The Scream Sisters: A Troubled Spirits Novel, page 10
She glared at him, but he only continued smiling at her.
“Care to join me for a cup of coffee? I’m walking over to the Java Jon’s.”
“Clearly coffee is what I need,” she muttered, gesturing at the fragments of paper strewn across the lawn.
He chuckled. “We’ll see if they have any tranquilizers on the menu.”
Teagan fell into step beside him.
“Any news at all on your friend?” he asked.
“No.”
“No leads through the Facebook page?”
“Nothing.”
“There will be. You just need the right person to see the page or Nate’s article. It’ll happen.”
Teagan said nothing. She’d felt so hopeful after the meeting with Nate the night before, but the instant she’d returned to her dorm room, empty of Harley, the disturbing alternate reality she now lived in had taken hold.
“What is all this?” Teagan murmured as they walked toward a section of street where the sidewalks were crowded with guys.
“It’s bid day, aka the running of the bulls,” Lex told her. “Today the PNMs receive their bids and find out which sorority chose them.”
The doors on a tall, mostly glass, building opened and girls swarmed out and down the steps. Many laughed and cheered. In the throng, Teagan caught sight of girls not celebrating, but crying, red-faced, filled with despair.
“Those ones didn’t get into the houses they wanted,” Lex explained.
All the girls wore white t-shirts and jean shorts or pants. Frat guys who crowded the sidewalks clapped and hooted. Some of them held water guns and squirted the fleeing girls.
“Harley should be here,” Teagan murmured. “Harley should be in that group and she’s not.”
To Teagan the mass of girls was the last place she’d have wanted to be, but she’d wanted it for Harley, for her friend, and Harley wasn’t there and each big event that Harley missed pushed Teagan closer to some dark, irreversible truth.
22
Blair moved down the street, stumbling, hazy, swept along by the current of girls. A boy on her right, Ken or Kent, grinned at her before taking aim at her chest and blasting her with a stream of cool water. She gasped and stared down at her white shirt, at the dark shadow moving across it, and for an instant the stain was scarlet, oozing and hot.
Blair tripped, got tangled in the feet of the girl beside her, and they both tumbled to the sidewalk. The other girl yelped in pain, eyes welling up as she clutched her ankle.
“I’m sorry,” Blair murmured, climbing to her feet while the girls around them parted and streamed by, a school of sharks swarming to the kill site.
Blair offered her hand and the girl took it, frowning. She limped away from Blair without a word.
As the Rho Upsilon Nu house came into view, Blair froze. A long dark red mark ran the length of the sidewalk, up the cement steps to the front door. Blood. A trail, as if a body had been dragged into the house. Around her girls jostled and cried out and laughed. They bumped against her, but she couldn’t move. No one noticed it, no one screamed in horror.
The door swung open revealing the dark cavity within the sorority house. There was someone in there… something.
Suddenly arms wrapped around her from behind and the sound trapped in her chest broke out. Blair screamed and pushed away, realized it was her mother who’d embraced her, who now had an expression of embarrassment bordering on anger.
“What’s wrong with you?” Blair’s mother hissed.
“Margo!” another Rho Upsilon Nu mother yelled across the lawn, and Margo plastered on an enormous smile.
Blair’s mother jumped up and down and grabbed Blair in a rib-crushing hug, the tightest hug her mother had ever given her, and for those seconds, her face buried in her mother’s hair, sweet with the smell of her orange-scented shampoo, Blair thought she might be okay. But then her mother’s arms fell away and she turned and embraced the mother of another girl, a sorority sister from her own time at Rho Upsilon Nu, and Blair stood alone surrounded by her new sisters.
The blood trail was gone. It had never been there, not for anyone except Blair, who nodded and smiled as each member of Rho Upsilon Nu took hold of her and hugged her.
When it was over and they’d been ushered into the house and handed a plethora of Rho Upsilon Nu monogrammed gifts, Blair walked with her mother outside.
