Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

soft morning light was starting to gain strength. Suddenly, the smudge, as Thomas had called it, came into

focus. Ariana's eyes widened in disbelief as she recognized

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the familiar pattern. The dark argyle plaid she'd seen just seconds ago, in the window on Drake's fourth floor.

"Oh my God." She brought her free hand to her mouth. Nervous energy rattled her insides. She should have

known. How could she have been so stupid?

"What?" Thomas sat up straight.

"Sergei Tretyakov." Her voice trembled with excitement. "The Russian kid?" he asked incredulously. "He's

Latvian."

"Seriously? You want to argue about this?" For the first time since they'd escaped Ketlar, Ariana saw light

dancing in Thomas's eyes.

"That's his sweater, in the corner of the mirror." Ariana brought the photo over and dropped down to the floor

again so that he could see it. "You were right. When he took the picture from the doorway, he accidentally got

himself in the reflection."

Thomas looked skeptical. "You sure about this? I mean, why wo

uld-"

"He's always had a weird thing for me," Ariana said, intoxicated by the discovery. Now that she knew who

the perpetrator was, she could do something about it. "Remember-the kid was taking so many pictures of me

at the Winter Ball, Daniel had to steal his camera!" Her voice brimmed with energy. It was all starting to

come together. "He's practically obsessed. So he breaks into my room and steals the picture of me. Somehow

he figures out that I'm still on campus, and follows me around, leaving that photo of us in your room. It was

his blood on my coat."

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"Wait, how would he find out you're still around?" Thomas interrupted.

"I don't know," Ariana admitted. "Maybe he spotted us the other night in Hell Hall or something. He could

have been there dropping off work like I was. And-oh my God. He was at North Face when I was-the hat

outside the chapel must have been his!"

"Kid's a little creepy." Thomas shrugged, not looking quite convinced. "But why leave that picture for us to

find? He's too lame to pull off blackmail."

"Only one way to find out," she said. "We have to break into his room."