Scene I

October 2015

"Hey Quinn don't forget to text me the notes for the beginning of the lecture," Sarah mentioned to her friend as they descended the brick stairs of the English Literature department.

"Hey watch it!," quipped the redhead as some freshman boys pushed her to the side of the stairwell as they ran from what was probably freshman English and Comp. She adjusted her stack of books of Emily Dickinson's poetry. "Yeah yeah yeah don't worry about it Sarah. Let's just get some sleep. I still cannot believe the professor just decided to make our class run until 9:45pm instead of 8:45pm. Not to mention we share the same hall as idiot freshman." The last part of the sentence she yelled in the direction of the said freshman.

Sarah chuckled, then bristled as Quinn pushed the glass doors at the end of the hall open. The rough October wind pulled her long black hair into her eyes. The rustle of leaves could be heard in the distance.

"Ugh, can this fall be any colder too? And they say global warming isn't a thing."

Sarah nodded silently as the two made their way across the sidewalk towards the girls dorm rooms."

The sun had long set and the only light came from the flickering street lamps. An owl could be heard far off within the thick forest that surrounded the central campus.

A buzzing went off. Quinn checked her smartphone and giggled.

"Steve again?"

Quinn frowned and stopped, "Sarah are you going to be perpetually judging me over my arrangement with him?"

Sarah shook her head and exhaled, her breath materializing in front of her. The two fell back into step with each other, their feet crunching the dead leaves of deciduous trees.

"Hey Sarah?"

"Hmmm?"

"You seem a bit…distracted or frustrated? Are you already overwhelmed with all the assigned reading we've got to do this weekend?"

Sarah waved her hand in front of herself, "Oh no! I'm sorry. It's nothing."

Quinn studied her friends face for a moment. Satisfied she smiled.

"I mean if you say so. I mean I know I'm going to need some help delving into the 'author's relationship with nature' via a poem about snakes."

"Shit!"

Quinn started, "Woah what is it?"

"Crap, I forgot my notebook on the desk back in the room."

Both girls stopped walking. A gust of wind blew past, raising the hairs on both their arms.

Quinn rubbed her hands together and looked back at the building. She then pulled out her phone. It vibrated impatiently.

"Umm…" Quinn looked back and forth from her phone to the building. The fairy screensaver on her phone held an old clock that read 10:14pm.

Sensing her indecision Sarah grabbed Quinn's arm and pushed it towards the opposite direction, "Hey no worries! Go get ready to meet Steve. I can run in and out. I'm sure there are some professors still mulling about anyway."

Quinn bit her lip uncertainly, "You sure? I mean you'll text me when you get back to our room?"

"Yeah for sure," Sarah nodded quickly. "Go get some!"

Quinn snorted and waved, "alright see ya tomorrow girl."

"See ya!"

At that, both girls turned and parted ways.

The glow of the October moon hazed with cumulous as Sarah quickened her pace. Walking alone late at night on campus was strongly discouraged. She could see why. It was extremely creepy.

Quickening her pace Sarah reached the glass doors she and Quinn had exited minutes before. A sensation of something brushing against the nape of her neck made her jump around.

"Must be the wind…" she mumbled to herself as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

She stepped inside the building. The glass door slammed shut behind her, echoing up and down the stairwells leading to multiple dimly lit hallways.

Adjusting her backpack, Sarah began climbing the three flights up to her poetry classroom. Every now and then she would flinch at a creak from above or a shadow shifting in the corner of her eye. Reaching her floor she began walking towards the classroom that held her notebook. Even though she had told Quinn there would be professors staying after hours, she could now tell that that wasn't the case. Room after room had the lights out. A pin could drop and no one would hear.

Or a scream… no stop it Sarah.

Relaxing slightly once she reached her classroom, Sarah turned the doorknob with a click and flicked the light switch on with a resounding snap.

Focusing her vision she honed in on her plain black spiral notebook. Reaching the desk she grabbed it and quickly shoved it into her canvas backpack.

Once complete, she turned towards the door. Suddenly the lights went off.

She blinked as she tried to adjust to the sudden darkness then sucked in a breathe at the sound of large footsteps heading down the hall.

Maybe it's maintenance. The power must have shut off.

Sarah pulled her phone out from her leather jacket pocket: 10:29pm.

After a few taps her phone flashlight sparked to life, illuminating the hallway entrance before her. The footsteps suddenly stopped.

Confused Sarah peaked her head outside the classroom door and called out, "Hello? Are you here to fix the light?"

Sarah flashed her phone in the direction she heard the steps coming from. Her brow creased when she saw no one was there.

Sarah shock her head, these night classes were getting to her.

She yelped when the hallway lights flickered on.

Please just stay on so I can get the hell out of here she silently prayed. Someone was apparently listening as the lights suddenly obeyed her and stayed on.

Sighing in relief, Sarah quickly shut off her classroom lights and closed the door. She shoved her phone in her pocket as it vibrated from a new notification. Ignoring it, she quickly made her way out of the building and made her way to her dorm.

Digging around her jean pocket she pulled out her plastic ID card. Making a face at her ID picture that looked more like a mug shot, she quickly scanned it and entered her room.

She flicked on the lights and threw her bag onto her red comforter. Glancing around she noticed that Quinn's side of the room looked surprisingly neater then usual. Quinn usually tried on, and threw off, around 4 outfits before she met up with a guy.

Remembering her promise to text Quinn when she got home, Sarah dug her hand back into her pocket. Pulling out the thin phone she pressed the home button.

10:38pm.

Sarah noticed an unread campus security notification. It must have been the one she got back in the building.

Maintenance was probably saying a squirrel bit a line or something.

Sliding the notification her corresponding app opened.

Students please be advised that Campus Blue Light Emergency Phone false activation can lead to heavy disciplinary action.

Shrugging out of her jacket Sarah quickly closed the app and quickly texted her roommate.

Hey I survived lol

No axe murderers or creepos got me!

Did you see that campus notification? You think those stupid frosh pulled that stupid prank of pressing the Blue Light?

Not expecting a response Sarah clicked her phone off and plugged it in to charge for the night. Quickly throwing her long hair into a bun she grabbed some sweats and threw on a long sleeved fleece t-shirt.

Crawling under her comforter she shivered one more time before settling in. Her side clock red 10:46pm.

Outside her window a tall evergreen gently swayed back and forth as a tiny figure farther down could be seen rushing frantically through the dense forest below.