The Frisbee flies through the air. Eileen jumps up and catches it, laughing as she lands and takes off running. I chase after her.

“I won’t let you get another goal!” I yell, catching up to her. I reach out and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into me. Her stomach heaves with laughter against my arms and I hold her tight.

“Hey! We’re in the middle of a game!” Carly shouts, smiling.

“I know! And you women aren’t getting another point against us!” I pick Eileen up and throw her over my shoulder. She’s laughing and kicking her feet.

“You can’t stop us!” She exclaims.

I feel her lift her upper body up and turn. Carly runs across the field, her arms up. I hear the Frisbee wiz by my head and Eileen lets out a triumphant yell. Carly catches the Frisbee and takes off towards our goal. I drop Eileen but she hops onto my back as soon as she can.

“Hah! Now you can’t run!” She giggles, holding onto me.

“It’s up to you Cal!” I shout at him.

He’s already taking off across the field after Carly. I wiggle against Eileen’s grip but she doesn’t let up. I pull my arm free and attack her side. She lets go and falls to the ground in a fit of giggles.

“That’s no fair! You can’t tickle me to get me to let go!” She complains, but she’s smiling.

“Sure I can. I just did.” I hold my hand out to her and help her up.

Carly lets out a shout from the goal. “We win! Girls win!” She shouts.

I turn to Eileen and she’s sticking her tongue out at me. “Told ya we’d win. I get to pick date night tonight.” She smiles mischievously.

“Oh, great.” I tease her, pulling her close to me as we walk towards Cal and Carly. “You know you only won because this girl cheated.” I smile.

“You’re the one that cheated first. Eileen just paid you back for it.” Carly laughed.

“Yea, yea.” I say, shaking my head. “I guess we should go get ready. We’ll catch ya’ll later.”

They wave as we walk off. Eileen slides out from under my arm and skips ahead. I watch her with a smile. She’s beautiful. It’s been nearly two weeks since the night we first kissed. Autumn seemed a little upset when she first found out, but after spending some time with Dr. Corban she was fine with it. She hasn’t been around much, so I haven’t really been able to talk to her about it all. I haven’t seen or heard anything else that implicates Dr. Corban in something dangerous, so I’ve kept my distance.

Eileen stops and waits for me to catch up. She takes my hand as I reach her and we walk into the dorm and up to my room.

At first, I don’t notice anything. I walk over to the dresser to grab some clean clothes. It’s Eileen that spots it.

“Hey,” She says, looking at something on my bed. “What’s this?”

I turn and look at her, seeing a piece of paper on the comforter. “I dunno.” I shrug, walking over to her. I pick up the paper and look at it.

Fear and panic rise up in me, threatening to take over. This can’t be true. Autumn tied up with vampires, leaving with them to protect me? I was supposed to protect her, and instead I let her be with a man that was influencing her mind. She needed my help, and I failed her. Now, she’s gone.

“No. No, no, no.” I say, shaking my head. This is not real. I grip the paper in my hand and run out the door, down the stairs, and outside. Frantically I look for her. I just need a glimpse of her hair, her shirt, her shoe. I need something, anything, to prove to me this isn’t real. This can’t be real.

I turn the paper over, hoping there’s more, hoping it’s going to tell me this is all just a joke or give me an address. Maybe this is a cruel joke from Dr. Corban and I can bust down the door and pull my wand on him.

I stare at it. This isn’t a joke. This is real. Her lyrics draw a strangled noise from me. I can feel Eileen there, trying to support me, but everything except the paper in my hand seems so far away right now. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back.

My legs lose their will to support me and begin to fall. Eileen steps up to me, wrapping her arms around my body, holding me up.

“I’m sorry, Levi. I’m so, so sorry.” She whispers.