Chapter 01: The Collegian

“Welcome to Cyprus-Gray! Home of the Gray Wolves and famous for the sheer number of successful men and women we list among our Alumni!” The tour guide’s voice was annoyingly chipper and Christina Samuels found herself cringe at it a time or two and the worst part about it was they’d just started. “As some of you may already know Cyprus-Gray boasts one of the most highly recognized and prestigious names in academics and athletics. In fact we’re ranked #1 in our division for football, swimming, track and field and polo.”

“Here as you can see is a statue of one of our founders Mr. Carter Gray renowned scientist and philanthropist whose work on genetic imprinting engineered the discovery to several cures including ones for Kryton Syndrome and Type 1 Dermatosis. Thanks to his amazing hard work and dedication we can all revel in his genius and hope a bit of it rubs off on us here,” she laughed at her own joke before continuing on. “Ok right this way I want to give you a look at the new facilities that just opened up last semester where we host a variety of new majors for our students.”

Christina broke away from the tour for a moment as the sounds of laughter drew her attention. Stopping near the edge of the gymnasium located a small distance from where the guide walked she glanced towards the swimming pool locating the source of the noise. Her eyes narrowed in on a tall, dark haired man standing near the diving board. His body was drenched and his hair was coifed unkemptly to the side as it dried wildly around his head. He was talking to another swimmer near him and as he spoke Christina noticed how sparkling his smile was and the care he seemed to take in his appearance.

While he wasn’t overly muscular, he was fit. The man was much taller than the other swimmer, at least six foot one, and powerfully built. His shoulders were broad and his height advantage placed him about a foot over the man in his company. A strong, sculpted chin set off his features. He indeed had a pleasing face, with sculpted cheeks and a full bottom lip. Christina noted that his eyes were a particularly intriguing shade of blue nearly mimicking the sparkling chlorine water not three feet from where he stood. “I see you’ve discovered one of our hidden gems! That’s our very own Olympic hopeful Remington Cantrell. He has already taken first in every competition from here to California and has no plans on stopping any time soon. Do you swim?”

“No, not at all actually I never learned how.”

“Ah well I’m sure Cyprus-Gray has various other activities that would suit your interests. We pride ourselves on catering to every walk of life.”

“Yeah if your folks have money,” Christina whispered to herself.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said that’s really very funny because I was reading in the brochure you don’t have a dance team but you offer a dance program?”

“Yes that’s right. Cyprus-Gray has never particpated in any of the competitions so there was never a need for a team. We offer various courses for different styles of dance; ballet, hip-hop, ballroom as well as cultural but nothing that has gone past the University’s front steps. Anyway we’re going to continue the tour if you could please join us, we’re heading towards the dorms and I’ll show you each where you will be staying while attending the University!”

Remington’s gaze caught on Christina as she started back towards the tour. He felt her eyes on him and turned just in time to catch a gorgeous smile that quickly faded as she returned to Olivia’s side. He continued seeking her out until the last possible second when she turned the corner heading towards Bentley Hall.

“Yoo-hoo,” Marcus whistled in Remington’s direction. “YO! Remy! Dude?” he laughed when the man finally turned to face him. “Are you gonna swim or stare at chicks all day? It’s your lap Bro, make it count.”

“Yeah,” Remington sighed and looked back towards the direction Christina disappeared. “I’m coming.”

“Now since you two are transfer students you’ll be housed in Bentley Hall. We are co-ed so just be wary of your neighbors because some of them like to walk around in the nude.” And as if leading by example three guys ducked out of the showers and rushed towards them naked and wet as they hurried into one of the rooms at the end of the hall. “See what I mean? Now we do have a few sororities that may also interest you and…”

“My Mother was a Kappa Delta Pi; I’m hoping to pledge that house,” Christina interrupted as they came to a stop in front of a room with another of the freshman’s name next to it. Grabbing her stuff she broke off from the group leaving just Christina to find her room.

