She hadn't realized she was screaming until a hand closed around her mouth as the other one pulled her inside by her designer shirt nearly tearing the seams. The force of the pull set her off balance. She scrambled against the hardness of the stone floor unable to regain her footing as the guy in question closed the carved wood doors with his back. If it wasn't for those caused hands putting snags in her shirt she would have definitely landed hard on the floor. As it was she simple stood there precariously on her Jimmy Choos scared out of her mind and blubbering. Apparently it was passe to scream at the dorm entrance at one in the morning, hence his hand over her mouth.
"Hey watch it," she screamed, "this shirt's worth more than you make." Which came out more like, "Em at eek! shum ouh umk." She blamed it all on the jet-lag.
"Shut up. People are trying to sleep " said a familiar voice. It was hard to place in the panic. Not the janitor then. She hadn't met him yet. The only person she'd met besides the librarian was her stupid RA. What was his name? He'd worn a name tag, but her memory wasn't eidetic. She recalled it was something biblical. Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John?
"You think I like pulling first years off of door steps at off hours?" he said, pulling his hand away. She just stared at his face: piercing blue eyes half covered by saggy brown hair, a bubble nose with thin lips, and a cleft chin that saved it from being girly. It also happened to be in her bubble, which should have bothered her but didn't.
"What was that all about?" she asked. "And why were the doors locked?"
"Haven't you ever heard of lights out?" he stated. She needed to call him something, so she settled on Luke and hoped she was right. She could ask her roommate in the morning after class. Maybe she'd remember.
"No, don't tell me. Americans call you what? Fresh meat, or something?" He headed off down the hall. "I just didn't think you Americans were dumb enough to take that literally," Luke continued. Not wanting to be left alone in the dark hallway and still unsure about where her room was in this building, Mary Ann followed. Even if he had slapped her cheeks, he knew the way.
"I just got back from the hospital," she said, defending herself.
"I believe I told you not to go to the hospital. Doctor's don't tend to do much now a days," he stated. "What is your name again?"
"So you can remember what you said but not my name," she muttered. He stopped in front of a room.
"I have a list around here somewhere with all the firsties on it," he said, diving into the room. For a moment she contemplated following him, going as far as to stick her nose past the threshold. An overwhelming stench of rotting flesh assailed her. She blinked.
"What died in there?" she said out loud. She so needed sleep.
"What?" Luke asked. Mary Ann put a hand over her mouth to stop the outflow. One day that thing was going to get her into real trouble. She didn't want it to be today.
Wow, he looked strangely hot straddling the entrance to his room. Scruffy worked for him. Mary Ann thanked herself for already having her mouth covered or something even more embarrassing might have slipped out that she couldn't take back. She felt heat in her cheeks.
At that moment her feet became increasingly appealing. She wanted to avoid eye contact with him. That's when she noticed it. The left toe of her black Jimmy Chow was scratched. They had been whole and unscathed. Now they were scratched and it was all his fault.
She took it off to get a better look. They weren't scratched exactly, more like punctured. Something on that step had bitten through the toe. So not the RA's fault. Something sinister was stalking London at night eating holes in high dollar shoes. If Luke hadn't been there to open the door Mary Ann didn't want to think about how she'd have looked in the morning.
"Dead isn't a good color on anyone." She thought as she stumbled into her room. She dropped her bag by the bed and fell into the sheets. She was out before her head hit the pillow. Otherwise she might have noticed the light blue glow escaping out through the zipper of her Louis Vuitton.
