Awakened

Chapter 6

Stephanie knew they were just toying with her, giving her false hope that she could escape. She knew they could catch her at any time but she kept running hoping her legs wouldn't give out from under her.

Stephanie wondered if they started chasing her yet but she couldn't hear anything behind her. The only noise she heard were her own footsteps slapping against the ground and he blood rushing to her head. She started to feel lightheaded and wanted to stop running but she knew she couldn't. The thought to stop left her head as soon as Cece and Jay's voices were bouncing off the walls through the tunnels.

The tunnels! Stephanie knew where she was.

Hartland Willowcrest University of New York just celebrated their one hundred and fiftieth year. Founded by William Hartland, it was first an all-male college named Hartland University. In 1850 with the help of Mr. Hartland's sister and brother-in-law, it became coed and one of the first colleges to give out degrees to women that were equivalent to a male's. In 1968 it was decided that Mr. and Mrs. Willowcrest deserved recognition for their help in changing the entirety of the university.

Hartland had a hankering for the underground so before the school was built he had tunnels dug through which would lead from one side of campus to the other. Since the tunnels were created before the school was built, afterwards they were used for bad weather conditions. That is until the crimes started. That's why her parents were so wary for her to go here.

Outside people found their way into the tunnel systems and would then proceed to make their way to the classrooms, the dining halls, and even the dorms. There were too many robberies and assaults for the school to just ignore, so the tunnels were shut down from both off campus and on campus.

Well at least they were supposed to be closed, but Stephanie was positive that's where she was. She wasn't a history major for nothing, but it wasn't just knowledge on her side she felt it in her gut that she was right. It wasn't just any random feeling. It was like nothing she's ever felt before. She was positive that she had never felt more sure of herself in the past. While she was panicking she felt like the tunnel would keep her safe from harm, and it reminded her of her mother's open arms waiting for her back home.

Just as she began to feel her heart slow, Stephanie heard Jay's deep rumbling laughter and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She turned around frantically swearing that he was right behind her.

The tunnels were dark but Stephanie kept her right hand against the jagged wall. She had no idea where she was going, but something inside her told her she was heading the right way. The only things Stephanie could truly concentrate on were the burst of energy that came crawling up her right arm as if the earth was feeding it to her through the bedrock, and her determination that she would not die down in the tunnels.

Keeping her hand against the wall she began running again. With new energy pulsing through her Stephanie didn't even realize that there was glass shoved into the next portion of the wall and she sliced her palm right against it drawing blood.

"Ooh. Obviously she wants us to find her." Jay called out from a distance. "She smells delicious."

Thinking quickly at the next turn Stephanie rubbed some of her blood onto the wall and took off running straight, hoping that Jay and CeCe would be distracted.

Although her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she still couldn't fully make out the details of the tunnel. She was only able to see a couple of feet in front of her and had to focus on crashing into the wall. That would be just her luck.

"Boo." Cece whispered by Stephanie's ear and she started running full speed again.

Cece and Jay's laughter was bouncing off of the walls, seeping into Stephanie's brain chilling her to the bone. And she knew if she got out-when she gets out-their laughter would always haunt her dreams.

She ignored the pain in her legs and chest and kept running, turning at almost every chance she got. Left, right, right, straight, left, left, left, check a door knob to see if it opens, keep running, right, right, left, straight, left. She reached another door and tried the knob, grateful when it turned and she yanked it open. She had stopped bleeding but took a tissue from her pocket and cleaned off the blood.

Then before entering the darkness of the room, she went back down the path and threw the tissue on the floor. She reached the now open door again and slipped inside shutting it softly behind her.

She leaned against the back of the door breathing heavy, struggling to stay quiet. She choked back a sob. The only noises she heard were the beating of her heart and the blood pounding in her head.

The steady but racing pulse of her heart deafened her. Stephanie felt that it was so loud Jay and Cece would find her. At that thought her pulse quickened and she heard a loud buzzing sound coming from in front of her. She pressed her back against the wall and slid down finding herself on some sort of rocky ground. Stephanie dug her fingers through the gravel and sat there silently, slowly becoming calm, as if the rocks were taking her pain and panic and trading it for a peaceful bliss.

For a while it was just her and the buzzing but a sudden banging noise caused her to let out a whimper.

"Hello?" a voice called out.

Stephanie jumped to her feet and spun around and around in a circle trying to find where the voice was coming from. The voice was female, that much she could tell but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Stephanie took a few steps forward into the dirt room until her shin connected with something hard and she toppled over onto a bed. It was short and the mattress was terrible. The picture that Stephanie formed in her head was a bed from a prison cell and she began to wonder what on earth was it doing down here.

Jay and Cece's shrieking laughter reverberated through the halls and into Stephanie's room. The laughter echoed around her like a rough blanket growing tighter and tighter until it wrapped all the way around her like a cocoon; until it was too difficult for her to breathe.

"Help me! Someone please!" Stephanie gasped into the darkness.

"We're gonna find you." Jay said in a sing songy voice.

"Then we'll have some real fun." Cece growled.

Stephanie couldn't figure out how close they were or if the voices were just coming from inside her own head but she didn't think she would have the time to figure out. She inhaled as much air as she could and let out a piercing scream that she was sure damaged her vocal chords. From the corner of her eye she noticed lights flashing and then a voice joined hers.

The lights came from a vent snuggled in the corner of the room on the wall by the floor. Stephanie stopped screaming and collapsed on the ground and crawled to the small opening. She peered through and saw that the vent lead right into one of the dorm's laundry rooms and in the center was a girl with dark hair on her knees screaming in pain. The buzzing sound from earlier came back and Stephanie realized it was coming from the lights. The sound built to match the other girl's screams before leaving them both in darkness.

Stephanie heard something explode and crash down in the other room but she didn't have enough strength to call out. Although she was left in the darkness once more she had a renewed hope. Someone heard her and for a short while she at least had some light.

In that brief time she was able to see that within the tiny room was a small wardrobe and the prison like bed. She wrapped her hands in the dirt again and was rewarded with some strength. Quickly while the adrenaline was pumping in her veins she got up from the floor and moved the wardrobe in front of the locked door.

Somehow she was able to tell that the cupboard was made from oak and that the wood was a lot older than what it looked like despite the fact she could not see it.

She went to the bed opposite the door and pushed it closer to the vent hoping that any activity there would give her a chance to let anyone know she was there. She had no other escape and the screaming left her drained and exhausted. She collapsed onto the lumpy and uncomfortable mattress, unable to hold herself up. The darkness helped ease her eyes closed and she fell into a surprisingly deep and dreamless sleep.