“Well they will be lucky to have you!” Continuing down the hall, the guide stopped again short of the stairwell and pointed to the corner room. “Hmm it doesn’t appear that your roommate is in and I was hoping to drop you off with company. Well no worries I’m sure she’ll be back any minute now. Again my name is Olivia Smart and if you need anything just give a yell. I am also the resident dorm monitor; my room is on the other end of the hall.”

Christina watched Olivia retreat towards her room before poking her head into the small room she would call home for the next two years before moving on to medical school. Dropping her bags on her bed she began unpacking her things and placing what she could in the other half of the closet. Humming to herself she got lost in the beat and started moving to the song in her head.

Jordan entered into the room and leaned against the door. A bright smile grew on her face and she watched her roommate unpacking oblivious to her audience. Christina’s hips swayed quicker to her own rhythm and very soon her second suitcase was nearly unpacked. “Ahem,” Jordan finally announced her presence.

“Oh! Hey!” Christina turned with a start and a slight blush of embarrassment. “How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough to see you got a few moves in you girl! I especially found the tuck and fold in the drawer slide particularly moving! Jordan Brighton, but everyone calls me J.B.,” she smiled and stepped forward with her hand extended.

“Christina Samuels but everyone calls me Chrissy.” 

“So are you here for one of the fine arts and theatrics courses?” she asked mimicking Christina’s moves with a smile.

Watching her dance she felt herself relax a tiny bit and the color return to her face. “No I’m actually a pre-med student. This is just a quick stop on my way to becoming a doctor. Dancing is just my guilty pleasure.”

“Well between you and me there’s nothing around that will satisfy your interests.”

“I thought Olivia said there were a few classes for dancers.”

“Oh yeah they have classes alright if you’re into your parents’ ballroom stuff. The Waltz, the Charleston, they Tango and they Foxtrot but nothing like what you were doing. I’d go as far to say the professor of the dance courses is too afraid of breaking her hip or something. She won’t do anything riskier than a dip.”

“Well that sucks. It was the only extra class I took thinking it would relax me during my normal coursework. Now I’m thinking I should just drop it for another biology or something.” 

Jordan plopped onto Christina’s bed watching her continue to unpack but her dancing had stopped as she emptied another suitcase. “Are you new to Emerald Cove?”

“New/old I guess you could say. I was born here and my parents are from here but we moved when my Dad got a new job in Washington. I just finished getting my stuff flown over last week; I was staying with my aunt and uncle until my room opened up here.”

“So what brings you all the way back to the east coast?”

“Tradition; both of them graduated from here, it’s where they met and fell in love and so I figured I’d try my hand at Cyprus-Gray and keep the tradition alive.” She frowned and placed her empty luggage at the bottom of the closet and shut the door behind her. “So since dancing is out, what else is there to do around here?”

Jordan studied her face for a moment before popping up from the bed at the sound of the bell tower ringing the noon hour. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to a few people and really show you this campus!”

They walked down towards the Quad and into the bright, shining afternoon sun. Tons of students were milling about as some were just getting out of one class, checking their schedules and rushing off to their next. Others were heading towards the dining hall for lunch or checking out the activities board for upcoming events. Jordan led Christina towards one of the tables in the back of the area.

Three people were already occupying the tiny space and as they joined them she was met with smiles and warm welcomes from each of them. “Christina Samuels I’d like you to meet Amber Jacobs, journalism major and swim fanatic. Kayne Dunnigan, Quarterback for the CG Wolves here on a football scholarship and business major, and a real hound dog,” she whispered the last part. “And this handsome and camera happy hottie is Donovan Andrews, photojournalism major and my boyfriend of three years.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she smiled and slid into a seat between Amber and Kayne.

“I saw you come in on the freshman train but you don’t look like a freshman to me!” Amber turned and did a quick analysis of their new company.

“Junior, actually; I just transferred here from Cunningham. I’m trying to finish up my next coursework for my pre-med track this year and prepare for my MCATs but I foresee Organic Chem. really kicking my butt.”

“Well if you ever need help there are a few tutors for that class in particular actually.”

