VIRULENCE | H.S |

~ 1 • C ~

Chapter One - Catherine's POV

I wake up suddenly as I feel the car begin to steady along the twisted road. I guess this Xanax really did the trick, I was knocked out the entire ride.

I couldn't contribute it all to the small white pill, though. I certainly indulged myself with countless glasses of tequila during the horrendously long flight across the Atlantic.

Thank God for the easily swayed stewardesses my father had hired and their eagerness to accept tips.

Despite the strict instructions that were given to them—to not allow me to drink, I felt quite comfortable during that flight, and it was all thanks to the unlimited refills of Casamigos hand delivered to me on the jet.

"Miss Vanderbilt, Please wake up. We have arrived, and it's best to not keep anyone waiting for your well-anticipated advent." My driver states, halting me out of my thoughts as we venture through the gates of the new hell that would be my home for the next year.

"Your concern is irrelevant, as I am awake. And, there's no need for a geography lesson, either. I can clearly see where we are."  I reply with a spiteful tone.

I'd known where we were headed the second I had gotten on the plane. Furthermore, I'd vigorously researched the school and it's obtuse ethical standards during the course of flight.

Dunnet University, in Northern Scotland. What a miserable a place to spend an entire year of one's life.

It's abundantly clear this is the last place I want to be, but leave it to the father of the year and his new trophy wife to send me away, yet again.

Gotta love being the most valued family member.

The previous institution I was sent to was far closer to where my father lived in Washington. And, lucky for me,  I could still get in enough trouble during my time there, so that it would be relayed back to him almost instantaneously.

It wasn't simply me acting out to spite him, I truly just got bored, a lot.

Nonetheless, I didn't mind the look on his face when he found out about my mutinous and danger-filled extracurriculars.

This time, however, it seemed he had enough of my rebellious activities, and he ended up sending me to another country. I imagine his mindset was one that focused around, "Out of sight, Out of mind."

Who really knows what goes through his head, though?  To be honest, it isn't one I wish to be inside of.

The driver stops the car abruptly, and I take in my mundane surroundings outside the car window.

Cold, dreary, and dark, just like my soul. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought?

Mere minutes later, I step out of the car and peer around at the tall building in front of me. I've never been to Scotland before but it had never been something truly appealing to me. It was dark and damp, and it rained over half the year.

There was the ocean, though. That's always a plus.

I really love the water.

In all honesty, the only good thing about this dreadful school seemed to be it's close proximity to the water.

The university is set right on a large bank of cliffs that skillfully overlook the bay of the North Sea. The water is beautiful, and though there's still an abrupt amount of wind that seems to filter through the cove, I already feel the gravitating pull towards the beach, and the glistening sea along it.