“Charlee, CHARLEE.” I was shook awake and Laura had a panicked look on her face, “You were screaming, are you okay?”I looked around and realized that I was safe in my room, “hum, yeah, really bad dream…”“Jesus girl, talk about a wakeup call.”“Sorry about that, I’ve never really had bad dreams before.”“It’s this place, gives everyone the creeps.” She shuddered.“That or the fact that my whole life has been turned upside down in the last 24 hours.”“Oh yeah, that could be it. Breakfast? I’m starved.”“Sure, I just want to shower first.”Laura left the room and I flopped back down on the bed, what was with that dream? And why did it feel

 I basically ran the last half of the way back to my dorm room,“Laura, you’ll never guess what…”“CHARLEE, so glad your back, we have a visitor.”“Sebastian I swear…”“Sebastian?” “I would hope you aren’t talking about Sebastian Lane.” The voice cut like glass. I looked over and saw Mrs. Henderson sitting at our kitchen table.I looked over at Laura and she gave me a shut the fuck up if you want to live look.“Oh, uh, Hi Mrs. Henderson. Nice to see you again.”“I highly doubt that dear.”“Now, Laura here as told me that she accidently

I felt Sebastian’s absence in my bones, it was a chill I couldn’t shake. It felt as though my heart was bleeding and pouring out into the water around me, I couldn’t stop the tears. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed in the pool, just that when I got out my lips were blue. I made my way back to my dorm in my sopping wet clothes, all I wanted was a hot shower and sleep. I barely made it through the door“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Laura’s voice hit an octave I wasn’t sure was possible “You just left me there with Parker and his goons. It was unbearable, he kept asking where you went, what you’ve said about him…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at me, “Oh my god Charlee, are you okay?”“I don’t think so.” I leaned on her and let the tears flow, luckily for me Laura didn’t press the subject any further, just let me

Laura ran off to her room and I figured it was best not to bother her for the rest of the day. In hopes of being a good roommate and wanting to convince her I wasn’t going to hurt her, I decided I would go to the beach. For a brief second I considered going to the pool, but shuddered at the thought of going back there. Beach it was. I quickly changed out of my clothes and into my swimsuit, wanting to give Laura as much space as she deemed necessary.As I made my way I noticed a group of students playing some form of football but the ball never touched the ground, they all had silver eyes. That made sense. The campus was beautiful, the grass was almost an unnatural shade of green, with vines running up the sides of the buildings, it looked like a picture from a fantasy. I laughed to myself, of course it would. I shook my head, and made my way into the dense forest that would lead me to the ocean. I took my time, noticing the difference

The cracking of my bones finally subsided, and when I could think straight I realized I was at the shores edge, two legs instead of four.“Our rider?” I asked.Silence surrounded me, great. I guess I will just have to wait until next time. Shit, I really needed to get back to the room, even if Laura was scared of me. I started my trek back to the main campus, marveling at how even in the dark everything seemed unnaturally alive. The moon was a bit too bright, crickets chirping a little too loudly. The forest seemed restless, the fog had settled just below the tops of the trees, creating an unnatural looking barrier between the ground and the sky. I choked on the humidity, sweat pooling around the base of my neck as I made my way back. It took me a second to realize what I was feeling, and