Page 47 of Virgin Sacrifice

I was basically delusional with hunger now, and even though I knew, logically, that my food was long gone and I should give up and return to Autumn’s room, I couldn’t stop myself from stalking down the avenue looking like a maniac in my slippers and sweatpants as I popped my head under the benches and peered into the bushes on the off chance that the delivery person had left my food there.

They hadn’t.

I almost reached the main path and was going to have to concede defeat when I heard the quiet but familiar whoosh and click of the front doors of Jackson College House. I hadn’t noticed anyone else walking by me on their way into the building, so someone must have been coming out, but when the sound of the doors closing was followed by silence instead of banter or footsteps, I was confused.

I turned around expecting to maybe see a student stopped in front of the building, probably on their phone, distracted, but there was no one there.

Nor was anyone in the vestibule or even in the lobby from what I could see through the glass doors, which was odd.

Frowning, I looked around to see if there was anyone else about, but it was unusually quiet, and when I turned back to face the quad, even the revelers across the way had disappeared out of sight.

A gust of wind suddenly picked up, whipping my hair into my face and temporarily blinding me. At the same time, my arms prickled unpleasantly as I broke out in goosebumps, and I was struck by the sudden desire to return to the warmth and the safety of my dorm.

I started to make a quick retreat when I heard the shuffling of footsteps behind me. Irrational hope flared in me, and I spun around, only to stifle a scream as the air rushed from my lungs and my stomach lurched.

Someone was standing just off the path, silent and unmoving, obscured by the shadows that hung between the lampposts. The darkness and the distance between us hid every discernible detail about them beyond their general form and the stark contrast of the light-colored mask they wore underneath their hoodie.

It was the mask that had frightened me. Made of cheap, shiny plastic, it looked like a goat or maybe a sheep. It resembled something that a child might wear, and the initial sight of it floating in the dark was disturbing. The wretched thing reminded me of my own horrific childhood for reasons I couldn’t articulate.

The person in the mask stood almost preternaturally still, and my heart thudded uncomfortably in my chest. The urge to turn around was nearly unbearable, but I made myself stay calm, taking a slow, steeling breath in through my nose, then out through my mouth.

“Sorry about that, you startled me. I didn’t realize anyone else was around,” I called out nervously, trying to assure myself that this was just some random student who had drunkenly stumbled onto me and didn’t realize how creepy they were behaving.

The sheep didn’t respond. It just stood there like a grotesque statue, staring at me.

My chest tightened in warning. Something felt very, very wrong. It was time for me to leave.

Girls were trained to be nice, to stay in dangerous situations because it was more important to be polite than it was to be safe. It got them killed.

Nice girls were dead girls.

Without knowing who was hiding behind that mask, I didn’t want to risk sprinting away and provoke someone like the twins, who would only chase after me if I ran.

I hadn’t heard anyone approaching me from behind, so I took a couple of tentative steps backward before slowly turning around, all while keeping one eye on the sheep. When they didn’t immediately move, I started walking as quickly as I could back toward the safety of the dorm, glancing back every couple of steps to make sure that my observer remained in the shadows. My heart continued to race as I narrowly avoided tripping over my own two feet.

Where was everyone else? It was Friday night, Halloween for goodness’ sake, and yet here I was, all alone except for some psycho in a mask.

My breathing was heavy, even though I hadn’t been running, as I approached the shiny glass doors of Jackson College House. I only had to make it into the vestibule.

Palms sweaty, I reached into my sweats to fish out Autumn’s key card, and it slid out from between my fingers twice before I managed to get it out, only to nearly drop it.

“Merde,” I muttered as I darted my head around one last time to check on the sheep.

They had disappeared.

Adrenaline tore through me. I spun around to sprint the last couple of yards.

The flickering lights beckoned to me as I rushed forward, slamming my hands into the metal push bar as hard as I could, only to come to a jarring stop. Pain shot up through my hands, and I could taste blood in my mouth as the door reverberated violently with the force of my impact but remained closed.

I screamed loudly, in both pain and shock, as I slammed my fist into the still-shaking glass doors.

Locked. The doors were locked.

I whirled around, my thoughts spinning out as I watched the masked sheep come to stand in the middle of the avenue leading up to Jackson College House. The bones in my wrist burned with a fuzzy sort of pain that tugged at my attention, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

I rubbed my right wrist absently. My mind churned, trying to make a rational decision despite my near-overwhelming desire to flee. The sheep hadn’t moved again, but they continued to stare at me. If their goal had been simply to scare me, then they had succeeded. But with everything going on, and Nixon’s ominous order ringing in my mind, I couldn’t ignore the voice in my head telling me that this was more than a drunken fraternity prank.

Then I remembered what I had forgotten in my haste. Only the inside doors of the vestibule were locked during the day, but at 10:00 p.m. the outer doors locked automatically as well. All I had to do was scan Autumn’s card across the pad a couple of feet away on the other side of the doors, and I would be able to make it safely inside.

---