“I cannot believe that is what you chose to wear for bid day. Those jeans are old,” her mother said, fingernails digging into her arm as she marched Blair toward her car. “I told you what to wear. And your hair! Did you curl it at all? My God, it’s so stringy and limp. Ugh.”
Blair climbed into the passenger seat and shoved her hands between her knees. Her eyes drifted back to the house. She remembered those streaks of dark red and shuddered.
“What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you even happy? You’re basically in. You’re a Rho now. You should be jumping for joy.”
Blair’s lower lip quivered. She bit it between her teeth. “I think… umm…”
“Don’t say ‘umm,’” her mother snapped.
“I might need to talk to Dr. Maynard.”
Her mother slammed on the brake and Blair, who’d forgotten to buckle her seatbelt, hurtled forward and nearly hit her head on the dashboard.
Her mother put up a hand to silence her before Blair could speak again. She rolled her window down as Sloan’s mother, Paige, appeared, her red lips stretched wide. “Where are you girls going? We’re having brunch!”
“Just a quick run to Blair’s dorm to get a different pair of jeans. We’ll be back in a blink.”
“Okay, you hurry. We’ve got mimosas and a Bloody Mary bar all set up on the back lawn.”
Paige held up a tall glass filled with red liquid. Beads of perspiration rolled down the glass and the ice cubes clanked as she wiggled it from side to side.
Blair’s stomach twisted and she forced her eyes away. It was only tomato juice, a Bloody Mary, but a dense coppery odor filled her nostrils and for an instant she imagined all the sorority mothers and daughters slurping glasses of blood, red dribbling over their painted lips and spilling down their white t-shirts.
“Save one for me,” Blair’s mother called, shifting into drive and pulling down the street. The skin near her temple pulsed and her lips were thinned to a line. She said nothing until she parked in front of Willow Hall.
“Why do you want an appointment with Dr. Maynard?” she demanded.
“I’ve been seeing—” Blair started.
“Never mind. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to hear about your fantasies. Jesus, Blair. Are you intent on ruining everything? Is that it?”
“Mom, I’m not trying to ruin anything. Maybe if I talk to him—”
“I’ll talk to him and ask him to write you a script. You can pick it up at the campus pharmacy.”
“But I’d like to talk to him and—”
Before Blair could finish, her mother climbed from the SUV and stalked up the steps toward the dorm. Blair followed her.
At the corkboard in the front hall, Blair’s mother glared at the missing picture of Harley Rand. “Ridiculous. Those disgusting things are posted everywhere.”
“She’s missing. Her friend is worried about her.”
“If she were so worried about her friend,” Margo seethed, “I’d imagine she’d be creating allies, not enemies here on campus. Not to mention Paige said the girl’s mother is trailer trash, so…” Margo gave Blair a significant look but said nothing more.
“So…?” Blair replied.
“So, it’s not any surprise she took off. According to Sloan the girl was desperate to get into a sorority and things were not looking good for her. Probably figured ‘what’s the point?’ and bailed. It runs in her family, for God’s sake.”
23
Teagan sat across from Lex in the coffee shop. She’d ordered something called Tranquil Sunset, an herbal tea that tasted mostly of peppermint. Lex had opted for a large black coffee, requesting a separate glass of ice, which he spooned into the steaming liquid.
“Why didn’t you just order an iced coffee?” Teagan asked.
“Because then it’s cold. I prefer lukewarm.”
“Sounds gross.”
“To each their own.” He bent over and pulled something from his bag, laid it on the table between them. “Have you seen this?”
Teagan leaned forward and spun that day’s copy of the Husher Student Newspaper toward her. Harley’s story fell just above the fold on the front page.
Husher University Freshman Missing Since Wednesday
Harley Rand, 18, of Baldwin, Michigan, has not been seen or heard from since leaving her job at Curly’s Sandwich Shop in the Den, Wednesday night at nine p.m. She is a freshman living in Willow Hall on the northeast side of campus. Harley was also participating in rush week and had attended several activities on Greek Row.
