What was going on here? What happened to make me feel . . .
Suddenly, the memory of the previous night flashed across my mind … or, at least, the beginning of it.
The blind date . . . The Wooden Stake . . . the admiring crowds . . . Cassandra!
I sat bolt upright and . . .
Big mistake. BIG mistake.
Every pain and queasiness I had been feeling slammed into me threefold. With a moan, I fell limply back onto my pillow heedless of the new unpleasant sensations this move caused. You could only feel so miserable, and I had bottomed out. Nothing could make me feel worse. Forget any effort at rational thought. I was just going to lie there until my head cleared or I died . . . whichever came first.
A knock sounded at the door.
Disoriented as I was, I had no difficulty deciding what to do: I was going to ignore it. I was certainly in no condition to see or talk to anyone!
The knock came again, a little louder this time.
“Skeeve? Are you awake?”
It was Bunny’s voice. From what I could recall of the beginning of last evening, I really didn’t want to talk to her right now. All I needed to make my misery complete was to have her carping on me about my taste in dates.
“Go away!” I called, not even bothering to try to make it sound polite.
As soon as I uttered the words, however, I realized I would have been better off just staying quiet. Not only had the effort increased the pounding in my head, I had inadvertently let her know I was awake.
As if in response to my afterthought, the door opened and Bunny came in, a big tray of food in her hands.