~Pre- A/N: Trigger warning for some violence. Nothing too crazy, but I thought I may as well give a heads up. It's pretty clear where it starts to build-up. I can mark it more directly if need be.~
Scene XI
"She mentioned the murdered girl?" Margaret half-whispered in the middle of the empty basement café.
After the previous night's fiasco, both girls were attempting to recover with some warm cups of French vanilla. Sarah had also had to ask Aaron for access to the café's first aid kit, to replace her soiled wrist bandage from the night before. Besides some bare essentials, Sarah was made poignantly aware of how little supplies she had in her apartment. It didn't help that she seemed to always be running out of food. She knew she was maybe eating more, since her stress level was higher, but she didn't think it was that much.
Aaron, to his credit, had freaked out and thought Sarah had tried to do herself in when she showed him her arm. After some explanation, with the backdrop of a grinning Marge, he had offered Sarah the bandage. He even offered to apply it himself, much to Sarah's chagrin and Marge's satisfaction.
Sarah took a small sip, savoring the mild taste of her brew, "yeah. I mean it could be nothing. She just said how horrible it was, what happened…"
"But she said 'it's gonna be a Quinn thing all over again?' I mean," Margaret set her cup down, "it's kind of hard to debate the meaning of that."
"But isn't it? The girl could have been spewing random drunken nonsense, or maybe she's one of those people who gets dreams and thinks they're premonitions? It's all in the context, which I didn't have. I mean, plus, whenever something bad has, or is gonna, happen there's always those people who come out of the woodwork, wanting to sound important, who say they knew or they know this or that bad thing is gonna happen."
Margaret looked doubtful, "So everything's just random coincidence, Sarah?"
"Well, I don't see any of those gods and goddesses Mr. Aegerter keeps going on about intervening, do you? Life isn't fa- life's tough," Sarah shook her hand from side to side, "but that isn't the point. The point is what that girl said was weird, but overall I don't think we can do much with it. Besides, I was pretty out of it myself," Sarah lifted her shoulders noncommittally, "it was just something interesting to hear is all."
Marge pursed her lips then shrugged, "Well forgive me for being more suspicious then you. I mean after the Quinn thing, this thing, and the fact that the name of our university literally translates to "warning…"
Sarah nodded, "Yeah, the name, now, seems a little on the nose doesn't it?"
Dropping the matter, the two girls continued their discussion of the night, and their upcoming finals, until Sarah got a notification on her phone.
"Speak of the devil," Sarah muttered.
Aaron, who had been busy wiping an already clean table nearby, came up with some more coffee, "What's up? You guys want more refills."
Sarah held out her mug thankfully, "Yes, please. And I just got an email from the neopagan, Aegerter, himself. He says he wants to meet after Thanksgiving break to 'talk'. What does that even mean?."
Margaret held out her empty mug as well to Aaron, "Well, maybe he wants to apologize for being a creep?"
Aaron scrunched his brows, "Creep?"
"Our esteemed professor said Sarah had been touched."
"Like, by a pedophile or something?"
Margaret spit her coffee into her cup at Aaron's tactless response, "Ummmm no dude. By a fae."
The lost look on Aaron's face didn't subside until Margaret tacked on, "Fae as in, like, fairy."
"Oh, gotcha," Aaron pulled out some Splenda packets and put them next to Sarah's mug, "yeah that's… not really appropriate in a classroom setting."
Sarah felt her cheeks warm as she grabbed the packets and began shaking, and adding, the sugar substitute to her cup, "You're telling me. But it'll be a meeting after our next two classes, which he's not even going to be present for, so I don't think that's on his agenda. It might be about picking the theme for our final project, but I really don't feel like doing a whole one-on-one with the guy."
"He's not going to be there?"
"Yeah, he's posting the lectures online or something."
"Well, hey don't sweat it. Just make sure the office door stays open the whole time, and Aaron will wait for you. Just say you two have a date planned for right after."
Sarah and Aaron both turned to blanch at Margaret.
Sarah, flustered somewhat, put her hand through her straight hair, "I'm sure Aaron has better things to do."
Aaron turned to Sarah, his hazel eyes looking blue under the café lights, "Hey, I'd be cool to do it, but not just as a ruse to protect your chastity," he winked as Margaret laughed, "but for real as well."
Sarah could see the full moon beyond the reaching evergreens. It cast an iridescent glow within her apartment, casting dancing shadows with each gust of wind outside.
