Satan's Sorority Girls -- Chapter 1

This is a little darker story than what I normally write, but I think you guys will like it.

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There was something somewhat calming about Professor Burton’s voice as he talked to the class about intracellular signaling.

Biology had always been one of my favorite subjects in high school, and I knew from very early on that I wanted to do something with science in the future. So hearing Professor Burton talk about how a signal triggers a specific cellular response was music to my ears.

My dream was to go to vet school in the future, and then I could work with and treat the animals I’d always been so interested in. Of course, I knew it was going to take more than just a few biology classes, and this was just the beginning of my long road to get there, but I wasn’t one to shy away from studying.

I loved learning more than anything, and my idea of a good night included a comfortable chair and a factual book, so I was confident that I’d ace my degree with flying colors.

“Grayson.” I shook my head as Professor Burton called out my name. “Can you give me an example of intracellular signaling?”

“Um…” I thought for a second. I couldn’t get this wrong. “An increase of calcium ions in muscle cells can lead to muscle contractions?”

“Very good, Mr. Price.” He smiled as he combed through his short brown hair with one hand. “Can anyone give me any more examples?”

I sat back in my seat as Professor Burton collected answers from the rest of the students around me. We were all freshmen, and it was the first semester of our first year, so I was still learning the names of everyone around me, but there was one student in particular who I’d noticed on my very first day.

“Signaling in the pancreas can result in the release of insulin?” Robyn suggested in a delicate English accent.

Robyn Gardner was without a doubt the prettiest and hottest girl I’d ever seen in my life. Her ginger hair draped down her back, her eyes were the color of the sky on a sunny day, and she always had a pair of circular glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.

We still hadn’t actually talked even once, and I had to find the courage to even consider starting a conversation with her, but I couldn’t help fantasizing about it. She was fucking perfect. Not only was she always lost in a book, but I knew she loved animals as much as I did given the animal rights stickers she had on the front of her notebook.

It was just a damn shame she had no idea who I was.

I tried to talk to her once, but it didn’t go very well.

I had been too busy thinking of the words I was going to say to her that she’d walked straight past me without me even realizing. I told myself there was always tomorrow, and I just had to try again until I found the courage to say two words to her. But that was a month ago, and I was still trying to find that ability to open my mouth whenever I was around her.

I wanted to learn everything about her. I wanted to know why she chose to come to Dowell University in Maine, instead of staying in England where I assumed she was from. Or maybe her family lived in Maine, but she just kept the English accent when they moved across the pond?

What was her family like?

Did she have hundreds of siblings, or did she grow up with just her grandparents like I did?

I also wanted to know if Robyn was interested in working with animals like I was, or maybe biology was just an added part of her curriculum?

Did she listen to music when she studied, or did she find that additional background noise distracted her?

And if she did listen to music, then what was her go-to genre?

There was so much to learn about her, but I had an entire academic year in order to get to know Robyn better, so hopefully I’d be able to say something to her in that time.

On the other hand… who was I kidding?

I eyed the slew of buffer, more confident guys in our class.

Those were the types of dudes that girls like Robyn went for. Not shaggy-haired guys who were tall, sure, but admittedly lanky and awkward as fuck.

“Now,” Professor Burton said as everyone began to shove their books and laptops in their bags. “I’m very aware that today is the start of rush week, but I still expect your introductory essays to be submitted by six o’clock Wednesday evening. If anyone needs any assistance, or if they want to discuss their essays with me, then my door is always open.”

A few of the students cheered, but I had to muffle back the groan that threatened to slip through my lips.

It was the start of that one particular week when every sorority and fraternity in town looked for more students to join them, so the students around me were pumped, especially if they had a particular house in general they wanted to join.

But rush week wasn’t something I was remotely interested in. I was quite comfortable in my dorm room with the normal students. It meant I had more time to work on my first essay of the semester, which I enjoyed much more than gallivanting around this college town with Greek letters on my chest.

But Dowell University was definitely big on the Greek Life.

I was the sort of person who could look past events like this, though, just as long as it didn’t affect me personally. So as long as the sororities and fraternities kept to themselves, then I figured I shouldn’t have any issues because of it.

“Thank you.” I smiled at Professor Burton on my way to the door.

“Of course, Grayson,” he replied while he adjusted the black blazer of his smart suit. “I assume you’re quite comfortable with the essay I assigned everyone?”

“Yes, I’m more than comfortable with it,” I laughed quietly. “In fact, I can’t wait to get started.”

