CHAPTER 1
I leaned against the cold window of Richard's car. The trees that passed by blurred with the speed of the car.
"Are you okay? You're so quiet." Richard looked at me from the driver's seat. I didn't look back at him.
"I'm fine." I mumbled. The truth was, I wasn't fine, and I'll never be fine. My ex-boyfriend has disappeared after trying to kill me; my father wants me captured; my mom wanted my little sister, Sarah, and me dead. But the worst thing that has been burning me inside is the fact that my sister is burning in hell. Sarah wasn't supposed to be in hell. The only reason why she was in hell is that she was born. "Besides, have I ever been loud?" I asked peering at him from the corner of my eye.
"True." He nodded his head in agreement.
We were driving to our new college. We graduated from Jump High a little more than two months ago. This entire summer has been fun for everybody but me. For any normal person, summer is a time for playing and relaxing, but for me…it's a time when there is nothing to keep me sidetracked so I think about how I'm going to get Sarah out of hell. Or I think about how I'm going to protect my friends when my father finally catches up to me and tries to kidnap me. I have even thought about what I would say if I ever saw my mother again. This summer has been nothing but torture, and that's why I'm just a little excited about going back to school.
"So…are you excited for college?" Richard was trying to make conversation. I could tell he was getting tense with all the silence, even though he should have learned by now that I'm not a big talker.
"I don't care." I half lied. "But I know you're looking forward to partying and drinking." I scoffed.
He gave a slight chuckle.
"Isn't that the truth?" He smiled.
I turned back to the window. We were entering the city in which our college was at. In fact, the city that college was in was Richard's home city, Gotham.
I looked behind me out the back window. Kori and Garfield were following us like they have been for the past hour.
Beforehand, Richard sweet talked the school director and probably bribed her to let us have rooms next to each other. So it would be Kori and me in one room, and then Garfield and Richard in the room next to us. There was a rumor that there would be an addition to the group of guys bunking in the room. Garfield and Richard don't mind if they got another member, but they are afraid it's going to be some geek. I don't really care because it's probably just a rumor.
"We're there!" Richard exclaimed turning into a parking lot.
"Finally!" I groaned stretching my legs. It had been a long two-hour drive.
As soon as we found a spot to park, we each carried in as many bags as we could. Our rooms were in fact adjacent to Kori and my room. Another plus about where our rooms were located was we were on the top floor. Well it was a minus until we got our things unpacked, but we where right next to the stairs leading onto the flat roof. Richard and Garfield finished with their unpacking last because, being the guys they were, they were spending all his time setting up the TV and play station.
Our room was just bid enough. We had a bathroom, a mini refrigerator, bunk beds, and a balcony with a small tabled with two chairs. We didn't have a TV because the boys took the only one small enough to fit in the rooms. But we had the mini refrigerator.
After everyone was done unpacking, we toured the campus. We visited the cafeteria, which was open all day. Garfield had to have a bite to eat so we stayed there longer than I wanted to. After that, we walked around the buildings that had all the classrooms.
There were other students who were exploring the school grounds, too. Thank god none of them were Shelly or her friends. Some teenagers were throwing a football back and forth. And when they so stupidly hit me in the head with it, I threw it as hard as I could the other way. They gave me a 'what the hell' face. I simply glared at them, my eyes burning with warning. They ran off. When I turned back around my friends were staring at me like I had did some cruel thing.
"What?" I asked a bit irritated.
"They just hit you on accident." Richard gasped.
"Oh, right. The ball just happened to slip and hit me in the head." I rolled my eyes.
We kept walking. The campus was covered with grassy areas with benches and trees for shade. There were tennis courts, basketball courts, two baseball fields, a football field, and a swimming pool for sports. There was also a gym that had treadmills and weights. That appealed to Richard. I was happy to learn that the Gotham College had an enormous library filled to the brim with books of all genres. I couldn't wait to look through them.
By the time we had gotten back to our rooms, it was dinnertime. I wasn't really looking forward to tonight because after you eat in the cafeteria, the new students go into lockdown. Apparently the principle that that it'd be a good idea if all the new students did this because you got to know each other more and 'bond'. So we would all be crammed with our sleeping bags in the gym and cafeteria. Kori was way excited about it. Garfield was looking forward to it, as well as Richard. But I, I am a different story. I don't like being around people, especially when it's going to be loud and hard to sleep.
Nevertheless, we made our way to the cafeteria. I, unlike ever other girl, didn't have any make-up on except for my usual eyeliner. And I wasn't all dolled up. I had on dark denim skinny jeans and a black hoody. I didn't care about a stupid lock down. Why get dressed up?
"I can't wait to meet new people!" Gleamed Kori.
"It will be fun to meet the other guys who go here." Chimed in Richard.
"Dude, it'll be so much fun! I have a plan. When everyone's asleep, we can go around drawing stuff on peoples' faces with a sharpie!" Garfield held up a black sharpie that he had in his pocket.
"Yeah!" Richard held out his fist for Garfield to pound.
"Retards." I mumbled under my breath.
