girl has completely lost it." She yanked open the first door and used her electronic key to get through the second. "You guys want to
hang out for a while?" Rose asked as we all shed our coats in the foyer. "Actually, I think I'm just going to go check my e-mail and go
to bed," I replied. "It's been a long weekend."
I trudged up the stairs to my room, Constance and Sabine trailing behind me, gabbing about Ivy and whether she could possibly be
a killer. I tried to tune them out, but they were far too loud. "I never liked the girl. The way she walks around here acting like she runs
the place," Sabine said. "And she looks like a witch. With that pointy face and the dark hair and all the black clothes," Constance
added. "Honestly? It's like The Wizard of Oz. Cheyenne was the good blond witch all in pink, and Ivy's the scary, psycho witch all in
black." Sabine paused for a moment. "But in that story, the good witch survived and the bad witch melted." "Maybe we should go
throw some water on her and see what happens," Constance said flatly as they followed me into our room. As they continued to gab
over on Sabine's side, I opened my computer with a sigh and brought up my e-mail. Instantly, my heart stopped beating. I had an e-
mail from Dash. Right there at the top of the page. It was titled "Long overdue," and it had been sent from a new e-mail address. Ap-
parently he had wised up about his girlfriend's e-mail know-how.
Finally. Finally something. The guy sure took his dear, sweet time. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the girls were occu-
pied, then started to sit down in my chair. I was about halfway to seated, when the chair and the whole world dropped out from under
me.
Right beneath Dash's e-mail was an e-mail from Cheyenne. And beneath that another. And beneath that another. I shakily re
ached
for the mouse and scrolled down. Her name filled the whole page. It filled the entire page after that. And another. And another. The
more I clicked, the more my eyes stung, watering until I couldn't focus anymore.
I had blocked Cheyenne's address. Changed my own. I had stopped this. How had these e-mails gotten through. How? Was it Ivy?
Was she some kind of computer hacker? Was she trying to show me that she could get to me no matter where I was?A bubble rose up
in my throat and before I could stop it, a strangled sound came right out. I slapped my hand over my mouth, shut the browser, and
quickly powered down the computer. But it was too late. Sabine and Constance had stopped talking. "Reed? Are you all right?"
"M'just... sick," I mumbled. And it was true. The second I spoke I felt dinner coming back up. I raced past them into the bathroom,
slammed the door, and fell to my knees in front of the toilet. After retching for what felt like an eternity, I flushed and put my butt on
the floor, shoving myself back against the wall, wondering if I'd ever really feel safe again.
* * *
The morning was always better. By the light of day everything seemed fine. Nightmares seemed impossible. Still, I didn't go near
my computer. As much as I wanted to know what Dash's e-mail was all about, I couldn't handle Cheyenne's name staring me in the
face like that. That was no way to start a day. At breakfast everyone was discussing the upcoming fund-raiser, whom they might bring