Page 38 of Brutal Kingdom

Tonight, they’re doing a scavenger hunt, with a twist, and the whole campus is involved. Objects were hidden somewhere on campus. The pledges have a series of clues to follow. They have to recover as many as they can. The last clue leads to a legacy totem. The person brings it to Wraith Manor, moves to the top of the leader board.

The totem in question is Jordanna’s secret file. It was my suggestion to turn tonight’s mission into a campus wide event, culminating in a party at The Rift. Bella is the one who convinced the frat president to have the final clue lead to Jordanna. Her not-so-subtle direction was for them to do whatever it takes to get it. What Bella doesn’t know is that I have a little something planned for her, too. I lied and said I’d be off campus tonight. I’ll be here, hiding in shadows, waiting to see how things play out.

I slip my mask on, blending in with the rest of the pledges. I even used a different smelling body spray and aftershave tonight, so my scent won’t give me away when I get close to Bella or Jordanna. Bella will show up to The Rift willingly. Jordanna will be herded there, one uncomfortable step at a time. The safest path to her dorm is cut off today, so she’ll have no choice but to take the long way around. The lights are completely out and there’s a thicket of trees and shrubbery obscuring the walkway. With lots of places to hide, she’ll never see us coming.

I’m gathered with the other pledges, a devious smile on my lips as I tap into the excitement in the air. Jordanna’s been getting anonymous alerts on Prospectus for the last few days. The first day, the sender said they knew what she was holding over our heads. The second day, they said when she gathered the intel on one of us, she inadvertently obtained damaging information on someone else. Someone dangerous. Yesterday, she started receiving veiled threats.

She’s primed for tonight. I’ve seen her looking around, scanning for threats. On edge. My guess is that even with her new bed, the upgrades to her room, and fumigating the dorm, she’s not sleeping well.

I still don’t like her being in The Dungeon, and I can’t move her without having to explain myself to Bella, so I did what I could to make the dorm a little safer. Bella put her in Dundee Hall to send a message. One that was supposed to be a show of force and power to the student body. I pretend to listen, pretend to fall in line, but nothing’s changed about how I view this school or the people in it. VDU ismyschool, and Jordanna is mine to toy with, to punish, to torment and to scare.

Tonight, she and Bella will get a little taste of what I can still do.

The footsteps behind me fall silent when I stop. I know someone’s been following me since I left my study group. But every time I turn around, there’s no one there. I ignored the texts I’ve been getting all week, and have tried to pretend like the threats don’t bother me, but low key, I’m freaking out.

I know everything that was on that thumb drive. Each dossier was hand typed. The only way I could have anything incriminating on someone else is if I caught them on camera. I had hundreds of photos of each of them and toyed with the idea of making a mosaic poster. But I didn’t look too hard at who or what was happening in the background.

Whoever’s behind the anonymous account wants those files, and this could be the BPs trying to see if I have a backup. Real or fake, I don’t have anything to give to them. So I told them to fuck off, and now I’m being followed.

I hurry down the sidewalk to my dorm and round the corner, letting out a frustrated sigh when I see the barricade and gate preventing me from walking down the path that has the most lights. The only other way I can get to my dorm is to take the long way around, on the path that cuts directly between Dundee Hall and The Rift. There are no lights on that side and nothing but trees. Nobody walks that way, but with the blockade, I have no other choice.

Holding onto my phone, and hitching my bag higher, I turn on the flashlight on my phone before plunging myself into the awaiting darkness. Someone snickers, someone else makes a howling noise. It’s Thursday night, and there’s a lot happening on the main side of campus. Over here, it’s dark and desolate. Eerily still.

A twig snaps behind me. I spin, holding up my phone, trying to spot the source of the sound. “You have something that doesn’t belong to you.” A voice says behind me.

I turn, the spot is already empty.

“We gave you a chance to turn it over.” Comes from my left. Of course, when I hold up my phone, there’s no one there either.

My phone chimes. I look down at the new alert from Prospectus.

I’m coming for it

“Jor-da-nna….” A voice sing-songs, making the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

My phone chimes three more times.

Three

Two

One

The laughter is closer than it was before. One more alert comes through. My eyes widen as I read the last message.

A pound of flesh, a game of fun. I gave you a chance. Time to run.

“Ready or not, here I come…” The maniacal laughter that follows that taunt gets my feet moving. I run right, heading to the dorm, and quickly reverse direction when I see someone heading towards me. Running back the way I came, three more bodies pop up, blocking my escape. I turn again, dropping my bag and run as fast as I can to the only opening available to me. They’re hot on my heals. I pump my arms harder, propelling myself forwards. Tree branches skim my arms and legs, but I ignore the irritating sting, determined to get where there are other people. If I make it to the path that leads to The Rift, I can circle back around to get to my dorm.

I can see it. I’m almost there. Just as I push a little faster to get to the open space, hands land on my arms, yanking me back. Another hand goes over my mouth. I bite down hard as I can. They let me go, and I run again. To the right is the path around the campus. Straight ahead is The Rift. The doors are open and the lights are on. An intercom crackles as I get closer. A disembodied voice comes through. “Thank you all for taking the time to join us. For those crashing the fun without an invite, welcome to game night.”

Hearing that, knowing The Rift will be swarming with people, I make the snap decision to go there, rather than try to make it through the open space and risk getting caught. It’s not until I cross the threshold of the building and the lights go out, the heavy doors closing behind me with an ominous clang, that I realize my mistake. This is exactly where they wanted me.

The voice crackles through again. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re playing hide and seek. I suggest you find a good place to camp out. If you’re caught, may your captor have mercy on your soul.”

The voice starts counting down from two hundred.

I don’t know my way around, but I’m too scared to turn on my phone, for fear of giving my position away. Closing my eyes, I try to picture the room. I know there’s a door that leads to the bell tower. I think it’s on my left. Then there're the stairs I took the night I followed Frankie and Hal. Were they straight ahead or on my right? Slowly, I inch forward, hand out in front of me, looking for obstacles. My heart thunders loudly in my chest, my stomach somersaulting, my ears straining to hear.

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