Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 16: Mysteries

They all tried to jump up at once, which inevitably resulted in a mess--especially for Edie, who was boxed in by Corrie in front, Dawn to her left, and walls on the other two sides. They laughed sheepishly as they untangled themselves, but Edie found the smile uncomfortable on her face, overshadowed by fear and worry. She waited for Dawn and Corrie to stand up and get out of the way this time before getting up herself. Once they were all on their feet, they went to the door and looked around for the source of the scream.

They weren't the only ones looking for it; almost every door was open, with one, two, or three heads poking out. A murmur ran up and down the hall, but it was otherwise peaceful, and there was no sign of where the scream had come from. It was late, but most people didn't look sleepy--of course, classes hadn't started yet, so most people had no reason to get up early the next morning. "Do you know what happened?" Edie asked the dark-haired girl across the hall.

She shook her head, sending her curls bouncing. "I just heard a scream and wanted to find out what happened..." She trailed off doubtfully.

"Sorry, Edie." Dawn was squeezing out from between the roommates, then knocked softly on her own door. "Naomi?" She took her key out of her pocket and unlocked it, looked inside, then locked it again, shaking her head. "She's asleep," she said, turning to Corrie and Edie with a shrug. "I guess it wasn't her."

"But who was it?" Edie looked around. There were only two doors still closed, and it seemed apparent that none of the people in the hallway were involved.

There was a sound from the stairwell and the door was flung open, almost hitting the wall. There stood Lorelei, her hair mussed, wrapped in a deep red satin bathrobe. "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

"We don't know," said one of the girls closest to the stairwell, who had a heart-shaped face and a mess of unruly brown curls. Edie thought she remembered her name from the meeting: Talia. "It must have come from one of the closed rooms." She was clutching the hand of her roommate, a girl with long blonde hair; both of them looked sleepy and scared.

Lorelei knocked on the door of the nearest, calling, "Are you all right in there?" When she received no answer, she tried the doorknob, then took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

Edie was focused on what Lorelei was doing, but she felt Corrie lean in close to her and whisper, "I didn't think the scream was that loud." Edie nodded slowly, puzzled. Now that Corrie mentioned it, she thought she agreed: the scream had certainly been loud enough for everyone on Gilkey 5 to hear, and probably the fourth floor as well, but she didn't think it would have carried all the way down to the first floor. And how would Lorelei have known what floor it came from, anyway?

Lorelei had moved on to the next room with a closed door. This one wasn't locked, but it didn't appear to have people locked in a life-or-death struggle, either, as no sounds came from it. Lorelei frowned and started to move toward Dawn's room at the end of the hallway, but Dawn stopped her. "I already checked my room. Naomi's asleep."

Lorelei nodded, her brows drawing together in confusion. "Well, I'll check the bathroom." Everyone was quiet as she disappeared into the bathroom; they could hear the echoing of her footsteps and her quiet calls. She emerged, shaking her head, and the murmur started up again.

Then one of the doors that Lorelei had already checked opened again. One of the girls from inside stood there in pajamas, yawning and pushing messy dark hair out of her face. "What happened?"

"We heard a scream," another girl informed her. "Nobody knows where it came from, though."

"Oh." The girl looked around blearily, but she appeared to be waking up. She blinked several times and opened her eyes wider, then looked around again. "Has anyone seen Annie?"