UNDERWORLD

Today's the day. I'm leaving for the prestigious Mariton University today. Studying at Mariton has always been my dream, and now I'm going to do it, and I just feel a mix of emotions. I'm happy that my dream is finally coming true but also sad because I'm leaving my mom. She's the only family I've ever known and now I'm supposed to be thousands of miles away from her. Get it together Kayla, you can do this! "Kayla, Skylar's here! Get your ass downstairs!" my mom yelled. "I'll be downstairs in a minute." I yelled back. Skylar's my best friend, my sister from another mother, we both got into Mariton University together and I couldn't be happier. I not only get to study at my dream university but I also get to do it with my best friend. I packed up the rest of my clothes into my bags and made my way downstairs. Why am I just packing my clothes? Let's just say I'm a chronic procrastinator. I got downstairs, and the first thing I saw was the look of worry on my mom's face. She was against me attending MU from the very start, and up till now she refuses to tell me why. Perhaps she just doesn't want me to be so far away from her, and to be honest I don't want to be far away from her either. But I just have to go to MU, there's this pull that I just can't seem to explain. All I know is that I have to be there, like the school's calling to me, or something there is calling to me. Creepy right? "Mom, you don't have to be so worried. I'll be fine. I promise I'll take care of myself." I reassured her. "Of course I know that you'll take care of yourself. But I just can't help but worry about you going to MU." she replied. "What's wrong with MU?" I asked. *****Her mom's POV There's a lot of things wrong with that place. A lot of things I've worked so hard for the past eighteen years to get you away from. If it were up to me I'd make sure you never step foot in that place but I won't hold you back because I have a feeling that if I try to, you'll just find another way to get there behind my back. Be safe my dear daughter. And always remember that you are better than your father. "Nothing my dear. Just stay safe and be good, okay?" she replied. "I promise I will, Can I leave now?" I asked. "Yes you can." she replied. With my mom's help I carried all of my bags to Skylar's mom's car. She's supposed to drive Skylar and I to the airport. We loaded everything in the car and it was time to say goodbye to my mom. With tears in my eyes, I ran to her and hugged her as tightly as I possibly could and she did the same. We held that position for a minute as the realisation that I was about to leave my mom alone in this town where she barely has any friends and currently isn't dating anyone hit me. "How is she supposed to survive without me?" , I thought. But more importantly how am I supposed to survive without her. "Mom, you should use this opportunity of me being away to focus on yourself. Make some new friends and maybe put yourself back out there." I told her. She chuckled and replied with "You don't have to worry about me, your mom's a strong woman, you know?" "I know." I replied. "Now go!" she replied. "Bye mom." I told her. She waved me off as I got in the car and Mrs. Bardot drove away. Skylar and I held hands in the car in anticipation of the journey that awaited us. We haven't even gotten to MU yet, and somehow we both already knew that our uni life was going to be epic! About forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the airport. We boarded our flight without any issues and it was time to wait fifteen long hours before we land at Mariton City. I took my seat and stared out the window as the plane took off. The blue sky and the clouds looked so beautiful and I slowly drifted off, I slept more than half of the flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, LeadWay welcomes you to Mariton City." announced the pilot. "We're here." Skylar yelled. We left the airport and took a cab to Mariton University. After a very long hour, we arrived at MU. The big black gates of the school stood in a distance, as my pull towards the school grew even stronger. We drove past the threshold of the school and it felt like something within me was unlocked. I couldn't put my finger on what it was that I felt. All I knew was that, it was something dark, and the thought of it scared the s**t out of me. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize when the car came to a halt as we had arrived at our residence hall. It was Skylar yelling my name that got me out of them. We got out of the car, then got our laugage out of the car, then we made our way into the building. We met our RA, who made us aware of the rules and regulations and everything we need to know about our residence hall. Skylar and I weren't able to get the same dorm room, so we both went separate ways to our dorm rooms. I got to my room and the first thing I saw was a woman standing over one of the two beds in the room. From the look of things, she's most likely just moving in as well, since she's just unpacking her stuff. "Umm hello. I'm Kayla Madden and I'm your roommate." I said. "Hey Kayla, it's nice to meet