Chapter One: Who Are You?
I'd love to change the world… but I don't know what to do… so I leave it up to you.
Hi. I'm Emily, and this is my story.
Our story begins with a college. Yes, you read that right, a college. One in Atlanta, where folks from everywhere come to discover themselves. It's where folks come to discover themselves, same as any other college.
But, for most, myself included, there is something that draws more in to Barden than other colleges. What is it? What was it about this one college that drew us like moths to a flame?
For some, it was the people. The people, from what I've seen, seem like some of the nicest, most down-to-Earth folks you could ever meet. Heck, today I met this one guy who seemed really nice. Said his name was Benji… more on that, later.
For others, it was the environment. When I first applied for college, I knew I wanted to go to Barden because of the environment. It was a nice campus in the middle of Atlanta, with plenty of people sitting on the grass, interacting with each other, living life.
But for me, for me personally, it was all about one thing, and one thing only: the Bellas. The 'best damn acapella group at Barden'. It's really hard to argue with that statement, if I'm being truthful.
My Mom had prepared me my entire life to join them. She had to know what she was getting me into.
But when I first came a few days ago, they didn't know what to think of me. They looked at me more as a kid-sister than an actual Bella. Not many of them thought much of me. Most of them seemed nice, and welcomed me into the group. But none of them were that interested in me.
But that's not what we're here to talk about, is it? No, what we're here to talk about is just what the fuck happened last night.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Jesse Swanson said, talking loudly into the cell phone, as he paced around the room, annoyed. "It's only a few weeks into the new semester, and already we're back to doing this shit. I hope that at least something comes out of this."
"Jess, please. I need you to listen, just this one time." A voice spoke to him. A female voice. Young, yet not very high. "Why should I? I thought we said we'd leave each other alone after we split, remember?" He bitterly asked.
"I know, but… there's something I wanted to get off my chest. And it's about that." She explained. Jesse sighed. The tall, black-haired boy had tried to ignore her for months, now. He didn't want to talk to her anymore, and neither did she. So, why just now was she suddenly interested in talking to him again?
"Whatever it is you have to say, make it quick. I don't want my time wasted anymore than it already was." Jesse said. He knew he shouldn't have been so angry at her, but, at the same time… was it warranted?
He had gone back and forth on it so many times. A part of him was angry, yes. But another part of him understood. When they were together, there was always some part of him that knew she didn't feel the same way he did.
Jesse cautiously backed his head against the wall, and closed his eyes. "Just… just tell me what you need to tell me. I'm sorry that I seem so snappy. It's just… I have a lot on my plate, right now. And I don't want to take that out on you. So, just tell me what you need to tell me. I'm listening." He said, in a low, soft voice.
So, Beca Anne Mitchell sighed, and cleared her throat. "You remember how I said that I didn't really hang out with anyone in high school? How I never went to parties, or did after school stuff? There was a reason for that."
Jesse nodded his head, but he wasn't understanding what point Beca was trying to get across. "Okay. Why was that?" He asked, confused.
"I'm getting there. Did you ever hear about a… a person who wore a hood, and who… y'know… fought crime? In Chicago?" She asked. "Yeah… I did, a few times." Jesse replied.
"Well… that person disappeared the same time I came to Barden. Nobody knows where the person went. But… I think I have an idea." She explained.
Jesse's eyes widened, as he realized what she was trying to get through to him. "Becs…" He softly said, his voice growing more fearful. His stomach churned. The truth sank into him, like a boat in the ocean.
"And… I think it's time that vigilante returned." Beca finished, clearing her throat once more. "Beca… don't do something you're gonna regret." Jesse warned. He hadn't been this nervous in quite some time.
Nervous? Fuck that. He was terrified. How could she? He had heard stories. Read rumors and articles in the papers. But he never believed they were true. Until now.
He remembered, on one instance in Junior year, he was reading the paper. On the front page, it read something along the lines of, "Crime down 50%! Reports coming in of masked vigilante tackling it head-on! Is it possible?"