“Then I can’t wait to read it.” He smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

I always found it easier to talk to adults instead of people my own age, and my grandmother always said I was wise beyond my years, but I didn’t see anything wrong with that. I enjoyed learning from people who had much more experience than I did, and I couldn’t imagine that was going to change any time soon.

“I need to head to the store later,” I mumbled quietly to myself as I headed toward my calculus class. “Pippin needs some more treats, but I could ask Mo to go for me because he said he needed to get more breakfast bars… And if Mo goes for me, then I could get started on the essay, and even though I’ve got two days before the essay’s due, I’d like to get it finished by tomorrow night…”

I continued to mumble until I’d taken my seat in my next class. It often felt like my mind was constantly on overdrive, so talking to myself allowed me to focus on the important subjects. Particularly when it came down to my hamster, Pippin, and all of his various needs and requirements.

I just needed to remember not to talk out loud in the middle of class, especially when the professor was speaking. Calculus was already my worst subject, so I needed to give my professor all of my attention.

I still enjoyed math, and I loved putting my brain to good use when it came to working out different equations, I just found it easier to learn about the different sciences and wildlife.

“Are you going to the party tonight?” one of the nearby students asked his friend as the professor continued to explain the equation projected on the wall.

“Of course, I am,” the friend snorted. “Apparently we need to be there for six, but I’m thinking of getting there for, like, five. Maybe five-thirty?”

“I’ve had my eye on this fraternity since I started looking at universities, so I’m not missing out,” the first guy explained. “I mean, what’s college without the perks of joining a frat and banging a bunch of dumb bitches?”

“That’s exactly what I said, too,” the friend agreed with a slightly scummy snicker. “Like, why else did my parents pay all this money if I don’t get to join Nu Zeta Gamma and get first dibs on the hottest sorority girls?”

I tried not to roll my eyes.

I was still in the process of learning about the various fraternities and sororities that littered the town of Hartry, Maine, but I was quite confident that Nu Zeta Gamma was closest to campus, which apparently some of the students appreciated.

Fortunately, the two friends ended their discussion shortly after that, so I was able to pay attention to what my professor was saying, instead of hearing about potential plans for a frat party later.

However, I was distracted once again when loud, blaring music suddenly started playing from somewhere to my left.

“Fuck, sorry,” a girl mumbled as she tried to stop the music that played through her phone.

The girl had long, wavy hair which had been dyed bright shades of both blue and pink, and she fiddled with the silver hoop pierced through her bottom lip while she messed around with her phone.

“Miss Lloyd,” the professor said with a sigh. “Do I have to remind you of the rules of the room?”

“No,” she grumbled.

“Good.” The bird-like professor shook her head and then turned back around to face the projection on the wall. “Put your phone away now, Julia.”

Julia, whose name I’d only just learned, glanced around the room with a look of total embarrassment on her pale face. But when she caught me looking at her, she gave me a sweet, amused smile and rolled her eyes dramatically.

I bit back my laughter, but then I returned my attention back toward the professor before she aimed her daggers at me, too.

The rest of my day went by somewhat smoothly, and because I wanted to get a headstart on my work for Professor Burton, I decided to visit one of the study rooms in order to plan out my essay before I headed home.

I spoke to my friend, and roommate, Mo, before I got down to work, and when I heard he was going to the library to get a book for class, I asked if he could get a couple of things for me from the store, too. Mo happily agreed, but because he was going to do something for me, I had to do something for him. It would probably include watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but I was more than okay with that.

I’d actually gotten pretty damn lucky with the roommate situation.

I hadn’t even known Mo for that long, and we didn’t meet in person until a couple of months ago when we moved into our dorm. But it was our shared love of LEGO,  The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit, both the books and the movies, that really bonded our friendship.

The two of us messaged each other for weeks when we heard that we were going to be living together, and we kept up that conversation right until I moved up from Florida, and he traveled all the way over from Hawaii.

But now it felt like Mo and I had been friends for years, and it was the first time in my life that I’d properly connected with someone my own age.

So technically, I wasn’t as much of a nerd as I’d always been. I was now a nerd with a nerdy sidekick. That counted for something.

It wasn’t until I noticed the time on my phone that I realized I had been sitting in the study room for almost three hours. But I had a rough outline of my essay scribbled down on a few pieces of paper, so I was excited to head back to my dorm and turn those notes into an impressive essay.