you. My name is Tarina Katz. Welcome to your dorm room for the next four years at MU. How has everything been so far? Is MU everything you thought it would be?" she replied. "I don't know yet. I just got here about ten minutes ago." I replied. "Oh shoot, my bad. Well welcome officially to MU. Like I said my name is Tarina but you can call me Rina for short. I'm in my second year at MU. MU has a dorm system of putting freshmans like yourself, with students in second year and above, so we help you guys get used to the school and help you out with how everything works. So let me know if you don't understand anything or need help with something, I got you, okay?" she replied. "Okay. Thank you." I replied. She smiled and went back to unpacking her stuff. I looked over to the other part of the room that's obviously my part, It looked bare and I thought to myself "Time to start unpacking then" . Hours later, it was now 7pm and I was absolutely exhausted, but also happy that I was finally done unpacking my stuff. I decorated my side of the room the way I liked it and was about to jump on the bed and sleep for at least a few hours when I heard a knock on the door. Rina was in the shower, and I wondered who it could be. I opened the door and it was Skylar. She was grinning and looked like she still had a lot of energy, and I was absolutely shocked. "By how you still look so energetic, I'm guessing you haven't unpacked yet." I said. "Oh I've already unpacked my stuff." she answered. "Then how are you still so energetic? You had more stuff than me and I'm absolutely exhausted from unpacking." I replied. "You're just really lazy. You slept more than half the flight and you have the nerve to say that you're exhausted right now." she replied. "Nevermind." I replied. She chuckled and made her way into the room. She then sat on my bed, and we had a very long conversation about everything that had happened so far, about our roommates, starting classes the next day, e.t.c. I thought about if I should tell her about what I felt when we entered the school, but knowing her, she would probably just tell me that it was nothing, and I should forget about it. But I know what I felt and it isn't nothing. I need to get behind whatever this is and also why I was so drawn to this place. Lost in our conversation, we didn't realize when Rina entered the room and got dressed. It was her calling my name that got our attention. "Hey Kayla." she said. "Oh hey, we didn't hear you come in." I replied. "Yeah I know." she replied. "Are you going somewhere? I'm asking because of your outfit." I replied. "Yeah I am actually, there's a party tonight. You guys should totally come. It'll be fun I promise." she replied. "No way. We've been here for a few hours and we're already going to a party." Skylar said excitedly. "I was just as excited as you are for my first college party. I don't think we've met officially. I'm Tarina but you can call me Rina. What's your name?" Rina replied. "My name is Skylar Bardot. It's nice to meet you." Skylar replied. "Considering how close you both look, I'm guessing you guys go way back." Rina replied. "Yeah, we've known each other since we were five years old." I replied. "Nice. So y'all are in for the party, right?" Rina asked. "I'm in." Skylar replied. "And what about you, Kayla?" Rina asked. "Come on Kayla, it'll be fun." Skylar said. "Fine, I'm in." I replied. "Yes! College party here we come." Skylar said. "Just for a few hours though." I replied. "Absolutely, now you both get dressed and meet me downstairs." Rina said. "Okay." Skylar and I replied. After arguing about what to wear for ten minutes, we finally made our choices, then we made our way downstairs. We walked for about thirty minutes, and when we finally got to the party, it was everything I thought a typical college party would be. Drugs, alcohol, people hooking up, the whole thing. "Okay, we're here. Does it meet you guy's expectations?" Rina said. "Yes it does." Skylar and I replied. "Perfect, well here's a little introduction to get you familiar with some people around here." Rina replied. We made our way through the room and Rina introduced a few people to us. "So over here, we have Elias and his gang. They're really wild, so take my advice and stay away from them." Rina said. "Nice to see you again Rina. I'm guessing these ladies here are our fresh meat." Elias said. "They're off limits. So I'm warning you now to stay away from them." Rina replied. "Hey hey, chill. I was just asking a question. No need to get all fiesty now." Elias replied. "Whatever. Let's go girls." Rina replied. We walked away and it was obvious he still had his eyes on us. As this type of situation typically goes, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing him again later tonight. And I am definitely not looking forward to it. We met a few more people, and our introduction journey ended when we got to our last stop, her friends. We stood in front of a couch with a few people sitting on it, but I couldn't see their faces because I was at Rina's back. As I stepped to the side to see who they were, my jaw straight up dropped. He was the