The story told of criminals, and how they had robbed a liquor store. There were six of them, all middle-aged, male, and with guns. Within five minutes, they had been tied up.
When the police found them, their guns had no bullets left in them. Their pocket-knives were on the ground, or, in some cases, lodged in the criminals' bodies. And that was if they were lucky.
The criminals said that they had been lifted into the air, and slammed into the wall. But they couldn't see what it was levitating them. All that anyone could report seeing was someone in a hood, stretching out his or her hands.
"Hello? Jesse?" Beca asked. But the boy was lost in his thought. He could only think back on the stories, and how he never believed in them.
Suddenly, he snapped out of his semi-trance, and shook his head. "Beca… I'm afraid. I mean, I figured you were just antisocial then, and a little antisocial now, but this… Christ, this is something else, entirely!" He exclaimed, clearly exasperated.
"Yeah, I know. I know. I get it. It's just that…", Beca started, only to stop, for some reason. "What? What is it?" Jesse questioned. "I've never told anyone about this. And I figured that it was time to change that. And, if I was gonna tell anybody, it'd be someone I trust."
Beca bit her lip after saying this. Every word of what she just said was true. She had never told anyone about the more 'dangerous' part of her life. She was always told, 'never let anyone know what you can do'. Just like that.
In her mind, Beca always remembered: 'Never let anyone know who you really are, or what you can really do. They'll never understand. How could they? To them, you'd be nothing more than a freak. Nothing more, nothing less. That's why they can never know.'
"Beca… I heard stories of what you could do. Of what people said you could do. Were they true?" Jesse questioned. Beca sighed, and answered the question. "Yes, Jesse. They were true. Each and every story. Whatever they said, it was true."
Jesse trembled with fear. He had to set down the phone for a moment. He put his shaking hand to his mouth. "Breathe in, Swanson. Breathe in, breathe out."
After doing this for twenty seconds, he sighed, and brought the phone back to his ear. "Beca… what exactly can you do? Just tell me that. Please. That's… that's all I want to know for now." He blurted out.
"Well, there's no sugar-coating this: I… there are things that I can do. Things that I'm not too certain about with myself, things that I never thought that anyone could do. I'm not like you, or Chloe, or Amy… I'm not even like my Dad. I'm a freak, Jesse. And soon, the world will come to realize just how real I am."
Jesse's heartbeat was racing. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wouldn't believe it. He refused to believe it. In that moment, he was closest to hanging up the phone, and putting this nonsense out of his memory, and to bed.
But he didn't. He wanted to know more. Some part of him needed, no, desired to know more. And so, he continued to listen. But, even more importantly, he continued to ask.
"Becs… I don't understand. Why are you telling me this? Me, of all people? Why don't you tell one of the Bellas? Why not Chloe, or Amy, or that new recruit you've got?" He asked, frightened, but not angry. More… desperate. Desperate for answers.
"Jess… I wanted to tell you because, honestly, I have no one else to tell. I mean, look at the Bellas now. We're a fucking disaster zone. Ever since Amy's little 'accident', we've been nothing but the ass of everyone's jokes. We get death threats on a weekly fucking basis. Chloe's a mess, and now we have a new kid in the group. This sounds ideal for telling secrets, right? Wrong." Beca explained, as she sat down on her bed, which Jesse could hear in the background.
"Jesus, Beca… I, I had no idea. I'm sorry." Jesse apologized. "It's not your fault. It's just… I needed to get this off my chest to someone, especially before I get back into the swing of things." Beca said, a slyness in her voice.
Jesse raised his eyebrows. "'The swing of things'?" He asked, his nervousness returning. Even though he couldn't see her, Beca nodded her head.
"Yes. See, I'm not just telling you about what I have planned. I want you to be ready for what I'm about to do." She finished, as Jesse's heart-rate increased. "What exactly are you about to do?" He questioned.
Stacie Conrad was nervous. She didn't like the feel of Barden at night. There was always something about it that scared her. "Why did I have to leave my bag inside the dean's office, today?" She asked herself, knowing that there was no one around her to hear what she was saying.
