Darkness in the Dorms

Almost everyone had gone home for the weekend, but a few residents remained in the old building that was Sessions Hall. The night was cold and stormy, and the residents were feeling restless. After a long discussion of what movie they should watch, A Goofy Movie eventually won the vote. Terra and Allie were each taking up a couch. Sierra and Chris were on a third couch, snuggled close together, Chris with one foot resting on the warn coffee table. Allie was sitting directly behind the love birds, using their headrest for her feet, and occasionally kicking Chris in the head. Every time this happened, Chris would look back at Allie with a glare, and Sierra would snuggle in a little closer.

            The four of them watched absent-mindedly, subconsciously munching on popcorn and Swedish fish. They were all thinking about the storm outside, that seemed to be growing more violent and nearer every hour. After the last burst of lightning Terra could only count to “two Mississippi” before the roaring clap of thunder, which had shook the entire building. Now she was pondering whether Sessions would crumble into dust if it were hit by one of the marvelous bolts.

            Just as she was about to dismiss this thought a flash of lightning and a simultaneous boom of thunder filled the air. The television flickered for a second, and then went off. One of the girls screamed, as the group was plunged into pitch blackness.

            No one moved for several moments, finally Chris spoke up, startling everyone.

            “It’s probably just a fuse,” he said, trying to reassure himself as well as the girls, “I’ll go check it out.”

            He pried himself from Sierra’s clutches, offered her a quick kiss, and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

           

            The girls sat in the dark, letting their eyes adjust. They spoke only in whispers, as if talking loudly would somehow bring about another attack from the angry sky. They continued munching mindlessly to ease their troubled minds. Finally, the snacks ran out.

            Sierra stood up, maybe in a vain search for more popcorn, or perhaps she just realized that her boyfriend was still gone and the power was still out. She looked about the room as if Chris might have somehow sneaked back in without her noticing. She turned to face the group.

            “You know, Chris had been quite awhile. I think I should go check it out.”

            No one argued while Sierra put her slippers on and wrapped herself in a Utah Jazz blanket. Chris was her boyfriend after all. If anyone was his keeper, it was Sierra.  She opened the door slowly, and poked her head out. She glanced back at the other two girls and vanished into the dark depths of the lobby.

            Amanda and Sarah were sitting in their room in the dark. Before the lights turned off, Sarah was thinking about starting her homework, and Amanda had been trying half-heartedly to clean her half of the room while sitting on her bed. Neither of them really cared that the power was out now, because that gave them an excuse to avoid their responsibilities. Both of them were content in the dark to just sit and talk about how dumb the boys upstairs were.

            “You know,” Amanda was saying, “Boys are like baby’s butts.”

            Sarah yawned and asked, “How’s that?”

            “Well, they’re kind of cute, but they’re still butts.”

            Sarah laughed in agreement.

The storm outside was growing more violent by the minute, but it didn’t even phase these roommates, who found electrical storms fascinating, and were in fact in the habit of singing and dancing in the rain. What did frighten them was the piercing scream that echoed throughout the long, deserted girls’ hallway.

Sarah reached for her booklight, and Amanda flipped open her phone. The dim light was just enough to cast an eerie glow across the girls faces. They glanced at each other, then Sarah reached out and grasped the handle. She held it for a moment and then let it go as if it were on fire.

“What are we doing?!” She half whispered. “If you hear someone scream, you don’t go out to investigate it! I don’t watch horror movies, but even I know that!”

“What should we do then? Call the police? What if it was just Allie yelling at Chris?” Amanda rationalized.

Though the scream didn’t sound like Allie, Sarah agreed that maybe she was overreacting a bit. It was probably just the storm. As fascinating as it was, it did leave her a little on edge. She reached for the handle again and pushed the door open.

The girls stepped out and look right to the end of their hall. Everything appeared normal, so they rounded the corner to the long hallway and almost ran straight into Sierra. All three girls screamed until they realized who each other was.

“Sierra!” Sarah exclaimed, somewhat relived. “What’s going on?”

Sierra started talking frantically, bringing herself almost to tears, “There was someone in my room! They climbed out through my window! See?”

She led Sarah and Amanda into her bedroom. The blinds and curtains were slapping the sill violently against the wind.

“Are you sure?” Amanda asked.

Sierra nodded and backed out of the room. The other two followed, and closed the door behind them.

“Chris went to figure out how to turn the power back on, I went to find him, but he wasn’t where I thought he would be. I went to my room to grab a flashlight, and when I opened the door someone was staring at me.”

“So you screamed and he fled?” Sarah guessed.

Sierra nodded again, and the three of them walked to the game room where Sierra had last left Allie and Terra. They weren’t there.