She unbuttoned her thick coat, and threw her thick boots off to the side. She shivered violently at the sudden cold of her room, and kept her coat on. She knew she kept the heater on as low as possible, to keep her heating bill down, but this was ridiculous. She turned on the light of her tiny foyer and went to adjust the thermostat, praying the heater wasn't actually broken. It must have been well below freezing outside, and she doubted she wanted to take her chances with starting a fire. She didn't even think she owned any matches. "If only there was an app for that," she mumbled to herself.
Sarah grabbed a small Philips screwdriver and unscrewed the plastic case protecting the thermostat. The case flung forward, the rusted metal hinge preventing it from clattering onto the wooden floor. Looking at the metallic dial, Sarah didn't notice any signs of damage. Yet, that didn't mean much since Sarah's hardware abilities ended at knowing how to use a drill. Unsure of how else to proceed, she just decided to pump the heat up and cross her fingers it would warm up soon. A warm shower was what she would get in the meantime.
She slipped the screwdriver into her open coat pocket, and went over to the bath to let the warm water run for a few minutes to, at least, heat up her chilly bathroom. Once she saw the steam rising from behind the curtain, she stripped down and shuddered in satisfaction once the warm water hit her body. Smiling slightly, she hummed as she washed away the grime of the day and began thinking about how to proceed with her final project in her film and literature class, and her possible date with Aaron.
While Sarah had not outright accepted his offer to take her out after her meeting with her creepy professor, she hadn't really declined either….
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Sarah opened her eyes and pulled the curtain open to listen.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
A phone? Sarah didn't see any landlines when she'd moved in.
Her interest peaked, she quickly turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around herself. Opening the bathroom door she noticed it had gotten a little warmer. The heat, at least, was working.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
It sounded like it was coming from her kitchen, in a cabinet high above the fridge. Sarah reached up on her toes to open the cabinet while trying to hold her towel in place.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
The phone looked like it was from the 50s. It had that traditional black glossy finish and the archaic rotary dial. Sarah, awkwardly, picked up the heavy receiver and brought it down to her ear.
"Hello?" She asked, tentatively, not sure what to expect.
"Hello, Sarah? It's good to see you found the phone. Who puts a phone line above the kitchen fridge? These old building around campus have the strangest layouts. Though I'm sure your no stranger to odd things happening around you, are you Sarah?"
Sarah's brow creased, "Weisman? How did you get this number." Also why the hell was she calling at 10 o'clock at night?
Weisman giggled, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know that you left your phone at the café this afternoon. I was just chilling with Steve and we noticed you leave without it. I figured you'd be freaking out so I found this number. Steve mentioned he saw you lived up in that haunted apartment complex- which coincidently his older brother used to live in a few years ago. We sure are lucky this number still works!"
"Oh, um, that makes sense. Wow, I didn't even realize I had lost it actually." Sarah laughed weakly as she reached into her jacket that she'd thrown onto the kitchen counter. She found only some extra Splenda packets that Aaron had smuggled her along with the screwdriver she'd just used.
"Oh really? I'd be literally dying!"
Right… Sarah thought to herself.
"Oh, okay, well thanks for reaching out. Can I grab it from you tomorrow?"
"Actually, Sarah, if you could come grab it from the sorority house tonight that would be awesome. I finished all of my stuff for the week, and don't have any classes tomorrow, so I'm leaving campus for the weekend early tomorrow morning.
Sarah glanced outside and made a face, "Can you just leave it with someone then?"
"Oh, no, I can't. I don't feel comfortable handing it off to someone. Plus, I'm sure you wouldn't either. These things are expensive right?
Sarah sighed in defeat, "Yea, okay. Um, I can probably head there in like 15? I just got out of the shower and stuff."
"Yea, that's fine. You remember how to get to the sorority house, right?
"Yea, yep, I remember."
"Great, I'll be up a little longer to pack, so just head here when you can!"
Sarah heard the beep as the call ended. She rolled her eyes up at the ceiling, annoyed at herself for being so forgetful. She was also annoyed that she'd have to venture out, again, into the bitter cold.
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah was cautiously making her way quickly up the stone steps of the Apgar Sorority House. She almost slipped a few times, and had jerkily gripped at the frigid, spiral designed, metal guardrails to slow her momentum. Her wrist, the one that had been sliced, was aching again from the motion.
When she reached the glossy, highly decorative, and towering front doors, Sarah impatiently pressed the doorbell. As she exhaled, she noticed her own breath leave her like some sort of floating specter. She suppressed the need to roll her eyes.
Her father always said she would end up losing them inside her head one day if she kept eye-rolling so much. She warmed a bit at the memory, feeling slightly homesick. Or maybe "family sick" was a better term?
