Fear Hall: The Beginning (2 page)

Eden has a hoarse, scratchy voice. She's kind of loud. She says whatever is on her mind. And she's always cracking jokes.

Eden writes to her mother. Just about every night. They seem to have a really close relationship—not like me and my mom.

Unlike Angel, she doesn't seem at all interested in the boys here at Ivy State. I've never even seen her
talking
to a boy.

Eden calls Angel “Miss
Purrr
fect.” I don't think Angel likes it. But she and Eden get along okay—for opposites.

Jasmine is the quiet one. I've known her for three years. And I've been living with her in this tiny room since September, and I can barely tell you a thing about her.

She's very shy. It's almost impossible to get her to talk about herself. I think she grew up somewhere out west. But I'm not sure.

She's very pretty. She has bright green eyes that crinkle up when she smiles. She has a great smile that shows off all her teeth. And she has wavy, straw-colored hair that falls perfectly down past her shoulders.

But Jasmine is so shy and self-conscious, I don't think she knows how pretty she is. She doesn't go out much. She's the brain of our group. Always has her face in a book.

She's taking some really hard courses. Advanced
courses. Jasmine thinks she might want to go into pre-med. But she isn't sure she's smart enough.

Believe me—she's smart enough. If we could only find a way to build up her confidence!

Anyway, that's our little group. The four friends of 13-B.

We're all very different. But we were really happy.

Until the night the trouble started.

That night, everything changed.

I'll never forget being awakened that night. Hands shook me roughly.

Still half asleep, I opened my eyes. Squinted up in the darkness.

My eyes stopped at my clock radio. Nearly one in the morning.

The hands shook me again. I sat up in my bed.

“Darryl—what are you doing here?” I whispered. My throat was clogged from sleep.

Darryl is my boyfriend. He leaned close. His hands still gripped my shoulders. I could smell beer on his breath.

I glanced around to see if he had awakened my three roommates. No.

“Darryl—” I whispered. “Get back to your room. You know boys aren't allowed on the girls' floors after ten.”

He didn't move. His hands tightened on my shoulders. Even in the dim, gray light from the window, I could see the fear on his face.

“What are you doing in here?” I repeated.

“Hope, I'm in big trouble,” he said.

I
sat up and squirmed out from under his hands. I swallowed hard. “Trouble?” My mouth felt so dry. My breath was sour from sleep.

He nodded and took a step back. A hoarse cry escaped his throat.

“You've got to help me,” he said, his voice cracking.

I raised a finger to my lips. “Shhhh. You'll wake up Angel, Eden, and Jasmine.”

He stared blankly at me. As if he didn't understand my words. “I don't care who I wake up,” he said finally. “I mean—I'm in trouble, Hope. I—I did something terrible.”

I felt a chill roll down my back. The skin on my arms prickled.

I stood up and pulled down the long, white cotton nightshirt I was wearing.

I pushed back my hair. The room was cold. But I felt drops of sweat on my forehead. “What did you do?” I demanded in a hoarse whisper.

His pale blue eyes flashed, gray in the dim light. His mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.

He shook his head. His longish hair fell over his face. He swept it back behind the shoulders of his leather bomber jacket. “I followed you,” he confessed. “I followed you tonight. I saw you out with that guy Brendan.”

I gasped. “But that wasn't me!” I protested. “I didn't go out with Brendan. Angel did.”

Darryl grabbed me. His fingers tightened around my arms. “Don't lie to me!” he shrieked. “I
saw
you!”

“Let go,” I whispered. “Please, Darryl—”

He has a terrible temper. Sometimes he really scares me.

One second he'll be perfectly in control. The next second he'll be in a screaming rage. A total lunatic.

He can also be very understanding. Very kind.

I met Darryl back in high school. He rescued me. From a guy named Mark.

But that's a very long story.

I was so glad that Darryl decided to come to Ivy State. It's been awesome to have him here with me. He and my three roommates have really helped me make the big jump from high school to life at college.

