Page 256 of A University of Betrayal

“Come to us,” she whispered softly, and I pushed against the window, terrified. “Come to us, child...”

With narrowed eyes, I pressed myself against the window frame.

The woman’s voice became more frantic.

“Follow the snakes. They will guide you.”

Her voice was very close to my ear.

“Come to us before it’s too late.”

Then my eyes snapped open.

Startled and gasping loudly, I jerked upright.

My Kind of Illusion

Jay Varton

I had been dreaming.What the hell kind of intense dream had that been? So short, and yet as if I had really been in that creepy house...

I looked around with caution.

Julie was still asleep. Larissa was probably at the DeLoughrey estate and Emely was at the Copeland’s.

The alarm clock read 5:30.Great. I wasn’t even tired anymore, but I’d only slept for five hours, and my next lecture wasn’t for another four.

I slipped out from under my blanket as quietly as possible.

What was the point...Then I would just use the time to finally use the bathroom for myself. Vivienna and Amber were always the first in there and usually the last, and I often had to wash my face in the kitchen.

So, I gathered my things together, grabbed a fresh towel and slipped out of the room into the bathroom and into the warm shower.

The warmth felt so incredibly good, especially in the cold here in British Columbia. There was no snow yet, but I was freezingevery damn day.

When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around me, because even though the bathroom was heated, my body was complaining about the drop in temperature.

Buddy was, as usual, lying by the window – probably because the bathroom had underfloor heating – with his eyes closed.

I was glad that Julie had found the little guy again, even if it had been rather more of a lucky coincidence. We had looked for him for ages but couldn’t find him anywhere. Julie had said he’d been wandering around near the professors’ accommodations.

Strange little fellow.

I blow-dried my hair, hoping not to wake anyone, and went over my thoughts.

The plan we’d come up with yesterday was a real mess because there were so many people involved. I was worried that we might get caught, but Larissa had assured me that the more people who could make sure that Alarik or anyone else didn’t accidentally enter the corridors at night again, the better.

I put the hairdryer away, grabbed my brush and went to the mirror to brush my hair. It was fogged up, so I had to wipe the foggy coating off the glass before I could see myself properly.

The shock was so intense that I dropped my brush. The dull thud of the brush on the tiles made me wince. My towel slid down a little, revealing my upper body.

I stared into the mirror in horror.

My body began to tremble.

My eyes were neither yellow nor red... but not blue or green either...

I cautiously stepped closer, fascinated and frightened at the same time.

---