I packed away my notebooks, double checked that I had everything, and then left the room as I plugged my earbuds in and opened up my podcast app. I had about twenty minutes left of an episode, and it took me twenty minutes to walk back to the dorm, so that sounded perfect to me.

It was a true crime podcast, and every episode covered a different case– mainly unsolved cases– and I was a major sucker for things like that. The episode I was in the middle of listening to was all about a man who disappeared one night. Of course. But they found his car, wallet, and even car keys, and he was never seen again.

I know, it sounds pretty cut and dry, but there was something about listening to a podcast like that while walking across town that really made Hartry appear darker, almost like it was cloaked in crime and mysteries.

Hartry was an old town, and like the rest of Maine, and New England in general, Hartry had a lot of history behind it, which the buildings still represented. The architecture was beautiful, in a strange, gothic kind of way, and even the university campus, which was young in comparison to the rest of the town, carried on that Second Empire architecture.

Every building in Hartry came with the same cast-iron crestings, wooden verandas, and turrets that seemed to act like a cherry on top of an old-fashioned cake. Some of the buildings were even made of black wood, so whenever I passed them, I often imagined bats flying from the rooftops, or snarling gargoyles watching people as they entered the property.

There was a red-brick clock tower in the center of the university’s quad, and every hour, on the hour, the clock bells would chime, and there was nothing more eerie than hearing that noise in the middle of the night when I was the only one around.

Sometimes I liked walking around campus when I couldn’t sleep, but there had been a couple of occasions in the last couple of months where I either didn’t leave the dorm building, or I decided not to listen to a podcast during my stroll.

I wasn’t sure why that happened. I just had a strange feeling walking around in the dead of night that made me think it was best not to be too distracted.

Perhaps it was because I was still new to Hartry, and I was used to the glistening sea and the bright lights of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But sometimes the true crime cases seemed just a bit too real, and too close to home for comfort, so I picked and chose when to listen to the newest episodes.

However, I would have gone mad if I hadn’t had my earbuds in during rush week, and I realized that as soon as I left the main campus.

It was the first time I’d ever experienced rush week, and I kind of had an idea of what to expect, but the chaos I was met with as I headed in the direction of the various sorority and fraternity houses was unlike anything I’d ever imagined.

The residential streets were filled with guys and girls cheering and calling out to one another. The rush recruitment parties had officially started, and I no longer needed a map to help me differentiate between a sorority house, and just another regular Hartry building.

There were bed sheets hanging from the different houses with Greek letters spray painted onto them. There was even a guy with a megaphone announcing the name of his fraternity, just in case someone had missed the enormous Greek letters on the bed sheet.

I walked past the overly-excited guy without even looking in his direction, but it didn’t seem as though he’d noticed me, anyway, which I was fine with.

I was lucky enough to even get into college in the first place, so I wasn’t going to look back at this time in my life and regret not joining a fraternity.

I’d lived with my grandparents since I was about two years old, and for the last seventeen years I knew they did whatever they could to build up my tuition fund. They wanted me to have the best education they could afford, and they wanted me to become a vet if that’s what I had my heart set on. Hell, they wanted me to do anything I wanted really, just as long as it could set me up for a good life.

So they didn’t even think about relaxing and enjoying their much needed retirement until I was given a place at Dowell University.

Of course, I helped them where I could, and I did yard work and a paper round to help save up some money, but my grandparents wanted me to enjoy my childhood, so the vast majority of the tuition came from them.

Which was why I was just grateful to be here. I didn’t have rich parents who offered out money without even thinking twice about it. I was sure that guy with the megaphone would find more than enough students to join his house, so I didn’t have to feel guilt-tripped into joining them, either.

I was just a normal guy trying to stay focused and live up to the expectations my modest family had for me.

I survived the first street of houses, but as I came up to the T-junction, loud music began to play from all angles. Fortunately I didn’t have to go to the library, so I didn’t need to turn right and face the riot in that direction, but I did have to turn left, and there were even more Greek houses to pass before I reached my dorm building.

A group of hot sorority girls started to jog in my direction, and as well as their bouncing tits, I also noticed the identical blonde hair they all shared, as well as the super tight t-shirts with their sorority letters stretched nearly to bursting across their chests.

The girls were laughing and cheering, and they were probably in the process of planning their charity car wash where they’d all wear tiny shorts and white t-shirts designed to destroy the willpower of men.

That actually sounded like an event I’d take part in, though. To help give money to charity, of course.

“Psi Beta Mu!” one of the blonde girls called out. “Psi Beta Mu!”

