The academy was quiet, with many of the students having gone home earlier than usual. Empty even when all students were there, Rose's dorm felt more abandoned than ever. The weather outside was getting stormier by the second, and the windows creaked with every gust of wind hitting them. Rose, with multiple jumpers on and in bed, was getting ready to get some much needed sleep, when she heard the faint ring of her mobile. Sighing, she got out of bed, knowing it must be Lissa wishing her an early 'Happy Christmas!'. She reached her phone and sleepily dialled Lissa's number, not bothering to check the missed call. After a few rings, the phone went to the automated voicemail, and Rose huffed in irritation at the robotic voice telling her to leave a message.
She went into her call log to see who had rang her, but she couldn't find any trace of the ring she know she had heard.
Hmm. Strange. she thought to herself, before chuckling and thinking how she must be far more tired than she realised. Taking her phone with her, she settled back into bed, ready for a restful night's sleep. She was drifting off to sleep, on the cusp between the land of the waking and dreaming, when she heard the familiar ringtone she had set specifically for Dimitri's calls. Shortly after it began, it stopped, leaving Rose to fall into a dreamless and deep sleep.
Rose woke with a start, her breathing laboured and desperate as she tried to calm down and find the source of what had her feeling so panicked. Looking around her darkened room, everything seemed to be just how she'd left it, with the exception of a fluttering piece of paper, pinned down onto her desk. The brisk wind coming in from the open window made Rose shiver, and quickly closed it before looking outside. The path leading to her window was undisturbed, with snow softly falling, making everything seem muffled and blank.
Frowning, Rose's heart rate picked up as she remembered distinctly locking the windows, in an attempt to keep the cold out. As always, her door was open, with there rarely being a need to lock it when the dorm was as deserted as it was. Grabbing her table lamp as the closest weapon, she crept to her door, one hand on the doorknob for five long seconds, before wrenching it open, expecting to see an intruder standing there.
The hallway was empty. Lights flickered closest to her, before finally going off, plunging her into darkness. Rose shakily laughed and told herself it would just be the storm knocking out the power, but still took the time to lock her door and window once again before relaxing in her room. She walked towards the paper on her desk, convinced it was just one of the boys who had nothing better to do playing a prank on her.
The note was handwritten in a messy scrawl, barely legible. The paper was thick and luxurious, the colour of bone, with an ornate symbol she had never seen before at the bottom. Written, was a single word.
"You."
Rose stared at it for a few seconds more, and in a sudden fit of anger, balled it up and aimed for her rubbish bin. She knew she should've gone with Lissa, especially if these awful pranks are the kind of things she was being tormented with. The object it was weighted down with was heavy, the same colour as the paper. It was sanded smooth, and resembled a rock. She threw that away too, satisfied when she heard the dull clunk of it hitting the floor. Shaking her head, she made sure everything was where it was supposed to be, before grabbing her phone and getting into bed.
Getting into a more comfortable position, she remembered hearing Dimitri's ring tone before drifting off to sleep, and drafted a quick text message to him asking what it was about. Her screen flickered once, twice, before going blank. She sighed, realising that she had forgotten to charge it and now that the power was out, she had no other way of turning it back on.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, she turned towards her window again, looking at the snow falling thicker and faster than before. However, partially covered footprints were visible where they weren't before; Rose looked harder and made out that the footsteps were leading to her window. She gasped and squinted through the precipitation, trying to see if anyone was there, but saw nothing; not a person or an object.
For the first time that evening, Rose became aware of how isolated she was. Being in the girl's dorm, she was further away from the main building, and she had managed to convince Alberta that she'd be fine without anyone else present. Feeling more and more anxious, she went into the bathroom to splash some water onto her face, in an attempt to calm down. She screwed her eyes shut and muttered aloud, 'Get it together, Hathaway."
Opening her eyes, she stared into the mirror in front of her, seeing her frantic eyes and messy hair. She abruptly turned around and left the bathroom, but stopped short just as quickly.
Her bedroom door and window stood wide open, and the note she had previously thrown away was back on her desk, with a new one next to it. She took three long strides towards the desk and opened the note with shaking hands, annoyed that a stupid prank was getting her so worked up. This time, the note was longer.
"Throwing away my present wasn't very nice." Next to it was the same, strange smooth white object. With a start, she realised what she originally thought was an innocent stone was actually a small, sanded bone. It was impossible to tell whether it was from an animal or a human, and at the thought of it being human, she dropped it in disgust, feeling sick.
Rose growled in frustration and sprung into action, movements precise and confident. She turned towards the window to lock it, and barricaded it with books she had on her desk. She locked her door again, and dragged her heavy desk in front of it, ensuring no one would be able to get inside. Satisfied with her work and finally feeling safe, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Seeing it read 3:33AM, its green letters the only source of light she had, she made her way towards her bed.
Tucked into bed, she wished her phone was on so she could hear Dimitri's voice before she slept. It sounded silly, she knew, but she had missed him, and hearing his voice would sooth her. Letting memories of his warm touch come forward, she smiled and settled deeper into bed.
She felt a shifting of weight on her bed and froze, terrified.
An unfamiliar and sinister voice whispered into her ear, stirring her hair with their rancid breath. "Boo. You tried locking me out, but I was already in."
A hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams, with such force, that the last thing she saw before she passed out were the lights in the hallway and her room turning back on.
This was my first try at doing anything suspense/horror-y, so I hope I did ok! I wanted to leave the end on a cliffhanger, so that it's open to the reader's interpretation of what you think happened, so sorry if it seemed like it lacked detail, because it was all a part of building up the tension. If you liked this story, remember to leave me a review (reading reviews makes my day!) and check out my other stories! Thanks for reading!