The Raven's Conjuring: Dreams of Desolation, page 10
part #1 of The Raven's Conjuring Series
“And people like you should learn how to do their job right and shut the fuck up,” Morgan snapped as she smacked the salad bowl into Karen’s face.
The lettuce flew in the air like confetti, and the dressing Karen had drowned the salad in smacked her in the face and dripped down to her chest. She let out an infuriated scream as Morgan held her head high and stomped out of the cafeteria. The onlookers gasped—some in awe, some in shock—some people clapped, and a lot of people laughed. Although she was already in hot water with the Dean, something inside Morgan ignited, and she refused to put up with anyone’s insolence any longer. As she walked away from the food court, the students watching began commenting on the spot.
“Crazy Morgan strikes again.” one girl said, filming Morgan’s reaction.
“What a bitch.” another girl commented, knowing nothing about the situation.
There was a slight moment when Morgan felt that she might have gone overboard, whether it was strangling Nicole or throwing the salad in Karen’s face, she realized then and there, the videos would be posted online, and everyone would know who she was. She felt ashamed of her actions, as she was typically a calm individual, but no one understood what was happening to her. She hadn’t choked Nicole on purpose—she wasn’t an evil person, and she wasn’t crazy. But if crazy is what they wanted to call her, crazy is what she would be. With her heart thumping rapidly, Morgan headed to the only place she knew would be quiet and empty—the library.
It was a separate building across the main campus, which stood by itself in the middle of the grounds, surrounded by pine and oak trees. A beautiful rotunda-style bell tower crowned the building, reminding her of the structure she had seen on the side of the highway. As Morgan strolled through the brick-paved winding paths, she enjoyed the beautiful landscape of bushes trimmed to perfection and flower beds. Clusters of friends gathered outdoors added to her lonesomeness, and she pulled out her phone and saw the time, 3:45, Chelsea was still in class. She scrolled through her contacts and landed on her cousin, Sage. She hit the video chat button and took a seat on a bench as she waited for her to answer.
“Hey, Morgan. How’s everything going?” Sage answered, smiling and waving.
“Hi Sage, everything is great,” Morgan said, regretting the lie. “Actually, no, it’s not. So far, everything’s been terrible,” Morgan confessed.
“Oh no, what happened?”
Morgan sighed and struggled to make the words come out, but she knew that Sage would never judge her.
“I had an episode the first night we got here, and I ended up choking a girl. Now everyone thinks I’m some sort of dangerous killer. I just went to get lunch, and the girl making my food told me I should kill myself, so I threw the salad in her face. On top of that, some crazy old woman in the park assaulted me, and when I ran away, I ran into a metal door. Look,” Morgan said, pushing her hair back, revealing her bruised forehead.
“Wait, back up. You threw salad in a girl’s face? That’s epic,” Sage said, laughing.
“It’s not funny, Sage. She insulted me, and I snapped. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I was so excited to leave home and start off all new, but I don’t think I made the right decision,” Morgan said as her eyes began to well up with tears.
“Don’t cry, Morgan. I’m sure that girl deserved it, and things will get better. After all, it can’t be all bad. What’s the campus like?” Sage asked, trying to cheer Morgan up and change the subject.
“The campus is beautiful,” Morgan said as she panned the camera across the sprawling green acres.
“That’s the main hall—the dorms, that one’s mine. That’s the library, and…” Morgan said, giving a virtual tour, as Sage cut her off.
“Wait, go back to the left,” Sage instructed.
“There’s nothing there,” Morgan said as she only saw someone walking past a garbage can.
“Zoom in,” Sage continued.
Morgan obeyed and zoomed in as far as she could.
“Goddamn, he’s cute. See, it can’t be all that bad.” Sage said, referring to the man walking alone.
“Oh shit. That’s the guy from the coffee shop,” Morgan realized.
“You know him?” Sage asked.
“Kind of. We met over the weekend. He’s a barista. He made me a French Kiss.” Morgan blabbered on.
“You already made out with someone? That’s what I’m talking about.” Sage joked.
“What? No, it’s a drink. Shit, he’s coming over here,” Morgan said nervously.
“Hey!” he waved as he strutted towards her.
“Don’t hang up. I want to hear what he says.”
“Goodbye, Sage,” Morgan said, ending the call.
“Hey there, I didn’t think I would see you again. How’s it going?” he asked, flashing his perfect smile.
“Hey, it’s going ok, I guess. Better now,” she said.
“I thought you would stick around the shop, but when I looked up, you were gone,” he continued.
“There wasn’t anywhere to sit down,” Morgan said, staring at his irresistible green eyes.
“Yeah, it gets pretty crowded on Sundays. It’s your first year here?” he asked.
“Yeah,” her voice almost trembled through her smile.
“How do you like it so far?” he continued.
“It’s somewhat stressful. I knew it would be, but these last few days have been rougher than I expected them to be. People are noticing me for all the wrong reasons,” she said.
“I know how you feel. My first year here was also kind of rough. It’s hard when you don’t know anyone. But, just give it time. It’s not all that awful. People will get to know you,” he said.
“And what if they don’t?” Morgan asked.
