I stumbled in my heels and almost fell in a pothole. Pete grabbed me by the shoulder and swung me around.

"I'm trying to save you!" He slammed me against the outside wall of the parish. "Jude told me to keep you away from Kalbi. But you make it impossible. Why won't you stay away from him?"

"Stop, please." I tried to shove him away, but he was heavy and unmovable.

"I'm supposed to be your hero," he said. "i was supposed to save you on Markham Street."

"What?" But then I realized. "You were the one outside my car." No wonder he'd insisted I stay behind. "You tried to scare me just so you could play hero?"

"Jude said we had to keep you away from Daniel. He said all you needed was a good scare. The car broke down, so I used to the opportunity." Pete clenched my shoulder. "I would have been your hero if ..."

That noise. It was a howl. It was Daniel. "If something hadn't scared you away?"

"I ran," Pete said. "And then Kalbi came along before I got back." His fingers dug into my shoulder.

"You're supposed to want me, not him!"

Pete pressed his body against mine, grinding my bare back into the rough brick. His hot breath was a vile mixture of breath mints and alcohol.

"You're drunk, Pete. You don't really want to do this."

"You owe me this," he said. "I've wanted this for a long time. But you told me to be patient--so I was. And then you went off and did it with him."

"What--?"

' Don't deny it. Everybody knows. Lynn saw you leaving his place. She saw him follow you out half naked." Pete gritted his teeth. "So if you'll give it up for that piece of filth, then what's wrong with me? Am I not dark enough? Am I not bad enough for you?" His body crushed me against the wall. "I can be if that's what you want."

Pete smashed his lips over my mouth. The strap of my dress snapped in his clawing grasp. I slammed my fists into his back. He grabbed my arms and pinned them against the wall. I grated the heel of my shoe down his leg.

Pete wrenched back his head. "I knew you'd like it rough."

I sucked in a breath and called for help. Pete laughed and smothered my mouth with his. I felt completely trapped under his weight.

Pete's body suddenly lurched sideways, and he released me. He sputtered and grabbed his side. His Hps made a perfect O shape as his hand came up. Blood painted his fingers. He stumbled back.

"Monstrrrr ..." he said, and fell to the ground.

"Oh, my ..."I cast about in the dark and saw it--a great, hulking, bear like thing--crouching in the shadows of the school's side entrance. Moonlight reflected off the bloody knife in its giant hand. I screamed. It was such a shrill, foreign noise I didn't realize it was coming from me at first. But I couldn't stop.

The hulking shadow lunged at me.

I turned to run, but I tripped over something lying in the street.

The bear man caught me, crushing me around the middle as it wrenched me up away from Pete's crumpled body. The beast held my back to its chest, its ragged breath in my ear. I kicked at its tree-stump legs. I screamed louder, even though I knew no one in the school would hear me over the thumping music. A huge hand clamped over my face, covering my mouth and nose--silencing me.

"Don't scream." His voice was trilling, almost crying. He was afraid. "Please don't scream, Miss Grace." He wasn't a monster at all.

"Don?" I tried to say, but his hand pressed so hard over my mouth, no sound came out.

"I didn't mean it. He was hurting you. I thought he was the monster. I had to stop him. I'm supposed to he a hero just like my granddaddy taught me." Don's knife scraped my arm as he held me. It was sticky and wet with Pete's blood. "But he's not the monster, is he?" Don's voice grew shriller. "He's ... just a boy." His hand tightened over my face. "I didn't mean to do it." I couldn't breathe. I tried to tell him to let go, but I had no voice. I clawed at his hand.

"You can't scream, Miss Grace. You can't tell nobody. Pastor will be mad. He'll send me away like he almost did after the fire. I didn't mean it. I was trying to help." Blood dripped off the knife--it slithered down my arm.

"You can't tell nobody!" Don bawled. A hot tear landed on my shoulder. Stop! You've hurting me. I can't breathe!

"I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it," Don cried over and over again. His hand tightened around my face as he sobbed, almost as if he didn't realize I was there anymore. I blinked, fighting the long wispy fingers of darkness that slipped in behind my eyes. My body felt limp, uncontrollable. I couldn't fight the dark any longer.

THREE YEARS AGO

I stared into the still, quiet darkness from the front-room window. Watching. Waiting. Mom paced behind me. "I don't know where he could be," she said, more to herself than to anyone else. "The Nagamatsus said he left Scouts two hours ago." Dad said good-bye to the person on the phone and came out of the study,

"Who was it?" Mom practically sprang on him. "What did they say?"

"Don," Dad said. "There's a problem at the parish." Mom's breath caught. "Jude?"

"No. Something with the remodeling."

"This late?"

The keys jangled as Dad took them off the hook. "I'll be back soon."

"But what about Jude?"

Dad sighed. "He's a good kid. If he isn't home by the time I get back, then we'll start to worry." Mom made a noise like she didn't agree with that plan.

My gaze didn't leave the blackness of the night. The storm clouds parted, and I thought I saw something moving near the walnut tree. I leaned into the window.

"Jude," I said. "I see him."

"Thank goodness," Mom said, but her voice had that edge to it like she was preparing a lecture.

"You could always get him a cell. ..." I started in on my favorite topic, but then I noticed that Jude wasn't walking toward the house from the side yard--he was stumbling. And why was his face smeared with chocolate syrup?

Jude grabbed the porch railing. His legs folded under him, and he crumpled onto the porch steps.

"Jude!" I ran to the front door, but Dad was already there.