Psycho Killer

Take 4: Homesickness & Icebreakers

Enid's POV:

Tarek's legs carry him at a rate I've never been able to compete with. Speed is a reassurance policy in my mind that if I am ever in need of help, he will be by my side in moments. The rate at which we speed down these identical hallways for someone we barely know only solidifies the fact.

The scream seamlessly blended with the movie's themes, confusing me at first as the timing seemed just that touch-off. My director's mind is good for one thing, at the very least. The sound came from the throat, patchy and loud, but would have gagged them had they screamed again and though I know something is wrong, I know it's not someone's life on the line... yet.

My socks sink into fresh snow, enveloping my ankles in the cold. I don't understand how Tarek isn't losing his footing as he races across the pavement to the other dormitory building. He disappears into the building before I can make it halfway across the snow-laden path. Being in the warmth for so long makes my body vulnerable to these frigid temperatures. My skin is burning, my legs don't want to move. When the screaming stops, I stop pushing myself, knowing Tarek has been some kind of help. That is, unless they've both been murdered, and this pristine white ground is about to look a lot less pure.

"Are you trying to freeze yourself to death?" Kip appears just as I fear I will sink, and allow myself to rest on the nearest snow heap.
"Surprisingly, I didn't stop to put on my coat when I heard someone screaming their lungs out." I quip, shivering as he embraces me around the shoulders.
"Excuses, excuses." He rolls his eyes, pulling his coat around me.

"Do you know where it was coming from?" Hendriks questions me, though his eyes seem to pull toward Kip more than they should. I can't blame him, though. I can barely keep my eyes to myself when I'm around the right people. Expecting the same of him would be hypocritical.

"Not specifically, my body stopped working." I huff, struggling to breathe the icy air. "Tarek's inside." I start moving with Kip toward the dormitory doors.

"Let me go first." Hendriks puts his arm out as he steps in front of us. "And for god's sake, put my coat on." He shoves his coat at Kip. We stop at the door as he pulls it over his arms. My eyebrows raise as I give him the most pointed glance I can pull off with frozen facial features.

"What are you on about Enid Jones?" He denies with the very essence of his being.

"Nothing, just for god's sake, put his coat on, that's all." I bite back my smirk, giving a light-hearted shrug as I take my place under his arm as we approach the light soaking the hallways' cool-toned walls.

"Did you get it? Is it dead?" I hear a meek voice question, assumably Tarek, or perhaps Hendriks, as he doesn't stand at the doorway, meaning he is inside. If we're not careful and more people come to join this little scream queen meeting, we might just perfectly imitate a tin of sardines.

"When I said just scream if anyone needs anything, I didn't mean scream blue murder." Kip oozes his usual dry charm at the brunette currently tucked up on her roommate's desk. She drowns in a sweatshirt, her arms holding her knees close to her chest.

Tarek and Hendriks are on their hands and knees, searching under the furthest corners of the cozy space.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do." The brunette pouts, "There was a rat on the bed."
"On your bed?" Kip grimaces.

"No, my roommate's." Jodee's pout deepens. "I hate rats. I hate, hate, hate them." She curses before a shiver rolls down her spine. "I can feel it."
"You're okay." Kip moves into the room, sitting next to Jodee to comfort her. Just as his ass hits the surface, the very rodent Jodee was speaking of comes scurrying out from under the bed. The high-pitched scream returns, but this time it comes from my friend's mouth. Kip jumps up on the desk next to Jodee, almost hiding behind her.