I looked at Katie inquisitively.
“What are you going to do? Show up to Rodman hall with a bag of jewels? Because that’s not sketchy or anything.”
She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.
“Not jewels. Gold coins. Duh. Jewels aren’t money.”
How dumb could this girl be? Sometimes I wonder what the screening process to get into John Carroll was.
Katie moved closer to a pile of coins and started stuffing her purse. I looked around the room and even in the dim light from the lanterns the place sparkled. What would be the harm in taking one little gem?
Katie called across the room; she had climbed on top of one of the larger piles of treasure,
“Hey look what I found!”
She waved a stunning ornamented tiara over her head.
“I’ve always wanted to be a queen, and now I can be!!”
She placed the tiara on top of her long dark curls. The second the tiara touched her head her dark hair turned frosty white and her fake tan faded till she was as pale as a baby’s bum. Katie picked up a white lock and whispered “freaky” before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell lifelessly to the ground. A gust of cold air swept into the room extinguishing all of the lanterns. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.
“Katie? Are you ok?”
No response.
“Katie stop messing around! Katie?! KATIE!”
The room was silent except for my pumping heartbeat. I hate the dark. I still sleep with the door ajar and the hallway light on at home when I went to sleep. It is a completely rational fear. Not being able to see means you can’t prepare for what is coming. So completely rational. Panic started sinking in. Fear’s icy hands crept up and down my back playing my vertebrae like a Xylophone. I sunk to my knees with tears slighting running down my cheeks. What had I gotten myself into? I tried to call out to Katie again but trepidation kept sounds from leaving me. I started shaking with silent sobs trying to escape my chest.
That’s when I saw it. A soft glowing ball of light across the chamber. It bobbed up and down moving slowly. The light bounced off jems creating a kaleidoscope of colors on the walls. The orb of light stopped over Katie’s body and hovered for a minute before entering her chest.
The room filled with light seemingly coming from nowhere. Katie’s body rose slowly from the ground. She faced me. Her eye’s opened, they were black holes that stared into me digging deep into my soul.
Katie screamed at me in a voice that was not hers.
“Run!”
And I did. I didn’t look back.
That concludes our collabortive story! Thanks so much for reading each week! If you loved this idea, feel free to submit another story idea that we can cover at hcxojcu@gmail.com
Happy Halloween, John Carroll!