Chapter 3: Overanalyzing again…

As soon as I spoke the words, the light was extinguished, and judging by the bustle that followed, they weren't coming back. Alluring Voice hissed in my ear, "Remember well, but keep silent, concerning what you have heard here."

By the time I stumbled to the wall and felt the cool tile beneath my fingers, they were gone. I flipped on the light to find I was standing in a bathroom, alone.

Um hello? Weren't they supposed to spirit me off to their tomb and introduce me to a life beyond my wildest dreams? I frowned, opened the bathroom door, and stepped out.

About half a dozen students milled around the hall, watching me. One of those guys who never got used to unisex bathrooms looked at me with an annoyed expression. "You done, or is there gonna be another party in there?

I disciplined my features into a neutral expression. "Anyone have a role of toilet paper."

See? I would be a pro at this secret stuff!

Ignoring the onlookers, I made my way back to my suite, where I found Alice was gone. Most likely being tapped herself. But by who?

I waited for about thirty minutes and she never showed up, so I decided to take a walk.

As I strolled down High Street, I realized where my feet had taken me. Right beside the Art History lecture hall stood the Midnight and Grave tomb. The "tombs" were found throughout campus, however, more of them looked like mansions more than tombs. However, Midnight and Grave's tomb actually looked like a tomb. Dark and mysterious. According to rumor, there is an complicated code for members that can tell them exactly what is going on inside the tomb based on the position of the wrought-iron gates guarding the entrance. I didn't know what the code was but I assumed I was about to find out.

I walked past the entrance to two residential colleges, and then, as was common amongst all students, crossed to the other side of the street so I wouldn't be seen walking in front of the Midnight and Grave tomb. It was an unwritten rule on campus. Don't get to close to the tomb or face the consequences.

The tomb was made of sandstone blocks and seemed somehow darker than the surrounding stone and slate buildings. There was a large fence surrounding the tomb and an unkempt yard. Strange the Diggers couldn't keep up on landscaping, but it did add to the feeling that "you are not welcome here" when you walked by. There were no lights outside and it just looked…sinister. I sooo bet they did it on purpose.

I sat down on the curb and noticed the gate was open. Was someone inside? Were they about to pounce on me if I got to close? The nagging fear in the back of my mind raised up to mock me.

It wasn't Midnight and Grave who carried you into the bathroom. It was a prank, and you fell for it, hook, line, and hooded robe. Stupid Bella Swan, you'll be the laughing stock of Prescott tomorrow.

Why hadn't they taken me with them? They'd tapped me, right? I was a member now, right? So if I wanted to go up to that gate, if I wanted to walk right through and pound on the door and demand an answer to what was going on here I could! Right?

And if you're not a member, they'll cart you away to the dungeon and most likely never be seen again.

I stood up, held my chin high, and marched across the street, determined for all of ten seconds. As soon as I got to the gate my resolve wavered and I stopped and checked again. Still no one coming. I held my breath and put my hand on the gate. Nothing. No one came to arrest me. Or yell at me, or take me away to their dungeon. I took six steps into the gate… and heard it.

The gate slammed shut and I froze. I rushed back to the gate but the latch wouldn't open. I couldn't see anything in the dark! Oh, crap. I'd been a member for about forty minutes and I had already messed up and probably broken some code.

And trespassed! I'm on private property. RUN! RUN! They are going to get you!

I climbed over the gate catching the flare of my favorite jeans on the top and fell face first onto the other side. At first I looked like a hop scotch player on crack trying to free my leg and get up and the same time. Then I saw three students leaving Calvin College and heading me way. Maybe they wouldn't see me if I stood still… hell, it work in Jurassic Park.

After they turned to corner one street above I ripped my jeans and took off stumbling down the street. I had never been a great runner but I took off like a track star to get out of this ridiculous situation I put myself in.

I finally slowed when I got back inside my residential college. At Prescott, kind of like Harry Potter's Hogwarts, is arranged according to British boarding school-style residential house system. We don't use a magical sorting hat or anything but each student is assigned to one of the ten residential "colleges" on campus. Once you were assigned to a college it determined where you lived, which dining hall you ate in, which dean to see when you screwed up, and what intramural team you would play on. College identity is paramount, even to people with much more powerful affiliations- like Midnight and Grave. If you meet another Prescott grad the first question you ask is, "What college were you in?"

I am a member of Hartford College, which is named after the town in Connecticut. Other colleges are named after founders of the college, famous historical figures, scientist, or historical leaders. Now it was mostly random what college you were put in. However, it used to have more significance before secret societies became extremely popular.

As I headed back to my suite I was a little perturbed. Not only had a torn my favorite jeans but I had always heard Tap Night was way different than this. What a letdown. I changed into my pajamas and looked into my bathroom mirror. I didn't look like a member of a notorious secret society. I looked plain compared to the head of the CIA, the President of the United States, and the CEO of Fox.

"Screw it." I looked myself in the eyes. "You've been had."

MGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMMG

I went to the dining hall the next morning to discover Alice waiting for me with my favorite breakfast. That is the problem with best friends. They always know how to make you talk.

