Requiem of the Beast

Chapter II

   Ryder's room looked atrocious. "Venit tempus!" was written all over the walls in black ink, leaving no space empty. As for what this phrase meant, Sadie had no clue. However, she was able to deduce that it was probably Latin. As she continued to look, she could see large claw marks on the floors, walls, and bed. It looked like a giant animal had come through and trashed the place. If you were to look closer at Ryder's bed, you would see that his sheets were torn, and his pillow deprived of it's insides. Sadie suddenly stumble into a book on the floor. Its title read, "The Satanic Bible", and Sadie kicked it across the floor. The book slide straight into the center of a distinct pentagram written in the floors dark wood. Ryder's blood was smeared across the pentagram and the wall next to it. What was the creepiest about this entire room, was that her picture was pinned in many different places with a pentagram, and what looked like blood, across her face. One said picture, was attached to a smaller pillow on Ryder's bed and Sadie didn't want to think about why it was there.

   Footsteps could be heard leaving and entering the doors across the hallway. This caused her panic, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see another book hiding underneath the bed (It looked like it could've been a journal). She quickly grabbed it and dashed back out under the caution tape. "Excuse me!" Someone called as she continued to make her way down the hallway. Sadie turned around and tried not to look suspicious. The man started walking towards her and with each footstep, she could feel her heart skip a beat. "What were you doing in Ryder's room?" the guy asked. Thinking quickly, Sadie replied with, "Ryder was my friend and had some of my belongings, so I just went to pick them up before the police take everything from the room!". This was the best response she could come up with, but the man didn't seem persuaded.

   As she looked behind this stranger, she could see smoke emitting from her deceased classmates' room. "Fire!" She shouted before running back towards the room. Sadie turned back to see if her inquisitive stranger. To her surprise however, he was gone! "Great!" she thought, "He probably thinks I started the fire and went to inform the landlord!". But, wouldn't she have heard him running down the hallway? Let alone opening the door to the stairs because you could hear it close from inside the room! None of that mattered at the moment and Sadie pushed it to the back of her mind. She needed to get out of the building and call someone. Someone was already ahead of her for by the time she had left the building, the fire alarms were on and the fire department was there. Sadie watched as the flames eroded from Ryder's bedroom window and she tried to think of what could have started the fire.

   Sadie wanted to get the hell out of there before the firefighters began questioning students how the fire started. She couldn't see the man from earlier, so she just assumed he had gone elsewhere on campus. Now was not the time for an alleged arsonist to "pop-up" on campus. Especially if she were the one suspected of starting the fire. More than likely, it started from a faulty electrical outlet, as these apartments were very old. Even so, she thought it best to head back to her apartment like the police had ordered. Plus, her curiosity urged her to hurry back so she could investigate the contents of Ryder's journal.

   At last, she made it to her apartment. Sadie rode the elevator to the fourth floor and then to her home in room 447. To her surprise, the door was unlocked. Not like she had anything to steal, but thieves will take anything. With that, Sadie entered the room to confront her unwanted guest. "Hiya!" said Kat who was perched on the couch by the window. A wave of relief rushed over her as she realized it was just her friend. "How did you even get in here?" Sadie asked. Kat laughed as she waved her spare key around her slim finger, "You should really find a better hiding place for this other than on top of your door!". Sadie sheepishly walked over and retrieved the key before asking her friend why she had come over. "Well," Kat began, "Nikolai and I got into a huge argument that resulted in him walking out. I didn't feel like being alone with the whole Ryder situation, so I came here. I hope that's ok!". Sadie plopped down beside Kat and poked her forehead. "Of course, you're welcome to come here! Why wouldn't you be? Honestly, I love you, but I wish you would dump that cunt waffle already! He always causes problems!" Kat rolled her eyes before noticing that Sadie was hiding something. As if she were a cat, she snatched it from Sadie's hands.