A Shade of Halloween

  “Please, mum. Just check.” I cried.

  “Okay. I’m going to go there and check it if you promise to go back to sleep.” She said.

  “Okay.” I agreed, sniffing back my tears.

  I waited on the phone for a couple of seconds before she spoke again.

  “Honey, I’m standing at the front door and it’s locked, just like I said it was.”

  “Okay… Thank… God.” I sighed into the phone.

  “Selena, I suggest you apply for a change of dorm rooms. You’re clearly still troubled by the horrific incident that happened there, just like anyone in your position will be. You shouldn’t keep staying there. Please put in your application in the morning. The authorities will understand.” She stated calmly.

  “Okay, mum. I love you.” I replied.

  “I love you too, honey.”

  The line went dead but I couldn’t go back to sleep. I looked at the time on my alarm clock and it was 3:45 am. I decided it would be better to be around other people so I grabbed my pillow and was heading out the door when I saw a fast moving shadow from the corner of my eye. My blood froze in my veins, numbing my muscles from further action. The last time I saw a fast moving shadow in my room, Alex turned up dead.

  “Am I next?”

  The thought horrified me even more. My neck turned in every direction, forcing my eyes to scan my surroundings quickly. There was no one there. I ran as fast as I could and opened the door like I was being chased. I knocked on Trina’s door and waited for her to answer. I knew she was most likely going to be fast asleep but standing alone out there in the hallway terrified me. Thankfully, she opened the door and wrapped her hands around me. I tried to explain but the only things that came out of my mouth were sobs. Tears flowed down my cheeks like something terrible had happened. Quite frankly, I had no idea why I was crying now. I had confirmed that my mum was fine but the fear just didn’t go away.

  Trina made some hot coffee in a mug and offered me to drink. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until the precious liquid touched my tongue. I gulped it down as much as the heat allowed me, falling asleep on her bed shortly after.

  Chapter Twelve

  I woke up the next morning to find myself sandwiched between Trina Bayle and her roommate, Jason Summers. It was weird for a couple of minutes before the holes in my memory filled themselves up and I remembered the events from last night. I was restless shortly after falling asleep, causing Jason and Trina to join me on the bed. It surely helped with the anxiety I was feeling because I didn’t wake up again until morning.

  “The princess ogre rises.” Jason mumbled and sat up on the bed.

  He fell off the edge because the bed was too small to hold two lying girls and one sitting boy. Trina and I didn’t spare him the laughter as his body landed on the floor with a thud.

  “Ouch.” He screamed, rubbing his butt which hit the hard floor.

  “That’s what you get for being so insensitive.” Trina laughed.

  As if on a timer, both of them looked at each other in a funny way and ran off their spots. I was still trying to figure out what was going on when I saw them run into the bathroom and heard the sound of brushing teeth. It was such a funny event to watch and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Thanks for putting up with me.” I yelled, so they could hear me from the bathroom.

  “It’s fine. We’re always here to help.” Trina mumbled, her toothbrush and paste mixture stopping the sound from coming out clearly.

  Jason mumbled something I didn’t hear at all, causing me to laugh one more time.

  “You guys are the best.” I yelled back, opening the door and stepping into the hallway.

  I opened the door of my room and walked in. Everything looked just like it was when I left. I knew I couldn’t let the terrible incident that happened in the room stop me from living my life so I mustered the courage to go in. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. There was no fast moving shadow or dead body hiding anywhere.

  I gave myself a small smile and stepped into the bathroom. After my shower, I slipped into my black tank top and black skin tight jeans. I straightened my hair with a flat iron and held it into a ponytail. I felt the need to look different today. I was having a brand new start and didn’t want to leave my hair parted in the middle and falling past my shoulders. I picked up my eyebrow pencil and started with my makeup. This was the first time I was wearing makeup since the incident and it felt great. Eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush, highlighter, foundation, primer… they all came together on my face and I absolutely loved the result. I must have forgotten how beautiful I was because even I was impressed by what I saw in the mirror.

  After staring at my reflection for another one minute, I slipped on my red and black oversized Burberry shirt and folded both sleeves to the elbow. I added my black string necklace with a shiny silver cross pendant to complete my look. It was just 7 am, which meant I still had time to go to the housing office and request for a change of room. Trina would have gone with me but she had to prep for a test and I completely understood. She spent a lot of time catering to me last night instead of studying. I got to the office and met a friendly looking lady who gave me a form to fill out.

  “Just put in your hall name, current room number and your reason for requesting a change. Then sign here and here.” She said, pointing to two blank lines on the paper.

  I nodded and filled out the form. When I returned it to her, she smiled at me.

  “It takes one day for requests to be processed but I’ll put yours in today. You can come back tomorrow morning for your new assignment. How are you holding up?” She asked.

  “Um… fine. Thanks.” I replied.

  For a few moments, I was surprised. Then I realized why she was being so sweet to me. Everyone had heard about the incident with Alex – thanks to the local news. I walked to class, wishing I had put some sunglasses in my bag. That would have helped me avoid the direct gaze of students staring at me.