“Well… then, fuck ‘em,” he responded with a chuckle, making Morgan smile.
They stared at each other for a few seconds thinking about what else to say. Even though the silence between them dragged on a bit too long, Morgan began to feel somewhat more comfortable. He seemed genuine, and he was the first person on campus to be nice to her. His kind face also helped ease the awkwardness of the situation.
“The coffee was great, by the way. It was exactly what I needed that morning,” Morgan said.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s my favorite, and we have a lot more things for you to try. Maybe you’ll come back sometime?” he asked, hoping she would say yes.
“We’ll see,” she replied.
“Or maybe, we could go somewhere else? Get some dinner and dessert?” he asked, flashing the smile that never failed.
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Absolutely,” he responded, exuberating with confidence.
“I’m not sure. Other than knowing where you work, I don’t know anything about you,” Morgan said, biting her lips to keep herself from smiling.
“Well, this is my third year at Brixton. I’ve changed my major three times and will most likely change it again. I play basketball in my free time and video games when I need to relax. Anything else you want to know about me, Morgan?” he asked,
“How do you know my...” Morgan began to ask but didn’t finish the sentence—figuring out that he had probably heard the stories or had already seen the video of her throwing the salad at Karen.
“I remember seeing the name on your credit card, and to be frank with you—you’re all the rage on campus,” he said, confirming that he had seen the videos and heard all about her.
“Oh, my god.” she covered her face. “News does travel fast here,” Morgan said as she looked at the ground, filled with shame.
“It does, but for whatever it’s worth, I think it’s pretty badass that you stand up for yourself. That Karen girl is as mean as they make them,” he said, keeping his gaze fixed on Morgan’s eyes.
Morgan didn’t know what to say. She wanted to walk away without responding or hoped her phone would ring to save her the embarrassment of explaining what happened. But she figured if he knew she was trouble and hadn’t walked away yet, he was willing to put up with her madness.
“So, what do you say, Morgan Stark? Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” his eyes waited impatiently.
Morgan’s eyes wandered, searching for a response. Everything in her being told her to say yes. To run towards the only good feeling she had all week. The shiver that ran down her spine told her to stay as far away from him as possible.
“I would say yes, but I still don’t know your name,” she responded.
“You’re right. How rude of me. Amidst the excitement of seeing you again, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Victor.”
He reached out to shake her hand.
“Victor Raven.”
There it was again, the feeling she got when she first touched his fingers at the coffee shop—the same surge of energy that rushed through her veins. There was something about Victor she couldn’t resist.
“Pick me up at seven,” she said.
“Alright, seven it is,” Victor said, displaying a smile, more excited than Morgan had seen before.
“I’m staying in Kirkland Hall,” she said, pointing towards her dorm.
“Ok,” he said, glancing down at his gold watch. “I have to get to class. But I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you then,” Morgan responded in disbelief that she was going on a date.
She watched him strut away, smiling at his physique. She felt like a prepubescent girl, remembering the first time Eddie had asked her to go to a school dance. However, Victor did not resemble Eddie in any way. He was physically fit and confident. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and as far as Morgan could tell, he didn’t care about what she had done previously.
“Oh, Morgan. Make sure you wear a jacket,” Victor said, looking over his shoulder as he walked into the distance.
“Ok…” Morgan responded, confused.
She stood in the middle of the walkway, unable to grasp what had just happened. The week had started out rough and had progressively gotten worse. Now, things seemed hopeful. In the beginning, Morgan felt that she had made the wrong decision in moving here. Still, if her father had taught her one important thing, it was just to keep moving towards a finish line. Thirty minutes ago, Karen told her to kill herself, and now she had met a boy—a man who wanted to treat her to dinner. Suddenly, Morgan didn’t care about Nicole or Karen. She cared about herself and realized that tonight would be the first actual date she had ever been on.
Morgan glanced up at the sky and continued walking towards the library, a beautiful building as it was grand. She had come to admire architectural details, thanks to watching her dad build models as a child. He was so precise and dedicated to making the best-designed buildings. She gauged the size of the building immediately. It was about seventy feet tall from the ground to the top of the bell tower. As she approached the entrance, two heavy maple doors with arched windows welcomed her into the lobby. She reached for the door, and as she pulled the large brass handle towards her, the bell struck a total of four times. She thought it was awkward that a bell tower was placed atop a library considering libraries were designed for silence. Still, the sound of the bell reminded her of attending church as a child.
The library was unlike any other she had seen before. Vaulted ceilings decorated the foyer, filled with antique furniture, and featured a small concession stand next to the entryway. Her stomach still empty, she headed towards the line to grab a snack. However, she remembered what had just happened in the food court and didn’t want another encounter like that. Instead, she purchased a snack from the vending machines next to the shop. At least they couldn’t insult her.
She took a few seconds to study the library’s layout. The computer labs were on the first floor, history, science, and literature were on the second floor. The third floor had fiction and study rooms. Morgan headed into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. A good fiction book and a quiet place were what she needed to forget about Karen and pass the time. When the elevator doors opened to the third floor, Morgan was relieved to see it empty. She began to wander the halls of the fiction section.
