Rory opened the door to her dorm intent on getting some sleep and driving the hallucinations out of her mind. Course she already knew why they were still there, because she had left things too open to not think about all the possibilities. She fell onto the bed and before her head even hit the pillow Rory was fast asleep.
She awoke some hours later and looked at her alarm clock. It was four thirty in the morning. She tried to remember what had caused her to wake from her sweet dream about Tristan then heard another noise. It was the sound of footsteps pausing outside her door that caused her usually light sleep patterns to be disrupted.
Before she knew it a slip of paper was slid under the door and Rory immediately bolted straight up in bed. The person didn't linger after that and instead sounded to be running down the hallway and away from her dorm. Rory looked over at Paris' bed and deemed the girl deep asleep having come in much later than Rory. Silently, she picked herself out of bed and slowly approached the card.
Her name was prominently displayed on the front in Tristan's masculine handwriting. With shaking hands Rory opened the envelope to find a paper with the morning's date.
'Mary, meet me in my room as soon as you get this and I'll explain everything. –Tristan"
"Paris! Paris!" Rory hissed trying not to disturb the other girl too much. Eventually Paris mumbled a slightly muffled 'what' before getting up and grabbing her alarm.
"Rory it's not even five in the morning. What do you need?" she asked groggily sitting up in bed to face the terrified Rory. Silently Rory handed her the card ad watched Paris' expression change from mild annoyance to shock and disbelief. "When did you find this?"
"Just now. Do you think I should go?" Rory asked already knowing what kind of advice Paris was going to give.
"Since I know what you're going to do, it's pointless to try and stop you. But I'm going with you and we're calling the Detective before we leave," Paris reasoned with her, already grabbing the phone and dialing the number on the back of the card.
Rory listened to Paris' conversation with the Detective while changing out of her pajamas. Paris followed her example, getting some normal clothes on. Soon enough both girls were huddled together walking in the dark on their way across campus. As promised Detective Mariano was waiting out front, dressed in a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt.
"Did you bring the note, Rory?" he asked his voice a little hoarse at the early hour.
"Yeah, here," she answered him prying the card out of her frozen grip.
He read the note over carefully before handing each girl a flashlight. "I don't know what's going on in this place but I assume they already cut the electricity. You ready?"
The question was useless to both girls and they helped him pull the fence apart wide enough for them to slip in. "Do you know which room it was Rory?" he asked unnecessarily since both Rory and Paris knew exactly where Tristan used to live.
"Yeah, the third floor, number eight," she said in a small voice already trying to get the door open. Al three were pulling on it and they managed to creak it open enough to pass. Suddenly full of anxiety Rory lead the march up the stairs and paused when she got to the third floor landing.
Neither Jess nor Paris encouraged her to go any further since they weren't sure of what was about to happen. Eventually Rory continued pausing outside the door. The actual number eight had been lost somewhere its imprint was still shown on the faded wood.
Rory pushed the door open slightly and it fully swung open. All three peered into the main room and could tell that someone had been using it recently. The windows had been boarded over long ago. There were a few worn-in chairs in th far corner. An old coffee table was covered in newspapers and fast food containers. A sweatshirt had been bundled up and thrown into a corner.
Soon they got past the messing living area and were able to see the small kitchen. There was nothing in it except a few dirty dishes but that was to be expected since all utilities had been cut off. Paris and Jess were busy checking the dates on the newspapers to notice Rory wander over to a closed door.
Rory opened the bedroom door and it took her eyes a little while to adjust to the dim morning light which was shining in from the de-boarded windows. Vaguely she spotted clothes strewn about and even a few boxes of pictures. Her eyes came to rest on the mattress set up in the corner and the figure asleep in it.
She let out a strangled cry which alerted both Paris and Jess yet did not wake the sleeper. They immediately rushed to her side and spotted the same exact thing she had a few moments earlier. Paris made a move to enter the room but Rory was faster and went straight towards the mattress.
Slightly kneeling Rory pulled on the blankets covering the figure's head and was rewarded with the sight of tousled blonde hair. She clung to the sleeping Tristan who woke up with the feeling of her arms around him.
