The Initiation

Chapter Three

    I jerked away from her, gasping as I pulled my hand away.

    Debbie rushed on, trying to play some part in delivering the news. “They say he was torn apart, as if by a wild animal or something!”

    Becky and Debbie shuddered at exactly the same moment, while Veronica gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. My head spun at the meaning of this.

    “Oh, Suzie!” Veronica cried, “That could have been you! You could have been there, and that thing might have gotten you!”

    She turned to Becky and Debbie, fury in her eyes. “That could have been my best friend, dead in the cemetery! All because of your stupid sorority initiation!”

    Becky and Debbie looked stunned at her attack, their mouths hanging open, and said nothing. 

    “Well, you can take your stupid sorority and shove it!” Veronica continued, rising out of her seat and causing the entire cafeteria to look toward our table.    

    “Veronica,” I said, rising as well and trying to calm her down. “It’s ok. Really.”

    I put my hand on her arm and tried to lead her away from the table and the people staring at us. 

  She shook off my hand, her eyes never leaving the two girls still sitting with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide, and said, “No, Suzie. It’s time they learned the challenges are stupid and unnecessary.”

    Becky and Debbie continued to stare at Veronica, not sure what to say.

    “Veronica,” I said in a low voice, grabbing her arm again and trying to lead her away from the table. “It’s ok. I’m ok. Nothing happened to me, and I’m… we’re not joining the sorority after all.” I shot a smile back at Becky and Debbie to reassure them Veronica wasn’t going to turn around suddenly and attack them. 

    She came with me somewhat willingly and finally stopped, turning her head to glare back at Becky and Debbie. She walked stiffly beside me, and I could tell she was still furious at them for what could have happened to me.

    As for me, I was beginning to understand what had happened. After I left the caretaker standing near where I’d been attacked, the dog or dogs which had attacked me must have attacked him, only he didn’t have someone to save him, and he had been torn apart. I swallowed my fear and felt bad for him. If I had gone with him to wherever he wanted to take me, he might still be alive today. I couldn’t feel guilty over this, though. It wasn’t my fault he was dead now. 

    We walked to our first class, Introduction to Folklore, and took our seats in the front.  

    I leaned over to her to whisper, “Are you ok now?”

    She nodded and smiled at me. “Thanks for getting me out of there before I did something I might regret.”

    I chuckled and said, “I thought you were going to rip off their heads!”

    She grinned at me and said, “I thought about it, believe me!”

    We both giggled, then sobered up when Professor White walked into the room. I swear, every female student suddenly got quiet and sat up a little straighter, their attention riveted to him.    

    I couldn’t blame them. The professor looked like he could be a leading man in the movies. I’m sure he was the leading man in most of the females in his classes’ fantasies. He was young and gorgeous. His light brown hair was perfectly stylish in a messy sort of way, and his green eyes seemed to sparkle. His smile just about mesmerized you.

    Said smile was now aimed at every female in the room, and I could almost feel them all leaning just a little more forward in their seats, myself included, as if to get closer to him. He just seemed to have some sort of animal magnetism about him.

    “Good morning, class,” he said, his voice smooth and warm as premium hot chocolate. “I’m sure you all heard about what happened to poor Mr. Holliday, the caretaker at the cemetery last night.”

    A concerned murmur ran through the room, and one girl held her hand up.

 Professor White nodded at her, and she asked, “Is it true he was mauled to death by an animal?”

    He raised his eyebrows and said, “They haven’t released the official reports yet, so I’m not sure. I’ve heard the same stories you have. In fact you may even know more than I do, what with the way news travels over the student grapevine and all. All we can do now is to be careful when we’re outside. Be aware of your surroundings, and it’s probably a good idea not to go anywhere alone. Take a buddy with you when walking the grounds of the campus.”

    The class nodded and murmured their agreement. It sounded reasonable. Then another thought entered my head, so I raised my hand.

    Feeling a slight blush when the professor’s eyes met mine, and he nodded his permission for me to speak, I cleared my throat and asked, “But what if this was just a random attack, and now the animal or animals or whatever attacked him is gone?”

    “An excellent question, Suzie!” he exclaimed, and what felt like pride at his praise ran through my body. “I would think we would know in a couple of days if you were correct. Hopefully, you will be, and this will all blow over by then. Then everything can go back to normal.”

    He rubbed his hands together and changed the subject. “Speaking of getting back to normal, I think it’s time for class to begin. Everyone get out your notebooks as it’s time for an essay paper!”

    The class groaned, but we got out our notebooks in preparation for the assignment. 

    He’d waited until everyone was ready, then turned to the blackboard to write out, “Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghosts, Oh My!”