Earlier that day, she and the other Barden Bellas had been told to go to the dean. When they arrived, they were reprimanded, mocked, and essentially cast out by their own dean. All because of Fat Amy's 'accident'.
She groaned, irritated with everything going on around her. Still, at least the Dean's office was still open at night, so, there was that to make her feel a little better.
As Stacie paced toward the office, she had failed to notice someone staring at her from behind. A figure obscured in the shadows, watching her, waiting. Waiting for her to come out of the Dean's office.
Stacie opened the door, and walked right in. As she did so, she saw her bag sitting on the chair that she sat in earlier, as she and her friends waited to be seen by the Dean.
She smiled, and grabbed the bag. "There you are, you little beauty. Thought I'd lost ya." Stacie thought to herself, as she took the bag, wrapped it around her shoulder, and left.
And then there was the cool air, again. As much as she was nervous at the moment, Stacie loved the night air at Barden. It always gave her such a sensational feeling, one that was to be appreciated when felt.
She closed her eyes, and breathed it in. It felt nice. Warm. A cozy feeling that lifted her body to some other reality. Something that made her feel calmer than before. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn't last long.
As she finally breathed out, sighing as she opened her eyes, Stacie started walking away once more.
Walking back to Casa Bella, she saw something quite peculiar. At first, Stacie was not sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but, for a second, she thought she saw, at the top of the East Dorm, a person. A person standing on top of the roof, looking down at them. But she couldn't make out the person's face, for it was too far away to see.
For a moment, Stacie considered calling out the girl, but instead, she bit her lip, and went against that notion. She sighed, and rolled her eyes. Then, she turned around to walk away.
But, as she did, she saw someone standing right in front of her. His sudden appearance proved to be quite startling. He was a senior boy, looking no older than her, but definitely taller. "Hiya, pretty thing." The guy said, slowly walking toward her.
Cautiously, Stacie gripped her back. "Um… hi." She said, obviously nervous. "Hey, what's the matter? Is everything alright?" He asked, in a somewhat condescending manner.
Stacie took notice of this, and backed away for a moment. "Well, I'm just trying to go home." She said honestly. This made the boy smile. "Oh, really? That soon after we just get to talking?" He asked, in a fake-sounding hurt voice.
Her eyes widened. She could tell he was up to no good. He didn't seem like it. "What-what do you want?" She stuttered, the fear in her voice all-too evident. The boy smiled, and said, "Just a little fun. It's been too long since I've had fun. And surely, it sounds like you, and maybe even your friends, can help."
Stacie was disturbed. She didn't like this guy. She didn't like the vibe he was putting off, or the way he spoke to her. Nothing about him seemed trustworthy. So, she turned around, and walked back to Casa Bella in a different direction.
As she walked, she had a nagging suspicion that this guy would follow her. It clawed at her like a crab on her leg. She gulped, and looked around, seeing the senior slowly walk behind her.
Stacie faced forward, and cautiously walked somewhat faster. She looked around once more, and saw the guy still coming up behind her. His smile… dear God, his smile.
It was ghoulish, haunting, almost non-human. Stacie could tell just by the look on his face alone, the way his mouth was curled, the smile… it felt off. And Stacie wanted no further interaction with this guy.
Now, she was full-on running. She didn't care if he came after her. She was fast. She knew she could outrun him, and outsmart him. So, she ran. Ran as fast as she could, her heartbeat intensifying as she did so.
Stacie never looked behind her to see if he was still following her. She never bothered to see if he was running, too. All that she was focused on was getting away from him.
She saw a corner. "Oh, thank God. I can lose him that way, just in case he is coming up behind me." She thought, running faster than she had in quite some time.
Then, just as she came up to the corner, she was grabbed by two strong hands, taking Stacie both of guard and off her feet.
Her screams were muffled. No one could possibly hear her, the way her mouth was covered by the two hands that grabbed her. She felt her entire body shaking. Stacie tried to break free, but the person who had her in his grasp was too strong.
He laughed as he held onto her. She couldn't see who he was, but she heard his laugh. It was cold, dead, and heinous. Stacie was so trapped by this person, that she couldn't even open her mouth to bite his hand, even if she tried.
