Haze

I was out shopping looking for a dress to wear to the sorority hazing initiation set that night. I didn't really have to take part as I was a legacy but I had to be there to set an example. The only thing I knew about my outfit was that it had to be white like a Greek goddess and heels that had to be grass proof. So I went for some pure white wedge heels. Though, I was having trouble finding a dress.

I was browsing through the dresses when I heard a deep, silky voice.

'Initiation dress?'

I looked up to see dark emerald eyes looking into mine. I gave a confident smile that I knew made the boys weak in high school, looking up at him through my eyelashes. 'How did you know?' I replied in the same silky tone. I noticed him glance down at my bottom lip clenched slightly between my teeth. He looked back into my eyes, glazed over.

'I've seen enough of those girls climbing out of my window.'

I snapped out of my confidence and gave him a look.

He straightened, realising what he had said. 'Not in that way, but your sorority girls are crazy for hazing. I mean it is Gamma Psi, they have a reputation.'

'How did you know which sorority I'm in?'

He shoved his fingers through his hair in frustration. 'Can I start again without sounding like a stalker?'

I laughed. He gave a small boyish grin; he collected himself, took a deep breath and started. 'I know because I live in the house opposite, next to the fraternity, Sigma Rho. My house used to be a fraternity but it collapsed a few years ago when a guy was murdered. My dad bought it after college to keep the guy's memory and then passed it to me.'

'Wow, when did that happen?' My mother had never told me about it, then again she hadn't told me much about what had happened, only that she was a legend and about what the sorority represented. I had no idea why she had been a legend. I only knew the story of how she got in.

'About 24 years ago.' That's when my mom was here. Why didn't she tell me about it?

'So you're not a student?'

'Not anymore, I left 2 years ago.'

'What did you study?'

'I was kind of in between studies. I didn't really know what to do and I've been stuck on stuff at home. I'm still figuring things out.' I nod. 'Anyway if you want a great Greek style dress, I'd say look at the shop across the road, they are made for the sororities and fraternities in this town. Well if you need to know anything else and don't feel like asking the girls, I'm in the house left of the frat.'

'Thank you. I will.' I gave him a friendly smile, biting my lip which was returned with another glazed look from him.

'I'll see you around.'

'Bye.' I watched him leave, before finishing up with my purchases in town. I liked it here already and it had been a day, but whether that was because of the man whose name I didn't catch or well there was no other reason.

High school had been the bane of my life. It was filled with pre-pubescent boys and girls who whined and bitched about everything. I never fitted in. I had always known what I wanted my life to be and now I was going to finally get it. I was at college, a place I could finally make my mark. I couldn't decide if I was excited to follow in my mother's footsteps and join my so-called destiny in the sorority Gamma Psi. I was a legacy because my mother had been one of the most known sisters there, though the things that had happened there were kept in secret. The only girl ever known to tell was never heard of again, or so I was told as a young teen. My mom was overjoyed when she heard that I was accepted into the same university that she became a living legend.

I had moved into the sorority house yesterday and had met two of the girls, Alice and Angela. Alice had told me what Angela and her role were in the sorority. I had known about these roles and wondered which one I would be. She was the organiser, so her job was to organise the parties and events that we were hosting. Angela was the brain; she was in charge of setting up study groups to keep grades up so that we could keep the sorority running. It was a rule that if anyone's grades slipped below a B-, we would have to go up against the court of the sorority and pledge our case. The sentence was either to have extra help or be kicked out. I wasn't too worried about my grades slipping because I knew I'd be fine; I had been training for this moment my whole life. My major was in criminal justice. I had always wanted to be a homicide detective in the police force. My dad was a small town police officer but I was aiming higher.

Rosalie was the leader of our sorority. She didn't have jobs within her role as such but she was there for the general overlooking of the group. I didn't feel she liked me very much but I wasn't worried because I was meant to be there as a legacy. I didn't need to prove myself to them. My mom had told me I should make an impression, but I wasn't interested. I only joined to make her happy. I didn't know then how much this place would reflect on my life.

