CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel) (28 page)

I tried to keep my alcoholic
consumption low, my mind still filled with thoughts of getting my
paper completed the following day, but I could already feel the pull
as I sipped on my cup of punch. I knew that it was time to go.

I whispered my intentions to
Tess as she continued to pass the time in the company of the
progressively drunk football team. She nodded me away, her mind now
fixed on other things, and I headed into the back to collect my coat,
stashed away in a side room when we had originally arrived.

I felt a chill hit me as I
stepped away from the crowd of ghouls, the quiet of the back rooms
unsettling. After a few drinks the costumes were growing ever more
unpleasant in my head, especially when so many of the guys insisted
on staying in character.

I found the room with all the
cloaks and nervously rummaged through them to find my own. As I
slipped it on I heard a sudden voice behind me, cutting the silence
of the room.

“
Leaving so soon?”

I turned quickly as my heart
tried to climb up my throat, and saw Freddie Krueger standing in
front of me.

“
Tom, you scared me, fuck
man.”

He laughed lightly and took off
his mask. “Sorry Bambi, I thought you were tougher than that.”

“
Yeah, well not after a few
drinks in a house full of nightmares,” I said, sucking in air.

He walked up towards me, his
eyes drunk, his hands busy. “So how about we head up to my room?”

Wow, I didn't expect that. Most
girls would have jumped on him, literally, at the chance, but not me.

“
Er, thanks for the offer Tom,
but I've got a paper to finish tomorrow. I had a great time, though,
thanks.”

I tried to walk past him towards
the door but he stepped in my way, pulling me in towards him. “Oh
come on Alice, don't play me like that. I see how you look at me.”

Huh?

“
Yeah don't look so
surprised.” His words were slurring, oozing from his mouth. “Yeah,
you look at me like the rest of them, don't pretend like you don't.”

“
Sorry Tom, you're a good
looking guy n all, but you're not my type.”

He scoffed at the idea. “Not
your type? Then what is your type?”

I wasn't in the mood to
entertain him right now. “I don't have a type right now - only
work. Why don't you go talk to Tess, I know she likes you.”

“
Tess?” He sounded confused.

“
Yeah Tess, you know, blue
eyes, long legs, blonde hair, Tess. I came in with her.”

“
Ohhhh, Tess. Well if we're
talking types she's not mine.”

“
Really?” I said, genuinely
shocked. Tess was gorgeous - it was news to me that any guy wouldn't
fancy her.

“
Yeah, too tall, not enough
meat on her bones.”

“
So you're saying I do have
enough meat? Are you calling me fat Tom?” I joked.

“
Curvy,” he said, “like a
woman should be.” I could see his eyes washing all over me,
stripping me bare one garment at a time.

“
Well I appreciate the
compliment, but I've gotta go.”

I brushed past him forcefully
but he grabbed my arm. “Are you a prude Alice?” he asked, his
voice now turning cruel. His breath carried the stench of alcohol,
his eyes dropping and lingering too long on my chest.

“
Let me go Tom,” I said,
staring at him. “Let me go now or I'll scream.” I thought that
was a little bit melodramatic but it seemed to work. He released my
arm and put his hands up in the air, stumbling slightly as he stepped
backwards.

“
OK, have it your way.” He
wiped his hands together in front of me and threw them apart before
turning and walking heavily towards the door, swaying slightly under
the weight of the alcohol in his system.

Yet
more proof that he is, in fact, a monumental dickhead.

Chapter
5

I flicked my eyes up to my room
as I walked back over the frozen ground to my halls. I could see the
light on through the window. I could have sworn that I'd turned it
off before I left, I always did.

I continued on into the building
and quickened my pace as I entered, the carpet inside giving extra
traction to my shoes. The main door shut with a heavy thud that
echoed through the halls. It was quiet inside, no surprise for a
Saturday night when everyone always seemed to me out doing something.

I headed up the stairs and
rounded the corner at the top. I could see my room at the end of the
corridor, no light shining through from the other side. My face
contorted into a frown as I looked on. I could have sworn I saw the
light on inside.

I continued towards it and sent
my key into the lock, turning it to the left. It wouldn't turn - it
had already been opened.
Did I leave the door unlocked as well?

I opened the door slowly,
reaching towards the wall with my hand, searching for the
lightswitch. I flicked it on and the room was dowsed in a sickly
light, I looked around the room, checking to see if anyone was in
there, my heart pulsing wildly.
Maybe Jenny had come back to get
something, and just left the door open when she left?

It wasn't a big room so I
quickly saw that there was no one there but me. I immediately
returned to the door and locked it shut. After being at that party,
and after the way Tom had been, my nerves were pretty much frayed.
This was just the straw that broke the camels back.

I breathed deep and steadied my
pulse. I felt a little tipsy but nothing more, and it was still only
early. A good nights sleep and I'll have no trouble finishing my
paper tomorrow. “Good job Alice”, I said to myself, “not only
did you manage to eschew the pull of alcohol, but you also managed to
say no to the
dreamboat
that is Tom Weston.” I spoke
sarcastically, and chuckled as I did.

I flicked on my lamp and
returned to the door to turn the main light off before slipping out
of my dress and into my underwear. Without Jen the room was now bare,
horribly so, uncomfortably so. It was like it was my first night at
college, yet to unpack, yet to deck out my room.

My eyes were heavy as I lay
there in bed, just reward for a long day spent at work and a short
evening spent at play. It didn't take long for my mind to start going
blank, my thoughts sending me tumbling into a dream, one filled with
nothing but worry - finish my paper, find a new job. There was
nothing else.

......

I slowly woke in the darkness, a
light sound of movement in the room bringing my mind straight back
into focus.

