(Check out yesterday’s post & see which one was scarier.)

Keating Hall Fordham University

Sitting on inflatable thrones that are at the head of a dragon-shaped table, Apollo and Aurora calmly take in their surroundings. The white walls ripple like bubbles when a blast of air comes through the open skylight and carries away three stacks of napkins. A champagne fountain is in the corner, the bubbling liquid cascading down the marble tiers. Placed in the middle of the dance floor, a building-shaped cake and a giant pie spin around each other as if they are having a romantic dance. Caterpillars hang from the ceiling, their silky tethers glistening with a thin layer of dew. They repeatedly fire more strands across the room to create a colorful network that is inevitably destroyed when one of the sword-like ceiling fans turns on. The twins turn at the same time to see a tiny raven standing on the switch, the bird moving it whenever it tries to reach a bowl of grapes.

Arranged around the room, faceless and unclothed mannequins are posed to resemble party-goers. Most are sitting at the tables, but there are three couples frozen on the dance floor. The statues that make up the band never move even though loud music continues to flow out of the instruments. Wait staff hold empty platters above their heads, the only way to discern their purpose being the faint etching of a bowtie on their necks. The twins begin to pick out more bizarre scenes that have been mixed in with the mundane mannequins. Far to their left is one with a knife in its back, the couple next to it posed to look like they are ignoring their neighbor’s plight. Partially hidden by a plant, three statues appear to be engaging in sex with the one in the middle having its legs unnaturally wrapped around the other two. The most disturbing of all is a child sitting under a table, its hands tightly gripping two sparrows that have been crushed. It is the toothy grin and button eyes that make the image so unnerving since none of the other mannequins have faces.

“Play something sexier!” a voice shouts from every direction. The band rattles as they start a song that brings imagines of seedy strip clubs to the twins’ minds. “Something a little classier than that. I only have myself to blame for creating in a rush. To be fair, my dearly departed husband used to do this kind of stuff. Can someone be departed if they were never parted in the first place? Oh, I’ve probably ruined the mood by now. Just so excited that things are going to their climax and I don’t mean Duchess Contessa and the bellboys in the corner. The old girl sure knows how to work them legs.”

A drum roll starts and all of the mannequins turn their heads toward the desserts that have stopped spinning. The top tier of the cake splits to release a slender arm while the pie is punched through by a foot. Metal feet screeching on the polished floor, the tables spin away from each other and knock the dancing mannequins away. Doing their best to seductively slide out of the food, the two halves of a familiar woman escape their prisons and hop to the floor. With the left side wearing a devil girl outfit and the right dressed to resemble a pirate, Dawn’s pieces strike a pose as if they are done with the show. It takes a second for her to realize she is not whole, so she whistles to get the caterpillars to drop from the ceiling. The bugs cover her body and create a large cocoon that steadily shrinks until it is a narrow pillar. A door opens in the front just as Dawn breaks through the side and pulls a mirror out of the floor. She is wearing a tight red bodysuit with a sword on her hip and a pirate’s hat that has devil horns on the top, none of which seem to match.

“I thought we agreed on the costume,” she growls before kicking the mirror away. Holding up her hands as if she is about to do a puppet show, she knocks them together. “This is why we do rehearsals! I wanted to be a pirate, so which one of you two went devil. I don’t care if the tail makes my butt look smaller. Being a pirate goes perfectly with my eye. Not to mention I’m supposed to get a parrot. So, where in all of this unadulterated madness is my Cracker? Oh, I left him in the pie. Come on out, little one. Cracker want a Polly?”

Reaching under the table, Dawn drags the child mannequin out into the open and holds it up by the leg. A ten foot parrot emerges from the destroyed pie and grabs the statue in its beak before sinking back into the dessert. Stripping down a set of denim underwear, the smiling brunette heads for the cake and opens it like a closet. Various costumes are tossed over her shoulder and fly to one of the mannequins, which silently puts on the outfit. Frustration and impatience mounting, Dawn flips the table over and coos at the sight of a long-tailed suit and top hat. Quickly putting on the old-fashioned clothing, she checks her watermelon-sized pocket watch and playfully spins it as she approaches the twins.

“My apologies for all of those delays. It’s been years since I got to play hostess, so I’m a bit rusty,” Dawn explains, her left arm creaking as she moves it. Stepping over to the punch bowl, she pours some down her sleeve and shivers in delight. “Much better. Now, both of you must be wondering what is going on. I mean, your friends did and reacted accordingly. Yelling, running, begging, whimpering, and one of them even threatened me. We’re not going to have that problem since you two are special. In fact, all of this has been created to celebrate our no year reunion. I’m so happy I could cry, but then I’d ruin my makeup and have to kill people until I felt better.”