If only he weren't so jealous. So possessive.

He never wants any other guy to
look
at me!

At first, I was flattered. I mean, no boy ever cared about me that much before.

But when I saw how jealous Darryl became … when I saw his temper rage out of control … I knew I'd have to be careful.

I knew that Darryl could be someone to fear.

“Darryl—let go,” I pleaded. “That wasn't me you saw with Brendan. It was Angel. I swear.”

He let out a sigh. His hands loosened their grip on my arms. “I—I did something terrible,” he stammered.

“What?” I demanded. “What did you do?”

His pale eyes locked on mine. “I carved him, Hope,” Darryl whispered. “I carved him.”

I
couldn't help myself. I let out a scream. And sank back onto my bed, my head spinning.

I heard stirring around the room. Eden groaned. “What's going on?”

“Who screamed?” Angel cried.

The ceiling lights flashed on. All three of my roommates uttered startled gasps when they saw Darryl standing over me.

“You're not allowed in here!” Eden shouted. She pulled her blankets up to her chin.

Jasmine gaped at him silently, her blond hair tangled around her face.

“Darryl, what's your problem?” Angel asked softly. She jumped to her feet. “Why did Hope scream?”

Darryl spun around, his mouth open. Now everyone could see the fear on his face.

Eden shrank back. Jasmine eyed him suspiciously. Angel crossed her arms in front of her pajama shirt and stared hard at him.

“Darryl thought he saw me out tonight with Brendan,” I explained. “He thought—”

“But
I
was out with Brendan!” Angel protested. “I was wearing Hope's red outfit. You're so weird, Darryl. How could you think—”

Darryl's angry stare silenced her.

“I think I killed him,” he murmured.

“Noooo!” Eden shrieked, pressing her hands to her face.

“You're kidding—right?” Angel whispered hopefully.

Darryl's expression showed all of us that he wasn't kidding.

“You've got to help me,” Darryl pleaded, turning back to me. “I'm pretty sure I killed him. I carved him really bad. I just lost it.”

He sighed. “You know how I get sometimes, Hope.”

I gazed past Darryl. Eden had covered her face with both hands. I could see Jasmine trembling from across the room. Her chin quivered. She was about to burst into tears.

Angel stood perfectly still, her arms crossed in front of her. She chewed her bottom lip and stared hard at Darryl.

“We can't help you,” Angel said finally. “What do you expect us to do? Hide you under the bed?”

“You've
got
to help me!” Darryl exploded. He tore off the leather jacket and heaved it against the wall. “I—I think someone may have seen me. I'm not sure. I panicked and ran up here.”

His pale eyes pleaded with me. “I didn't know where else to go,” he added softly.

“Darryl, we can't do anything,” Eden insisted, lowering her hands from her face. Her eyes were red and wet.

“You killed my friend,” Angel snapped. She made a move toward the phone on the desk. “We have to call the police.”

“No!”
he screamed. “You can't!”

He moved to block her.

“We have no choice,” Eden insisted.

“Move out of the way,” Angel ordered. She tried to slip past him to reach the phone.

But he shoved her roughly back.

“I won't let you, Angel!” he cried. His eyes bulged. His normally pale face darkened to red. “I'll kill you too!”

Angel opened her mouth to scream.

A hard knock on the door made us all turn.

The police!

I
froze.

My heart stopped.

I saw a flash of white light. I really felt as if I'd stopped breathing.

Another round of hard raps on the door set me into motion. I took a deep breath—and shoved Darryl toward the clothes closet. “Quick—get in!” I ordered.

He stumbled over a pile of dirty clothes in the center of the floor. Then fumbled open the closet door and slipped inside.

I spun back to the door.

How did the police get here so quickly? I wondered. How did they know that Darryl was hiding in my room?

Another series of hard knocks.

“Who is it?” I called breathlessly.

“It's me—Melanie,” a voice called.

