Turn On the Light

I've been a student at the Fordham University long enough to know that all the creepy rumors are NOT true. Yes, I know there is a graveyard on campus by the church but that doesn't mean that demons and ghosts roam these halls. It is just another catholic college in New York.

Of course, that doesn't mean that some parts of the campus aren't creepy. Yes, the building creeks and stinks, old priests walk through out the halls, and some of the professors look at you like you're jumping on a pogo stick, wearing a rainbow wig, and singing your ABCs.

During the night, when we are in our dorms, there are no lights in the hall ways. The whole time that I've been here when you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you always take a friend. No exceptions.

Well this was another one of those nights. Around 3:00am I am asleep with my room mate Kelly. We have both been here for about a year and a half trying to keep up with classes and not drinking every night.

As I am sleeping, dreams swarm in my head, twirling around my brain. The sensation is great when you are in a deep sleep, letting your weight sink into the bed and the blankets enclose you.

This sensation is immediately broken when a loud crash takes me away from my dreaming. My eyes open as if they are on a timer and I sit up. Silence fills the room. Maybe I was just dreaming I think. I glance around in the dim light provided by the moon. I can only see shapes and shadows fixed on the beds and walls.

That's when the urge hit me. Oh shit, I need to pee. Slowly getting to my feet I tap Kelly's shoulder. She doesn't move. Again I try, a little more aggressive this time and she moans.

"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom," I say in a hushed voice.

"Oh ya, ya I got it, alright," she mumbles. We both exit the dorm closing the door behind us.

As we walk down the pitch black hallway, she dances and laughs. This calms me from the darkness around. Encouraging her, I sway my hips back and forth, but I am too tired to elaborate arm movements.

In the bathroom we don't turn on the light because of the people down the hall always complain about it. Once I am done, we go back to our dorm and let sleep devour us.

*************************************

My eye lids are stuck together, but when they open my face cringes and my eyes squint. The room is filled with light and voices. I sit up and wait for my eyes to adjust to the light and my brain to adjust to the bustling noise.

Police men. Police men fill my room along with other students. What the hell is going on? Everyone is surrounding Kelly's bed. I take a moment to put my hair up and rub my face. Then I push my way through the surprisingly thick crowd of people to Kelly's bed.

As soon as I do, everyone is silent. The room is filled with dead air. My stomach urges, twists, and lurches. My mouth is left open and dry. My eyes are wide with fear and a single tear drizzles down my face.

Kelly's mutilated, lifeless body lays on her bed. A crimson, thick liquid soaks her sheets. Blood is splattered on the walls.

A tap on my shoulder makes me jump.

" Excuse me, we know you were room mates with the victim," said a police officer. "We need to know what happened. Can you help us fill in the blanks?"

I quickly explained our trip to the bathroom and how I went to sleep soon after.

"And what time did this happen?"

"Around three o'clock."

The officer exchanges quick words with another man in blue and then speaks to me again.

" I'm sorry, but that's not possible," He said. "The forensics team says that she died around 11:30 pm. You went to the bathroom four hours after the victim was killed."