  “Sometimes, people don’t know that all you need is for them to act normal.”

  A couple of people stopped me to ask how I was holding up and while I appreciated their concern, I really needed them to stop talking about it.

  I got to class and memories from my dream came back to me. Thankfully, I had English for my first class. That gave me some time to compose myself before seeing Mr. Ross in History class.

  “What if he had the same dream too?”

  I shook my head in a bid to dispel the thought.

  For the sake of my sanity, I sincerely hoped he didn’t.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I got into History class and placed my textbooks on the table, switched my cellphone to silent mode and waited for Mr. Ross to come in.

  “You look great, Selena. It’s so good to see you’re doing well.” Erin Butterfield said, flashing me a smile.

  “Thanks.” I replied, smiling back.

  “Are you holding up good?” Peyton Roland asked.

  “Yeah, thanks.” I replied.

  I didn’t really feel like listening to the condolences coming in from my classmates. I understood their good intentions but they reminded me of the incident. I felt it was better to block them out, so I plugged my headphones to my ears and put my favorite playlist on repeat. At exactly 10 am, Mr. Ross came in and began his lecture. I managed to remain invisible, following all his stipulated rules to avoid his verbal attack.

  “Hey, Selena. Have you heard about Harper’s party? Everyone’s going.” Tim Ropes whispered, halfway through the lecture.

  I froze on my seat.

  Tim ropes just asked me the exact question he asked in my dream! If anybody else had asked me if I was going to Harper’s party, I would have passed it off as coincidental. Everything was just too similar for me to ignore. I felt like I was living a part of my life all over again. That was when everything started to creep me out. The condolences from my other classmates, the playlist I put on repeat… they were all the sam
e as the ones in my dream.

  “Oh, please no. Let this be a coincidence.”

  “You should come. It’ll be good for you.” Tim continued.

  I glared at him and signaled for him to shut it. Thankfully, Mr. Ross didn’t notice and the class went on. I really didn’t grasp anything that was taught because my mind was all over the place. I was looking for something… anything to tell me that the events unfolding right now were different from the one in my dream. So far, there was nothing different and I was freaking out like crazy. Somehow, I managed to maintain my ‘focused’ demeanor which looked like I was concentrating. All I saw was Mr. Ross’s lips opening and closing – and that was when I wasn’t completely zoned out. I scanned Mr. Ross’s face to see if he was staring at me. He wasn’t. It was either he was putting up a great act of pretense, or he really had no idea what my dream was.

  “How can he? It was just a dream.”

  Mr. Ross concluded the day’s topic and wrote the assignment for the next class on the board. It was about America’s productivity in medieval times – something that required me to go to the library again. I hadn’t been to the library since the incident but now, I had no choice. I had to go. I made a mental note to leave before dark, because I didn’t want to creep myself out with scary thoughts.

  “This class is over, make sure to pick your graded papers on your way out.” Mr. Ross said, forcing my attention back to the class.

  I remembered my paper which I never turned in but it was way too similar to my dream. I knew I couldn’t consciously do the same things and expect a different result, so I decided to let this one slide. Failing to turn one paper in was not going to cost me the course. Besides, I couldn’t risk trying to turn it in only for things to turn out the way they did in my dreams. That would be horrible.

  “Miss. Ryder, please stay back after the class. I’ll like to have a word with you.” Mr. Ross said, as students began to walk out.

  He glanced at me only briefly before going back to the arrangement of his teaching materials.

  “Oh, no. Please, no.”

  This couldn’t be happening. I had no idea what I was going to do if I stayed back and he came on to me like he did in my dream. My brain was working overtime, trying to find an excuse to give him. I couldn’t stay back alone with him in the classroom.

  It was way too risky.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I sat there confused, watching other students as they made their way out of the class. They picked up their graded papers from the front desk and Mr. Ross supervised to make sure no one was picking a paper up for anyone else. I was going crazy. My throat felt dry and my heart was beating at a thousand beats per second. The dreaded moment came when the last student walked out of class and Mr. Ross locked the door after the student. I wasn’t just left alone with him in the classroom, it was locked!

  “Selena…” He started.

  I didn’t realize it, but I held my breath from fear. I sat there like a statue, watching him as more words came out of his mouth.

  “I wanted to offer my condolences over the loss of your friend and roommate. I know how tough it can be when a student experiences something so horrific. You can take the time you need and turn your papers in whenever you’re up to it.” He stated, calmly.

  “That’s it? No surprise attacks or surprise naughty advances?”

  I forcefully expelled the breath I was holding, albeit silently.

  “Um… thank you… Mr. Ross.” I replied, looking down. “I… um… have my paper ready.”

  I didn’t know how or what I felt. It certainly couldn’t be disappointment. There was no way I would want him to do the nasties to me now, was there? I searched my backpack for the paper and brought it out. I walked down the steps and handed the paper to him. Mr. Ross looked gave me a slightly surprised look.

  “I love the fact that you’re not letting your experiences beat you down.” He smiled, accepting the paper from me and adding it to the stack he had.