According to Harley’s best friend and roommate, fellow freshman Teagan Kelso, her absence is highly unusual, and Teagan is concerned foul play may be involved in Harley’s disappearance. A request for information from the campus police went unanswered.
Just two years ago, Jessica Meyers vanished during rush week after attending an evening recruitment event at the sorority Rho Upsilon Nu. (Jessica’s story continues on page 4.)
If you have any information about the disappearance of Harley Rand, please contact Husher Campus Police. Harley’s friend has set up a Facebook page, ‘Find Harley Rand,’ with more information, including a map of the path Harley would likely have walked after work the night she vanished as well as more photos of Harley.
“This is good.” Teagan studied the picture she’d given Nate. It was different than the one on Harley’s missing poster. Teagan’s grandma had taken it on their move-in day at Husher. Harley stood next to the Husher University sign, smiling, hopeful.
Teagan turned to page four, where another face peered out: Jessica Meyers’.
“Did you know about this girl?” Teagan asked, pointing at Jessica’s photo.
“Yeah. I was a sophomore. It was a big deal for a few weeks and then faded, like everything does, I guess.”
“How can someone vanish and after a few weeks everyone stops looking?”
Lex took a drink of his coffee, added another ice cube and swirled it with his spoon. “It’s the nature of human beings, especially the nature of teenagers and young adults. We’re a self-absorbed bunch, wouldn’t you say? I think she was an out-of-state girl.”
“You never wondered what happened to her?”
“I did at the time, sure. Everyone did, but when nothing much showed up in the news, I sort of figured she went back home, resurfaced or whatever. Until I read this article, I honestly didn’t even realize she was still missing.”
“That is so screwed up,” Teagan muttered. “What kind of school lets something like that happen? What kind of police? Isn’t there someone who holds them accountable for stuff like that?”
“Hypothetically, sure. But everyone is fallible. People slip through the cracks.”
Teagan pushed her fingers into the hollows of her eyes. The tea, rather than calming her, was setting her on edge. She wanted to fling it across the room, hear the satisfying crack as the cup shattered against the wall.
“What time do you have class?” Lex asked.
Teagan looked up from the paper. “Who cares?”
He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “I suspect future medical schools won’t look favorably on a candidate who flunked their first semester in college.”
“What does any of that matter right now? Harley is missing. She is missing! She might be hurt or…” Teagan stood, hit the table with her hip and sent a splash of tea across the surface.
“Okay.” Lex held up his hands. “Just sit down for a minute. Hear me out.”
But Teagan couldn’t sit down. She couldn’t have idle chitchat in a cafe as they hurtled toward another night without Harley.
“I have to go.” She turned and strode from the coffee shop, pushed the door so hard it smacked the wall outside.
She ran down the street, sprinting until a stitch worked its way into her side. She slowed and massaged the taut muscle, wishing the blood pumping in her ears could drown out her thoughts of Harley.
Teagan returned to her dorm and sat at her desk, opened her laptop and searched for everything she could find about Jessica Meyers.
The articles were minimal. The latest had been the editorial Nate mentioned from the Husher News. In it, Jessica’s cousin, Erica Griggs, outlined the last day Jessica was seen alive.
Where is Jessica?
This morning two years ago Jessica, my cousin who was more like a sister to me, hugged me goodbye at the airport in Oregon and promised to make her famous chocolate pecan pie when she visited over Thanksgiving. It was the last time I ever saw her.
Her first days at Husher University were lovely. She called me and described the lingering warmth of summer, the campus apple trees heavy with fruit, the classes and the Greek parties and the new friends. She was bubbling over with excitement and I could not have been happier for her.
The last morning I spoke with her was a Thursday, and I will admit she sounded a little less enthused. Maybe the late-night sorority recruitment activities combined with classes had caught up with her. The truth is, I may never know what was bringing her down that morning two years ago.
