* * *
Every step back to my dorm room jostles the jagged pieces of my fragile heart. Feeling sick with everything, I approach Knots and swipe my finger over the hole, and nothing. Great. Trying to keep the tears from falling, I look up and try not to blink. Mustering up the energy to deal with my door, I brace myself for his bad attitude.
“Knots?”I ask, letting out a breath in annoyance. No answer. Yep. Figured this would be my life.
This is not my day. Hell, this hasn’t even been my week.
I go to pound my fist on the door, hoping that will at least get Knots’ attention, when it creaks open from my touch. Light from the hallway casts eerie shadows across the floor. In the middle of the beam sits a slightly familiar crumpled red letter with a neon glow emitting from within. Wasn’t that shoved into my bag a few days ago when I had to pick up my ripped books?
Checking to make sure I’m alone in the hallway, I creep in far enough to hit the light switch. Nothing. I should have known better than to expect it to work. If this was a grade-A horror movie, I’ve just cast myself as first death material. And that’s so not me. Staying in this room is just asking to be in a trap that I wasn’t ready for.
Reaching down, I pick up the letter with shaky hands and scurry back into the hall, exhaling as I clear the threshold. Turning the letter over, I feel eyes on me like someone is watching. Fuck this.Shake it off, Rez,I tell myself as chills run up my spine.
Wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, I smooth out the letter and go to turn it over right when the lights in the hallway flicker. Looking up, my breath hitches as my eyes catch on movement in the corner. I could have sworn I saw a shadow. Quickly looking around though, I see nothing. My first thought is that it’s probably Lisa playing around again. That freaky horse is all sorts of trouble. Hell, maybe she even left the letter, but a small voice squashes that idea. And no, it’s not Lynx.
Speaking of him again,‘Lynx?’I call as dread fills me—still nothing. Where is he?
Maybe I should just go back to the party and wait for Moni or JP? I quickly dismiss that idea. I’ll do a lot of things, but I refuse to go back to those assholes with my tail between my legs. That’s the first sign of weakness, and the monsters here will destroy me without hesitation.
Oh, maybe I can just call JP? I pull out my phone and notice the screen is dead. Wasn’t this charged? What is going on? The letter in my hand vibrates, reminding me I still have it.
Giving in, I flip over the paper and skim the glowing words, and the floor bottoms out.Lynx!Looking into the dark abyss of my dorm room, I don’t stop to think, I drop everything and just run.
Rushing down the hall, I trip over something. We had left the blinds open before we left, but someone had shut them, plunging the room into darkness.
“No,” I cry, pushing myself up and continuing to make my way to my room. I can’t stop to think about what’s crunching under my shoes since we always leave our place spotless, though it makes my stomach churn. I just have to get to Lynx.
“LYNX!” I scream again, crashing through my bedroom door.
Moonlight baths the bedroom in a low glow as the curtains wave in the breeze.Where is he?Noises from the party down at the beach can still be heard, and I panic, looking around for my best friend. Walking deeper into the room, a shadow moves by the patio.
Lynx?A scream pierces the air right as a phantom knife slices through my heart, dropping me to my knees and causing me to pant through the searing heat. Looking up, I watch as a cloaked figure reaches down and pulls a limp human shape up into the moonlight. I run my eyes up the body of a boy I haven’t seen in a long time, his dirty blonde hair catches in the light. The cloaked figure jostles the guy enough to turn him so I can see those wide, fearful turquoise eyes… Lynx!
“No!” I scream, trying to get back on my feet.
‘I’m sorry, Rez. I love you.’He whispers as a tear rolls down his cheek.
Pain shatters me as I watch the glint of a knife slice across my best friend's throat.
Epilogue
???
Iwatch in sick fascination as the Withering Sulks slithers over the pentagram etched into the stone and over to the altar. I can feel the dark coiling power radiating out in tendrils, seeking to carry out its master’s bidding. The blindfolded figure, feeling the malicious energy, starts to thrash against their restraints, but there’s no use. Even if they did manage to get free, they would be lost within the multitude of tunnels in this mountain.
Standing from his throne carved out of the stone wall, our leader steps across the sacred pentagram etched into the floor. Candles flare to life as his boots clear the first line and approach the altar. The rest of us move as one to close the circle and start chanting the incantation.
The Sulks are unforgiving as it lashes out and converges on our sacrifice, ending their life within seconds and absorbing their power. Turning to face us, our leader removes his hood, his bright gray eyes flashing before bowing his head as the Withering Sulks coils around his shoulders like a second cloak. Dark shadows crawl along his face as the sinister power is transferred into his body.
Power whiplashes out from him, dropping us to our knees. Tendrils slowly pull magic out of me and back to our leader while we feast our eyes on him as his body slowly morphs into a woman. I feel myself getting weaker, but like a compulsion, I watch as her eyes change from swirling gray eyes like a storm cloud, to one of a pentagram and swirling pink.
Finally, falling to the floor, my body on the brink of death, I hear footsteps echoing off of walls as a lone cloaked figure approaches and steps into my view.
“This needs your immediate attention. I think it’s her Familiar. What do you want me to do with his lifeless body?” he asks.
The newcomer throws back his hood, running his hand through his dark curls as his identical light gray eyes flash with power.
