A/N: Well, here's that new thing that Zap had mentioned I was working on. I hope you guys will enjoy it. Whether or not it continues will be determined if there's an interest for it. Also, for those waiting, new chapters of The Timbre Reconfiguration are in the works and, hopefully, will be up soon. I hope everyone likes what I've here, please read and review.

Prologue

The warm August air drifted across the moonlit campus of Barden University in south central New York, picking up some stray maple leaves that lay on the grass of the quad and wafting them back and forth playfully as it swirled around the nearly deserted square. As the wind found the walls of one of the many buildings fronting the quad, in this particular instance the Student Union building, it joined with other gusts coming down from the roof and picked up speed as it rushed along towards the corner of said building. Rounding the corner the wind, suddenly no longer constrained by the wall it had been buffeting against, burst free and scattered in many directions as it was wont to do. One gust of wind, sweeping down along the front of the SU, found another little playground as it swirled warmly around the stairs and railings in front of the doors, and also easily lifted the dark, chocolatey locks of hair belonging to one of Barden's newest freshmen, Stacie Conrad.

Brushing a stray strand of hair off her face which had just been blown across her eyes by a warm gust of late summer wind, Stacie looked down at the map displayed on the screen of her cellphone and tried to puzzle out how to get back to her dorm. She had only been on campus for about twelve hours and the young freshman was still getting used to navigating her way around. Of course, it didn't help her that she was a little early as classes didn't start for about another week. Hell, move-in day wasn't even technically until tomorrow, with Freshman Orientation on the following day to give the freshmen the weekend to get used to the campus before classes started up the following Wednesday. But Stacie had been anxious to acclimate herself to the campus when it was, hopefully, a little less crowded. That seemingly great idea was what had dropped Stacie into her current predicament, the one in which she was slightly lost and there weren't many people around to ask for directions.

Finally figuring out where she thought her dorm was on the nearly useless little map she'd found on Barden's website, Stacie was quickly able to plot what she hoped was the correct route there from the Student Union. Happy that something seemed to be going right for a change, Stacie looked up and found a landmark that more or less lined up with what she thought was on the map and grinned. Pushing the button on the side of her phone to shut the screen off she tucked it into her back pocket before making sure her clutch's zipper was closed. Holding the small purse by the loop attached to the zipper, Stacie bounced down the stairs not really paying attention to exactly how much certain parts of her bounced and turned to her left, strolling across the open and empty grass of the quad.

She was humming a soft tune she'd heard on the radio earlier that day while driving out from New York City with her stuff as she crossed from the grass onto one of the many sidewalks crisscrossing the campus. Her feet now planted on, she believed, the right path to get "home" Stacie heard a noise up ahead as a group of students exited one of the buildings. They were no doubt upper classmen, most likely ones who hadn't left campus during the summer term seeing as most of the students for the new school year wouldn't be arriving until Monday. She paused for a moment before realizing that the crowd, mostly guys though she was able to pick out a couple women in their midst, turned and headed off in the general direction she was heading. About thirty feet back from the group, Stacie was able to deduce from their conversation that they were off to a party at some frat house. Apparently it was an "end of summer" bash hosted by the Sigma Beta Theta house "before all the freshmen show up and ruin things."

Thinking that a party might be just what the doctor ordered to help get her acquainted with the social structure on campus, Stacie decides to head back to her dorm to put on something more party appropriate, and something that made her look less like a doe-eyed freshman. She followed after the crowd, listening to some of their chatter, for a few minutes before the group turned towards where she expected Greek Row, and the Sigma Beta Theta house, to be. Her own dorm, Baker Hall, wasn't too much farther and she paused just outside the nearly empty freshman dormitory to pull her phone out. Quickly unlocking it she pulled up the map and confirmed her suspicions that the group had in fact been heading towards Greek Row. Content that she knew where she was going, Stacie headed into the dorm and up to her room where she quickly changed into an outfit that would help hide the fact that she was probably too young to be anything but a freshman. It had always amazed Stacie how simply showing off a little cleavage could so easily distract people from how young she looked, but the busty brunette didn't mind the attention, and definitely didn't mind taking advantage of the distraction.

Checking her cleavage in the mirror one more time, and reaching down to make sure the goodies were as exposed as they could be without actually falling out, Stacie winked at herself in the mirror and said, to no one in particular, "Alright hunter, let's go join our first official college party."

Tossing her phone into her clutch now that she knew where she was heading, Stacie grabbed the small purse and headed out into the hall, her heels clicking on the floors as she made her way downstairs. As she got down to the first floor she saw a boy standing hear the entrance. He perked up as he saw her, standing slightly straighter and poking at his phone a couple times before stuffing it into his pocket and nodding towards her in a friendly manner.

"Evening." He said casually, adding a wave to the nod and words.

"Evening to you too." She said with an answering smile and nod of her head. As she approached the door, he stepped forward and opened one, gesturing for her to head on out.

"And here I thought I was the only one in Baker hall to have shown up early." The boy said, making small talk as he exited the building behind her and started walking alongside her.

"Well, you wouldn't have been wrong by far. With the majority of the dorm here being freshmen housing, it'll no doubt start filling up come tomorrow." Stacie said, trying not to sound like one of those freshmen, just in case. The guy seemed to be walking in the same direction she was, towards Greek Row, and she figured he was probably heading to that "end of summer" bash. Deciding to take a chance she added, "Are you off to the thing at SBT? I figured might as well head over for a party before the fresh meat shows up."

The bravado apparently worked as the guy chuckled and said, "Yeah, I was thinking about heading that way. They usually throw a fun bash, ya know? Lots of hotties there. Present company included."

Blushing slighting, and thankful that the night was dark enough to probably not let him notice, Stacie looked away for a moment, thinking about how to respond. That was probably a mistake, though, because as she looked away, she missed the subtle hand signal that the guy walking alongside her made off into the darkness. By the time she looked, however, the guy's attention was focused on her again as she opened her mouth and said, "You have a point, those Sigma guys have good taste. Were you at their last party?"

Stacie, her voice covering the sound of approaching footsteps, had only the briefest flash of insight that something was off when the guy next to her looked behind her and stepped away slightly just before she felt an arm wrap around her and something soft and wet covered her mouth. Instinctively she opened her mouth, drawing in a breath to scream, and realized her mistake too late as a chemical smell overpowered her. Still fighting weakly, she heard the guy beside her, whose voice had sounded so friendly just moments before, laugh harshly. A faint flash of light, from his cell phone she expected, lit his face briefly as he spoke, "Hey, it's me. Yeah, we got another one…"

The sound grew dim as she felt herself being dragged off the sidewalk. A second arm had joined the first, wrapping around her torso, a rough palm covering one of her breasts as the unknown assailant held the chemical soaked rag over her mouth. Her vision was nearly entirely black when she heard a muffled voice talking angrily. Struggling to make out the words, thinking they might be about her, she just managed to make out the voice saying, "… attacked by who? What… mean 'you don't know'… Damnit! We can't… Fine! We're coming… dump her in the bushes, we gotta get…"

Blackness buried Stacie in its numbing embrace as she felt her body hit the hard ground. Several footsteps echoing off into the distance as Stacie Conrad, one of Braden's newest freshmen, slipped into unconsciousness beneath a bunch of bushes.

A/N (Post Script): As I said, if you guys want to see more of this, let me know. I know it's vague, it's meant to be that way. Please, read and review if you have a moment.