Page 46 of Virgin Sacrifice

Although the sun had set long ago, the steady hum of students heading out for the night drifted up from the quad.

My limbs ached from being curled up in the armchair, and my stomach was telling me I needed to eat some food that wasn’t pure sugar.

I stood up and stretched out like a cat, cracking my back and neck before tiptoeing over to Autumn’s side to take a quick look at her.

The dark circles were still heavy under her eyes, and her skin remained pale. But her lips were looking better, not so dry. She was starting to rehydrate, which would help a lot.

She probably needed rest more than food at this point, so I let her sleep, creeping back to the armchair, and scrolling through my phone, trying to decide what to order for dinner.

I started three different carts at three different restaurants before finally making up my mind and placing an order for Pad Kee Mao from the only Thai restaurant in Shady Harbor. The app said that the food would be arriving in about thirty-five minutes, which was perfect because if I was peckish now, I would be starving by then.

Shifting back into the now less-than-comfortable chair, I turned the movie back on and settled in to watch as Anna Paquin’s character prepared to meet her sister and friends at a bonfire in the woods all while being stalked by a dark, dangerous stranger.

A while later, my phone buzzed. I furrowed my brow and paused the movie; it was too early for my food to be here.

Aaron (party): Hows she doinhg?

The drunken text was followed by several images of him, Melody, and some of their other friends, all dressed up for Halloween and in various states of intoxication. He had dressed up like a cowboy while she had gone as a naughty firefighter. With her long blonde waves, she looked pretty cute, and they appeared to be having a great time, their cheeks rosy and eyes glassy as they beamed at the camera without a care in the world.

Me: Sleeping, still recovering but doing better.

Me: Looks like you are having a blast :)

See, I could be nice. I used a smiley face.

Turning back to my laptop, I was surprised that it was almost ten o’clock. I hadn’t really noticed the time when I ordered my food and couldn’t believe it was this late already.

My phone continued to buzz, but it was probably just Aaron sending more pictures, so I switched back to the movie. I could look at them after my food arrived.

I watched the final gruesome scene in the movie, and my phone buzzed again, reminding me that I had food coming soon . . .

The food!

I jumped out of the chair and grabbed my phone, practically halfway across the small dorm already.

I snatched up Autumn’s key card and quietly slipped out of the room, making sure I heard the door lock behind me before turning to my phone to see what was going on with my dinner.

Sure enough, there was a notice from the app that my food had been delivered, roughly twenty minutes ago, along with multiple missed calls from an unknown number, likely the poor delivery person trying in vain to reach me.

“Zut alors!” I hissed under my breath as I walked as fast as I could over to the elevators and slammed on the button.

The delivery person wouldn’t have been able to get into Jackson College House without a key card, but they could get in the first set of glass doors of the vestibule. I crossed my fingers that they left my food in there and that no one had stolen it. Unfortunately, the chances of some drunken college student snatching it on their way in or out of the building were pretty high.

The doors opened for the lobby and I practically sprinted out of them, taking the corner fast enough to slide around it in my slippers.

I swung open the glass doors of the vestibule dramatically, scanning the area up and down for a take-out container. It took my eyes a second to adjust, one of the overhead lights was flickering irritatingly while the other was out completely, but after a couple of moments, it was clear that there was nothing to be found here.

“Mierda carajo,” I muttered under my breath.

There was always a chance that the delivery person had left it outside the building, although there was probably an even greater risk of it being stolen out there. I had to go look, unwilling to accept that my delicious drunken noodles were gone. Pushing the swinging glass doors open, I stepped out into the darkness.

It was an overcast night, the moon mostly hidden behind the clouds.

Jackson College House was a large brutalist-style building, set back about fifty feet from the main walkway, with a large, paved avenue surrounded by high hedges leading up to it. On the other side of the quad, I could see a couple groups of students milling about in front of Gabriel College House, although they were too far for me to really make out their costumes.

I was surprised to find myself alone outside my own dorm, not a soul in sight.

Unfortunately, neither was my food.

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