Sarah's attention went back to the intricately carved door, and at the grating sound of a lock being turned and a chain being dropped. The large metal knob turned and Sarah found herself face to face with the sorority princess herself, Abby.
Feeling more then a little awkward, but way more cold, Sarah plastered a somewhat genuine smile on her face, "oh, hi Abby."
Abby smiled back, much more enthusiastically, as she open the wooden door wider to signal Sarah could come in, "Hi Sarah! Weisman mentioned you'd be stopping by. Something about a lost phone?"
"Um, yeah," Sarah said as she made her way into the blissfully warm entryway, "Left it in the library, stupidly. Just here to pick it up." Sarah motioned to the overly-dramatic winding staircase, "should I head up there or…"
Not skipping a beat, Abby motioned to a moderately sized room to the left of the foyer, "Oh, no need. You can hang here for a minute, and I'll let Weisman know you're here."
Sarah started to take off her knitted gloves and shove them into her coat pockets, "Oh, okay. Sure."
Abby disappeared up the staircase, and Sarah made her way into the waiting room. She realized that the space must have been the size of her entire apartment. It had a plush leather sofa up against a large bay window that oversaw a thick expanse of the surrounding forest. Sarah thought she saw an overweight squirrel make its way up a tree. The freezing temperatures that had suddenly hit campus, just the night before, had probably thrown the pre-hibernating squirrel off guard.
Sarah had kept her wet boots on, so she avoided getting on the pristine white rug that lay underneath the sofa. Instead, she made her way to a large bookcase. It seemed to be filled with old Apgar Sorority handbooks. Sarah absentmindly opened one, and flipped through some of the pages.
The sound of hurried whispers distracted her from a glossy page of sorority headshots from the 80s. To Sarah's surprise, she saw a few girls walk through the main hall, just before the staircase, into an adjacent room. From their whispers, and body language, Sarah noted a tense atmosphere around them.
More tellingly, however, was the fact that the house girls were cloaked in the white ritual garb from the night before.
Curiosity peaked; Sarah set the handbook aside, and started to head back into the foyer. She could maybe take a peak into the room the cloaked girls went into, feigning that she was just looking for the bathroom.
Just as she was about to meet the threshold, Weisman appeared.
"Oh, hey Sarah. Sorry for making you wait so long!" Weisman dug into one of her pockets and produced Sarah's phone, "I had a mini-emergency with an exploding bottle of shampoo in my luggage."
"Are you flying out somewhere?" Sarah asked, trying to make small talk, as she reached for her missing phone.
"Yeah, Stevie's taking me to his parents' vineyard in Napa for the weekend, he just the best right?"
Sarah recalled the leering jock she had met in the library, during one of her first days on campus. He wasn't what she would describe as 'the best' but…
"Um, sure. Hey, thanks for holding on to this, "Sarah raised her hand with the phone in it, " I'll see you around. Have a safe trip."
Weisman nodded and showed Sarah to the door.
And with that Sarah left the sorority house and quickly started the trek back to her place.
Five minutes later, Sarah was huffing and puffing her way back up to her apartment with only the moon, and her dying iPhone flashlight, to guide her way.
Back on the wooded trail, Sarah thought that she had heard a strangle rustling, only to turn around to find nothing there.
Relax Sarah. You're fine.
She stopped a moment to steady her erratic breathing and almost jumped as she heard what she thought was the whinnying of a horse in the far off distance.
Must be the wind again.
She began to press forward again, shaking her head at how skittish she was being, only to stop again. The horse-like sound was getting louder. The sound of hooves digging into the icy earth suddenly joined in.
Was there a farm or something nearby that had lost a horse?
Sarah thought back to her drive into the University, the mountainous terrain was anything but horse friendly.
The sound of a whip hitting flesh reverberated across the surrounding forest. Sarah heard the flapping of wings, as some winter birds were disturbed from their slumber. Feeling a wave of trepidation overcome her, Sarah began sprinting to her apartment. The sounds of rider and mare were getting much louder and much closer to her from behind. She could see her place in the distance and began sprinting towards it.
After a few minutes she noticed the sound stopped. She took a moment to catch her breath and remained still to listen.
Maybe it was all in my head? Sarah wondered again. First the window incident and now this? She felt like she was slowing loosing her grip on her sanity. Stories of young girls being spirited away and hulking creatures tearing men apart suddenly came to her. Why she decided to take that Myths and Folklore class was lost on her at that moment.