   He waited until the chuckles died, then pointed to the board and said, “Pick one of these and write a six-page paper about the origin of the creature and its place in human history. I expect to have it in the next four weeks, if not sooner.”

 The class wrote their ideas down in their notebooks as he sat at his desk to prepare for today’s lesson. I couldn’t concentrate as one word floated in front of my face. Werewolves. The event of the previous night played in my head as the word repeated itself over and over. I knew this had to be my topic. I refused to think it could have any other meaning.

    Later that day, after the rest of my classes, Veronica and I met up at the cafeteria for a quick cup of coffee. 

 Gulping down the last of my drink, I told her, “I’m going to head over to the library for my research paper for our folklore class.”

  “You go on ahead,” she told me. “I’ve got another assignment I want to start on first. Then I’m going to head over. What topic did you pick?”

  For some unknown reason, I was a little hesitant to tell her. I shook my cup as if looking for more coffee. 

 Then I looked at her and said, “Werewolves.”

    She nodded and said, “I bet a lot of people will choose that one, with the attack on Mr. Holliday last night and all.”

    I nodded as if in agreement, and she continued, thoughtfully, “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d believe a werewolf really had attacked him.”

    I almost spit out my drink and instead swallowed the liquid amidst a coughing attack.  

    “I know, I know,” she said, holding up her hands as if warding off a verbal attack from me, “but think about it. He was mauled to death by an animal on the night of the full moon! The fact that it happened in a cemetery makes it even creepier!”

    I didn’t know what to say to that. She had a point. I didn’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. 

    “At least you didn’t call me crazy,” she said after I said nothing.  

    I grinned and told her, “You know, Veronica, you may just be right!”

    With that, I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and walked away, looking back only once to howl at her. She burst out laughing. 

    As I walked to the library, I mulled over what Veronica had said. Was it possible a werewolf attacked Mr. Holliday? I shook my head. No way. They existed only in myth, stories, and folklore. Right?

    I put my backpack on a table and went over to the computer to search for books on werewolves. I figured I’d do a hard copy search first, then look online after I’d gone through the books. 

    After getting all the books off the shelves, I took them over to the table with my things and put them down. Luckily, not many people were here tonight, so I’d have the table all to myself. I took out a notepad and pencil and dug into the first book, making notes as I went.

    I became so immersed in my reading and note-taking that I didn’t realize how long I’d been at the library until I felt a vibration on my hip. I was so deep into my research I jumped at the feeling. Then I felt silly since I realized it was my cell phone set on vibrate so it wouldn’t disturb any of the other students. 

    Digging my phone out of my pocket, I saw I had a text message from Veronica reading, “Where R U? U OK?”

    I glanced at the clock. Then when I saw almost five hours had gone by, I looked out the windows to be sure my phone was telling me the truth since it didn’t feel like I’d been there that long. The windows reflected the inside of the library, and I could tell it was well past sunset. In fact, the library would be closing within the hour.  No wonder my back was stiff, and my hand was aching from writer’s cramp. Luckily I was almost done with the pile of books in front of me and would be heading back to the dorm very soon. 

      “At library. B back soon,” I texted back.

    “K. B careful,” came the almost immediate reply.

    “Will do,” I sent, then put the phone back in my pocket and went back to taking notes. 

    After about thirty more minutes, I’d finished my first stage of research, and I knew I needed to review everything I’d written in my notes. I leaned back in my chair to stretch and winced as my spine cracked. I’d been sitting in one position for way too long, and I longed to get outside, to move around and loosen up. 

    As I gathered up my things, I realized how quiet the library really was and looked around. I saw the room was empty except for the two librarians sitting at their desks and realized I was by myself. Everyone else must have left a while ago. I felt a little nervous about this but told myself I’d be fine.

    Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I felt like something was not right. I slowly looked around to see if anything was out of the ordinary, but everything within the library looked fine. Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

    I turned to the full-length windows and saw the moon was rising over the horizon. It was big and orange colored. I thought it looked beautiful and felt pulled toward it like a piece of iron is pulled to a magnet. I walked over to the windows, almost in a trance and never taking my eyes off the moon. I put my hand on the glass and took a deep breath.

    I could smell the unique smell of books all around me and even the leftover food the librarians had for lunch, which was weird as I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I closed my eyes and breathed in even deeper. The faint smells of the outdoors seeped in, and I could smell the decaying leaves on the ground. It smelled wonderful!

    I opened my eyes and gasped in surprise. A face was on the other side of the glass, but before I could register more than a pair of yellowish-green eyes staring into mine, it vanished.