The Initiation

Chapter Four

 I looked wildly out of the window, even shading my eyes with my hands to block out the lights from the library behind me, but saw no one and nothing. What the hell had I just seen?

 Hurrying back to the table, I shoved my things into my bookbag and left the books for the librarians to re-shelve before practically running out of the door. The librarians called out after me, but I ignored them. I needed to see if what I’d seen on the other side of the glass was still out there. 

 I ran around the building to the window I’d looked out of but saw nothing, just the librarians gathering up my books to put them back on the shelves. I kneeled to look at the dirt to see if anything was there. 

 It was a bit difficult to see, but the moon illuminated the area bright enough to see impressions in the dirt, so I looked closer to see if I could make out any details. It looked like there were a few prints in the area, but only one was clear enough to see. It looked like an enormous dog print. 

 My mind swirled with the implications as I sat back on my heels. I rejected the thoughts immediately. My head was just full of the research I’d been doing. There was no way such a thing as a werewolf existed, and if it did, then I didn’t just see one standing on the other side of the window, staring back at me. It was just the delusion of too much research and all the stress from the past twenty-four hours. 

 I stood up and looked around, realizing I was alone and vulnerable. After all, someone died last night shortly after I left him, and whatever had done it may still be around. I saw nothing around me, but it still paid to be safe, so I started back toward the dorm.

 As I walked, I thought about everything that had happened and wondered what in the world was going on. Suddenly I heard what sounded like footsteps padding after me. My first thought was a dog was following me, and I stopped in my tracks in fear. The footsteps also stopped. I didn’t want to turn around to see what was there.

 “Please go away,” I whispered, dismayed at how shaky my voice was.

 I took a deep breath and started walking again, faster this time. It sounded like the footsteps started following me again. I could swear I heard what sounded like claws tapping against the sidewalk, and this made me walk faster, almost to the point of jogging. The footsteps did the same. 

 I was really freaking out now. Sweat beads rolled down my neck and back. I tried to keep calm but broke into a run once I caught sight of the doors to the dorms. 

 Pushing open the door, I ran inside and slammed the door shut behind me, leaning against it and trying to catch my breath. I could feel my heart racing, and my hands were shaking. Suddenly, my legs gave out, and I slid to the floor. I was thankful no one was around to see me. 

 After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down, I felt better and struggled to my feet. I wanted to look out of one of the windows beside the door to see if I could see anyone following me. Slowly edging over to the window, I slowly peeled back the curtain and peeked out. 

 I looked around the grounds, but it didn’t look like anything, or anyone, was out there. I saw the wind was picking up and wondered if perhaps it was moving the leaves around as I’d walked, causing them to sound like footsteps. I’d almost had myself believing this when I saw a large, hairy figure move out from behind a tree and drop to all fours before running off into the darkness. 

 “I did not just see that,” I whispered, rubbing my eyes and peering out into the darkness again, only to see the trees moving in the wind. 

 A sudden hand on my shoulder caused me to scream in terror and leap away from the window. I whirled around to see Veronica huddled against the opposite wall, cringing.

 “I’m so sorry, Suzie,” she said, her voice shaking. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

 I wiped my hand over my forehead and laughed shakily. “It’s ok, Veronica,” I told her. “I just thought I’d heard something out there and was concentrating so hard on it, I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

 Lights were coming on up the hallway as dorm room doors flew open at our noises.

 “What’s going on out here,” a redheaded girl with frizzy hair asked as she poked her head out of her door.

 I stepped forward, lifting my hands and called out, “It’s ok! It’s ok! Everyone can go back inside their rooms!”

 “What’s all the commotion?” Samantha, the resident advisor, walked down the stairs, her blonde hair perfectly up in a bun and tying her pale pink robe around her.

 I groaned inwardly. I didn’t know why, but she really got under my skin, and I tried to avoid her at all costs. Maybe it had something to do with her seeming to be friendly, but it came across as faked. 

 “Nothing’s going on, Samantha,” I told her wearily. “I came back from the library late, and Veronica startled me, is all.”

