From: Chapter 4
Whispers from passersby slipped through Sadie’s musings, and she almost stumbled trying to eavesdrop.
Something in the woods. Shadows in the night. Sightings.
“What are they talking about?” She blurted, eyes following a small cluster of students as they passed.
“Oh the usual,” Ronnie said, barely sparing the group a glance. “Weird shit happens in Summerville. It’s like, a weekly thing.”
Sadie frowned. Something Scottie had said on move-in day, something about the place being haunted, flitted at the edge of her thoughts. “Ghost stuff, or what?”
Ronnie gave her a startled look, doe eyes wider than ever. “You don’t know about Summerville?” he said.
“My suitemate said it’s the most haunted university in the US,” she deadpanned.
For all his theatrics, Ronnie looked genuinely surprised. “Oh, man, Sadie, we gotta get you caught up. Come on.” With that, he squeezed Sadie’s hand and redirected toward the central hub.
Sadie found herself frowning down at a bronze plaque on the fountain with the world’s most bizarre depiction on it. The figures of a cliff side, and at the foot of it, several humanoid… things, with no eyes and gaping mouths. For several seconds, Sadie tried to work her brain around how the metal could have faded or worn down to create such macabre figures out of… maybe wolves? Maybe people?
“The infamous Deadmouth plaque,” Ronnie said from right beside her. “A tribute to Summerville’s dark past.”
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Stephanie C Surma 