The sound of hooves suddenly emanated from Sarah's right, and she saw a looming shadow come at her from her periphery. She inadvertently redirected herself from her apartment as she yelped in fear and began sprinting again. Whatever was chasing her was coming up fast from behind.
Sarah, trying to maintain her footing, felt a rip in her coat as a branch tore at her. The deep burning sensation on the impact only spurred her deep-rooted desperation more. Sarah felt her lungs crying for rest, but the hooves only became louder. The horse started making louder sounds, as if frenzied at the scent of her blood hitting the thin air.
Running further into the deep white woods, Sarah scanned for a possible hiding spot. There was no way she would outrun a horse, even with the starting distance she had had.
Crying out in relief, she noticed a knotted tree. It appeared to have been struck with lightning and had its roots unearthed, leaving enough space for Sarah to squeeze in, and hopefully not be noticed in the shadows.
Diving down quickly, she slid into the branched crevice, shifting fallen leaves around. She quickly began trying to lower her breathing.
She heard the rider's horse make it into the clearing. She heard the hot breath emit from the winded beast. It inhaled and exhaled fast and deeply. Sarah curled herself into a ball and shut her eyes, willing herself to disappear and not be noticed by the rider.
Why the hell there was a rider in the woods chasing her was a whole other question.
The sound of someone dismounting onto moist ground reminded Sarah where she was. Opening one eye she realized that she hadn't cleared her muddy foot prints, foot prints that led right into her hiding spot.
She held her breath, hoping the strange man wouldn't notice her boot prints. For a moment the rider stood still, scanning his surroundings. Sarah plead with any God that would listen.
Please don't see me. Please don't see me.
The creature suddenly began to trot away, in the opposite direction of Sarah. She stayed as still as she possibly could. The rider must have mounted and left. He didn't see her, or the trace she had left.
After waiting for what felt like a lifetime, Sarah realized that she was safe to leave. Breathing normally again, she reached her hands out to get leverage to pull herself out of the nook. She rubbed her numb legs at the foot of the tree, trying to ignore the pins and needles that prodded her. Looking around she didn't notice anything. She was safe.
It was then that an arm shot out from behind the tree and struck her from behind.
Sarah felt the branch making contact with the bottom of her skull. She blacked out for a moment, and felt the scream in her throat die out like a flame extinguished by the wind.
Falling to the ground, she cradled her head as she looked up in horror at her riding assailant. The man must have known that she was hiding somewhere so he must have sent his beast away and waited for her to reveal herself.
The rider must have stood over six feet tall clad in black metal armor. He moved deftly towards Sarah, his eyes seemed to be almost glowing a dark forest green. Sarah mentally chastised herself for literally walking into her own death. The harvest moon blared down at her, illuminating her stupidity for not waiting until sunrise to leave.
"Faoiseamh."
Sarah felt indignation, fear, and confusion as she retorted, "Get the hell away from me!"
The man let out an angered growl that reverberated throughout the empty barren forest. Sarah's intuition sparked. A feeling of familiarity struck her. This man was somehow other?
The thing's green eyes bore a hole into Sarah as he dropped the branch he had hit her with, and instead unsheathed a glistening silver sword.
Sarah began crab-walking backwards in terror. The beast of a man was going to run her threw with a frick'in sword. Like it was the fucking middle ages.
"The hell!" she hollered as she rolled away from his first sword blow. Sarah rolled onto the balls of her feet and felt a cold metal prod her side. She suddenly remembered the screwdriver that she had stuck into her coat pocket earlier.
In one quick motion she pulled out the small metallic weapon before the rider could jerk his sword from the frozen earth.
He suddenly ran forward with a roar. Sarah desperately jumped to the side again, but this time he anticipated her. His arched his sword in an angle instead of straight ahead. Sarah felt the cool metal break through her heavy coat. A warm liquid sensation pooled around her bicep, telling her she'd been hit.
Losing balance, Sarah fell with a cry. She brought her hand to her bleeding arm and gasped. She felt sweat dripping from her face despite the subzero temperature. There was no way she was going to survive if she didn't get away. This guy was obviously well trained and apparently insane.
He began coming forward as Sarah jumped up and turned to run. She heard him grunt in frustration as she headed further into the dense foliage.
Holding the metal screwdriver with white knuckles, Sarah ducked and dived and zigzagged as much as possible, hoping the man would lose her trail.
She could hear his cries of frustration as he knocked into branches and tripped his bulky boots over roots. Sarah realized that she had at least some advantage in her torn jeans and ripped winter coat.