We walked into the exceedingly crowded cafeteria. The food was displayed in a buffet kind of style. We grabbed out plates and then went down the line of food and chose what we wanted. We found a table that fit all of us and sat down to eat our dinner. The food wasn't that bad. I wasn't too hungry so all I had to eat was a salad and a rather good taco.
"Good. Now that everyone is down, let's go get ready for tonight!" Kori jumped up from the table to throw away her trash. I sighed and slowly got up to do the same. As I toddled towards the trashcan, I my eye caught something. My head shot around to see what the figure was that I had seen. I peered into the crowd frantically looking for what I might have seen. Then I saw it. In the crowd of rowdy teens was Sarah. But something was wrong. She just stood there staring at me unblinking. Another thing was wrong her mouth was open and her eyes were a deep red. Then a blood-curdling scream came from her open mouth. I dropped my tray of trash and covered my ears to escape the horrific sound…and then she was gone. I had my hands still covering my ears when I looked around to see if everyone was just as horrified as me. But all the students were going among their business as if nothing happened. Nobody had covered their ears, nobody. Not even Richard or Kori or Garfield. I was the only one who heard it. Richard came over to help me pick up the mess I had made.
"You okay? You just dropped you stuff out of nowhere." He asked while throwing a pile of crap away.
"I-I'm fine…" I lied. It was creepy seeing my sister like that. I couldn't take this. I had to do something about her. I had to set her free from my father's grasps in hell's fire.
We walked back to our room to grab our nightwear and sleeping bag. I lingered in the back with my hood up and my hands in the front pouch. My head was down so I didn't see Richard's body standing in front of me. I smacked right into him. I staggered backwards and if it weren't for Richard I would be on my ass. He caught me around the waist and helped me back to my feet.
"Are you really dumb enough to get in my path when my head is down?" I questioned him with frustration in my voice.
"Are you dumb enough to walk with your head down?" He retorted. I shrugged it off with a loud, frustrated sigh and brushed pass him.
"Hey, Rae!" He called trying to catch up to me. "What's up? You can talk to me." He caught up to me and grabbed my arm to pull me back. I didn't have to tell him to get the hell off me because my eyes said it all. He backed off.
"Just leave me alone." I muttered turning away. I could hear Richard following me close behind. I didn't look back. I kept walking until I reached our room. I took out my key and slid it into the lock. The door eased open.
"Rachelle is that you?" Kori's voice was coming from around the corner.
"Yeah." I answered. I quickly packed my sleeping bag and brushed my teeth. I waited for Kori to be done and then we met up with the guys outside of their room. All of us walked together to the gym. There was a whole bunch of other teenagers walking to the gym with their bags tucked underneath their arms.
"I'm so excited!" Kori was hopping up and down in front of the group. This was one thing that I wasn't so happy about. Ever since we rescued Kori from her father and shit life, her spirits have gone way high. She's more giddy and annoying. But she's my friend and she has helped me so I put up with her and ignore her bubbly attitude.
"This will be so much fun!" Garfield was blabbering to Richard. I, again, was at the back of the group. I wasn't moping, so if that what you think I was doing then screw you cause I wasn't moping. I was thinking. Thinking of Sarah and my friends and how I might be the cause of my friends' death. I was devising a plan to save my little sister.
"Hey, cheer up Rae! Tonight will be fun!" Garfield smiled. Yep, he was perfect for Kori. He was happy, stupid, and so very annoying.
"I'll keep that in mind." I said sarcastically.
"Fine be that way. We are going to have fun with or without you." He pouted.
"See if I care. In fact I know that you'll have more fun without me…" I stopped to think. "You know what? Why don't I just stay back? You don't want me to go and I don't want to go, so I'll stay in my room." I spun around on my heels and headed back for the room. I heard someone's footsteps pounding at the ground to catch up to me. I didn't stop, nor turn to see who it was. None other than good old Richard stepped in front of me. I stopped short. I growled and tried pushing past him but he stepped in front of me again.
"I told you to leave me alone." I bellowed.
"There's something wrong and all you are doing is hurting yourself. I may not be a physiatrist, but I know that you're hiding something from us and it's going to eat you up."
"Thanks Dr. Grayson, but I know myself well enough to take care of me." My husky voice filled the night air. Everyone was in the gym by now so there was nobody but us out in the grass about half way from the gym and our building in which our rooms were.
"Don't be hard, Rachelle." He began to sound frustrated.
I didn't say anything. I just glowered at Richard. He gazed back into my eyes with less anger.
"You can't help me, Richard. Thanks for trying. There's no hope for me." I mumbled.
" Well I'm going to keep trying whether you like it or not. And I'm not letting you stay the entire night by yourself in your room. You spend too much time alone as it is." I tried to protest but he playfully slung me over his shoulder. I pounded on his back and started screaming. But no matter what, they were futile attempts. He took it as a joke, laughing the entire way to the gym. He set me down as we entered the big building. It was loud. There were sleeping bags spread out across the gym's floor and there were clumps of people here and there talking, playing cards, or playing some other game. Music was booming from the loud speakers at each corner of the building.
"This is going to be a long night." I whispered to myself.