Then, she saw two other boys coming toward him, laughing as much as the guy she was being held by. But the cherry on the shit sundae was the creepy bastard who she had encountered just a few minutes ago, walking over, and laughing himself.
"Well, well, well… how do you do, miss? Now, like I was saying earlier, before you so rudely ran off, I need a little fun. I've gone too long without having any fun. And so have my friends. And we were hoping that you could provide us with a little fun…" The boy chuckled darkly, as he pulled out a knife from his pocket.
Stacie's eyes widened, as she stared at the knife, and the boy slowly walking toward her with the knife. His friends laughed, as she tried to scream.
As the boy came closer to her, she saw an opportunity, and took it. Stacie headbutted the guy, knocking him back to his feet. Then, she herself was dropped onto the ground, and kicked by the big lug who was holding her.
Then, the two other guys kicked her a few times as well, knocking her onto her back. The first boy, now back on his feet, and with blood coming out of his mouth, walked toward her, and said, "Get her arms. And her knees."
Stacie tried to scream, but the first boy slapped her, and covered her mouth. As tears streamed down her face, all of them laughed. But the first guy moved his face towards hear ear, and whispered, "I've heard stories about the little slutbag in the Barden Bellas. So I want you to feel everything, whore."
After saying this, Stacie stopped squirming, knowing that there was nothing else she could do to stop this. Nothing could save her in this moment. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and a harsh call to reality.
But as the first boy laughed, grabbing his knife from the ground, and preparing to tear open Stacie's clothing with it, the laughter, suddenly and out of nowhere, stopped.
All that Stacie heard was the sound of a knife, and a groan of pain. "Uh… auga… aughhhhh! AHHH!" The boy screamed, as he fell back in pain.
At first, Stacie couldn't understand why he was screaming, or what was even going on. Then, she saw, and she was just as shocked as the other boys.
The leader had the very knife he tried to cut her with lodged into his abdomen. Blood gushed out, as the knife twisted into him, further causing him pain.
"What the fuck?" The biggest guy, the one who took hold of her, said, horrified at the state of his friend. Then, as he took a moment to process it all, he himself was lifted into the air, and flung into the wall.
The guy moaned, groaned, and whimpered in pain, as he slunk to the ground. And the other two stood by each other, their knives being taken out of their pockets, and into their hands.
"C-Come out and face us!" The taller of the two said, trembling. "A-Are you s-s-scared, huh?! F-Figures!" The shorter stuttered. Both were terrified, and Stacie could see this.
Then, what she could see astonished her. From out of nowhere, someone jumped to the ground, and smashed their fists into the taller boys' back, knocking him head-first onto the ground.
The other spun around, and stabbed the figure in the shoulder. But… the figure didn't scream. Instead, they grabbed the boy's arm, and began to crush it.
When the knife that was in his hands fell to the ground, he screamed, crying a blood curdling cry into the night. As the figure's grip on his arm increased, he fell to the ground, and onto his knees.
As he cried, and whimpered, and as big, fat tears streamed down his face in the moonlight, Stacie watched as the figure, who was almost entirely obscured by shadows, leaned down, and whispered something into the boy's ear.
She didn't know what it was that the figure said, but she swore that she heard her say, loudly and clearly, "If you ever try to harm her, or anyone like that ever again, next time, it won't be your arm that's the only broken part of your body."
And then, the person broke his arm completely. The breaking, snapping sound of bones made Stacie cringe, and his cry only made it worse. The figure must have been aware of this, because the next thing he or she did was knock him out completely.
Stacie could hear the figure breathing heavily. It sounded like… a girl. It was a girl that had rescued her. A woman. And that woman had spun around, and looked directly at her.
Stacie backed up to the wall, fear in her eyes, and tightness in her stomach. She was frightened. And the woman knew this. Slowly, the figure walked toward Stacie. Then, for the first time, she spoke. "Are you hurt?"