I knew the type of girls the generations were looking for in the Gamma Psi girls. They were almost plastic like we were living on the block of the Stepford wives. This house would have echoed that thought if it had been brighter. It felt as though too much had happened here for it to be lively like my mom had told me. The walls full of framed portraits of the girls who made this place what it was today. It has 15 bedrooms in all, all the same beige walls and dark wooden floors with dark furnishing, each decorated to the individual's taste. There was an immense library leading off from the main hall just inside of the front door, filled with books on the history of the sorority and the opposite fraternity and others of this college, covered in decades of dust because nobody dared to uncover the secrets of those before. The rest of the books were for the various courses that were in the college's prospectus. From the main hall lead the kitchen, dining area, the lounge area and two curved staircases that led up to the rooms. Each bedroom had its own en-suite bathroom.

At the moment there were only us 4 girls living in the house; there had been less than 10 since the year my mom's sorority leader left. Most likely because they had gotten pickier or the hazing had scared the girls off.

Rosalie glared down at the girls standing in front of her. They were all so perfect looking. She had already done the cuts for the girls who didn't meet her standards, even though they had spent most of their savings getting the perfect outfit. They had been brutally slaughtered by her. Now it was time for the last and worst hazing test. This was the decider for who made it into the sorority. They were brutal, some years no girls made it in. My mother was the only girl of her year to make it in. Her test had been to down 5 shots of vodka, then scale the wall of the fraternity across the street with the open window and sleep with one of the guys, with picture proof and a happy ending. Some of the girls didn't get a chance to make it up the wall and some of them threw up all over the guys, which didn't impress the sorority or fraternity leaders and therefore didn't make it in. But this had been low-key compared to the later years and other stories that had been told, though who knew if they were true.

The door opened to the room we were standing in and 5 boys waltzed in and stood behind the 5 remaining girls.

Rosalie lifted her head. 'Your hazing test this year is not up to us. You will be blindfolded and taken to the fraternity across the road, Sigma Rho. They will do what they will. You have a safe word. This safe word means that the blindfold will be taken off and you will be allowed to collect your stuff and leave, but,' She looks at them all one by one. 'The safe word also means you will never be in this sorority. If you do whatever they ask then you will be escorted back here to join us.' The girls all started to look petrified. 'This year there is a new rule. If all, except one girl, pulls out, the last girl standing is automatically placed in this sorority but will not have a legacy in the future unless she finished the test. The safe word is home.' They stared blankly at Rosalie. She waved her hand at the boys to take the girls away.

The boys then continued to blindfold the girls with almost evil smiles on their faces and take them away. I didn't want to know what the boys had in store for them.

'Alice, they'll be okay right?'

'The boys aren't that bad, you'll see. Rosalie trusts her boyfriend with them.'

'She's dating one of them?' I say in shock.

'No, the leader of the frat house. Royce King II. His father owns a bank in Rochester.' She spoke quietly watching Rosalie's reaction behind me.

'Oh, wow.'

Rosalie's voice rang behind me. 'So, Isabella,' She spoke almost spitting at my name, 'has Alice spoken to you about your role in our sorority yet?' Her tone was cold and her eyes stared at me like shards of ice.

Alice piped in as I opened my mouth to speak. 'I was just about to. I was just talking about the fraternity. Come on Bella I'll tell you in your room.'

She turned and started walking, I followed. It was 10pm and starting to get dark. Hardly any lights were on in this big house, a lot of the rooms empty and unused for years. It was an old house, well-kept but vibrantly gloomy. It must have had so many secrets to tell.

Almost reading my mind Alice spoke warning me, 'Listen, one important thing about this place is that if you ever find out something about the past or if something happens in your time here,' she spoke slowly, carefully watching my reaction, 'it would be better for you not to say anything to anyone. If you can help it, don't go looking but I know how the people in your major can be, but just as a warning.'

She was right, I had so many questions that I needed to answer about everything here. I had researched this college until it was boring when I was applying. I had also researched as much as I could find about this sorority trying to prove my mom's stories, as she could exaggerate, but the findings were minimal. I wanted to know if the story about the girl was true. I wanted to know about the murder that the man earlier had spoken about. I wanted to know more about the mystery man.

At this point, I couldn't decide whether I was yearning for knowledge or yearning for sex. I hadn't had sex in months, I had decided to sacrifice my summer to researching and spending the last few months with my best friend before he and I had gone our separate ways. The offer had been on the table to have a 'friends with benefits' session but the idea of having sex with someone who I treated like my brother made me sick. The mystery man was really hot though and I did really want to know more about everything here and if anyone knew first hand, without the girls knowing what I was doing, it would be him. I would have to go and see him tomorrow.

