Ineffable Plan

About an hour later, there was a soft knock on Phin’s bedroom door.

“Hey, you guys can come out now.” Chris’s soft voice flowed through the door.

“You want to go out there?” Phin asked quietly. We were on his bed, him lying with his back against the headboard and me lying on his chest.

I nodded.

Phin walked out in front of me and I cautiously followed. Mary was sitting on the couch with Chris and James on either side of her. She held her arms crossed tightly against her chest. I noticed her nose was bruised and the area around it was as well. That’s where the blood came from.

It wasn’t until I looked away from Mary that I noticed the two campus police officers standing in the room. Amber was talking with them. Phin put his arm around my waist and led me to the other couch. Once we sat down he slid his arm around my shoulders protectively.

A few minutes passed in silence until one of the officers turned to speak to me.

“Justine, right? I need you tell us what happened in your room this morning, okay? Can you do that for me?”

I had to force myself not to roll my eyes. Condescending jack-ass.

“She tried to kill me,” I said for the third time this morning. “I woke up this morning. She was on my bed, hovering over me, with that wooden thing raised above her head, seconds away from plunging it through my heart.”

He motioned for me to continue.

“Then, I don’t know, I guess I hit her or pushed her or something but I got her off me and she landed on the floor. It happened pretty quickly. I’m not exactly sure how I got her off.”

He waited for me to go on.

“I ran to the door but it was locked and I was too scared to get the lock undone. My fingers were shaking. I turned around and she was getting up. There was blood on the carpet and running down her hands. I stared at her for a moment, but got back to opening the door when James knocked on it. As I got the door open, I ran past James and she was after me, but James caught her.”

The room was silent again.

“I’m done.”

The officer nodded and wrote something down in his pad.

“Are you hurt, ma’am?” The other officer asked. I shook my head. “Can I talk to you privately?”

Phin’s arm tensed, but I got up anyway. We walked into the kitchen and I took a seat on the stool.

“Is there any chance this was just some Halloween prank. Because we get a lot of these and if you think that this was just some joke that girl was playing on you, you really shouldn’t go any further with this, even if you are mad at her.”

My eyes must have been the size of saucers then. He thought this was a prank and I was just exaggerating things because I was upset.

“This had nothing to do with Halloween. Mary’s been after me since I got here. She thinks I’m a vampire. I know that sounds stupid but it’s true. She said so herself. You have to do something. You have to get her out of here.” I pleaded.

He looked at me disbelievingly. “Is there anywhere you can stay until we get this all cleared up? We’re not going to remove her from student housing until we check this out and if she tried to kill you I doubt you would want to stay here.”

“So you’re not going to do anything!” I found myself standing and I started to pace the kitchen. “First she tries to plunge a stake through my chest and then she tried to stab me in the kitchen and you’re not going to do anything. What the fuck?” I screamed.

“I’m going to need you to calm down.”

“Calm down! Some psycho girl is trying to end me, you think it’s some kind of college prank and now you’re telling me to calm down! So when do you plan on taking action, huh? When my fucking bloodied body is lying lifeless in my bed? Fucking campus police. You walk around here acting like you have some kind of power, some kind of control over things, when in actuality you’re no better than the damn mall security. This is bull shit!”

“Young lady, I need you to control yourself!” He said getting a little red.

“Fuck you,” I spat. “Yea, I can find a place to stay while you shit around pretending to be a real cop, useless prick.”

I turned on my heels and stormed off to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I began to pace my room but stopped when I came upon the spot where Mary’s blood had dripped onto the rug. Disgusting. I’d have to get a new one. I immediately rolled up the rug and leaned it against the wall.

I sighed and sat on my bed, placing my head in my hands. Where am I going to stay? My thoughts went to Aaron first, my thoughts always went to Aaron first, but I brushed it away. I didn’t even know where he lived. Somewhere off campus. Melanie was sharing a dorm room with her roommate. There wouldn’t be any room there. I wish I had bothered to make more friends.

I pulled out my biggest duffel bag and filled it up with some essentials. Then I loaded my laptop into the book bag. After grabbing my tote bag, my cell phone, and my keys, I walked out of my room, making sure to lock the door behind me. I walked into the living room and Chris, James, Phin, and Amber turned to look at me. Mary was missing.

“Where is she?” I asked dully.

“Her room. Why are you packed? Where are you going?” Phin asked moving towards me.

“I’m going to stay at a hotel for a few days. I can’t stay here. I have my cell phone and laptop if you need to contact me. I’ll be on campus for my classes and stuff. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

All four opened their mouths but I cut them off. “It’s just for a few days until I get my head cleared. Don’t worry. I’ll call you when I get checked in, okay?”

“I’ll give you a ride,” James offered.

“No!” I half yelled. “It’s fine. I’ll get the bus. I need some time to think.”

Everyone looked both extremely uncomfortable and worried.

“Seriously I’ll be fine and…thanks…for earlier.”

Chris quickly moved forward and hugged me tightly. “We’ll get this all cleared up okay. On Monday, we’ll talk to the resident advisor and see if we can get her out, okay? Promise.”

I nodded. He let go and the other guys moved to hug me.

“I’ll call as soon as I get there. Don’t worry. I’ll see you guys in a couple of days,” I promised.

How was I to know it would be much longer than ‘just a few days’?