AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
November 1, 2020: Junior Year
Bexley
“Bexley.” Detective Bishop’s voice was stern. He took out his notebook and clicked his pen, ready for the worst. “I need to know everything that happened last night.”
Bishop’s face was worn with exhaustion. He’d been up all night and it showed. He was an attractive man; gray was peppered in his dark hair just around the temples. He didn’t seem upset with me, but his disappointment with the case was palpable.
I made the focus of my life to maintain control and execute my own decisions. October 31stwas anythingbut control. It was chaos; it was evil. I was stripped of my decisions and will. It was dark and terrifying. Getting that control back might have cost everything.
The past twenty-four hours had been plagued by the face of a real monster, not the movie screen villains with elaborate theatrics and showmanship. The real monsters were normal and calculating. They were manipulating and charming. Once your guard was lowered because you didn’t sense the threat caging around you, they took everything away from you. They stripped you down so that you felt hopeless, weak, and disgusting.
I knew I looked worse off than Detective Bishop, who was merely sleep deprived and in need of a large coffee. I was disgusting, and it wasn’t in terms of how the events made me feel. Blood covered my body, was smeared across my exposed skin, and stained my clothes. My mouth was dry, and my throat was sore.
“I was with Jai, and we were at Sigma’s party like usual. But then…” I started and spilled every horrific detail that flipped my world.
The events would haunt me for years to come, regardless of who would come out alive.
Chapter 1
October 5, 2020: Junior Year
Bexley
Autumn in Old Oaks meant cold weather and a ground littered with warm-toned leaves. I walked across campus toward the library, and as the wind blew through the commons, I pulled the sleeves of my plum knitted sweater tighter to fight off the chill.
The sky was cloudy and gray, but it didn’t seem like rain was going to be in the forecast. The leaves weren’t quite crunchy yet, so they sounded wet as feet shuffled over them.
I walked up to the building with massive windows and detailed filigree on its brick work. The library here was grander in style than anything I’d been in before. Our public library was very plain, not so modern, and still smelled decades old.
The metal handle was cool to the touch. I opened the door and stepped into the hallway just outside the library’s interior entrance. Out of habit, I walked in and scanned the open areas inside for a place to sit. A place where I could hide without effort. Mrs. Whitcomb was shelving books into a cart as a library assistant scanned them back into the system. It smelled like damp cedar as I worked my way around the first row of stacks and settled at a creamy beige table with a handful of chairs surrounding it.
This was around the time a lot of us gathered for studying in Monarch Ridge University’s ostentatious library. One wall was completely dedicated to windows. Glass panels lined the bottom edge and climbed to the ceiling. The furniture was nicer than most, too. It was comfortable to sit here for long periods of time, and I didn’t walk away with a sore bottom or stiff back.
It was outfitted in the school’s colors of maroon, gold, and black. There were round tables, long tables, and small corners for just one, even rooms along the walls for private tutoring and group sessions. The checkout desk had two entrances, one on each side. A multitude of book stacks made the otherwise open space an expansive maze.
A low voice disrupted my silence. “Bex?”
I stiffened at my name as Daniel came up beside me. He was a friend of our group.
“So, you didn’t get back to me last week. You know, I’m not like Malcolm. It’d be different with you and me.”
There was a jolt of nervous energy down my spine, and I tried not to let it show as he moved closer. His eyes traveled my body, and I was grateful my sweater was covering most of me. He placed his hand on the table, and even though I wasn’t caged, I felt trapped. I was sure Daniel was a good guy, in some weird sense of the word, but he had mannerisms that weretoo similar to my ex-boyfriend, even if he wouldn’t admit it. I hadn’t been actively seeking reminders since our high school graduation parting, but lately Daniel’s presence was a constant reminder of the type of guy who left me weak and damaged.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just got really busy with mid—”
“Bestie, bestie, bestie!” I heard Mariana whisper-yell as she rushed up to the table. When I turned my attention to Mari, Daniel took that as his cue to leave, and I gave a silent thank you to the best interrupter I’d ever met.
I looked past Mari and toward the front desk. The librarian had it out for her since we started meeting for our study sessions. In fairness to Mrs. Whitcomb, Mari was partially impulsive. She had no filter, and that clashed with Mrs. Whitcomb's overly strict structure. If you asked her, she’d blame undiagnosed ADHD. If you asked me, it was Mari being true to herself. She was passionate, animated, and infectious. All any of us could ever do was smile at her approach and buckle in for the amazing ride.
“What extravagant bullshit have you concocted now, Mari?” I eyed her skeptically. Her signature triple “bestie” indicated scheming and mischief. She feigned shock, rolling her devastatingly beautiful and large amber eyes as she brought a hand to her chest. She couldn’t actually be offended.
“Bex, that is speculation!” We held eye contact momentarily before bursting into laughter.
Mrs. Whitcomb cleared her throat from behind the counter. We quieted to giggles, and she slid across the tabletop, perching just to my left. “Bullshit aside, I just got us into the hottest frat’s party Saturday night!”
“You know we’ll be preparing for midterms soon, right? Dr. Caste isn’t going to be gentle with her psych test. She’s been riding our asses. I got stuck with the brain once, never again. I feel like she has a sixth sense for detecting fear,” I recalled as Mari's shoulders slumped, her lip beginning to bulge out into a pout.