  “Thank you.” I replied, walking briskly out of the class to hide the blush in my cheeks.

  I went straight to the bathroom and locked myself in a booth. I didn’t know what was going on but my mind was certainly twisted. A few hours ago I was scared out of my mind that Mr. Ross was going to do the nasties to me, just like he did in my dreams. Now, I was hiding in the bathroom because of an uncontrollable blush… a direct result of Mr. Ross’s charming smile.

  “Yeah. I’m crazy.” Okay, maybe it was unexpected. I had never seen Mr. Ross smile before today and to be honest, he had a beautiful smile. One that softened up his tough features.

  “Is that why he doesn’t like smiling?” I could only wonder.

  All through the time we were alone in the classroom, Mr. Ross didn’t as much as look at me in a way that could be considered inappropriate. I began to question myself. What if I was the one with a secret crush on Mr. Ross? I was the one who had the dream about him in the first place. I wanted to let it go at that point, but I couldn’t. If I was the one having naughty thoughts about him, what about the other aspects of my dream? Why did things happen exactly the same way? Something was definitely up. I could feel it. I just couldn’t place my finger on what it was. When the color of my cheeks returned to normal, I came out of the booth I was hiding and made my way to my next class.

  Chapter Fifteen

  At lunch time, I had finally had enough of school. Instead of sitting at the cafeteria and engaging in long sessions of ‘how are you, Selena’ and ‘it’s gonna be okay’ with condoning students, I opted to go to the flower shop. I still hadn’t gone to say goodbye to Alex and I believed I felt up to it now. Alex’s favorite color was navy blue so I made a bouquet with blue Orchids and white Spring Starflowers.

  I walked to the cemetery which was several blocks away from campus. I needed the walk because it helped with my nerves. I wasn’t really sure what to say to Alex when I got there and I thought I could use the time to come up with a few lines. I didn’t. When I wasn’t drawing blanks, I was coming up with silly things like I’m sorry you’re dead. Who says that?

  By the time I got to the cemetery, there were just a handful of people visiting their departed loved ones. Mostly old people really, but I guessed it was normal. It was mid-afternoon and most people were busy at work or school or whatever else they did to keep them busy. I already knew where Alex’s headstone was because I asked my mum. I walked straight to it and placed my bouquet of flowers close to the others there and just stared. It was really weird. For the number of times I teased Alex, it was surprising to have nothing to say to him now. I sat on the grass and continued staring at the headstone. That was when the inscription registered itself in my head.

  Alex Orwell Black (1999 – 2016).

  I never knew Alex had a middle name. What was more surprising was what that middle name was – Orwell. My mind went straight to the Selena Ryder book I had read in the library the last time I was there. That Selena’s best friend who was murdered happened to be named Alexander Orwell. Now, I was really confused. Not only did he have the same name as my Alex – at least the first two names, he was murdered exactly the same way! That was too much of a coincidence for me. I didn’t know if anyone else would have ignored it, but I couldn’t. I knew I had to go back to the library immediately and read more of that book. It was probably going to have some clues about what was going on around me. Everything was getting way too creepy for me to sit back and ignore.

  “Selena.” I heard my name behind me and jumped.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Detective Howard said, walking towards me with an almost expressionless look on his face.

  “Hi, Detective.” I said, getting up from the grass.

  “I was at your school and one of your classmates said you went to the flower shop. I figured you were coming here. If it’s okay, I’ll like to have a quick discussion with you once you’re done paying your respects to your friend.”

  “I hope this
has nothing to do with the note.”

  “Um… I was just leaving.” I replied.

  “Can we talk in the car then?” He asked.

  “Sure.” I walked back to his car with him and took the passenger’s seat.

  “I wanted to update you on the case about your roommate before the press release this evening.” He said.

  My fingers reflexively clutched the seat of his car from nervousness, as I waited for his next words.

  “I’m sorry to inform you that the case is inconclusive at this point. The victim’s autopsy report revealed the cause of death to be severe blood loss from an injury to the neck. He had no prints on him and there were no traces of his blood anywhere in the room where his body was found. What we’ve been able to deduce is that the murder didn’t happen in that room because there would have been traces of blood if it did. What we don’t know however, is the motive behind his murder. There has been no other recorded murder like his recently. We also do not know if this is an isolated case or something that’s going to repeat itself. I know how difficult this must be for you to hear – with the killer still at large, but I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to track him down with the minimal clues we have. We’ll keep your family updated if anything new turns up.”

  I released my grip on the car seat and just stared at the detective. I was relieved to know I wasn’t a suspect but that bothered me. It’s not like I wanted to be a suspect but the fact that I wasn’t one, confirmed that they didn’t see the note I wrote about Alex’s murder. If they didn’t see it and I couldn’t find it, then where was it?

  “Are you okay, Selena?” Detective Howard asked, when he noticed I wasn’t saying anything.

  “Um… yeah. I guess I can only hope the killer is found soon.” I replied. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Where are you headed? I can give you a ride.” He stated, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

  “Back to campus. I need to go to the library.” I replied.

  Detective Howard nodded and drove the car out of the parking lot.