One of the nosy girls from 13-A across the hall. The three M's—Melanie, Mary, and Margie.

I really can't stand any of them.

All three of them are so smug and superior. Real preppies. I mean, the worst kind. They all went to fancy, private high schools. And they really turn their noses up at public school kids like me and my roommates.

I've had a few unpleasant run-ins with Melanie. A few weeks ago, there was a mix-up with the laundry. Somehow she thought I stole a silk sweater of hers.

It was all a big mistake. But she was so nasty about it.

Like I really need her ugly, preppie J. Crew sweater.

We're all supposed to be friends in this dorm. I mean, where does she come off accusing me of being a thief?

She and her roommate Mary are both on the swim team. And they strut around with their sleek, perfect bodies. As if they're great white sharks and the rest of us are guppies or something.

It's really disturbing.

I hate them. I really do. Especially Melanie.

And now here she was, pounding on my door in the middle of the night, snooping as usual.

I checked to make sure the closet door was closed with Darryl behind it. Then I pulled open the door to the room.

“Is everything okay?” Melanie asked. She stood
there in her silky, green bathrobe, looking perfect as always—even at one o'clock in the morning.

She has short, straight brown hair with bangs across her forehead. And the bangs were even perfectly straight! Under the shiny robe, I could see how broad and powerful her shoulders were from all that swimming.

“Yeah. No problem,” I replied curtly. She knows I don't like her. Why try to hide it?

“I heard a lot of noise,” Melanie said, peering over me into the room.

I knew she wanted to come in. So I stood in the center of the doorway, blocking her path.

“It woke us up,” she added, motioning with her head to her room across the dark-carpeted hall. “I thought maybe you were having some sort of problem.”

She kept trying to see over me. I deliberately stayed in her way.

“Sorry if we woke you,” I said. “It was just our usual late-night gabfest.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. Studied me.

“Sometimes we start laughing and goofing on each other, and we forget how late it is,” I added. I smiled and shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

Melanie continued to stare hard at me. As if she were trying to see in my eyes if I was telling the truth or not.

I lowered my gaze to the floor.

“You … uh … really don't need help?” she asked softly.

I shook my head.

I wondered if Darryl had enough air in that closet. It's a really tiny closet, and it's jammed full of our clothes.

I wondered what he was thinking about in there. I never saw him more frightened or more out of control.

I shuddered.

Poor Darryl. So jealous all the time. Maybe he cared about me too much.

“Well, I just thought I'd check,” Melanie said. “Mary isn't back yet. But Margie and I were a little frightened. I mean, we heard a commotion in here, and …” Her voice trailed off.

I just stared back at her.

She backed up. “Well, good night, Hope.”

I started to say good night.

But I was interrupted by a shrill scream of horror.

I
t sounded Like the wail of an injured animal. It echoed down the long dorm corridor.

“Huh?” Melanie let out a gasp.

I gripped the door frame—as Mary burst around the corner of the hall.

“Help!” she shrieked. “Oh, please—somebody help!”

Melanie dove toward her. “Mary—what is it?”

“Murder!” Mary shrieked. “A boy—he's been
murdered!
”

Doors flew open.

The hall filled with frightened cries. Confused voices.

“He's outside!” Mary wailed. “The boy! He's—he's been
cut to pieces!
”

Before I realized what was happening, I was running along with everyone else. Running to the elevator. Running to the front doors of Fear Hall.

Like a wild stampede of cattle.

All of us in our nightshirts and pajamas and bathrobes. Our hair flying around our heads. Crying. Shouting.

I never heard a sound like it.

I never felt so excited and upset and terrified—all at once.

We pushed out through the front doors. Into the crisp October night. The ground hard. The grass shimmering under a silvery frost. A pale sliver of a moon hanging low over the campus trees. The ivy up the walls shivering in the wind.

Bare feet thudding on the pavement. A stampede of bare feet.

Running around the side of the dorm. Leaves blowing over our feet.