if he could help it. Whatever it was about Rachael that had sparked a question in his mind, Jared couldn’t shake it, and by the time the class period was over, he was curious enough to seek out more information about the brunette.

As the students filed out of his classroom, he reminded them that they’d be taking their final the next day and then quickly prepared for his next class. He had an hour off before the next set of students came in, which should be enough time to do a little bit of research. He didn’t think Graham was on campus at the moment. If he recalled correctly, he was out on a recruiting trip. With the next semester starting soon, the recruiters would be very busy trying to get all of the students enrolled before classes started on Monday.

Jared stepped out into the hallway. His footsteps echoed off the tile in the emptiness; all the students had moved on to their next classes or to lunch. He had always wondered why the building was so large when the student body was never more than a few hundred at best. Perhaps Graham Silverwood had envisioned larger enrollment numbers when he’d dreamt up the academy so many decades ago.

Deciding to go to the office to see if he could find Rachael’s file, Jared took a few steps that direction, but then a familiar cadence of footsteps caught his attention, and he turned to see Trip coming up the hall, heading from the direction of the library. Since that’s where Rachael had been going, Jared decided to try his luck with Trip.

“Hey, Dr. M. How’s it going?” Trip asked, his carefree attitude coming through in his tone and swagger.

“God, good,” Jared said, smiling and stopping a few steps in front of Trip, who seemed to be in a hurry. “Did you just come from the library?

“Sure did. Had to deliver some paperwork before I head out for another recruitment meeting. Man, the kids are tough this time around. At this rate, we might not even have ten people in this class.

“Really?” That was surprising to Jared. The summer class was always the smallest, but he couldn’t remember the last time they had less than a dozen students.

“Yeah. I’m not sure what’s going on. It’s like… no one’s telling these kids about their lineage anymore. Most of them have no idea vampires even exist. Weird.

“That is weird,” Jared agreed, mostly just because he didn’t want to stay on that topic. “Say, was Rachael in the library when you were there?

“Rachael? Yeah, she was in there. That’s whose stuff I was delivering. You met her then? Now, there’s a student that shows promise.

Glad Trip was familiar with her, Jared nodded. “Did you recruit her?

“Nah, Graham did. It was weird, too. She just suddenly showed up on our reports earlier this week. It was so odd. Her grandfather was a hunter, though, so she definitely belongs here. Just can’t understand why we’d never seen her name on any of our lists before, especially not back when she was graduating from high school. I went back and checked, and nothing.” He was shaking his head, his hands on his hips.

Jared thought it was strange, too, but he was more interested in what they did know about Rachael than what they didn’t know. “Who was her grandfather?

“Wessley Barnes,” Trip said confidently. “Did you know him? I think he retired before I started school here.

Shaking his head, Jared said, “No, I didn’t know him either. But I have heard of him. So… it’s Rachael Barnes?

“Yep, that’s her. Is everything okay?

Jared realized he was stroking his chin and probably had a contemplative expression on his face. “Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. I ran into her earlier. She seems like a nice woman. I just thought there was something… familiar about her. That’s all.” Jared didn’t want to tell him it wasn’t familiarity--it was an oddness, something about the way she’d looked at him, the way she’d known his name despite the fact that Jared had never noticed her looking at the nameplate on the wall.

“Well, she’s definitely nice. A little older than the other new students, but I think that’s cool. She’s got a lot of potential.

Nodding, Jared said, “That’s good,” not sure what else to say. “I don’t want to keep you.

“Thanks. I’ve gotta head out now. Nice talkin’ to you, Doc.” He punched Jared lightly on the arm and then headed off. Jared didn’t remember to say anything until Trip was out of earshot, but he still muttered a goodbye.

Leaning back against the wall, Jared debated what to do. He could head to the office and get his hands on Rachael’s file. Ms. Post wouldn’t mind him looking at a new student’s information since Rachael would likely be in Jared’s class. He could go find the woman and have a conversation with her, see if she said anything else surprising, though she wasn’t likely going to be able to alleviate the odd feeling Jared was having. Or, he could head to the library and see if he could find anything there that might help him feel more at ease, but that didn’t seem promising either. Instead of doing any of those things, Jared continued to stand in the hallway, trying to put his finger on what it was about Rachael that made him feel unsettled.

Rather than launching an investigation based on an odd feeling, he decided to let it go for the moment. When Graham came back, hopefully, he’d have a chance to speak to him. Maybe he could shed some light on the situation. If not, perhaps getting to know Rachael through class would set him at ease. Still feeling as if something strange were happening around him, Jared headed down the hallway to his office to get some work done, what he’d planned to do during his break between classes. Hopefully, whatever it was about Rachael Barnes that was leaving him unsettled would come to light soon, or else this new student might just become an obsession for him, and he didn’t have time to fight vampires and unravel mysterious new vampire hunters, even if she had left every hair on the back of his neck standing on edge.

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