most sexy man I had ever seen. He wore joggers with a plain gray shirt and a cap, with his body rested comfortably on the couch. How can someone dress so casually and still look so irresistibly hot. Even through his oversized shirt, you could clearly see his broad shoulders, it wouldn't surprise me if he had six pack abs hidden under there. Lost in my thoughts of him, I didn't notice that I'd been caught staring at him by basically everyone. And I think we all know what happened next. Ground swallow me whole please. "Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer." the sexy stranger said. "And what makes you think I'm staring at you. I was simply admiring the couch." I replied. I totally saved that I thought. Then Skylar slowly whispered in my ear, "No, you didn't." "Nice save." the sexy stranger replied with a very sarcastic tone. "Will you stop teasing her." Rina said as she removed his cap. Yup, you guessed it right. OMG! This man will be the death of me. I couldn't see his face all that clearly with his cap on, and now that it's off. His jawline, his beautiful brown eyes, omg his hair! I'm pretty sure my face is red right now, and me trying to do my best to hide it, I went back to staying behind Rina. I breathed a sigh of relief once I got there, only for Rina to pull me out two seconds later and introduce us. "Meet Kayla." Rina said. He looked up at me, our eyes met, and it felt like I was on cloud 9. Don't get me wrong, I am not usually like this. I've never really cared about a guy's looks, just his personality. Well that is until I met him, he stood out to me in a way no other guy I've met has. He stood up and was staring right down at me. Yup, he is taller than me. But the height difference isn't that much though. And you could tell with the way he was staring at me, he wanted to know if I was just like other girls he's met. Falling for his looks and only caring about that. And me being me, I had to prove him wrong. So I reciprocated his stare and crossed my arms. Pretty sure he got the message. "I'm Arlo. Nice to meet you." the sexy stranger said. "Nice to meet you too, Arlo." I replied. The tension between us increased about a hundred times after that. Then we proceeded to just staring at each other. "I'm Skylar, in case you were wondering." Skylar said. Immediately she said that we both bursted out laughing, which was obviously a shock to everyone and to us because WE BOTH LAUGHED. Rina just shook her head, put the cap on and continued with the introductions. She pointed out a couple on the couch to us, they've been eating each other's face out since before we even got there. "And these two love birds right here are Lucas and Leah. Yup, L and L." Rina said. "Nice to meet you guys." Lucas and Leah replied. "Which one is your new roommate?" asked Leah. "That would be me. I'm Kayla and that's Skylar." I replied. "Welcome to MU girls. Since we're supposed to be looking out for you guys, here are a few words from me. Choose your friends and men or women carefully, always be cautious, focus on your studies and be sure to have some fun during your time here. If you're lucky you might even find yourself in an adventure here, but pray that you don't though. That's it and good luck." Leah said. "Good luck." Lucas said as well. Then they both went back to eating each other's faces. "Well these are my real friends, they're a bit crazy but I love them regardless. Now excuse me while I go mingle. You guys mingle too. Have a beer or two and just chill. You're in MU!" Rina said before she left. "Now I have no intentions of being a third wheel so I'm off too. Have fun you two." Skylar said and then left. Now we're left with two, Arlo and I. Well this situation is getting more and more awkward by the minute. I turn around to at least try and start a conversation with him, and I was shocked to learn that he was gone. Yeah, looks like I'm the only one feeling the tension between us. I was about to leave to try and mingle when someone called my name, and it was a familiar sexy voice. Looks like I'm not the only one feeling the tension after all. And damn I love the way he says my name. He came up to me with two drinks in his hand and offered me one, and me trying to be cool replied him with this. "My mom told me not to accept drinks from strangers. Sorry." I replied. Cringe alert!!! I was cringing so hard on the inside at the thought of what I had just said, but I made sure to not show it on my face. Showing it would only make things worse. "Well thank God I'm not a stranger then. Or is knowing my name and that I'm a friend of your roommate not get me out of the stranger zone?" Arlo replied. "No, not really. I'm going to need to learn a lot more about you to do that." I replied flirtatiously. He placed a drink on the table beside us and ran his hand through his hair, then proceeded to taking a sip of his drink, then he said "So what do you want to know?". Am I freaking out? Yes, yes I am. Don't blush Kayla. Don't blush! "Anything and everything." I replied. He smiled and looked at me, and damn I felt butterflies! You might assume I'm overreacting but I can promise you that I'm