So, um, I dunno what I'm doing. I don't own anything but, ya know, college. *shrugs*

Mary took a deep breath as she stepped into her dorm, setting one of the boxes onto the floor. The living room was mostly bare, aside from a few boxes that her mother had already dragged up. Speaking of which, the tall woman exited from her child's room with teary eyes, "Oh, sweetie, are you sure you don't want to live at home? We'ere only twenty minutes away."

The young adult smiled warm-heartedly as she rolled her eyes, taking a step to pull her mother into a hug, "Oh my god, yes Mama!"

"Charlotte, are you ready to go?" Mary's father yelled, peeking his head back into the dorm. The woman giggled as she pulled away from her daughter's embrace to wipe her eyes.

"Yes, Derek, I'll be right there. I'm just making sure our little maiden is all ready for her life!" Rebecca kissed her child's hair once more before stepping into the hall.

Mary smiled wearily at her father, "I'm going to miss you, Papa. Promise me you'll take care of Mama?"

He chuckled deeply, his beer belly deepening the sound, "I'll make sure your brother takes care of her. Heavens knows your sister will." The two shared one more laugh before they embraced. "I love you, my little daisy. Have fun and be sure to study. Don't get into too much trouble."

The teen rolled her eyes again, "Papa, I'll be careful! Now leave!" Derek laughed one more time before kissing his daughter on the forehead. Without another glance, he left, placing the woman to her own thoughts. Mary sighed and ran a hand through her raven locks, picking up the nearest box to take it into her room. Her roommate had yet to arrive, but she wasn't complaining.

The woman grunted as she dropped the box on the floor, thankful she lived on the bottom floor. Heaven knows what kind of complaints she'd get from the people below her. She stretched as her hands left the box, but apparently the crate wasn't stable. It fell over and she cursed. She got onto her knees, reaching for her lost notebooks, but a loose envelope caught her attention. "What the hell?" She grabbed it, looking at the blank face, ripping into it carefully. "To whichever poor bastard gets this..."

A door slamming open caught her attention and she tucked it away for later. Looks like her roommate had arrived.

With a deep sigh, Mary sank onto her bed. The springs in it make her wince, but after the long day, it was no matter. There was something hard poking at her back and she dug to pull it out. "Oh right... This thing." The letter was a little crumpled, but still legible as the woman opened it once more. "To whichever poor bastard gets this, I'm sorry, but my time has come to pass on the horror that is this curse. I can't say much more, those freaks will only burn the remaining letters, but I'm leaving you the key. It opens one thing and one thing only: The crypt. If it's your first day? Even better, drop everything and get your ass over there. Now. They get angrier the longer they wait. There's a map at the bottom, follow it now. If you run into any night guards, grunt and keep walking. They'll understand. What are you still waiting for?!"

Mary snorted as she finished the letter and looked at the small, crudely drawn map and the key taped to the bottom. "What garbage. There's no way-" A small chill ran up her spine and she tensed, gripping the letter. Her mother had always been a fan of those ghost stories, and the teen felt as though she knew enough about respecting the dead to not get haunted. Besides, her curiosity was peaked and nothing would stop her now.

She took the key, her phone and lanyard before slipping out of the room and locking the door behind her. Hopefully her roommate wouldn't block the door. The other girl seemed nice enough, but mostly distant. In fact, she had been out most of the day to hang out with friends. Not that Mary minded. More time for herself.

Walking out a sidedoor, Mary was quick to stick to the shadows, dodging any strangling nightowls. The map was not as crude as she first gave it credit for and before she knew it, the ravenette stood before a large mausoleum. She gripped the key tightly in her hand before finding the lock. It was a bronze, inset lock, barely hanging on by a screw. With care, she inserted it and opened the door. As she pushed it open, she was forced to close her muddy blue eyes as dusty air escaped. "H-Hello?"

A small clatter from inside made her stiffen, but Mary stood taller, "M-May I enter?" There was no response, so she took it for a yes. Pulling out her phone for a light, she pointed the flashlight around. It was like any other crypt; there were graves that lined the walls, a name, a few dates, and a few words for each, a wrought iron candle holder, a pale man standing in the shadows, a bouquet of dead flowers- Mary flashed her light back to where the man had been standing, her heart racing, but she was still tight lipped.