The other girls cheered, and they continued to shout out those three words as their impressive boobs bounced from left to right.

I tried to keep my eyes focused anywhere but at them as they jogged right past me, chanting like cheerleaders, but I knew I was fighting a losing battle. Then I caught on to the haze of vanilla perfume that seemed to blow through the air behind them, and I took in a reluctant whiff of the sultry cloud.

What was it with women and vanilla perfume?

The further down the road I walked, the louder and more boisterous the parties became. There was even a guy doing a keg stand right in their front yard, and his three buddies around him chanted the man’s name and held onto his body as he continued to chug back the beer. I wasn’t sure if that was part of the fraternity’s initiation, or just some guys having fun, but I didn’t want to join them.

I didn’t even know how to do a handstand, let alone a keg stand.

I continued to listen to my podcast, and the facts about the missing man, and I focused on the end of the road where I hoped the riots would finally end. I just hoped that Mo didn’t get caught up in these parties, either, and I knew the two of us would joke about the stereotypical students as we watched The Lord of the Rings later on this evening.

But then, just as that thought came to mind, a group of men appeared in front of me, and I had just enough time to leap out of the way before I was thrown to the ground.

However, due to the uneven asphalt, my glasses slipped off my face and fell onto the ground as I attempted to hold my balance. And instead of apologizing, the men continued on with their journey as they called out the name of their chosen fraternity.

It could have been because I didn’t have my glasses on, but it looked like the men could barely walk a straight line, and it definitely looked like one of them was holding a beer bottle. So I imagined their drunken state was the reason behind them almost crashing into me.

“At least my glasses are fine,” I mumbled to myself as I picked them up from the grass and put them back on.

My hair flopped in front of my face as I picked up my pace and tried to leave the residential street as quickly as I could. But in order to make my journey slightly easier, I decided to take a short cut through the wooded path.

This route was completely surrounded by trees, but it took me right to my dorm building, and I knew the drunk students would more than likely stay on the street where the parties were taking place.

I had to admit, the path was slightly creepy, but there was something exciting about it, especially when I had my podcast playing through the earbuds. The only light came from the dying sun, and something rustled in the bushes beside me, but it wasn’t as creepy as Hartry in the middle of the night, so I didn’t shy away from the path.

“Some sources believe the man chose to leave on his own,” the male podcast host said as eerie music played in the background. “But in my opinion, I think something else went on that night. I’d certainly take a wallet filled with money if I’d planned to go somewhere. But again, that’s just my opinion.”

“Me, too.” I nodded, like the host was standing right in front of me.

I often wondered what I’d do if I ever found myself in the center of a true crime case, or how I’d handle the 911 call if I ever had to make one. I imagined I would have been cool, calm, and collected if I came across this missing man from the episode, but until that moment came, I had no idea how I’d react.

“If you’re watching this on YouTube, there will be a link in the description box for the family’s GoFundMe page,” the host continued. “But if any new information comes up, I’ll update everyone on Twi–”

“Oh, my god, hi!”

I just about crapped my pants as a girl leaped out of the bushes beside me, and it took several seconds– and for my heart to stop beating wildly– before I noticed the blue-and-pink hair and facial piercings of Julia Lloyd.

“Oh, hi,” I said as I pulled my earbuds out.

“You’re Grayson, right?” she asked. “We have calculus together.”

“Uh, yeah.” I nodded. “But… Did you just come out of the bushes? What are you…?”

“Oh, nothing.” She shrugged as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Alright…” I frowned.

Julia wore a black cropped t-shirt, which had a panda with wings printed on the front, a short black skirt, and fishnet tights that showcased her incredible legs. She also had a pair of star-shaped glasses with violet-colored lenses perched on the bridge of her cute nose. They were several chains dangling around her chest and stomach, and a pentagram pendant sat an inch away from her obvious cleavage.

She was super pretty and was what I’d heard some people call a “pastel goth,” and I was really surprised she was bothering to talk to me.

“I’m so sorry about the music incident this morning,” she giggled as she pushed her glasses up her nose with one finger. “I was totally trying to hide the fact that I was listening to music in class, but my plan failed. Clearly.”

“It didn’t bother me.” I shrugged. “I actually thought it was kinda funny.”

“At least someone did,” Julia snorted. “Professor Lackberg, on the other hand… Man, what a fucking bitch, right? Like, everyone else allows me to listen to music in class.”

