By the time I reached campus, I was grouchy, scared of birds, and reaching for my inhaler once again. There were about twenty people standing around, definitely freshmen—I could spot their overzealous yet self-conscious stances from a mile away.
“Is this the tour?” I asked.
“I hope so,” the guy said, “We’ve been standing out here for fifteen minutes and it’s cold as fuck and early as fuck.”
A girl wearing a gray sweater vest over a black long sleeve T-shirt walked over and waved her hands up.
“I’m Sandra, your tour guide.” She smiled brightly. “Follow me as we begin our walking tour through campus. Needless to say, campus is huge so I’m only showing you this portion today.”
I’d anticipated an orientation with her pointing around at different buildings and showing us things on a map. I didn’t think it would be a walking tour, a thorough one at that, but I followed along anyway. This was my last chance at a group orientation and I wanted to take it. Even if I learned something like, how to get from the Plant Science building we were walking into to the library in under twenty-minutes and without an Uber, I’d call this a victory. Sandra spoke about the architecture of the school, and how the original building, Old Stone Row, with arches and limestone trimmed arches, was built in a style called Second Empire. She moved on to talking about the library, and The Tower attached.
“Is it true people have meetings in that tower?” someone asked, interrupting her. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. That was what Hailey had told me.
“I don’t know,” Sandra replied. “That’s a rumor.”
We walked down a flight of stairs in the Plant Science building, and she announced she was showing us an underground tunnel.
“This was originally built to help science students transport things from point A to point B without losing parts or spilling things along the way. We now use it to walk between buildings without having to go outside when it’s freezing out,” she said, smiling. “One point if you can name another university with underground tunnels.”
“Northwestern,” I said quickly.
“Concordia,” someone chimed.
“University of Minnesota,” another added.
“Okay, geez.” The tour guide laughed. “My last tour was impressed because they thought we were the only ones.”
“Your last tour was full of idiots,” one guy muttered.
A few people chuckled. I felt my lips tug into a smile as I tried to contain my own laughter. As we moved through the tunnel, the guide added, “I bet you didn’t know that some of our secret societies have their own tunnels.”
My ears perked up at that.
“Where are those?” someone asked.
“It wouldn’t be a secret if I went around telling everyone.”
“But you know where they are?” someone else piped up.
“I have an idea, but I haven’t gone to search for it,” she said.
“Why not?” a few asked, again in unison.
“I guess I’m not the exploring type.” She stopped walking, her expression serious as she turned to us. “Besides, I’ve heard stories of people who have gone looking and . . . well, they haven’t returned.”
Her statement echoed through the tunnels, vibrating off of the walls and boomeranging back into us. There was nothing but silence after that. We finally reached an exit. The cold wind smacked into us as we walked outside. Sandra headed the flock and stood in the center.
“Did you know we have our own zip code?” she asked.
“Yes,” everyone replied.
The campus was huge. So huge that I probably wouldn’t be able to explore it all in one year. Lincoln had once told me he hadn’t seen half of it and he’d been here four years.
“Tell us more about the secret societies,” someone said.
“No. I don’t think I’m getting any sleep tonight after the disappearing thing,” a girl added. “That’s not a joke, you know? Lana Ly is still missing.”
“I know as much as everyone else knows about the societies. Most of them are prestigious, as is to be expected coming here.” The tour guide smiled, clearly unwilling to go down the rabbit hole where the disappeared girls were concerned. “They do a lot of work in the community, donating money and goods anonymously during Thanksgiving and Christmas to those in need. Beyond that, I don’t know much.”
“Do you know anything about The Sphinx?”
“Only that they’re no longer around,” she said, “But, did you know Carl Sagan bought the building they used to meet in? He turned it into his writing cave slash house. I believe it’s privately owned now.”
“Probably by another secret society,” Nightmare Girl muttered, shuddering. Some people laughed.
“Or maybe by family members,” Sandra responded.
I decided to break off from the tour at that point. I’d had enough with the disappearance talk, secret tunnels, and the house that Sagan bought. I was walking home when I got a text message.
Unknown number: I know what happened to your brother
Me: WHO IS THIS?!
*No response*
With shaky hands, I pressed to call, and again, it said the number was no longer in service. Anger swept through me and the urge to throw my phone in the middle of the street rose. Instead, I breathed in and out and dialed my mother. She answered on the first ring.
“You’re up early.” Her voice was flat.
“I was in orientation,” I said. “How’s Linc?”
“The same. They’re studying the wavelengths in his brain right now. He has things attached everywhere.” She sniffed. “I would’ve sent you a picture otherwise.”
“But he’s going to be fine, right? He’s going to get out of this and be fine,” I said, trying to sound cheerful.
“That’s what the doctor is saying.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
She sighed into the phone line. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine.” I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me.
“Are you eating?”
“Yeah.”
I was. Probably not as much as I normally ate. My clothes were beginning to fit a little loose around my hips. It wasn’t something I’d tell her. Normally, it would’ve been something mom would’ve celebrated, but under the circumstances, I couldn’t imagine she’d care.
“You need to do college things, Amelia. Meet friends, go to parties. Live. Please don’t let this ruin your experience.”
I scoffed. “My brother died, mom. It’s not like this was a minor thing that happened.”
“I know, honey, but promise you’ll try.”
I thought about the weird texts and the cards I’d received and promised her I’d try. What was I going to try to do? I wasn’t sure. Hopefully, find out answers and not get myself killed in the process.
Chapter 14
My knee was bouncing incessantly as the Uber pulled up to the address I punched into the GPS. When I looked at the map on her phone, I only saw the water that surrounded us. We were literally at the top of a huge waterfall. On one of the gorges. Outside the window, I could see a structure. It was Carl Sagan’s former place—evidently the freshmen on the tour were as smart as they said they were. The secret society definitely owned this place or at least had access to it, assuming it was a secret society that had invited me, which, it had to be.