not. He is that cute, sexy, hot, he's basically everything. "Okay then. Well as you know, my name is Arlo, I'm twenty years old, and I'm in my second year studying Law at MU. Does that get me out of the stranger zone?" Arlo replied in an extremely flirtatious way. "It does." I replied with a cheeky smile. We talked for a bit, and was actually getting somewhere with the conversation when I decided to check on Skylar. I looked around the room to see if I could spot her somewhere, Arlo realized and without saying a word he proceeded to helping me look for her. After about a minute, I finally spotted her and she looked extremely uneasy and uncomfortable. I ran to her the moment I saw that, and on getting there, I realized why she was uncomfortable. "What do you want, Elias?" I said. "I was just talking to your friend over here. You can go back to whatever you were doing, we're good." Elias replied. "Yeah well that doesn't seem to be the case. So she and I will be leaving now. It was nice meeting you and goodbye." I replied. We were about to leave when Elias stopped me in my tracks, and guess who came to my rescue like a knight in shining armour, Arlo! "Is there a problem here?" Arlo said whilst staring a hole through Elias. "None, I'll see you ladies later." Elias replied and then left. "Are you guys okay?" Arlo asked. "Yeah we're fine. I think we're going to be leaving now. And please help us let Rina know that we left." I replied. "Seriously? But the night's still young, and if you're leaving because of Elias, you don't have to. He's not going to do anything." Arlo replied. "It's not just because of him. We're just generally not party people." I replied. "I'm not either. My friends actually forced me to be here tonight. I thought I'd hate it here, and I did hate it, well that was until you came along. Now I'm really glad I came." Arlo replied. Okay calm your nerves Kayla. He is just a guy, a really hot one but just a guy at the end of the day. "I'm sorry but we really need to leave." I replied. "No we don't. You guys can stay and chat. I can go alone." Skylar said. "Nope, you shouldn't go alone. Best you guys leave together. A lot of things run around here at night and it's not safe. We can talk some other time. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon." Arlo replied and left. "That was weird, right? Things run around here at night? Creepy. Come on. Let's go." Skylar said. Arlo and I kept staring at each other as Skylar and I made our way to the door and left the party. Talk about instant connection! The next day. It was 7am and my alarm started ringing, and instead of getting up, I do the typical thing we all do when our alarms ring. I turned it off and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. Who could be at the door this early in the morning. After a few seconds of thinking 'why me?' I finally got up and it was Skylar at the door. "Isn't your first class at ten or something. What are you doing here so early?" I said. "And you forgot! I knew you would." Skylar replied. "Forgot what?" I replied. "We have a campus tour by 8. And guess what the time is! 8am!" Skylar replied. "That can't be right. I turned off my 7am alarm like ten minutes ago. Did I sleep for an hour without realising it?" I replied. "Obviously you did. You're lucky you have me. Go take a shower, I'll get your outfit ready." Skylar replied. "I love you." I replied whilst hugging her. "Yeah yeah. Hey, where's Rina?" Skylar asked. "I don't know. I didn't even hear her come in last night. I'm sure she's fine. I'll go take a shower." I replied. A few minutes later we left the residence hall, and made our way to the meeting ground for the tour. On getting there we saw how people were agitated and everyone with sad faces. It was obvious something happened. Skylar went ahead and called someone's attention and asked him what had happened. And I was not ready for what I heard next. "I heard someone died. I don't know anything for sure but everyone is saying that it's a girl named Tarina Katz. I think they said she was in her second year. I don't know the details of her death, all I know is that her death was pretty brutal." the guy said. "How did she die? We literally just went to a party with her last night. How the hell did she die over night?!" Skylar replied. "I don't know, don't ask me. From the look of things it definitely caught everyone by surprise. I even heard that she was a really nice person. The nice ones are always the first to get killed. Well I'm out, if you guys are here for the tour it's been cancelled, best to just head straight for class. Later." the guy replied. After he left Skylar looked over to me to check if I was okay. And let me tell you now that I was not okay. What the hell just happened?! I literally saw her just a few hours ago. Why? What happened? Who could have done this? These questions kept ringing in my head as I stood frozen unable to speak or move. She was such a nice person. "Why would someone do that?" I cried out. Skylar immediately hugged me to try to comfort me, but that only made the tears pour even more. Could that have been me? What the hell is going on??