Darkness Watching (Darkworld #1) (5 page)

My hand shook as I opened the car door, but I managed to stumble out, ducking my head against the rain. My feet skidded in the wet grass as we crossed the field to the buildings. The air smelt clean here, untainted by urban life. I pushed the image of the demon from my mind.
New start. Got it.

I felt like I walked through a miniature village. Poplar trees lined the paths, which wound around a central square surrounded by benches and neat patches of grass.

Danielle led me to my new home, on the ground floor of House 12. I tried my best to remember the number; I’d rather avoid the embarrassment of walking into the wrong flat.

“Right, here are your keys”―Danielle handed a bundle of keys to me―”here’s your welcome pack, and, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!”

A fob attached to the key opened the door to the house. Blue carpets and beige-painted walls gave it a cosy feel. It all looked brand-new; I remembered the student village had been built only ten years ago, quelling Cara’s claim that an old university meant a plethora of ghosts would haunt my house.

Mum, Dad, and I looked around in silence. I think the moment hit us all at once.
I’m moving out.

I nearly tripped over a pile of bags scattered haphazardly throughout the hallway of Flat 1. A pile of motorcycle manuals wedged one door open; another wore a sign that said:
Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
I smiled at that. A quote from Dante―surely that was a sign of another eccentric.

I unlocked Room 3. The smoothly polished wooden door squeaked slightly as I turned the key and let myself into my new room.

‘Wow,” I breathed.
Perfect.

A large desk dominated the back wall, far bigger than my one at home, with three drawers and two shelves underneath. A longer bookshelf extended above it. The wardrobe accommodated far more clothes than I owned. I tested the clearly brand-new mattress. Not lumpy at all. Best of all, the window overlooked the field. I could sit in my windowsill and read, without any disturbance.

Two hours and many trips to the car later, I surveyed the room, pleased. With Mum and Dad’s help, I’d arranged my books on the shelves―one shelf for course books, one for my favourites―and set up my new printer on the desk, next to the television and Nintendo Wii. The blank notice board now bore a collage of photos: Cara and me throughout our teenage years, and pictures of all our family holidays. I’d even brought my entire collection of landscape paintings and white-tacked them to the walls and the door to my en suite bathroom. Finally, my threadbare old teddy bear sat on my bed, next to my cuddly koala, a present from Cara’s holiday to Australia.

“Are you sure you don’t want your fan heater?” Mum fussed. “It gets awfully cold up north during winter.”

“I’ll be fine, Mum.” She hadn’t believed me when I told her the cold didn’t bother me. Not anymore.

“Ash,” said Mum, hugging me. “We’re going to miss you. The house will be so quiet without you there.”

“Are you saying I’m loud?” I said, with a smile, though the nerves kicked in again at the thought of being left alone.

Dad pulled me into a one-armed hug. “Keep yourself safe, kiddo.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said again, even though looking around at my new room and contemplating the five unknown flatmates outside made me feel like a four-year-old, about to start school for the first time. “Honest.”

If only I could convince myself…

Mum gave me a final hug. “Have fun! I’ll call you soon!”

“Sure,” I said. “See you in a few weeks.”

“‘Bye!” my parents called to me as they left the flat, leaving me alone.

Don’t panic.

I looked at Mum’s detailed instruction manual, which told me how to do everything from operating a tumble dryer to roasting potatoes. Most likely, I’d be living on instant noodles and dying my clothes blue for the next ten weeks, but I’d promised to try. It might be my first shot at living independently, but it comforted me to know that, in this aspect at least, everyone else started in the same position.

I changed out of my crumpled, damp clothes into a comfy hoodie and jeans, tugging a brush through my hair. I checked my jewellery box, where I’d tucked away Aunt Eve’s pendant.

I shivered again. Winter came early up here. I hated the cold, but I hated demons more.
They’d better stay away from here.

I plugged in my iPhone to charge it and saw a new message alert.
Must be from Cara.

But the number came up as unknown, and the message read, simply, “Welcome to Blackstone. Enjoy your stay.”

Strange. No one had my new number except Cara and my parents.
Must be a prank.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. I took a deep breath.
Time to meet the flatmates,
I thought.