"Nice outfit." Looking at my black hoodie and dark jeans. "Quite mysterious there Bells. You fit the part." She smirked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to play coy.

"You look like you belong to a secret society now?"

God, Alice could be frustrating! "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Ah, but I know all things! Don't you know that about me yet, Bella? I see all things." She giggled and sounded like a seer.

So true. Alice had an uncanny ability to know what would happen in the future and usually had a sense of what's going on in most people's lives. Again, how did I end up with such an annoying best friend?

"Seriously Alice, how do you know they are a secret society? Maybe it was just a practical joke?"

"I think the Midnight and Grave letterhead gave you a pretty good clue."

"You looked at the envelope?"

"It was pretty hard to miss with the moon and great big coffin! Are you going to get up and leave now?" Alice looked at me cautiously.

By all accounts I was supposed to. When someone brought up the secret society you were in, you should leave the room. However, Alice was my best friend and I needed her… and I wanted to know who tapped HER last night?

"That depends… Dragon's Head, Lock and Key, Serpent? You going anywhere?"

Alice just looked up at me with her bright blue eyes and pixie like features. Trying to look all innocent.

"I just can't tell you Bells."

"No I don't Alice! Its not fair! You know where I'm going!" I was really angry now.

"Bella, its better this way. Trust me!"

"I just don't understand how any of this works, Alice. Not like you! Since you are a legacy at Prescott I bet your father went through this process and you know what to expect! I don't. Please help me. I don't know if those guys in robes were Diggers or just some frat boys playing a prank. They just took me into the bathroom as asked a question. No pig's blood or sacrificed virgins like I half expected from all the rumors we've heard!" I slumped in my seat and felt utterly defeated.

At the word. "Diggers," Alice flinched.

She didn't flinch when I mentioned any other society. Just Midnight and Grave. Could she have been tapped by them as well? Was her father a Digger? He was a Governor. A very powerful man. Could it be possible?

My head was starting to hurt.

Alice looked at me with pity in her eyes. "Why don't you go the library and do a little research on societies at Prescott. I bet you might find out a little more about Midnight and Grave and see if your initiation was a hoax or not."

MGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGMGM

As if to convince myself I wasn't obsessing over this secret society thing (after all a least ninety percent of the student population never joins one!), I brought WAP with me to the library. I wasn't about to do research on secret societies. I refuse, damn it.

Okay... So about 30 minutes I was in the stacks looking for books about secret societies. God, I can't help myself. I just have to know what's going on. It was totally messing with my mind and I couldn't concentrate on anything else.

I finally found a few books on the top floor in the way back of the library. I trekked down to the nearest research room and began my search for information. I sat in a winged back chair in our beautiful gothic library and immediately felt sleepy.

Between not a bit of sleep last night worrying about Tap Night to 1,492 pages of WAP looming over me, and dusty old books about 19th century frats? I tried to stay awake by switching between the two when all of a sudden I heard.

"Hey Bella."

I looked up to see Jasper Whitlock standing over my table. A senior, a popular party boy, and the son of the senior senator of Texas. Jasper and I didn't run in the same social circles. Other than Alice who chose to stay away from the A-list group of Prescott, we had no acquaintances. I mean my friends and I stayed in our dorms, eating ice cream and watching "Sex in the City." Jasper and his clan actually WENT to "The City" and had sex filled weekends in their parent's vacation apartments. Jasper wasn't in my college, never been in a class together, and hadn't exchanged three words together. "Um, hi."

Okay, four words.

"What's up?" He looked over to see WAP sitting in front of me. Dressed in spring clothing with a light green, tight fitting, polo shirt that had a "CC" in the corner of it. His sandy blond hair looked like it had been ripped right now of the Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. He wore his messenger bag over his shoulder and kept fiddling with the strap. "Russian Novel class huh. How is it going?"

"Okay, I just hope War and Peace doesn't kill me before the year is up." Still looking at him a little confused.

Jasper kept messing with his strap and said. "The final's a breeze. So don't worry about it."

"Thanks". I guess.

"Just don't work to hard. You are going to need your energy soon."

Huh. My eyes shot to his face. "What are you talking about?"

He just grinned, showing me his gorgeous teeth… "Oh I almost forgot." Reaching into his bag and pulling out a book about Freud. "I know you are more of a New Critic but I thought you might need to read up on Freud. Get your facts straight or I might think you deserved that B- in Ethiopian Lit."

I stared at that all-too-familiar smile, then down at his hands, which were tapping his shoulder strap again. And there it was. A pin that showed a moon inside an elongated hexagon.

Jasper Whitlock was the Shadow-Who-Smiles. And he was in Midnight and Grave.

Which meant…

"Hey!" I said. Loudly.

"Shh!" The harsh rebuke from a girl came from the next table. I craned my neck to see Rosalie Hale glaring at my from behind her Louis Vuitton bag. Rosalie's gaze ping-ponged between me to Jasper, and back again, and then her ice blue eyes narrowed. Like Jasper, Rosalie was apart of the Prescott uber elite.