A few meters from where she was running, she noticed a break in the trees. It looked like the entrance to another clearing. Sarah's breathing started to become more labored. If she made it to a clearing she might be able to figure out just where she was and run for help- or get some cell service. The rider was probably stuck deeper in the woods, and without his horse she had a very good chance of escape.
Double-checking that the man really was out of sight, Sarah quickly turned to check behind her. It was then that her foot fell into an earthen groove. Sarah felt an electric pang sear up her leg as her ankle twisted unnaturally into the earth. Crying out, Sarah fell with a thud into the ground. Her weapon was knocked out of her hands.
Sarah jumbled to right herself when she felt a shock as a huge cold body impacted with hers. She angled her head and saw her assailant's green eyes turn blood red.
"faoiseamhhhhhh," he hissed unnaturally.
Sarah let out a blood-curdling scream and she threw her fists at the possessed things' sneering face.
"GET OFF OF ME!" she screamed as she pounded on his armor ineffectively.
The man grabbed her thrashing hands and shoved them above her head, laughing menacingly.
He moved to straddle Sarah's hips as he released her hands.
Sarah's eyes widened in horror and she noticed his sword was nowhere to be seen.
The screwdriver. Sarah's eyes widened as she tried to remember which way she fell. The thing couldn't have bounced too far off. Turning her torso Sarah began patting her hands franticly around her.
Grinding her teeth Sarah felt a rush of pure hatred as her hands met with the biting cold metal of her weapon.
Grabbing the household tool, Sarah turned back at the man. Sarah saw an entry point underneath his armpit where his armor did not cover. Letting out a scream she sank the screwdriver deep into her attacker's upper chest, hoping she hit some kind of artery. A flash of blue rippled across the man's torso, but Sarah's eyes were shut in horror at what she had just done, and what was currently happening to her.
With a shuddering breathe the man stilled and then fell onto his side, the screwdriver sticking awkwardly under his arm.
Sarah quickly threw his legs off her and jumped up. She stared at his unmoving form, half expecting him to jump up and continue his assault. He didn't move. Sarah's mind finally caught up to her and she fell to her knees. She felt the trees around her close in. She felt her chest tighten. What had she done?
Sarah turned her face from the dirt and back to the creature. Her eyes widened as she notice he began to glow red. He looked like the coils in a convection oven slowly preheating. He got so bright that Sarah had to cover her eyes.
Suddenly, as if his body hit some critical threshold, the man's glowing red body disappeared. Leaving no trace of him, but for the metal screwdriver, which fell a few inches with a clang onto the frozen earth.
Sarah stared at the frozen patch where her attacker had been. She didn't know if she was in shock or suffering from a concussion, but she stayed there kneeling, staring, for what felt like an eternity.
She didn't snap out of her stupor until she felt the cool trailing of a set of tears running down her cheeks. It was then that she broke down sobbing.
She had taken a life but the body was now gone? What even was he? What was he trying to do to her? Kill her? He could've sunk his sword straight into her when he had caught her on the ground, why was she even still alive?
Sarah's cries had her bent over, forehead almost touching the ground, questions rushing through her mind. After a minute she settled onto her back and felt her head clear a little. Rubbing her shuteyes with the back of her hand as she began to feel lucidity come back.
It occurred to her that whatever had attacked her could have friends. She really didn't want to stay and find out.
On shaky legs, Sarah brought herself back up to a standing position. Keeping her eyes trailed on her surroundings she quickly picked up the fallen screwdriver. She almost dropped it when she noticed how warm it felt.
She tucked it away and made her way to the clearing she had been running to.
Once there, she realized that she had been running in a wide arc through the woods back in the direction of the main campus.
She shuddered as she closed her winter coat around herself, not from the cold, but from the realization that broken windows and winter riders were perhaps signs that parts of a long forgotten dream were indeed becoming a reality again.
A/N
I have returned! (sort of). Hopefully, not everyone has forgotten this story XD. Apologies, if you've forgotten what's happened earlier (I know I had lol). Schools been very busy. I've, finally, got a handle on how to study and whatnot (too bad there's only a few more months of it :'( ).
Anywho, I'm posting this long (for me at least) chapter, cuz I finally made a minor break-through plot-wise, and I felt comfortable locking this part down. Yay action/ stuff actually happening!
I know there was a lot of character and world-building stuff, but there's finally gonna be "some" answers coming about WTH is going on at this school. Also, you know, possible GK appearances ;)
I hope everyone's summer is going great, and please be aware that an update may or may not pop up within the next few months. I'm still on track to finish this (eventually), but it'll take some time.