"I-I'm sorry for intruding onto your final resting place, but I was t-told to come here. I-I didn't mean to offend anyone-" She gasped and tensed as a freezing cold hand rested on her trembling arm.

"Calm down, love. We don't pose any threat," A gentle british voice expressed.

Mary slowly relaxed as the cold hand lifted itself off her limb. "W-Will I be allowed to leave tonight?"

A different voice laughed airly from her other side, "Don't worry, miss! We're not bad ghosts!"

She chuckled lightly and sighed more deeply, "R-Right, sorry. I-It's my first day of college and I get this weird letter explaining how I have to deal with a bunch of... I don't knows!"

A snort came from behind her, making her squeak, "Well, I wouldn't be surprised. The last guy was an idiot. Totally unawesome."

"Oi, back off, you git! Can't you see she's terrified enough?" The british voice seemed to boom around the room, but Mary yawned. "Love, if you're tired, you're more than welcome to leave. We'll likely head back with you."

The Canadian voice chipped it, "You'll get home safe, I promise you." The German voice grunted in agreement and Mary nodded.

"T-Thanks. What are your names?"

The German laughed, even if it sounded like a leaky air hose, "I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, but you can just call me Gil or awesome if you want!"

The brit huffed, "She doesn't have to call you anything, you stupid Prussian-"

"Hey, if I remember, you're the one who got us into this mess in the first place!"

Mary began to look around the crypt at some of the names, shivering as she felt a cold presence take its place next to her, "That was my brother, Alfred. He was my little brother, but you wouldn't be able to tell. I'm the one buried under him." Mary shifted the light lower and she raised an eyebrow at the blank slate. "The builders forgot to put my information onto the plaque when they put us in here. Arthur is the one above Alfred." Mary moved her light accordingly, and sure enough, there sat Arthur Kirkland.

Arthur Kirkland

Beloved brother and friend

Born -

Died -

Mary cocked her head in confusion, "What happened to the birth and death dates?"

The British man huffed, "Because they thought they were going to fill it in later. Turns out they're lazier than Alfred was." She nodded and looked at the other wall, frowning. The bottom grave had caved in, giving way to a darkness that Mary was scared to look in.

"It's ok if you want to look it, I have no problem with it. My bones are too far underneath to be seen," The German voice muttered, frosty air passing by her neck and making her jump.

"Will you stop that?" The voice chuckled again, but he hissed again as he was presumably struck by Arthur. "Who are the graves above your's?"

Gilbert's voice sighed, making him sound defeated, "The one directly above mine is mein bruder, Ludwig. A few days before he died, he went out and got his last name changed, but he never told anyone, so it's blank for now. The one above him is Roderich. He was a close family friend, more of a cousin than anything."

She nodded, looking around again, "Well, why are you all buried on campus?"

Arthur sighed, and a stone creaked as if he was leaning on it, "Because we all died on campus throughout time and we weren't able to be sent home. Alfred is the only American, but his family lived all the way out in DC, so he had the best chance."

Mary bowed her head, "I-I'm sorry. It must hurt."

"It's nothing too bad, miss...?"

The woman jumped at the arm wrapped around her shoulders, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Mary. Mary Proctor." The silence that echoed around the crypt made Mary's hair stand on end more before Gilbert laughed.

"W-Wait, so you're telling me you're related to-"

Mary rolled her eyes, "Elizabeth Proctor, salem witch? Yes. She was my... I don't know how many greats grandmother. And whose arm is around me?"

"O-Oh, um, it's me, Matthew Williams. I n-never gave you my name," The Canadian apologized. She shook her head, smiling.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry, but I really have to be going. Good night and farewell," She said, stepping out.

"W-Wait! Frau! If you want us to go with you..." The voice died down and Arthur cleared his throat.

He took the torch the Gilbert dropped, "You're cutting off the gateway for us to follow you. We're stuck here unless someone acknowledges us without saying a proper goodbye." Mary frowned and nodded, grabbing her elbow.

"A-Alright, I guess? But how will I know that you're not going to invade my privacy or are..."

