The Sorority

17/September

USER: ♡DaisyChain♡ 🏳️‍🌈

INSTITUTION: Mathers University, USA

📋 "I Joined an Elite Sorority, but I Think I've Made a Mistake - 1." 📋

The girls helped me move into the sorority house this afternoon. Candice said they didn't like to wait, that the sooner I moved in, the sooner I could really feel like I was one of them. Which was how I ended up standing in front of an imposing stone manor house, craning my neck to see the top, with Candice by my side and a large box in my arms. 

The house was old, having been standing since the university was first built. It was built of crumbling grey stone, with thick pillars supporting the overhanging roof. A thick curtain of ivy covered the left hand side of the house, half obscuring the gold plaque above the door. I had to squint to read it, but I could manage to make out the words Venefica Sororitas.

The dark wooden door was set back into a wide archway, and decorated with an ornate brass knocker shaped like a goat's head. I couldn't help the slight thrill of excitement in my stomach as Candice turned they key in the old lock and pushed open the door. While the house's exterior might have not looked too glamorous nor exactly structurally sound, its interior took my breath away.

The front door opened into an entrance hall with red paneled walls and dark wooden beams. A red velvet carpet laid across the hardwood floor led from the front door to a spiral staircase which disappeared into the floor above. A dramatic crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a shadowy glow across the windowless room. One heavy-looking dark wooden door stood in each of the walls, which made the entrance room seem oddly reminiscent of the convergence of a crossroads.

Candice giggled when she saw the look of awe on my face, and led me across the room to the door on the right-hand wall. On the way, I left the box I was carrying on the floor at the side of the stairs. On the other side of the door lay an elegantly furnished living room, with red velvet couches and armchairs centered around a polished antique coffee table. Behind the table stood a large imposing fireplace made out of black marble, with a series of objects positioned carefully on top.

As we walked through the room, my eyes wandered over the collection of items resting on top of the fireplace. Nearest me was a thin blade, like an ornate old-fashioned letter opener, with a scarlet ruby glittering in the gilded hilt. Next to the letter opener was a antique wine goblet, made out of polished silver and encrusted with what looked like diamonds. However, when I stood up on my tiptoes to get a better look, I noticed that the inside appeared to have patches of brownish-red rust. Hanging above the mantelpiece was a large mirror with gilded edges.

But what really caught my eye was the picture frame that sat on the far edge of the fireplace. When I took a few steps towards it to get a closer look, and peered down at the image, I realized that it was a group picture. All the girls I had met previously smiled brightly from within the frame, arms draped around each others' waists and shoulders. However, on the far left, next to Candice, was another girl.

She stood at least a foot away from the others, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to be there at all. She hadn't been among the other girls I had met earlier - if she had been, I felt sure I would have noticed. Because this girl was beautiful. Her warm brown eyes were lined with black eyeliner, and her hair fell to her shoulders in a cascade of dark curls. But her red-lipped smile, though wide and cheerful, looked almost forced. A silver crucifix studded with deep blue sapphires hung from a shining silver chain around her neck and rested between her collarbones.

"Who is that?" I asked Candice, gesturing to the girl's picture.

Candice followed my gaze to the photo frame. For a moment, I thought I saw a sharp ugly frown twist itself onto her pink-glossed lips, but it vanished so quickly I assured myself I must have imagined it.

"Oh." She sounded casual, almost disinterested. "That's Nadia," she said shortly, "She dropped out last year."

"Does that happen a lot?" I found myself asking.

Candice shrugged. "Sometimes. Lots of girls think they can handle college and end up caving under the pressure." When she turned back to me, her bright smile had returned, as surely as if it had never left. "But you're not like that, I can tell."

With that, she led me on a tour through the house. The kitchen, of polished hardwood and silver appliances, and the spotless communal bathroom in which stood a large bathtub with clawed feet. The dining room had nine chairs around a dark table, which I thought was a little odd for a sorority with no more than eight members at a time. We passed by a thick door in the hallway, which Candice seemed to have no intention of commenting on before I asked about it. When I did, she simply said it was the basement, and led me back through to the entrance hall.

I stopped for a moment in the doorway, my mind running over everything I had seen. By all material standards, the house was flawless, the epitome of perfect elegance. Yet for all its opulence, there was something fundamentally inhospitable about the small manor. I shook my head, dismissing the thought, and followed Candice back into the entrance hall.

Last Updated: Today

QueenClaireXOXO
- sounds like one creepy-ass door knocker 😂😂

MaddieChem19
- Sweetie, silver doesn't rust x