We arrived at my room and sat on the bed. 'Alice, so Rosalie wants you to take the same role your mom had. The bait. It's your job to do the marketing side of the parties. You get the people in, next year you will find the pledges for hazing and it's your job to get the boys in and make them happy. It shouldn't be too hard because you are stunning, it's intimidating.' No one had ever described me like that before. 'So they'll the pledges will be scared of you and the boys will love you. You keep the boys happy by giving them enough to keep them going but tease them.' I knew I could flirt with guys easily but this would be hard. My mom found it easy because she was a born flirt but my talent lay between my mom and dad and my dad was exactly good at flirting, which is probably why he hasn't had another partner since my mom.

'Okay, I can do that.'

'Glad to see you have the confidence. But I could see that earlier as well.'

'Earlier?'

'With my brother, Edward, when you were out shopping for your dress. I came out of the dressing room and saw you guys talking.'

'He's your brother?'

'Yeah, I was a legacy too when I joined last year. So I moved in here with it. I love it, he hated being in the frat, I don't know why but he changed a lot. But I saw you guys flirting earlier.'

'Yeah…' I looked down, blushing.

'Anyway, I think that's all you need to know at the moment. I covered most of it yesterday. Get some sleep, if you hear any noises; don't be alarmed it will be the drunken frat boys bringing any girls back to collect stuff or stay here.'

'Okay. Thanks, Alice.' She smiled and left.

I did my nightly routine while thinking about today. It had been a crazy day compared to my life back with my dad. My mom on the other hand was crazy. She had had so many boyfriends around that my dad had gotten annoyed and told her she wasn't making a good impression on me. It was too late when he moved me back to his. I'm sure he thinks I'm still a virgin. This place was definitely not like the place I came from.

I finished my routine and went to bed. I didn't hear any sounds during the night, but when I woke up, I got ready and went downstairs. Standing there, in the main hall, was one of the pledges. She was shivering and wet, her makeup running down her face. Alice rushed past me. 'You can't just stand here. Rosalie will freak if she sees you looking like this in plain view. Bella, come on, I need help.' I followed them upstairs to Alice's room. 'Bella, hair or makeup? Angela is doing the outfit, which are you doing?'

'I'll do makeup.'

I cleaned the girl's face of the makeup from the night before; she looked like she hadn't slept. No one said anything about what had happened the night before. The girl was pulling herself together quite easily not letting the night before affect. I assume they were all waiting for Rosalie to ask the questions. I applied a coat of foundation and powder before contouring her cheekbones and nose. She had a great face for it. I then applied a good wing of eyeliner across her eyes before applying a thick coat of mascara and a nude matte lip liner and lipstick. She looked great. Rosalie chose well.

Alice had dried and curled her hair into waves and Angela had chosen a green summer dress for her to put on with some green wedges.

We walked in sync like an army downstairs and stood, waiting, for Rosalie. She walked out with attitude, cocking one eyebrow when she saw only one girl. 'Did you complete the test or were you the last one standing?'

She spoke, for the first time since I had seen her, with as much attitude as Rosalie had given her. 'I was the last one, but I completed it anyway.' Rosalie smiled.

'Breakfast.'

Alice, Angela and Rosalie headed towards the kitchen. 'I'm Jane by the way.' She had a dangerous smirk on her face.

I smiled. 'Bella.'

'The legacy?'

'Yes.'

'You're lucky. My mom failed her hazing.' Her eyes turned cold, colder than Rosalie's. 'But then my mom has never been a great example, she had me in her second year here and then left me when she had to leave college. I've had to live with my dad.'

'Oh, sorry to hear?' She gives me a last look and walks through.

That afternoon, I decided it was best to call my mom and let her know how things were going.

'Yeah I'm all settled, they had the hazing last night which was as crazy as you told me. The girl seems a bit psycho though, but I wouldn't blame her after last night.'

'Sounds perfect baby. What room are you in?'

'I'm not sure; they don't have the numbers anymore.'

'Look under the rug, if there are initials carved into the loose floorboard then it's mine, underneath is a box, it's for you. I've got to go now, sweetie. Bye.'

'Okay, bye mom.'

I got down and lifted the rug. I had noticed a loose floorboard but it hadn't been the only one in the house. Sure enough, there were the initials she had talked about. It was a heart with C&R written inside.