“Who are you?” Apollo finally asks, his voice distant and weak. Looking to his sister, he can tell that she is barely paying attention and is on the verge of falling asleep again. “This is another of our dreams, but we’re together. I don’t understand.”

“I would be happy to explain, but I have loyal minions for that,” their host casually replies while she ladles some punch into cups. Politely handing one to Apollo, she throws the other into Aurora’s face in an attempt to wake her up. “Nope, she has a gas problem. I’d try acid, but my mop ran away with my lawnmower. Now, I can answer the question about who I am. My name is Dawn Addison and I’m currently a Taurus, but was a Virgo until I was sixteen and a Leo for most of my twenties. Long ago, I was happily mad with my own hotel until my world fell apart because I discovered I was the center of it. Silly me for thinking it was someone else. Anyway, I’m all better now and my rebar only itches when a sneeze. Just kidding. I never sneeze. Where was I?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, you’re no help.”

“Have you been in my head all this time?”

Dawn grabs Apollo by the cheeks and peers in his ear, her gold eyepatch turning in the damaged socket. “I don’t see myself in there, but then I could be lying. One could say I’m in your head, but I’ve been known to travel. The truth is that I know you better than you know yourself, but you’ve never heard of me. Not until recently, which is why we had to meet so quickly. Such a horrible young man that you never gave me a chance to make myself more presentable. Aw, but I can’t stay mad at you since you have a piece that I so desperately need and desire. How about a kiss?”

Straddling Apollo’s lap, Dawn presses her lips against his and snakes her tongue deep into his throat. Feeling a stabbing pain in his chest, he thrashes and flails in the hopes of knocking the woman away. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see that Aurora is doubling over and clutching her stomach. Dawn stretches an arm to catch the other twin and softly runs her fingers through the long tresses of cool hair. Angered by her touching his sister, Apollo tries to bite through their host’s aggressive tongue, but he receives an unexpected jolt of electricity. His body going limp and his eyes closing, he collapses in the inflatable throne, which gradually deflates and brings him to the floor. Placing Aurora next to her brother, Dawn takes a step back and pulls a list out of her back pocket.

“All pieces are ripe and accounted for,” she says as she makes two check marks. Holding up the piece of paper, she waits for a popcorn-scented gale to snatch the message and take it through the skylight. “I’m trusting all of you to do what you promised. Rewards have already been mailed out, my woolly friends. Now, bring the shepherdess home and let her do what she was born to do. The world must have gotten so boring without me. After all, there’s never any fun in normal.”

(CLICK HERE to witness what your younger self missed.)

Peabody Hall Miami University

Claiming a window table in the dining hall, the three students find that they have no appetite after getting very little sleep. Wearing the same clothes from the night before, they look disheveled and those sitting next to them quietly move to the next open space. Dark circles are under all of their eyes, Aurora looking the worst due to her previous late nights. Thomas can only stomach a glass of water while Apollo stares at a bagel like he has made the biggest mistake of his life. The trio yawn in unison, which earns chuckles from some of the nearby diners, who happily go back to their meals. Smacking lips and muffled burps sound like thunderclaps to the exhausted and stressed group until their ears mysteriously pop. Ignoring the strange event, Thomas and Aurora stare at the gloomy outdoors while Apollo continues picking seeds off the bagel.

“Why are we the only three who get the day off?” he finally asks the others. Keeping his voice low, the black-haired student looks around to see if anyone is watching them. “If this was about the hockey team and the sorority then shouldn’t the entire school take the day off? So far, it looks like everyone else is going about their business. All of those students had friends here, but we’re the only ones told to skip classes. This has nothing to do with Bryce or Harvey either because them leaving had to be a secret. Nobody has mentioned them at all on social media and I’ve been looking. Doesn’t that seem weird to you?”

“Weird is an understatement,” Thomas replies while he looks around the room. Feeling like the coast is clear, he takes a quick sip from his flask, which is filled with a strong coffee instead of alcohol. “Why do you think I got us out of there so quickly? Professor Soleman was acting strange from the beginning. I mean, he just walked out in front of the car and beckoned us to follow. None of us saw him coming and he would have had to be walking that way before we reached the corner. Too unnerving. Even worse, he hinted that he’s not the only one involved in . . . whatever this is. We need to keep our heads down until we know more.”

“No, we stay out of their way,” Aurora hisses in a hoarse voice. Taking Thomas’s water, she finishes the drink and hacks until her throat is clear. “Have you considered that we’ve been given this day off to calm down? This is a warning that we’re poking around something that we have no business going near. I don’t care what they’re up to. You shouldn’t either since we got in trouble after only two days of investigating. Take today to study and accept that we have more important things to worry about.”

