The sun was low in the autumn sky by the time Tonya pulled up in front of her dorm. She had texted Ducky and there he was, arms crossed, waiting to pick up his car. Tonya got out, remembering to pull the scarf over her mouth and nose to protect him.

"You're a lifesaver." She dashed around to the trunk and hauled out a box of hospital equipment. Tonya was strong, but it was bulky. She could barely see Ducky over the cardboard lid, but she could tell something was off. He was looking at his shoes, his broad shoulders slightly stooped.

"What's wrong?" Tonya set down the box and slammed the truck closed.

"I believe you." His face was grim. "But Priya doesn't. She told Shin and the team to watch out for us, and make sure we don't start trouble."

Tonya hoisted the box in front of her. "I'll try her again."

"Let me carry that for you," he said.

"Keep your distance." She hurried past him, but smiled when he slipped ahead of her to open the door. She wasn't going to tell him about plan 'B.' It was just too embarrassing, but maybe between the two of them they could convince Priya, and she wouldn't need to humiliate herself.

She set the box down in front of the elevator and tried Priya's number. Her friend answered on the first ring.

"Hey Tonya. Ducky told me you still want to call it off tonight."

"People's lives are at risk." Tonya described finding Professor Rudolph's body. When the elevator arrived, Ducky picked up the box and came up with her.

"I know you're trying to do the right thing," Priya said, "but you have to step outside this small town superstition and think logically. Walking through a cemetery on Halloween will not make you sick. Germs do. If you're worried, forget busting up my party and talk to Housekeeping."

"What if you're wrong?" said Tonya. "I understand what's going on, and if you don't believe me, people will die." They got off at her floor. At her door, Ducky gestured to take the box. She handed him the keys and he let them in.

"You know what I think? You can't stand how much attention I'm getting." Priya's voice had gone up an octave. "You're fine to be my friend when I don't do anything, but the minute I step into the spotlight, you stick a screwdriver in my bicycle spokes."

"This isn't about you. It's about what happened to Rudolph."

"He got sick in school, maybe it was the lecture hall," said Priya.

"That's ridiculous."

"Exactly! You saw him, wandering around the courtyard. Maybe the courtyard made him sick too! So what if he ended up in the cemetery? He was so out of it. He could have wound up anywhere."

"How can I make you see? You have to move your art thing."

"Art thing! I've been working on my installation for months, and nobody, especially not a jealous frenemy like you, is going to ruin it." Tonya had to hold the phone away from her head because Priya was shouting. Ducky raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm happy for your talent," Tonya said. "Your art is incredible."

"So support me."

"You don't understand." Tonya sat on the box and gestured for Ducky to sit. Even as she listened to Priya rant, it gave her a shiver. Ducky and she were alone. A boy was sitting on her bed.

"I thought about this all night," said Priya. "Seeing Martha almost die affected you. I don't blame you for being upset, but do you have to take it out on me?"

"Did you tell Shin to keep me away from the party?"

"Only if you try to break it up."

"All right."

"All right what?" Priya sounded suspicious.

"All right I give up. If you're going ahead with it, there's nothing I can do." She directed her words at Ducky too. "But can we at least aim some of the cameras at the big Ash tree? There has to be a way to monitor things, so we'll know when to call the police."

"No police. Are you crazy? I'll never live this down if my friends get carted away."

"Now who's being over imaginative? I just want a camera and a monitor. The Ash tree is where Professor Rudolph died."

"Ducky wants to do a memorial for him there," said Priya.

"Good. Let's set up a web link from the tree to people's phones, and a laptop in the common room, back at the dorm."

"So even people who aren't there, can still pay their respects," said Priya. "Good idea. I'll get Ducky to help me. And Tonya, let's not ruin our friendship over this. We were having so much fun."

They might never have fun again, but at least whatever happened in the cemetery, Tonya would have video evidence if teens passed out around the tree, and rootlets started growing into their brains.

"Ducky's on his way now. Maybe he can convince you to stay out of the cemetery."

"I'm hanging up now," said Priya.

"Wait!" But Priya was gone.

Tonya shrugged at Ducky. "I tried. Do you think you can convince her before tonight?"

He shrugged. "And if I can't?"

"Promise me you won't go into the forest."

"Where will you be?" His lips and eyes were downturned, almost puppyish, despite his high cheekbones and angular features.

"Don't worry, I'll be safe." She patted the side of the box she was sitting on, pretending confidence she didn't have. "Now hurry."

She got up and Ducky went to the door, lingering as if he didn't want to leave. Tonya made comic shooing gestures, and herded him out the door. It wouldn't do for him to see how worried she was. "Go on. Priya's waiting."

When the door closed behind him, Tonya shuddered. She didn't even know how people caught the disease. Was it a spell cast with words? Did the victims have to touch or eat something, or was it linked to the voice Tonya heard in her head? Why had she let Ducky and Priya go into the forest? She paced the small room, desperately searching for a way to stop them.

Her stomach growled. Normally not a big deal, but right now the urge to eat was strong, and frightening. She hoped it was just her mind playing tricks with her stomach. Every time she went on a diet it was the same. Thinking about not eating made Tonya crazy for food. As long as the diet lasted, all she could concentrate on was her next meal. Is it any wonder she gave up and gained back the weight, every time?

Then this summer, it had been different. She had given up fries, pizza and desserts before dinner. She had started eating a salad for lunch every day, and vegetable soup before supper. That plus lake swimming had started her losing weight, without the calorie counting and food obsession. She called it the 'no diet' diet.

Tonya went into the bathroom and ran cold water over her hands and face. She stood up and admired her healthy new form. She was getting stronger, and her curves were firm now. She was healthier than she'd been since she was a kid. She turned sideways and sucked in her gut, which was still a bit tubby, and jelly-like. It reminded her of all those times she had looked in the mirror and hated herself as a young teenager.

"Hey, you're kinda cute," she told the mirror, and blew herself a kiss. It helped to see herself as Ducky did. Ever since she had started wearing that bandana, he had stared deep into her eyes, like he wanted to eat her up. Was that a cowgirl fetish?

Just then her stomach yowled like an angry raccoon. Why were her food cravings back, even on her new 'no diet' diet? Was her food obsession returning because people around her were pigging out? Not likely. It was the voice in her head. Maybe she caught Lynette's condition from sharing a dorm room and breathing the same air, except that didn't explain the swim team.

Tonya could not afford to get sick. If this disease were airborne, it was being passed by plant spores, not people. All the infected had passed through the woods, like her. She steadied herself on the bathroom counter and stared down at the tiles, remembering Marta. She was doomed. Rudolph's voice in her head was just the final stage. She'd been craving food non-stop since September. What if she had given it to Lynette, and Lynette had given it to Roberto, plus every boy she went out with during Frosh Week?

That couldn't be. It was the cemetery, the trees, the terrible roots growing into Rudolph's ears and eye sockets. As the sun set, Tonya unpacked the hospital box and started dressing for Halloween. Donna had been surprisingly helpful when it came to outfitting her for this last-chance assault. She had also promised to dispatch an ambulance to pick up the Professor's body, so at least that source of contagion was gone.

Tonya carefully slipped the roomy plastic suit on over her clothes, and tucked the legs into elastic-topped booties. She looked at herself in the mirror. By the time she put on the hood, she would be completely unrecognizable in the dark. Good thing too. Getting caught doing what she had planned would seal her nerdy outsider status, forever.