It was pitch black in there, the
night outside dark and brooding, no light penetrating the curtains. I
listened intently as my breath was caught in my lungs, my heart
threatening to stop.
There was someone in my room with me.

I continued to listen as I heard
the careful sound of footsteps moving towards the door. I could hear
hands feeling for the lock and then a click as the lock opened.
Suddenly, the door swung open, sending light crashing into the room
from out in the hall.

I saw the silhouette of a man
against the light, his tall frame dressed in dark clothing, the top
of his head wavy with flowing locks. He twisted his neck to look over
his shoulder as he left, and I saw the mask - the V for Vendetta mask
from the party - covering his face.

I couldn't see his eyes but knew
that he could see mine, lit up by the light, stark fear etched across
them. Then, quickly, he stepped from the room and shut the door. I
could hear his footsteps rushing off down the hall and onto the
carpeted stairs.

I jumped from my bed and opened
the curtain, looking down onto the courtyard below as he rushed out
of the main door and onto the snow, pacing off as quickly as he could
down the side of the building and out of sight.

I collapsed back down onto my
bed, my heart uncontrollable in my chest, and lay there shivering.
He'd been in my room the whole time, the whole time I'd been
sleeping. I turned the light on and looked up, seeing the wardrobe on
Jen's side of the room open. That's where he'd been hiding.
Who
the hell was he?

I tried to sleep but couldn't.
How the hell would I be able to sleep after all of that? What the
fuck was someone doing hiding in my room? Not to hurt me, otherwise
he'd have done that. No, he was looking for something, and I caught
him when I got back. He'd turned the light off, hiding in the closet,
waiting for me to sleep. When the time was right, he'd sneaked out,
creeping towards the door to escape.

I didn't turn the light off that
night as I lay there. It was still only just past midnight and the
dorm was still quiet, everyone still out partying and enjoying their
Saturday night - you know, doing what students do.

Me? I was lying there, paper to
finish, job to find, after being frightened half to death by a
mystery man in my room, a man I'd already seen earlier that night
creeping around a campus party. If I thought my life couldn't get any
more fucked up, well, I was wrong.

Chapter
6

I did my best to put the
previous night out of my mind as I sat at my desk trying to finish my
paper. I hadn't managed to sleep much in the end, perhaps catching a
few restless hours before settling back into my work in the early
morning.

When Tess came knocking at
lunchtime I filled her in on what happened.

“
Damn girl, this room needs
some love.” That was the first thing she said to me when I opened
it up to her at about midday. She hadn't seen it properly since Jen
had left.

She was overly chatty, still
buoyed by the booze in her blood, talking excitedly about her antics
the previous night: it seemed the night had morphed into some sort of
monster fetish orgy after I'd left, everyone given some sort of
anonymity by the outfits and masks they were wearing. It sounded like
something out of Eyes Wide Shut - a sex masquerade party with
halloween costumes. Damn was I glad I left when I did.

After she was done with the gory
details - that I really didn't want to hear by the way - I told her
about the guy with the V mask, the guy who broke into my dorm.

She had no explanation, but
reacted just as I'd expect her to.
Go the the campus police. Go to
the real police. Report it. Do something!

Of course, I knew there was no
point to any of that. First off, what the hell could they do?
Secondly, would they really care?
College hijinks, nothing more
,
they'd say. I dunno, maybe they were right. Whatever the case, best
to put it out of my mind, I had a lot bigger fish to fry.

I told Tess, politely as
possible, to piss off, dropping my head back into my books to polish
up my paper and pushing everything else from my mind. That's
something I'd always been good at - pushing unpleasant thoughts out
of my head. Growing up the way I did it was a skill I had needed to
learn.

Mid afternoon I heard another
knock at the door. “Alice, are you in there?” I recognized the
voice from the day before. That warm and smooth voice.

“
If you're looking for Jen,
Kyle, she's not in I'm afraid,” I shouted from across the room. “I
told you already, she's moved out.”

“
I'm not here for Jen, I'm
here to speak to you.”

I dropped my pen and picked my
head up from my books. “Huh? I don't know you.” I spoke. I had no
time for nonsense.

“
I know that. I wanted to
apologize.”

“
For what?”

There was a short silence before
he spoke again. “Last night.”

A frown inched across my face.
“That's OK, Kyle. You only disturbed me for a moment. Instead of
apologizing about that, maybe you should leave me alone right now?”

“
No, I'm not apologizing about
coming here yesterday, well, not during the day at least.”

My heart fell to the floor. It
was him, last night. It was him in the mask.

I walked slowly towards the
door. “Who are you?” I asked, my words cautious.

“
Please, let me in and I'll
tell you. I have a proposition for you Alice, something you may be
interested in.”

Who the fuck was this guy. He
comes looking for Jen, then sneaks back into my room when I'm out
later that night dressed like a creepy comic book character, and now
he's telling me he's got a proposition for me. I didn't even know
him, had never properly met him.

“
Erm, I'm not really
interested in anything you have to say. You broke into my fucking
room last night!”

“
OK, OK, I'm sorry for that.”
I looked through the peephole as he spoke, his stubble slightly
thicker than before, owing to an extra days growth, his blue eyes
apologetic, his wavy hair swept back behind his head. He was achingly
manly, his chin and jawline cast from stone, his voice so deep and
smooth.

“
Please Alice, let me
apologize, let me explain why I'm here.”

He sounded earnest, sounded
genuine. Even though I didn't trust him, my curiosity was spiked too
high for me to give this up. In any case, he didn't look to me a man
to stop at the first hurdle. I had a feeling that if I didn't hear
him out, he'd be coming back anyway.