After waiting for a janitor to walk by and out of earshot, Thomas slowly leans forward to whisper, “I refuse to be a victim. Chris and Jennifer are dead. Harvey and Bryce are missing. I don’t know why the first two were taken out, but the others were helping us. Professor Soleman, Charlene, and everyone else in their group won’t let us walk away so easily. They’ll come for us eventually.”

“And paranoia rears its ugly head.”

“I’d rather be cautious than ambushed.”

“Nobody is going to attack you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re just a student who can’t even focus on a major.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“Please talk some sense into him, brother.”

Snapped out of his trance, Apollo looks from Aurora to Thomas and tries to figure out what they are fighting about. All he can do is shrug helplessly before going back to the design he is making with poppy seeds. He is mildly surprised that he has had enough to make a unicorn, which is rearing up. Hearing his sister tapping on the table, Apollo glances at her and opens his mouth to speak. His jaws snaps shut at the sight of hundreds of ravens soaring over the trees and buildings. Their wings silently flap and none of the animals make a noise as they threaten to block the sun. Nobody else pays attention to the flock, making him fear that he has fallen asleep and is dreaming. He relaxes a bit when Thomas finally turns around and nearly jumps out of his seat, his roommate’s knuckles crack as he grips the table. Following their gaze, Aurora is less impressed by the birds, but watches them pass.

The instant his companions turn away, Apollo spots a white form within the flying mass of black. It takes him a second to realize that there is an albino raven hiding among the others, its beak only slightly darker than the rest of its body. Focusing on the rare bird, he watches it veer away from the flock and head toward the lake. As its black-feathered brethren disappear around one of the dorms, the solitary animal continues soaring over the water. The sun begins to pierce the clouds, casting blinding beams that make it impossible to track the raven. The last Apollo sees of it is a flicker of movement near the lake’s surface, which has become choppy and dark green.

“I have no idea what that’s about,” Aurora states before anyone can ask. Leaning back and crossing her arms, she takes a final glance out the window to see if any ravens are still in the area. “Birds aren’t my specialty, so I can only take a guess. They sensed something to eat over there, which could be an open dumpster or a dead deer. Although, there were a lot of them in that flock. Surprised the population is so big considering there are hawks and owls here. Those should keep the ravens under control. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen either of those animals around in the last month.”

“Another mystery or is it connected to the one we already have?” Thomas asks with a proud smile. Scratching his head, he tries to think of a story that would explain everything and happily snaps his fingers when he gets an idea. “Professor Soleman, Coach Warner, and Charlene made a deal with a big company. They get rich while toxic waste is dumped somewhere on or near campus. Just so happens this stuff killed off the hawk and owl populations, which they’re now trying to hide.”

“And you said I need to look into creative writing,” Apollo jokes, his stomach rumbling slightly. He is about to take a bite of his bagel when a foul smell makes his guts twist. “Just when I almost had an appetite. Does anybody else smell that? Can’t put my finger on what it reminds me of.”

“Like rotting meat,” Thomas says while sniffing the air. He freezes when a chorus of faint clicks echoes throughout the dining hall. “I’m starting to worry here. Not sure about what, but I just have a bad feeling.”

“Is that gas?” Aurora asks as she backs away from the heating vent. Wisps of white mist stream out of the slits, the vapor fading away as it touches the light. “Maybe they’re cleaning the ducts with water. Not sure if that’s a thing, but it makes more sense than everyone here getting poisoned. I feel dizzy.”

Apollo is the only one who manages to cover his nose and mouth before a flood of gas pours from the vents. He scrambles away from the table as Aurora and Thomas slump over, their loud snores shaking the windows. None of the other students act like they see the cloud that is flowing across the floor. Grotesque faces appear beneath all of the seats and remain, the open mouths pumping gas into the air. Reaching for their victims, the twisting tendrils are inhaled with every breath, bite, and uttered word. Feeling cornered and desperate, Apollo grabs an abandoned handkerchief from a table and presses it to his face. He climbs onto a chair, but jumps off immediately when one of the faces materializes on the floor. The bug-eyed apparition pouts and spits a stream of mist before stretching back into a shapeless form.

Once he gets to the stairs, Apollo sees that the gas is staying on the upper floor and only the first step has been covered. Determined to escape, he runs for the doors and tries to use his shoulder to open them. With a grunt, he puts all of his strength into the blow and tries not to yell at the pain that rockets down his arm. For a brief moment, he feels blood flowing under his sleeve, but he ignores out of self-preservation. Bracing his back foot against the bottom step, Apollo gets the doors to give an inch and feels a delicious rush of cool air come in from the empty lobby. With the creak of straining metal, the exit slams back together and knocks him to the ground. Looking up, he sees that the gas is flowing towards him, so he rushes back upstairs to avoid getting trapped in the narrow stairwell.