Gilbert chuckled and ruffled her hair gently, "Evil spirits? You're going to have to trust us, but Arthur is a complete gentleman and he will hex us if we're being pervy." Mary chuckled a little bit at the affection and nodded.

"Alright, alright. Well, I'm heading out. Do you three want to come with?" There was suddenly a new chill surrounding her as she said those words and she shivered. "Damn, you guys are cold."

"Well, we don't exactly have the warmth of the living, love," Arthur said. Mary hummed in agreement as she stepped out of the crypt. "It there anyway you can lock it for us? One of our last keepers forgot to and a lot of wankers snuck it and vandalized the place."

Matthew sighed weakly, "It took hours getting the red out." The woman winced, looking around the empty campus, but three new figures stood beside her. They all met her eye-to-eye, but her height wasn't the only similarities. They were all varying amounts of pale, but that was their only other similarity. The tallest was a blonde with nearly purple eyes, a gentle smile on his face pulling his demeanor together. His height was quickly followed by who can only be described as an albino, a cocky grin fixed and his red eyes glinting playfully. The shortest of the group was another blonde, but his burning green eyes dared her to say anything about his eyebrows.

Mary blinked in confusion at the three men, and the albino chuckled deeply, revealing that it was Gilbert, "Don't worry, it's only us. Just..." His eyes shifted towards the angry man, "Don't say anything about Arthur's eyebrows, he tend to get a bit touchy-"

The tallest man shook his head, "Here we go..." Matthew simply watched passively as the other two ghosts began arguing.

"Hey, can you two knock it off?" The woman huffed as the two continued to argue, but a different call caught their attention.

"Hey Mary, who are you talking to?!" The shout came from Mary's shorter roommate, Alice. The blonde tread over the wet grace carefully, quickly followed by two of her friends. "I mean, you're not on the phone are you?"

Mary frowned lightly, "What are you talking about? I'm not on the phone."

Alice cocked her head in confusion, "Then who were you talking to? You said 'you two.'"

The woman cursed under her breath, "Sorry, I was remembering a play I was in in grade school."

"Um, ok? Well, I'm going back to the room. It's way too cold out here!" The small girl spun on her heel and left. The other two, fitting in their leader's example and left.

Mary rolled her eyes, "God, I'm going to get so sick of her. She thinks she's the cutest thing in the room at all times. I mean, she's already decorated the entire kitchenette like it's a bohemian mountainside occupied by nothing but rainbow alpacas."

Arthur cocked his head in her direction as they began to move, "I never did understand that. Can you?"

Mary waved her arms up and growled, "Fuck if I know!" They continued walking towards her dorm, but a small ping from the woman's phone made her sigh. After she dug it out of her back pocket, the ravenette pursed her lips. Matthew peeked over her shoulder and his eyes widened.

'OMG, my roommate is so weird! She was just screaming into air! Maybe she's a schitzo!' Mary's eyes glared daggers into the screen as she put it away and stomped to her dorm.

Gilbert never left her stride, "Woah, Mary, what's got your panties in a twist?"

She snarled as she opened the stairwell door, "I take some insults very personally. That was one of them." The three ghosts shared a look as they followed her up.

Arthur cleared his throat as they walked past the second floor, "You know, I've heard talking about it often helps."

"I take it personally because I had a distant cousin who got into the wrong crowd. He took some shit that messed him up. It tore his family up, and I don't want to put my mom through the same."

Matthew's eyes lowered as he took the information in, "Well, we can always only talk to you when you're alone..."

Mary nodded and continued past the third floor, "Yeah, that can be an optio-" Another ping made her freeze. "What the hell is going on in this group chat?" When she looked at it, she dropped her phone and ran back down the stairs. Gilbert cursed and ran after her.

"Shit! Arthur, tell me what it says after you read it!" He flew off after her, barely missing her several times. His hand would phase through her, but he had to be careful to not possess her. If she wasn't a medium and he tried to possess her? The albino shuddered as he thought about the last keeper of the key he did that to. Last anyone heard, he was still on life support.

Arthur peered over the message quietly, "Let's see... Oh no..."

'Oh my god! I heard that freak talking in the stairwell! It runs in the family! You gotta be care, Ally! That girl'll hurt you bad!'