The Haunting

Chapter 20

At the dorm, Vanessa hoped into some sweats and a overly large tee-shirt. Julia looked at her friend, concerned. They hadn't seen Vanessa in this state since, well, since the breakup with Theo. But even then, she wasn't this upset. Then, she was glorious, with her brown locks curled perfectly and flowing past her shoulders. Her outfit ready to make guys fall. Her innocent gold eyes fiery.

But now...

Her hair was messy and in a bun. She was dressed sloppily and reading a book on her bed. Her eyes were now a dull yellow, instead of their usual intense amber.

Julia wanted to hug Vanessa. Make her feel better. Tell her everything would be alright. Vanessa was like a little sister to most of the girls in the sorority, being the youngest, aside from Amelia.

Julia walked over and rested her hand on her friend's shoulder. Vanessa looked up from The Notebook, the first book report for Mr. Drew's AP English and Literature 12 class. Julia had Philosophy with Vanessa for fifth period and noticed Vanessa always blushing around Mr. Drew. It wasn't rare for Vanessa to blush, but the high-pitched, embarrassed voice was definitely something new. She hadn't been like that with even Theo.

"Vanessa, honey, are you alright?" Julia asked. Vanessa turned over to look at the chocolate skinned, blue eyed bombshell. Her eyes were not even yellow. As Julia looked at them, she noticed they'd dulled to a near-white color. It concerned her greatly.

Vanessa's cheeks were flushed. "No. My life is fucked up. I can't date my boyfriend, who's no longer my boyfriend, I've been getting weird texts lately, and my best friend is missing. Most possibly, dead."

Julia took her and said, "You wanna go to Lucky." By Lucky, she meant the club on the corner of the school.

Vanessa vigorously shook her head, which was new. Vanessa loved going to Lucky Club. Whenever she got the chance, she'd go. Julia went into a brief shock, before trying, "Come on. It'll cheer you up."

"No. It won't. Trust me."

Julia sighed, knowing this wasn't going anywhere. When stubborn Vanessa made a decision, she stuck to it like glue. Vanessa went back to lying down and reading while Julia went outside quietly.

The police were outside. One especially caught Julia's eye. His name was Officer Paul Lively. Having grown up in the same neighborhood together, Officer Lively and Julia were very close, best friends in fact, and she'd been startled when she found out about his desire to be a cop. Angrily, she'd left him in his room.

She admired his passion for helping and saving others, but she was scared for him. What were the chances that he would get shot, hurt, killed, raped, tortured, or worse yet now? She didn't know the exactly numbers, but she knew they were high. At least, high than her chances.

He spotted her and walked over. Her heart beat sped up. He was extremely hot and she'd had a crush on him since God knows when.

"Julia, hey. Fancy seeing you here."

"Fancy that," she murmured. "How's the case coming along?"

"That's secret and I'm not supposed to let civilians know."

"Not even this civilian?" she asked with a teasing smirk.

"No, sorry."

"Come on, Paul! You can trust me."

He looked around. "Fine. But not while I'm in uniform. Okay?"

She smiled flirtatiously. "Thanks, Paul. What time will you be off-duty?"

"At six. I can swing by and pick you up for coffee?"

"You got it! See you then."

"It's a date," he smiled before walking off. Julia bit her lip and bounced inside to Vanessa's bedroom.

"You sure you don't want to go to Lucky?"

"I'm positive," Vanessa said, sitting up. "It feels like all this crap started happening that day. If we'd just stayed home, none of this would be happening."

Julia felt bemused by Vanessa's statement. Nothing terrible had happened to her, besides Meredith's disappearance. Even then, Julia and Meredith were never really close. Sure, they spoke and hung out, but that was very rare, and when they did, it was another person or two.

"Do you want some coffee?" Julia tried. Vanessa shook her head and eyed her friend suspiciously.

Julia's stomach, which had jus been filled with butterflies, dropped. "Why are you do excited?" Vanessa asked.

"Excited? I'm not!"

"Okay... That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. Spit it out."

"You know Paul? Paul Lively, right?" Julia added hastily as she remembered how many Paul's Vanessa probably knew.

"The police officer?" Julia nodded. "The really hot police office?" Again, Julia nodded. "Course I know him. What about him?"

"He and I are going for coffee tonight."

"Really? Oh, my God! That's amazing!"

"Totally amazing!" Kayla said, sitting gracefully on Vanessa's bed. "Eww. What happened to you?"

Vanessa slapped her friend with a pillow and the three of them laughed. Julia was glad to see Vanessa happy-even if it was for a little while.

"Shut up!"

"I'm joking!" Kayla insisted. She turned to Julia. "So... What's so exciting?"

"He's gonna use his handcuffs on you!" Vanessa blurted before being thrown into a fit of hysterics.

Julia felt her cheeks warm. "Shut up. And I'm going out for coffee with Officer Lively."

"Officer Lively? You mean the really hot Officer Paul Lively?" Julia nodded. "Damn, girl," Kayla laughed. "You're a lucky bitch."

Julia smiled and Vanessa and Kayla decided to help out their friend get ready for her coffee date with the police officer.

~~~~~~

"Julia! You look beautiful!" Paul said at her doorstep.

"Thanks," Julia said, her cheeks warm against her soft chocolate skin. "You look great, too. How long has it been since I've seen you out of uniform?"

"Too long," Paul laughed, shaking his head. He looked absolutely amazing in his white polo and jeans. Julia instantly felt over dressed with her white sundress and white wedges. She smoothed her hair out and brought it to her shoulder, fixing the white flower on the opposite side.

In the car, Paul began explaining Meredith's case.

"By now, we would expect her body to show up somewhere. But, it's nowhere to be found."

"So, someone's hiding it?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "They left a blood trail out to the woods, but, still, nothing. I have a feeling it might be in your dorm's basement."

"But that's locked off."

"Exactly. No one would be able to get in or out. And we would search in there, but we need permission from the school and everyone in your dorm."

"You have my permission!" Julia tried.

"Thanks," Paul laughed, "but we're going to need more than just that."

"I don't understand."

"You girls have to sign a few things as well as the school. The school is okay with it, but when we tried to get it signed, a little girl turned us away when we knocked at the dorm's door."

"Huh," Julia said. Elizabeth immediately came to mind when she started accusing Heidi. And the new-redhead stood, staring at her in confusion and innocence. "Was she about four foot five with red, greasy hair?"

Paul looked at her and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, she was. You know her, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah, I do. And I know this isn't going to make much of a difference, since these are only suspicions, but I think she has more to do with this case than anyone else."