 Samantha looked at me closely, then looked at Veronica. “And why were you out so late?”

 “I have a research paper I’m working on and got caught up in my reading,” I told her, thinking it wasn’t any of her business in the first place.

 She didn’t say anything, but her lips pressed together in a white line as if she was hoping for a juicier excuse so she could tell on me. She looked down the hallway at everyone standing in their doorways and clapped her hands together, telling them, “Ok, the show’s over. Everyone can get back in their rooms.”

 She turned back to Veronica and me and said, “You two should do so as well.”

 We both nodded, then brushed past her to go up the stairs to our room, glancing at each other and trying to hold in our laughter in until we were safely behind our dorm room door. 

 Once inside the room with the door shut behind us, we both burst out laughing, falling onto our beds. 

 “We really did it this time, didn’t we, Veronica?” I asked once we had calmed down enough to talk. 

 “Whoo boy, did we,” she agreed, rolling over onto her stomach so she could face me, a huge grin on her face. 

 Then she sobered and asked, “What really happened out there?”

 I didn’t answer right away, and she said, “You were looking out the window so intensely, I wasn’t sure what you were doing. What was out there?”

 I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell her, so I said, “I thought I saw something, that’s all.”

 She didn’t look convinced and asked, “Does this have anything to do with Mr. Holliday being killed in the very cemetery you were to have your sorority challenge in?”

 “Why would you ask that?” I asked her, not answering her question and looking down at my comforter for loose threads to play with, so I wouldn’t have to face her.

 “Suzie,” she said, “look at me.”

 I didn’t at first, then glanced up at her.

 “I’ve been your best friend since second grade,” she continued. “I can tell when something’s bothering you.”

 She was right, but I couldn’t tell her everything since I wasn’t sure about everything. I could only tell her the part of what was happening I knew for sure.

 “I think I was followed on the way back from the library,” I told her in a low voice. 

 “What?” she exclaimed, sitting up in the bed. “Did you get a good look at who was following you? You have to tell someone!”

 “Who?” I asked. “What are they going to do? I don’t have any proof of it, just a suspicion.”

 She looked like she was going to protest, so I continued, “So I was looking out of the window to see if I could see anyone.”

 “And did you?” she asked, leaning forward and grabbing a pillow to put in her lap.

 I thought of the figure I’d seen but didn’t think it was wise to mention it since I was having a hard time believing what I’d seen. I shook my head.

 “No, and I was just concentrating on looking for someone, so I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

 “That explains the huge scream,” she said, grinning. “I thought you were going to break my eardrums! “

 I stuck my tongue out at her and said, “I’m surprised I didn’t hear you coming up behind me, what with your big feet and all!”

 She looked mock-outraged and retorted, “My big feet? Have you taken a look at those boats you call shoes?”

 She looked surprised right before a decorator pillow hit her square in the face. The night wound down with a giggling pillow fight, which cleared all the fear away. It wasn’t until we were in our beds that a strange feeling came over me. 

 I turned to look toward the window and saw the moon, a night past full, shining in over me. Its silver beauty mesmerized me again. I eased myself out of bed, glancing over to Veronica’s bed to be sure she was asleep. Her deep breathing let me know she was out for the night.

 I walked over to the window and lifted the glass so I could be closer to the moon. Leaning out of my window, I stared up at it and took a deep breath. All the smells in the night filled my nose. It was a heady scent. 

 An unfamiliar scent caught my attention. It was a musky smell, not unpleasant. I looked over the grounds below me to see if I could identify where the smell was coming from. Near the trees on the edge of the yard, I caught the reflection of a pair of yellowish-green eyes peering at me, about a man’s height off the ground.

 I ducked back into my room, not taking my eyes off of the eye shine. The eyes blinked at me once, then again before disappearing. 

 I leaned back out of the window to see if I could see them again, but they were gone. I saw no other movement. What in the world did I just see? The call of the moon was silent again, so I shut the window and went back to bed, though sleep eluded me until dawn.