Apollo is about to grab a chair and charge the distant windows when he realizes that the students are no longer sitting still. While Thomas and Aurora are exactly as he left them, the others have broken out into a mad frenzy. He can only guess that in the short time he has been gone, they have raided the kitchen and salad bar. Food is on every flat surface and nearly all of it has been partially eaten, some pieces even showing signs that they were swallowed and spit back up. Famished students are everywhere gorging themselves on whatever they can greedily get their teeth into. Many are missing fingers, which they failed to get out of the way of their own mouths while eating. Apollo jumps back when a young woman rolls out from behind the drink dispenser and falls down the stairs. Her arms have already been devoured up to the elbows and she continues working on her legs even though she has broken her spine during the bouncing fall. As the real food runs out, more of the students settle for self-cannibalization or merely pouncing on the nearest person.

Unable to get to the windows or save his friends, Apollo carefully makes his way to the kitchen entrance. He looks around the corner to see if there is anyone there, but only the gutted staff are in view. Shocked by the violence, he tries not to throw up, but fails when he finds a cook with her head still stuck in the deep fryer. The sound of clanging pots and pans come from the back, so he grabs a carving knife in case he runs into a hungry student. Apollo stops when he realizes that he has not been covering his mouth since he got back upstairs. No longer afraid, he is about to return to the dining hall and make another attempt to rescue Aurora and Thomas when a metal colander hits him in the head. The impact is enough to knock him out, the last thing he sees being a short, hazy form standing on the counter.

(*insert feeble attempt at being witty about link here*)

Chateau De Noisy

Diving into the nearest room, Harvey crashes to the floor and scrambles to close the door before his pursuer can catch up. Nearly drowned out by a droning hum, he hears rapid footsteps in the distance and the occasional thud of a fist hitting a wall. Backing away from the door, he tries to catch his breath and calm himself enough to think. With no light, the terrified student does his best to feel around and move by sliding his feet. His fingers touch cool glass and metal shelves while he sniffs at the faint aroma of ammonia. Reaching the back wall, Harvey continues searching for another door until his hand goes into water. He jerks his arm back when he feels a fish bump into him since he remembers running by an aquarium full of piranha.

“The switch is out here,” Coach Warner says as the lights turn on. The door rattles as the teacher tries to force his way in, his attempt ending with a frustrated kick. “I know you don’t want to be here, but you have no choice. This is something that’s more important than either of us. The world deserves her return. Now, open the door and come with me. Your friends miss you.”

“I would rather go back to my room,” Harvey states while he takes in his surrounds. Shelves of fish tanks and maintenance equipment cover all of the walls, which are an ugly brown that reminds him of drying dirt. “I wish I had more to say, but you obviously won’t listen to reason or logic. Anything more would be a waste of breath. It would be wiser to use my energy for escaping.”

The crazed teacher pounds on the door before bending down to pointlessly slip a finger into the room. “You’re cornered and your size is useless since you only train your brain. Even if you could get out of the room, I’m still hunting you. At some point, we’ll have to get physical and that’s when you lose. Might as well give up now because this will only end one way. That’s you coming with me to do what you were gifted to do.”

Searching the room for a weapon, Harvey picks up an empty tank of water and places it on the floor. He gets a step ladder to help him reach the lone lightbulb in the ceiling, but is unsure how he can safely strip the wires. Looking around for rubber gloves, he finds nothing that would protect him and realizes that he might not have it in him to knowingly electrocute another human being. Giving on up his original plan, the panicking young man takes a seat and puts his head between his knees. It only takes a minute for Harvey to come up with a new idea, but he remains silent and still to make sure he is thinking clearly. Quietly getting to his feet, he gently tips over the tank and watches the water flow under the door. All of the stones scattered about the floor, none of them bouncing into the hallway.

Harvey rubs his eyes and braces himself for a fight even though he prays that he can escape instead. Tiptoeing through the tiny stones, he unlocks the door and shoves it open before hurrying back to the middle of the room. As he had hoped, Coach Warner barges in and charges, but the man trips on the damp rocks. While the teacher crashes to the floor, the quick-witted student darts into the hallway and charges toward where he remembers seeing stairs. It is not long before he is being chased again, but Coach Warner’s broken ankle makes it difficult for the man to catch up. The only reason the two remain close to each other is that Harvey is already tired and has never been a strong runner. Contrary to his large size, he never had an interest in sports or keeping in shape.