Jasper was taking advantage of my momentary distraction. He ruffled my hair. "See ya soon Bells." Then turned on a heel and left.

Ignoring Rosalie, I grabbed WAP and took off after Jasper.

But by the time I got to the main entrance of the library, he was no where in sight. Did all Midnight and Grave members have secret passage ways to leave every building on campus unnoticed?

I sprinted down the front steps onto the Campus Green and there was no sign of him. Fine, I would resort to my cunning ways. "CC" stood for Calvin College, and green was their college color. Ah ha! Gotcha! I'd follow him right to his dorm.

I tried to look dignified (and not fall flat on my face) as I power-walked across campus, but the weight of WAP was throwing me off balance.

Thoughts As I Stumbled My Way Across Campus

A) Jasper knew I was bullshiting during my interview and tapped me anyway.

B) Must be convenient for Jasper that Calvin College was directly next door to Midnight and Grave tomb.

C) I wonder if the Diggers have the Russian Novel final on file.

I swiped my keycard at the entrance of Calvin College, and opened the heavy gate. A few steps later I was in their courtyard alone with Jasper.

"Jasper!" I shouted, and he stopped in his tracks. "You're a Digger."

He grabbed my arm and maneuvered me to one of the stone benches positioned farther away from the windows.

"And you," he hissed in my ear, "are not discreet."

I rolled my eyes. "How discreet is that pin of yours?"

He snorted. "It took you ninety seconds to recognize it, and I practically had to jab in your eye with the pointy end."

I crossed my arms. "Now I want an explanation."

He narrowed his eyes. "For what?"

"For last night, of course!"

"You seemed to understand the process pretty well at the time." He drawled.

"Yeah, that was before you left me in the bathroom with no explanation."

"Of course. We had to tap eleven other people, you know, Bella. We were a little busy. Look this isn't the time to talk about this. Everything you need to know is in the –" He stopped and looked horrified.

"Where are the books I gave you?"

"In the library I suppose."

"WHAT!" Now it was Jasper's turn to get loud. He jumped up from the bench and looked like he was about to bite me. "You just left them there?"

I blinked at him. "They were library books and I already had a copy of them anyway."

"There was-UGH! There was something in the Freud. For you. From us."

"Oh."

"OH!" He paced back and forth in front of me. "Oh?! That's all you have to say?"

"What am I supposed to say? Did you honestly think that after that little act of yours that I would rather read Freud or hunt you down?"

"Well I didn't think you would leave them there!" He plopped on the bench and sighed.

I patted him on the shoulder and was thinking of the fasted route back to the reading room I was in.

Jasper whipped up and caught me by the shoulders, and started at me intently. "Listen, you can't let anyone else see that letter. It could ruin everything. You have to get back to the library and get it back. Now. Understand?"

I nodded, a bit taken back by his intensity, and put my hands on his chest to push him away. And, naturally, that's when the door to the nearest entryway opened and out walked Jacob Black.

"Hey, Swan," he voice was anything but casual. "What's up?"

Jasper dropped his hands and stepped back and I tried to think of the least awkward way to respond like:

1) "Whoa Jasper be careful on those uneven flagstones, you don't want to trip."

2) "Hey Jacob. Jasper and I were just acting out this scene I missed from Gossip Girls last week"

3) "Hi, Jacob. Jasper and I can't talk right now. We have to go talk about the uber secret society info about Midnight and Rose that Agent-Double-Oh-Whitlock here left in a book I had no intention of checking out."

But Jasper took over, going from freaking out to emotionally cool in an instant. "Hey, man, how's it going?" He held out his hand and slapped Jacob a high five before my friend could figure out what was going on. "I've been meaning to congratulate you on the last intramural basketball game. Have you thought about being team captain next year?

"Thanks," Jacob said, and stood a little taller. "I have been thinking about it."

Unbelievable. I looked at Jasper with new appreciation. It was like he could read the emotions in the room and knew exactly how to manipulate them. Obviously raised by a politician. "Lets go talk to the Calvin Intramural Coordinator right now."

"Well, I wanted to talk to Bella…" Jacob cast me the "Bella Smile," but Jasper stepped in.

"Oh she is headed to the library." Jasper clapped Jacob on the back and off they went.

I stood in the courtyard for a minute and began to think about the Hopelessly-Devoted- To-You act Jacob has been trying to pull. He just totally ditched me for intramural basketball.

On the upside I was on my way to becoming a Midnight and Grave member. I just really needed to find those books.

I hurried back to the library to find that the table I was sitting at had no books. I began to panic thinking there is no chance in hell they are going to induct me if I keep screwing up like this.

Then I heard her.

"Hey! Psst, Bella, Bella Swan."

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw Rosalie Hale sitting in a leather armchair in a little reading alcove. Her Louis Vuitton back was on her lap, and between two of her perfectly manicured fingers, she dangled a white envelope with a red border and a black wax seal.

"Looking for this?" she smirked.

God, I really HATE Rosalie Hale.

Let me know what you think! So don't forget to review! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed my first two chapters. This one is for you!