A Deadly Sorority (Book #1 Sorority Horrors)

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Detective Johnson promised me they were doing all they could to locate Steve, but they didn't seem interested in finding Karin Li, even though nobody had heard from her all day.

"Detective, we now have two students missing!" I said in a frustrated tone. "Don't you think you should be looking for both of them?"

"We're already on the hunt for Steve along with trying our hardest to catch the Crimson Lake Killer," he informed me. "We don't have many resources. I've already got the county and the CHP assisting in this effort." He sighed, breathing heavily into the phone. "Once she's been missing for 24 hours, we'll definitely include her in our search. As of now, Kayla, there isn't much more I can do." 

"I understand," I replied, sorrow spilling from my voice.

"Look, I'll keep you updated," he assured me. We said our goodbyes and ended the call.

I didn't feel any better, nor did I feel confident in the Irvine Police Department's ability to find Steve, Karin, or to capture the Crimson Lake Killer.

Patricia and the other sisters were upset at Karin's disappearance. Her best friend Morgan stayed up all night crying and shooting off text messages to Karin. That's when Patricia decided we all needed to come together and start a search for our sorority sister. 

"As you all know, Karin hasn't been located yet," Patricia announced as she stood in front of the fireplace; it masqueraded as a mysterious backdrop while the rest of us sorority girls sat on the couch or on the rugs within the large living room of the house. The atmosphere humid and tense.

"The police won't conduct a search for her until she's missing for at least 24 hours," I announced in the room full of my sorority sisters,

Patricia's eyes widened. "That's too long! We can't afford to wait, especially with the Crimson Lake Killer on the loose." She then stepped up to a whiteboard positioned in front of the fireplace.

She uncapped a few dry-erase markers and began scribbling on the board, her long braids swaying with each of her determined strokes. Morgan stood next to her, her eyes heavy with a dreary sadness, as if she had already accepted the heartbreaking truth that maybe she had lost her best friend forever.

"Okay, here's where we're going to start." Patricia pointed to a blue squiggly circle on the board. "This is Lake Donovan. It's next to our campus. We're gonna start there first."

"Are we all searching the same areas, or are we gonna split up into groups?" a girl sitting cross-legged on the carpet asked.

"We're going to split up into multiple groups," Patricia replied matter-of-factly. "I've already assigned the groups."

Morgan picked up a stack of papers lying on the toffee-colored side table next to the couch. She strolled around the room, the papers ruffling as she slipped one from the stack and began handing them out to each of us.

When she handed me my paper, I immediately peered down at it and spotted my name:

Group 4:

Brianna 

Kayla 

Georgina

Tasha

Veronica

Sweat beads trickled down my face as I stood there, trying to focus on Patricia's voice. But my mind spun like a washing machine at full speed, making it impossible to concentrate. Steve's brown eyes and his cheeky half-smile flooded my thoughts, and my heart ached as if it had been crushed underfoot.

"So, what do you expect us to do?" Brianna's voice boomed across the room. "We don't have the resources to conduct a search for Karin." She shrugged, a look of hopelessness washing over her face.

"I agree." I added, "But if we decide to search for her on our own, we must also protect ourselves from the Crimson Lake Killer. He's out there, and if we give him any opportunity to catch one of us, he'll take it."

"We can take him on!" Morgan stood up from her chair in her pink sneakers, speaking confidently, "Karin is depending on us. We're her sisters, after all. We can't let her down!" She proclaimed.

"I know." Patricia added, "We can do this. I believe in us!" She shouted as if she were at a protest, "We can do it! We can do it!"

Others began chanting along with her, "We can do it! We can do it!" 

Brianna and I gazed at one another, "What do you think about this?" Brianna asked, "I'm not so confident in our abilities. After all, none of us have training. We're all just sorority girls." She frowned.

I shrugged, skeptical about how we were going to execute what seemed to be an insurmountable task. "I think it's a good idea—to take matters into our own hands and protect one another while doing so."

The chanting slowly faded, and the room grew quiet. A girl in a pink tank top and white shorts raised her hand, and Patricia's eyes honed in on her, "Yes?"

"What weapons or protection will we have while we search for Karin?" The girl asked.

Brianna's eyes widened. "My dad owns a few guns," she said, glancing around the room. "I could probably borrow them while we're out searching."

"Guns?!" One of the sorority girls with big, bouncy curls exclaimed, crossing her arms. "Do you even know how to use one?"

Brianna nodded confidently. "Yep, I started going to the gun range with my dad when I turned eighteen. He's taught me well." A mischievous smile played on her lips.

"We could definitely use someone with your skills," Patricia said, her tone calculated. "Who else knows how to shoot?"