Hey! Welcome back to another "riveting" installment of "Dark". I know I left everyone in a lurch at the end of Dark Roads, but I promise, all will be revealed in time. Anyways, I hope you guys like this and as always, Miss King will appear in the second chapter. So...umh, how does 'Happy Reading", sound? lol.
Chapter 1- The Emergency Phone
The street lamps hummed as they all began to turn on, the large bulbs warming up and slowly each lamp flickered on; deep gold light dotting the side walks. The lights were spread twenty feet apart and the sphere shaped ring of light only fanned out ten feet; one glow never touching its neighbor. The sidewalk that the lights illuminated curved, crisscrossed and linked together, all the concrete lines eventually forming an oval shape. The cement walk way branched out at some places, reaching out for buildings filled with classrooms and offices, but all came back to the imperfect circle. In the center of the oval was the Alumni Greens, a sprawling lawn that was in the center of the SUNY Orange campus. The campus was empty; it was a Friday night, no students dared to take a night class, a handful of teachers still haunted their offices, finishing off last minute paper work and pay roll papers and then the night cleaning and security crews. The parking lot looked deserted, save for a few straggling cars owned by the teachers and "night crew" filled the spaces.
A blood curdling scream pierced the silence, sending birds flying from their late night perches in the trees over head, and the sound of feet slapping against the paved walk way followed the shriek. Breaking through the circles of light, almost looking like the person was hopping from one glow to the next came a young woman in her early thirties, clutching her side. Blood seeped through her fingers and breath escaped her in forced panting gasps. The habitual walking of the campus had gone out the window and the young woman, obviously a professor, fell face first as she ran down the small hill of the Alumni Green. Her legs had gotten tangled and she had tripped over herself. She hit the ground hard; cutting up her palms, scraping her knees and forcing more blood out of the wound on her side. She lay there for a moment, regaining her head and getting her breathing back under control. The sound of heavy footsteps filled her ears along with the hurried beating of her own heart. Pushing herself up, she scrambled down the rest of the walk way, a small of blood left behind her, and ran for the emergency phone that stood only a few feet away from her. Blood soaked fingers reached out, each finger trembling, and quickly dialing the access code to bypass the school's emergency menu. A moment later the phone became a land line and she dialed 911.
"911, please state your emergency." The dispatcher's calm voice came over the other line.
"I've been stabbed." The young woman shuddered, her free hand clutching her side once again; her own blood causing the cuts on her palm to sting.
"I'll send an ambulance; first tell me what your name is."
"Andrea Oliver, I'm a professor here at SUNY Orange."
"All right Andrea, what happened? I need you to remain calm."
"Something came out of the shadows and attacked me in my office. It's following me." She stammered, her eyes flicking across the grounds, looking for her attacker.
"Just stay calm Andrea, the police and EMTs are on their way. Stay calm."
xXxXx
Police flash lights lit the area surrounding the emergency phone, quickly followed by the EMTs who were struggling to do their job by the light of dying MagLight bulbs. Two officers roped the area off with police tape as their fellow officers investigated the scene. Andrea Oliver's body had fallen in front of the emergency phone, the slash on her side gone purple, almost looking like a bruise and had been bled dry and then a jagged smile like slit line her throat, her body had bled out on the grass under her.
"So, she called 911 at a little after eight and we got here at eight thirty. How far do you think her killer could've gotten?" Lieutenant Peter Wyles asked his lower ranked and younger officers as he provided light for a young EMT with a shaggy mop of brown hair and too long limbs. "Are ya done yet son?"
"Yes sir." He said, standing up to an impressive height and walked past the older cop. Wyles watched the young man head back toward the ambulance that had driven up onto the campus. Shaking his head, he turned back to his officers and was about to start asking if they had seen anything before he himself had gotten there when a New York State Trooper's squad car pulled up along side the ambulance. Wyles watched the door snap open and saw an older man step out. The tall EMT, who had be joined by another one a few inches shorter than him, rolled his eyes as the Trooper walked over to the scene.
"Can I help you sir?" Wyles asked, his men backing away a little, pretending to look busy and not like they were eavesdropping.
"Yes you can, I'm Officer Benjamin Kail with the State Police. I heard the dispatch on my way home from work and decided to swing by, so what do we have?" He asked, pushing his graying light brown hair out of his eyes.
"A murder; but other than that we have nothing. We have no weapon, foot or finger prints and no signs of the killer anywhere." Wyles answered, swiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve.
"What did the young woman say when she called 911?"
"Something came out of the shadows and attacked her in her office."
"Have you searched her office yet?"
"No not yet. I suppose you can go poke around if you want."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Up on the third floor in Morrison Hall…I don't remember what room number but her name is on the door."
"And her name…?"
"Andrea Oliver."
"Thank you Officer…?"
"Lieutenant Wyles."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Wyles for your time." Kail said, smiling curtly and then walking off the lawns, heading up toward Morrison Hall. As he walked up to his car, grabbing his gun off the dash, he looked over at the two young EMTs and nodded. The young men nodded back and quickly followed him. The younger men fell into step behind the office and fought to catch up to his longer strides.
"Exactly how long does it take to get here? We've been waiting almost an hour for you to show up. It's freezing."
"Do you know what I had to do to get that car? I left the damn trooper tied up in a store closet in the barracks."
"But seriously, how long does it take to get here? This isn't a big town."
"Dean, shut up. Ben, where are we going?"
"Did you see the mansion when you pulled in? Third floor Sam." The three walked in silence, well save Dean's further complaints about the cold New York night time air, and quickly made it toward Morrison Hall. The building was one of the oldest on the campus, huge and looming over them, the true definition of a mansion. The home had been turned into office spaces when the College Board needed more room for more professors. The door opened easily and they walked inside, going up the small flight and heading toward the grand stair case.
"Damn, Tate would kill to take pictures in here." Dean whispered, taking in everything from the huge stained glass window, the Fresco painting in the ceiling of the music room and the jade chandelier that hung in the dining room.
"Dean, later you can send her your ideas for a magazine spread in Homes and Gardens, we have work to do." Ben hissed down from the second flight of stairs; Sam was already on his way to the third floor. When they got up there, they took to her office, searching through it for everything and anything.
"The EMF isn't picking anything up." Sam said, pacing the room for a second time.
"Do you think we missed something?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Where did Ben go?" The two looked for him and found the doors to a small balcony opened. Walking out there, they found the "trooper" jamming in the numbers on his cell phone.
"Who are you trying to call?"
"Tatum." Dean took the phone from him and gazed at the number he had stored.
"That's her old number. I'll call her." Dean said, dialing familiar numbers.