“She can be quite strict.” I nodded. “But I suppose we’re there to learn, so maybe Professor Lackberg takes that more seriously than the others.”

“Hmm… yeah.” Julia nodded half-heartedly. “Well, perhaps if she knew how to dye those horrific gray roots, and if she could pick clothes from this century, maybe I’d like her more.”

“Yeah, I guess…” I mumbled.

I wasn’t quite sure what to say after that, so instead I took a small step in the direction of my dorm building.

“Do you stay at Jefferson Hall?” Julia asked as she pointed in the direction of the dorm building.

“Er, yeah.” I stopped and awkwardly turned back around. “Do you?”

“No, no, I’m part of a sorority,” she giggled. “And before you say it, I know, how the fuck can I be a sorority sister, right?”

“I… wasn’t going to say that.” I frowned.

“I mean, I know I don’t have blonde hair,” Julia sighed. “Sure, my tits are pretty fucking fantastic, and my legs are like a mile long, but I don’t wake up at six o’clock to go for a run with all my girlfriends.”

Julia was right, her tits were fantastic, and her legs were awesome, but I did everything I could to keep my eyes away from them.

“Who even goes running at that time anyway?” she continued. “Like, sure, maybe athletes need to train, but who does it just for fun? I can think of so many things I could do at that time in the morning. Mainly sleeping, if I’m being totally honest.”

Julia laughed at her own joke, and then she continued to talk about something. However, I didn’t catch anything else she said.

Because two droplets of blood began to pour down her cheeks.

I blinked, but it didn’t seem like I was imagining things.

The droplets continued to slide slowly down while the beautiful goth chick carried on chatting.

“Oh, shit, you’re…” I gasped as I pointed at her face. “Did you hurt yourself in the bushes?”

I couldn’t see any scratches because her glasses were in the way, but I imagined there must have been tons of thorns and brambles in those unkempt bushes.

“What?” Julia frowned, but then she raised her hands and dabbed the blood away with her fingers. “Oh, fuck, not this again.”

“Again?” I blinked in utter astonishment.

“Yeah. It’s fine. Let’s talk a bit more about you, Grayson.” Julia just laughed, pulled out a crumpled up tissue from her skirt pocket and pushed the glasses onto her crown to clean up the mess.

That was when I realized the blood wasn’t coming from a scratch.

It was streaming right out of her fucking eyes.

“Whaaaat the fuuuuck?” I breathed.

“So what are you doing right now?” Julia continued to giggle almost shyly as she blotted away the bloody tears, but then she shoved the blotchy tissue back into her pocket and slipped her glasses back onto her nose like it was nothing.

I stared at her polite smile for all of five silent seconds before I abruptly decided to dip the fuck out.

“I… uhhh… have some study plans,” I said as I stepped around the pastel goth. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You sure you have to go?”  She stepped to her side to block me from walking around her. “We just started talking…”

“Yeah…” I cleared my throat and nodded my head toward my dorm building. “I have a friend expecting me.”

“Oh really?” She finished clean up her eyes, but there was still a faint trail of red color down her cheeks. “Hopefully not a girl?”

“No… uhhh… my roommate,” I said.

“Oh, yay for me.” She smiled and fluttered her eyelashes. Fifteen seconds ago I thought she was smoking hot, but now I just wanted to get some space from the weird pixie-goth girl with the bleeding eyes.

“Soooo… I better go.” I finally dodged around her. “Talk later, okay?”

“It was so good to meet you, too, Grayson!” she called out happily. “Let’s hang out soon. Maybe we can have dinner? Or coffee? Have the best night, okay?”

“Um… sure.” I nodded my head slowly. “You… too?”

It took me several frantic paces to get the gears in my head turning again.

That encounter had to be a prank, right?

It was rush week, after all, and I’d seen so many stupid hazing things going on around campus so far. Julia said she was a sorority girl, too, so maybe this was some dumb task she’d set out on as a big show for prospective sisters?

Yeah. That was it.

She probably had the fake blood in her eyes the entire time, and that was why she wore those star-shaped glasses. It also explained why she was hiding in the bushes, because I couldn’t imagine she’d hide somewhere like that for fun.

Regardless, Julia Lloyd was definitely the strangest person I’d met on campus yet, but I figured I’d just have to get used to it. That was all part of rush week and the college experience right?

Go Greek life.

I rolled my eyes at the thought.

“I don’t even know why anyone would get involved in that stupid shit,” I mumbled to myself as I arrived back at my dorm building.