Rushing around a corner, Harvey momentarily stops when it looks like the hallway is warping and twisting. A vase getting thrown at his head, but hitting the wall, urges him to continue running for the only way out. It feels like it takes an hour for him to reach the exit, Coach Warner screaming at his heels the entire time. Stressed and nearing exhaustion, Harvey puts all of his weight behind getting through the door. He stumbles onto a metal grating that goes around the open top of the aquarium. There is no escape from the circular room unless he tries to climb the pipes that lead to a skylight. Grabbing a railing, he stops himself from falling into the water and whirls around to face his pursuer.

“Last chance to come quietly,” Coach Warner says as he blocks the only door. Reaching to the back of his head, his fingers come back with blood. “That’s going to require stitches. Who would have thought you’d be the difficult one? I was betting on Ms. Hall since always had more fire than you.”

“I thought I already had my last chance,” Harvey replies, unsure if he sounds defiant and witty. Looking over his shoulder, he can see the piranhas darting through the plants, their scales almost mesmerizing in the light. “Come any closer and I’ll jump into the water. It sounds like you need me alive, which means you won’t risk me killing myself. All I have to do is throw myself over the railing. Wouldn’t even take much effort.”

“So much for being the smart one,” the teacher claims with a smirk. Picking up a nearby pipe, he takes a few steps forward and finds that his target stays out of the aquarium. “I thought so. Not very good at bluffing, Mr. Pugh. I’ve played more than enough poker to see through your half-baked lies. This game is over.”

Coach Warner rushes forward with the pipe swinging for his prey’s stomach, but the younger man clumsily jumps to the side. Reflexes slowed by his injury and anger, the teacher trips over Harvey’s legs and topples into the water. He is about to thrash and swim when he remembers the piranha are attracted to erratic movement. Gently moving his limbs to float toward the edge, Coach Warner keeps his eyes on his victim, who is still dazed from the lucky fall. The two lock gazes as the teacher reaches the far end of the aquarium and begins to climb out. He is about to pull himself over the railing when his leg is jerked down, his injured foot still in the water. Both men look down to see a huge moray eel with its teeth embedded in Coach Warner’s flesh. The moment he tries to move again, the creature violently drags him to the bottom where he thrashes enough that the piranhas join the frenzy. Within seconds, the water is crimson and the surface remains perfectly still.

“Please don’t throw up,” a friendly voice says from behind Harvey. The young man jumps and backs away from the wetsuit-wearing brunette that seems to step out of the wall. “On second thought, feel free to vomit all you want. Just not on my fins because I just had the tips painted to look like rainbows. You can’t see them unless I’m in the water. By the way, I’m Dawn Addison and I’m a friend of your friends. We’ve all had terrific meetings. Though, you’re going to have to be my last one. Time is running out or of the essence or flying or money or something so cliché that I simply want to kill every author in the world.”

“What do you want from me?” Harvey asks, sensing that he is still in danger. Thinking she cannot catch him, he takes a step for the open door, which melts off the wall. “I must be dreaming. That can’t happen in the real world. Yet, I can tell that Coach Warner just died and it’s not in my head. Maybe I passed out from seeing the accident and now this is a dream. That must be it.”

“Unless everything has been a dream and only now you’re waking up to reality,” the woman responds before hopping onto the railing. Pulling two tridents out of her hair, she casually walks along the slick metal. “I fear that you aren’t ripe yet. The piece I need won’t fit and is growing funny. At least from what I can tell from here. Excuse me while I take a closer look. I’ll buy you an ice pop afterwards.”

Before Harvey can react, the tridents are slammed into his feet and the shafts grow to wrap around his arms. With the young man stuck to the floor, Dawn has no problem climbing onto his shoulders and begins tapping on his head. She cracks her knuckles before digging her nails into his skull and forcing the bone apart. Frowning at the exposed brain, she wraps her legs around Harvey’s neck while poking at the organ. When his nose twitches, she happily probes the spot to repeat the spasm and make it occur in a bouncy rhythm. Dawn stops when she fears that the brain will become damaged and her finger gets tired. Slamming the skull shut, she remains sitting on the young man’s shoulders and lets out a sputtering sigh.

“I need to put a little extra work into you,” she whispers into Harvey’s ear. Removing her fins, Dawn slides to the floor and takes off her wetsuit to reveal a colorful dress. “Let the fun begin and pay close attention. Reality and dreams are one and the same. We simply pick the one we prefer and hold onto it for dear life. That and feel free to scream at the top of your lungs in agony when the moment feels right.”