richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"Hey, do you guys—oh my God!" she squealed, seeing the dove. "What is that?”
I helped Lissa as we rose to our feet. "Another, um, prank.”
"Is it…dead?" She scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Yes," I said firmly.
Natalie, picking up on our tension, looked between the two of us. "What else is wrong?”
"Nothing." I handed Lissa her backpack. "This is just someone's stupid, sick joke, and I'm going
to tell Kirova so they can clean this up.”
Natalie turned away, looking a little green. "Why do people keep doing this to you? It's
horrible.”
Lissa and I exchanged looks.
"I have no idea," I said. Yet as I walked to Kirova's office, I started to wonder.
When we'd found the fox, Lissa had hinted that someone must know about the raven. I hadn't
believed that. We'd been alone in the woods that night, and Ms. Karp wouldn't have told
anyone. But what if someone actually had seen? What if someone kept doing this not to scare
her, but to see if she'd heal again? What had the rabbit note said? I know what you are.
I didn't mention any of this to Lissa; I figured there were only so many of my conspiracy
theories she could handle. Besides, when I saw her the next day, she'd practically forgotten the
dove in light of other news: Kirova had given me permission to go on the trip that weekend.
The prospect of shopping can brighten a lot of dark situations—even animal murder—and I put
my own worries on hold.
Only, when the time came, I discovered my release came with strings attached.
"Headmistress Kirova thinks you've done well since coming back," Dimitri told me.
"Aside from starting a fight in Mr. Nagy's class?”