Her love for books stemmed from one summer during camp when she was eleven. It began the night before the camp Olympics—the final camp event that lasted a whole weekend. It was filled with activities like horseback riding, an archery competition, sack races, a trip to the lake, and ceremoniously culminated with all the campers making s’mores around a campfire. Three hours after midnight, Morgan’s sleepwalking took her from her bunk bed, deep into the woods. She walked for hours through the night—the first thing she could remember was waking up in the middle of a stream. The cold water shocked her out of her episode, but she was just staring at the sun when she finally came to. Her eyes burned painfully from not having shut all night or perhaps from staring at the sun too long. For hours, Morgan couldn’t see anything. She just sat alone by a boulder—wet, sobbing, and screaming for help.
When the counselors discovered she was missing, the Olympics were canceled. They organized a search party, which took hours to find her. She wandered off, seven miles through the thicket. Of course, Chelsea and even her cousin, Katrina, were glad that she was safe and sound—but the other campers weren’t so ecstatic. Camp Olympics always marked the end of summer camp, and although the counselors tried to squeeze as many of the activities into the last day, most of the kids resented Morgan because the event was canceled. She chucked it up to bad luck when she was picked last for the first round of games. But after it happened again, and again. She got the hint. Morgan made up an excuse and told her counselor she had a stomachache. They allowed her to sit out for the day, and Morgan headed to the welcome center, grabbed the first book she saw, and read it cover to cover in about an hour.
Whenever Morgan felt unwanted or like an inconvenience, she always ran to find a good book. Today was no different. She tried to find books by her favorite Japanese author but realized she had read all of his works on the shelf. She continued down the narrow, book-lined aisles, gazing through the titles and authors’ names, but nothing caught her attention. When she reached the end of the aisle, she turned the corner and bumped into a hard metal chair. She groaned in pain and looked down to see what she had run into.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Morgan said as she stared down at Nicole in her wheelchair.
Nicole stared at Morgan, terrified by her presence. Morgan backed away—not knowing what to say, she studied Nicole’s appearance. She wore a light blue blouse revealing her bruised neck, and Morgan thought, “Did I choke her that hard?”
“You stay the fuck away from me,” Nicole said as she looked up at Morgan’s face, terrified of what might happen, and began to wheel herself away from Morgan.
“I’m sorry, Nicole. Listen, I didn’t get a chance to explain,” Morgan begged.
“There’s nothing to explain. You’re fucking crazy. What you did, what I saw… Something is very wrong with you,” Nicole said, rolling down the aisles as fast as possible.
“I have a sleepwalking disorder,” Morgan said.
Nicole stopped.
“I’ve struggled with it since I was a child. I’m incredibly sorry about what happened. It wasn’t personal—you have to believe me. I would never intentionally hurt someone. I just react violently if someone tries to wake me when I’m sleepwalking,” Morgan pleaded.
“Sleepwalking? You weren’t sleepwalking, Morgan,” Nicole said as she spun back around to face her.
Morgan stood in silence, scared to approach Nicole and have her think she would attack her again.
“I’ve seen someone sleepwalk before, but what I saw that night wasn’t sleepwalking. When I came into the room, you were sound asleep. I got ready for bed, put my earbuds in, and laid down. I always get anxious the first night away from home, so I couldn’t sleep. A couple of hours later, you started snoring, then came the groaning. You were still lying on your bed, but it sounded like you were choking, gasping for air, but the sounds coming out of your mouth weren’t human. It’s hard to describe. They were croaks and screeches. And then, you slipped out of bed. That’s when I turned on the lamp and started calling your name. You stood perfectly still and silent for about a minute, just staring at me. But I couldn’t see your eyes. They were completely white, rolled in the back of your head. I asked you if something was wrong, and you responded by saying, ‘The only way out is death.’ But it wasn’t the voice I hear now. It sounded hollow, unhuman-like. It was almost animalistic. You just kept repeating the same thing over and over. I didn’t know what to do. I was terrified.” Nicole’s eyes welled up with tears as she recalled the incident as it had happened to her.
“I’m so sorry I choked you. I swear it’s all because of the sleepwalking.” Morgan tried to calm Nicole down.
“That’s just it, Morgan. When you started choking me, you weren’t walking at all. You were levitating. You were hovering over me with your hands around my neck. It’s as if you were possessed. I didn’t tell anyone because they wouldn’t believe it. But please, Morgan—please. Stay the hell away from me,” Nicole begged as she spun her wheelchair around and continued towards the elevator, leaving Morgan stood in the empty aisle, bewildered by Nicole’s revelation. Nothing made sense to her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Madness For Two
M organ stared at her reflection in the small makeup mirror on her desk as she got ready for her night out with Victor. She tried to make sense of what Nicole said but couldn’t remember anything other than the vision she had. Levitating—was Nicole lying? Why would she? Morgan’s parents had never seen her levitate before—they would have most certainly told her about it. Maybe it had been happening the whole time, or perhaps, this was the first occurrence. Morgan remembered waking up with her hands around Nicole’s neck and saw the bruises she left, but the last thing she remembered from that night was reading about the missing child. Her recollection of the night’s events felt like one vision, as her reality began to merge with her nightmares.