“Hi!” Danielle’s smiling face appeared in the doorway. “We’re having a meeting in the kitchen, just to get to know each other.”

“Sure.” I followed her out into the corridor.

The kitchen was all shiny surfaces and gleaming hobs. Four people already sat round the table, two girls and two guys.

“One more,” said Danielle cheerfully. “I’ll just knock on his door again.”

She left a slightly awkward silence behind, as the five of us sat trying not to look at each other, no one willing to start a conversation. I shifted in my seat uneasily, studying them out of the corner of my eye. The girl on my left was a head taller than me, her red hair a splash of colour against the modest tones of the kitchen. She rocked on her seat as if impatient. The other girl, who sat opposite me, looked shyly at the rest of us from beneath her round glasses, whilst picking at her nails. Next to her, a tall, sandy-haired guy sipped from a can of beer. The other had dark–hair and wore black, which together with his glasses gave him an oddly clerical appearance.

Before anyone could break the silence, another guy slouched into the room. He was slight, almost scrawny, and very pale. His grey eyes narrowed as he saw us.

“Right, here we all are!” sang Danielle, not put off in the slightest by the silence. “First, tell me your names, where you’re from, and what you’re studying!”

The red-haired girl was the first to speak. “Hey, I’m Alex. I’m from Kendal, and I’m studying English Literature.”

I looked up. I hadn’t dared hope I’d actually be put in the same flat as people on my course.

“I’m Pete,” said the guy with the beer can. “I’m from Leeds, and I’m studying Mechanics. Oh, and, for you lucky ladies’ information, my number’s 07936453751.” He winked at Danielle.

Is he being serious?

Danielle giggled, not at all perturbed. “You can save that for later.”

I wasn’t sure whether she genuinely meant it. Either way, I’d already marked him as a player.

“You next.” She pointed at me. I blinked, momentarily forgetting my own name.
Idiot.

“I’m Ashlyn; usually people call me Ash. I’m from Manchester, and I’m studying English Literature too.”

Alex looked at me and smiled.

“Me too!” saidthe other girl. “I mean, I’m doing English too. Um, I’m Sarah. I’m from Nottingham.”

“I’m David,” said the boy who looked like a vicar. “I’m from Oxford, doing Literature and Politics.”

“Is that motorbike outside yours?” Pete demanded.

“Um, yeah.”

Danielle eyed him with interest.

“Nice,” said Pete. “It’s pretty slick. You’ll pick up a lot of birds with that.”

Birds? Seriously?

“I just like to drive fast,” said David, with a shrug.

“Motorbikes are for losers.”

All eyes turned to the last boy. He cast his eyes over us in a way I thought rather hostile and muttered, “What? You want a lame-ass intro from me? I’mTerrence. From Coventry. Doing Physics.”

That’s friendly,
I thought.
Now there’s a lesson in how to alienate your flatmates on the first day.

“Cool!” Danielle beamed at us. “Right, now you have your welcome talk in the Great Hall―I’ll show you the way―then in the foyer there’ll be free drinks. Can’t say no to that, can you?”

She bounded to her feet.

We followed her out of the flat into the hallway, where a crowd of students from the other flats joined us. Danielle tried to encourage everyone to introduce themselves as we walked through the student village toward campus. Again and again I said hi, told people my name, hometown, and course. The rush of new faces overwhelmed me; I doubted I’d remember any of their names later.

“So you’re doing English too?”Alex smiled at me. “Have you read any of the course books yet?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I decided to give myself the summer off after A-levels. Hopefully, they won’t expect us to have done all the reading yet!”

“Me too!” she said. “Thank God for that. I’ve been on a work placement all summer. I’ve literally had no time for reading.”

“You aren’t the only one.” Sarah joined us.

“I have no excuse,” I said. “Just a reluctance to be within fifty feet of a textbook after exams.”

Sarah laughed.

Instead, I’d spent most of the time playing Mario Kart and lying in my back garden, reading for fun. Once term began, I’d snap straight back into workaholic mode―it always happened.

“The course sounds pretty good,” said David, the Literature and Politics student. “I like how much free choice we get in which modules we do.”