What I know from witness accounts is that Jessica skipped her nine a.m. math class, but attended her noon English and a two p.m. sociology classes. She attended a rush interview at Rho Upsilon Nu on Greek Row and then worked her shift at the Husher Student Store. She left on foot for her dorm at ten p.m. She has never been seen again.
I live over two thousand miles away. When Jessica disappeared, I was studying for my PhD. I knew within two days of Jessica’s disappearance that something was wrong, but the students at Husher University were not informed she’d gone missing for nearly two weeks despite my constant calls.
One month after she vanished, her case was transferred to the Husher Police Department, where it remains. My calls go unreturned. When I beg for details, I am stonewalled. My next plan of action is to hire a private investigator. I have saved almost enough money to do so. Is that really my only hope?
Do you have a child, sister, or cousin at Husher? How do you feel about the possibility that they might walk out of their dorm one night and disappear forever?
Teagan finished reading the editorial, disturbed by the similarities between Jessica’s disappearance and Harley’s. Teagan continued reading everything she could find on Jessica Meyers.
She searched for her name in the Husher University Student Forum. The forum was a nightmare to sift through. Half the time Teagan typed in keywords, unrelated topics popped up. When she searched ‘Jessica Meyers,’ every post or comment that mentioned anyone named Jessica populated, and Teagan had to painstakingly click and read each to identify its relevancy.
Finally, after a half hour of reading random student gripes, she found a post left nearly a year before that mentioned Jessica Meyers.
Insomniac989: I have a story to share about that girl who disappeared last year, Jessica Meyers. I never told anyone initially and really regret that now and I’m thinking about going to the police, but not sure if they’ll believe me.
Let me preface this by saying I was walking home from Tamarack Hall and a couple of my friends and I had just gotten pretty high. I was walking back across campus. It was about eleven o’clock and, being stoned, I was just really enjoying the feel of the breeze and the leaves rustling in the trees. You know, all that little stuff you hardly notice when you’re not high.
Anyway, I sort of wandered into the woods because I wanted to touch the trees. I know what you’re thinking, but as I mentioned, I was stoned. I was standing there marveling at how ridged the bark felt on this oak tree when another girl came down the sidewalk I just vacated. It was Jessica Meyers. I’m like 98% sure because after she disappeared I immediately recognized her picture from that night because she had the long curly reddish hair and, remember, I was as high as a hot air balloon, so I was picking up on all kinds of weird little details. I remember thinking her hair was the color of a fox tail and even had the insane idea of going to ask her if I could pet it, which, for the record, I didn’t do because she probably would have freaked out.
I heard the sound of footsteps in the woods on the other side of the sidewalk and so I was watching trying to see who was there and I totally caught a glimpse of what is to this day the scariest shit I have ever seen in my life! It was a person wearing a black robe and a weird-looking mask, like a scarecrow made from that itchy burlap stuff.
This person in the mask was legit stalking Jessica Meyers, keeping pace with her from the woods. I should have followed and tried to see what was up, but the paranoia got hold of me then and I could not will my legs to move. I watched them until they disappeared and she had totally started to walk faster and like a minute later I heard her scream and then nothing.
I know this story sounds made up, but I swear it’s not. So, what do you think I should do?
Beneath the anonymous poster, more than a dozen comments had been added. Several called out the poster for lying, trying to seek attention. Several others said they should go to the police ASAP.
FluffyBuns333 posted: I heard Jessica Meyers was dating a drug dealer and ran off with him.
Poster Doggo11 replied: No way! Jessica lived two dorm rooms down from me in Pine Hall. She did not have a boyfriend, though she liked some guy from the Alpha Lambda frat.
Teagan’s eyes lingered on the words ‘Alpha Lambda frat.’
Teagan considered the story and whether it could possibly be true. The poster admitted they’d been high, which put the entire scenario into question. Maybe it had simply been a person walking in the woods and the poster had mistaken their regular face for a costume.