“Yeah just try and avoid the weird kid,” Kayne added. “Rumor has it he murdered his parents and ate their organs for Christmas dinner.”

“What? Come on if that were true don’t you think he’d be behind bars?”

“Hey it’s just what I heard,” he smiled brightly and shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it though he mostly keeps to himself anyway. Just if you get an actual human heart for Valentine’s don’t say I didn’t try and warn you.” She laughed and he moved his chair a little closer towards her as he spoke. “So where ya from Christina?”

“You can call me Chrissy and I’m from here originally but I grew up in Seattle.”

“Ah the Seahawks, are you a fan?” She scrunched her nose and nodded negatively gaining a slight chuckle from Kayne. “Well maybe you just haven’t had the opportunity to really take in the sport. Perhaps you’d like to come see me play sometime it might surprise you it’s a very interesting game.”

“Maybe,” she shrugged with a smile.

“Well good I…” a loud clatter to their left drew their attention as a dark haired girl dropped a bag of something heavy at Christina’s foot.

“Am I late?” She asked with an exasperated sigh. Amber laughed to herself as she watched her butt in between the conversation with Kayne. The annoyed look he shot her was more than comical. “I tried to get here as soon as but my stupid throttle stuck in the middle of my ride when I was coming up to a red light! I almost crashed my bike but luckily I was able to free the stuck cable and get it back under control and got the engine to shut off before it came to that.” 

“I did however get a fucking ticket for speeding of all things!  And then I spent the better half of the morning realigning the cables so they weren’t so tight and fixing my clutch; I think I found the issue with any luck. Anyway,” she sat on the table next to Amber and glanced towards Christina. “Hey we have fresh meat huh! I’m Paige, nice to meet ya!”

“Christina,” she answered as the bell tolled again and Donovan slid Jordan out of his lap as he stood.

“Time to get to the interviews Amber we don’t want to be late with this edition. It was nice meeting you Chrissy, you coming Kayne?”

“Yeah I’m coming!” He stretched and lifted himself from his seat but kept his eyes focused on Christina. “Sorry to cut this so short but maybe we can get together sometime and really get to know each other, no pressure,” he added with a smile.

“Yeah that might be nice. Thank you.” The table cleared of the three and Paige quickly fell into the seat Amber occupied moments earlier and stared at Christina with a smirk.

“Looks like the jock is about to make another play. Word to the wise girl, he and his ex are still kind of hitting it,” she made a vulgar motion with her index finger sliding it in and out of her palm illustrating her meaning. “I’d try and avoid that drama as much as possible.”

“Thanks for the advice. I’m not looking to hook up though. I just want to get through these next six years of school. I mean I already got lucky getting in. The school had apparently reached its limit of transfers but they had an early dropout so I was able to make it in this semester; I’m not doing anything that would ruin my chances here!” 

The bell sounded once more and Jordan stood up. “Well then let’s get you settled into the campus so you adjust to CG comfortably. Come on, I’ll show you some of my favorite hideouts here.”

Campus police found the body of missing Collegian Joy Larsen today near Crescent Bay. She was wrapped in a sheet and her body tossed near one of the cliffs by the boat ramp. Police believe she is the victim of homicide. Markings found on her body are closely related to another murder earlier this week. Both victims had long lacerations across their neck and torso, claw marks covering their backs and what appear to be animal bites on their legs.

It is too early for speculation but the Emerald Cove homicide detectives have not ruled out the possibility of a serial killer. Crescent Bay is a popular make-out spot for teens and college students alike and police suspect that Larsen was not up there alone. Track marks indicate recent activity of large passenger automobiles as well as several recreational vehicles. Bottles and food wrappers found on and around the area also indicate there may have been several parties happening at the location.

Larsen had just transferred to the prestigious university and was looking forward to starting classes in the fall. “She was so happy and had just finished selecting her coursework. I don’t understand how this could happen to her!” Her mother Diana Benedict told The Daily Gazette just hours after learning the identity of the missing girl.

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