“Yeah,” said Alex. “I really want to do the Victorian module next year.”

“I’m looking forward to studying more of Shakespeare’s plays,” I said.”Wow, it’s the first time I’ve actually been able to say that without being labelled a nerd.”

“That’s the great thing about uni,” said Alex. “You can be yourself; everyone’s accepted here. It’s not like my school at all.”

“Same,” said David. “People who judge others are just sad. You won’t find many of them here.”

We ended up chatting all the way to the Great Hall. The hill grew steeper toward the far end of campus, meaning we walked uphill the entire time. A strong wind swept in from the coast, tilting us farther back until we almost walked vertically.

Alex found it hilarious. “We should all hold hands; it’d probably help us to keep our balance!”

“Er… I’m not sure about that,” said Sarah. “If I fall over, I’d take you with me!”

“Like mountain climbers!” said Alex. “Does the uni have a mountaineering club? I’m so joining. Hiking, too. I’ve been hiking all over the Lake District already; it’s right on my doorstep at home.”

“I like the sound of hiking,” I said. “My aunt used to live in Windermere. We sometimes went for walks around the lakes when I used to stay there in summer, but I’ve never climbed an actual mountain.”

“Let’s both join! Sarah, how about you?”

“Not sure hiking’s my thing,” said Sarah. “Sounds like an awful lot of walking.”

Alex laughed. “That’s kinda the point.”

I laughed too. I liked Alex already. She made us all feel included; at one point she juggled four conversations at once and somehow managed to give them all equal attention. I liked Sarah, too.

Despite the wind doing its best to send us tumbling back down the hill, we reached the Great Hall in time for the welcome talk. The large, grey brick building looked more like part of a ruined castle than a university. Weeds grew everywhere, even out of the walls, as though the countryside objected to the intrusion and was determined to reclaim this patch of hillside for itself. Moss covered the aged grey bricks, and the oak doors wore a furry green coat. It gave me the odd feeling of stepping back in time as we passed through the doors.

“Didn’t know we were at Hogwarts,” Alex giggled. “I’m expecting to see moving staircases next.”

But, despite its size, the building was all one floor. Tables covered in glasses of red wine stood all along the foyer, supposedly for afterward. Most people disregarded this and grabbed drinks to take into the hall with them.

Consequently, by the time all the senior staff and members of the student union had introduced themselves, they’d lost most of their audience. Alex, in particular, seemed to find everything hysterically funny; she reminded me of Cara on the day she nicked a bottle of her Mum’s Lambrini. I didn’t particularly like wine, so she’d ended up drinking the whole thing herself. Not a good idea, as it turned out.

“He even looks like Professor Dumbledore!” Alex crowed when the bearded, bespectacled Head of the English Department stepped up to introduce himself.

Sarah and I escorted her back to the flat at the end of the talk, still giggling away. At one point, she fell into a bush, pulling the two of us down on top of her.

“This is why I don’t drink,” said Sarah, dragging herself out of the bush. “I’m such a lightweight it’s not even funny. One sip of alcohol, and I’m on the floor.”

“Same,” I said, trying to help Alex back onto her feet.

Between rescuing Alex from falling over, Sarah and I talked books. She loved Gothic fiction, especially
Frankenstein
. I admitted my admiration for
Paradise Lost
, but decided against giving my real reasons—that the apocalyptic imagery held a certain irony for me.

“I like
Dracula,
too, even though it gave me nightmares when I first read it.”

“Same,” I laughed. “I was about twelve at the time, though.”

Alex said, “That castle looks like Dracula’s castle! I wonder if any of the lecturers are vampires.”

“Highly unlikely,” I said, amused.

“Well, I’m more of a fantasy girl,” said Alex, swaying into a post. She didn’t seem to feel her head hit it with a loud
thunk.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks,
nothing
compares to
The Lord of the Rings.
One Ring to rule them all!”

By the time we got back to the flat, drenched and mud-splattered because of all the times Alex pulled us over, I felt I could sleep for a week. Sarah and I unlocked Alex’s door for her and more or less pushed her into her room because she kept trying to get out, insisting now was the perfect time for a midnight walk.

“It’s time for
bed,.
” I said. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”