Chapter 24
Darting across the swampy ground, she scrambled deep into the trees. Behind her, feet splashed through puddles made invisible by the darkness. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground and used her elbows to propel her through the mud and under a protective screen of needled branches. Shivering, she positioned herself near the trunk of a large evergreen tree, pulled her knees up to her chin, and waited.
Minutes passed and the shouting voices faded then vanished, replaced by the soft whap, whap, whap of raindrops dripping onto the mushy ground. Silence returned, but she didn’t move. Time closed in around her, heavy and ominous. Leaving meant the possibility of being caught and staying meant trying to cross the campus in daylight.
Lareina stood and held a branch until the ground