Stacie was confused. She had no idea how to feel, or what to do. "I'm sorry that this happened to you. But I promise you, they will not spend another day at this university. They'll spend their next few weeks in a court of law, being put on trial. Don't worry, though. They will face judgement for this."
Then, as the figure came closer, Stacie looked up, and had something of a better idea of what she was looking at. She couldn't see too well, but she made out who she was looking at.
It was a woman of shorter stature. Something was draped over her head. Perhaps a hood? And yet, she was still obscured by the shadows of the night sky.
Stacie knew she should have thanked this person. Why wouldn't she? Whoever this brave woman was, she saved her life. But there was that tiny detail: WHO was she? And so, the first thing that came out of her mouth was not 'thank you', but rather, "Who are you?"
The woman, at first, did not speak. Instead, she looked down at the girl who sat against the wall, fearful, her heart-rate racing. Then, she did. "I'm nothing more than someone who just wants to change the world for the better. There's too much ugliness in this world, already. And I want to help fix it."
Then, she tilted her head, inspecting Stacie's body for injuries. What she saw made her frown, even if the poor girl couldn't see it. There was blood trickling down Stacie's mouth, her right eye was bruised, and her shirt torn open.
So, the woman outstretched her hand to Stacie. "Take it." She said, calmly and soothingly.
Then, just as Stacie outstretched her own hand, her eyes began to flutter, and her head slumped to the ground, along with her body. All consciousness had left, and Stacie Conrad had fallen asleep, physically and mentally exhausted.
"Oh, God." The hooded figure said, before pulling a phone out of her pocket, and dialing a number. As it rang, she looked back at Stacie, fearful for her life. Then… "9-1-1, what's your emergency?" An operator asked over the phone.
Then, Beca spoke in her natural voice, saying, "I need to report an attempted rape. Barden University. Four men lying on the ground, all of them tried to hurt this poor girl. She's slumped against a wall, and unconscious. Please, send an ambulance." Then, she hung up.
Beca waited. She waited until she could hear and see the sirens in the distance. And once she could, her heartbeat was not as intense. And this reassurance of help, of police and an ambulance, gave her an exit cue.
But before she was out of sight, she knelt down by the girl, and said, in a hushed voice, "I'm so sorry, Stacie."
And then, she was gone. Out of sight. No longer visible. And as the lights and sirens approached, Stacie's eyes slightly opened, and she saw the flashing of those red lights, heard the "WHOO-WHOO" sound of the sirens, and watched as they stopped to a halt.
As soon as they stopped, police and doctors got out of their vehicles, and ran over to the scene of the crime. The police had their flashlights whipped out, and their guns trained on the men laying on the ground.
The doctors, on the other hand, had a gurney stretched out, and were rushing over to Stacie. Speaking of which, Stacie groaned in pain, as a female doctor rushed over to her.
"Hey, hey! Miss, can you tell me your name?" She asked, flashing a light in Stacie's eyes. The girl nodded her head, and said, "Stacie… Stacie Conrad…"
The doctor sighed heavily, and asked, "Okay… Stacie, can you tell me what happened? To you, and to these men?
For a moment, Stacie simply looked at the doctor. She stared at her face. She was young, pretty, had brown hair. The expression on her face said it all. She was worried, and she had every reason to be worried.
"I… I just came to grab my bag… and these guys started harassing me. Then, they tried to… they tried to…" She began, but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Instead, she choked up, and sobbed. Tears ran down her face, as she looked into her lap.
The doctor sympathetically looked at her, and put her hand on Stacie's right shoulder. "Hey, look at me. Look at me, Stacie. Everything is gonna be okay. I just need you to tell me what else happened."
Stacie, who still had tears stinging her eyes, looked at the doctor, and breathed heavily. In and out. Five times. Finally, she could finish what she wanted to say. "They tried to rape me. But I thought I saw someone, a woman… stop them."
Then, in the corner of her eye, as the doctor explained to her that she would be taken into care at Grady Memorial Hospital, Stacie saw someone. The same woman who had saved her. And all that ran through her mind, as she was lifted onto the gurney, and taken to the hospital, was, "Who are you?"