Deep Into That Darkness Peering- Part Two by: Enemyoffun Ryan Roth is a college freshman with a good life. He has a great girlfriend, a good best friend and seems to be starting his college career off on the right start. But something dark and dangerous comes into his life and things go from bad to worse.

-----

Author's Note: Chapter 2 and things are moving along quite nicely. To me this is still a set up chapter, at least in the beginning but the story is building. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

-----

Chapter Two:

“Do you have a monologue for your audition yet?” asked Katie as I followed her to English class.

“I’m thinking about something from Poe, maybe The Raven.”

“I really like that one.”

She really liked it because of the bird. She had a thing for black birds. Well partially because of her last name but it was more than that. Last year---right before graduation---Katie shocked everyone by getting a raven tattoo on her back, just above her panty line. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world but her parents weren’t thrilled about it. It shocked everyone at school, too. Katie was the sweet, clean cut cheerleader and here she was getting a wicked tattoo. It was wicked looking too. It was this nasty looking thing---fierce beak, wings spread wide. I thought it was the sexiest thing in the world but her father wasn’t a fan of it. She got grounded for a few weeks for it.

“I think you might be a little biased,” I said, she playfully punched me in the arm.

We had a good laugh as we went to English Lit. 101. I hated that I had to take general classes but it was a requirement. Freshmen and Sophomores took General classes first. I still had Theater classes but only two---Theater 101 and Acting 101---but the rest of my schedule was filled with crap. I thought I was done with all this crap stuff in high school but apparently, you were never done with any of it. Besides English, I had Bio, Math and some course called College Life. I did manage to squeeze in a Computer Lab but that class only met once a week. Katie’s schedule was pretty much the same but she at least got some cool classes too. One in particular that she seemed to love; a class on the Occult. Her professor was visiting from another college for the semester---he taught like this all over the country. I’m not sure how we got so lucky but it was kinda cool.

When we walked into the lecture hall, Bart was already there. He was sitting next to a busty blonde girl, trying to woo her with his charm. But she wasn’t falling for his tricks. Bart was a bit of a ladies’ man back home but that was a small town in the middle of nowhere. Here was the big city and apparently big city girls weren’t fans of the Great Bart Allen Charm. I smiled as Katie and I slipped into the row behind him. We caught the tail end of Bart’s humiliation.

“It’s just a cup of coffee,” he was saying, leaning awfully close to her.

“I don’t drink coffee,” she said, clearly annoyed.

I knew this routine of his. His charm relied fully on annoying the girls to death. It had a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding. Some girls really liked it---I’ve heard them call him “sweet” even---while others were disgusted by it. Miss Busty Blonde was one of the latter apparently.

“It doesn’t have to be coffee; I’ll get you any drink you want.”

She smiled and turned to him, picking up her Styrofoam cup.

“Really, how about another Coke.”

He looked at the cup. “Don’t you have one there?”

“Not anymore” she said as she took off the plastic lid and dumped her drink on his head.

Everyone around him erupted into laughter, including Katie and me. Bart frowned for a second and shrugged as the blonde grabbed her stuff and moved to the other side of the room. Bart shook himself like a dog, spraying coke all over the place. Everyone gasped and groaned, including me. I smacked him in the back of the head. He turned around and smiled at us.

“Her loss” he said as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Class started shortly after that and it was one of the longest, most boring hour and ten minutes of my life. The rest of the classes of the day were like that. Katie and I only had English together which was a shame but we both had breaks at one so we could get lunch together. Bart and I had no more classes together and didn’t see one another again until he crawled into the dorm at six. Besides classes, he had a couple hours of track practice, too. He was one tired Sun Devil by the end of the day that’s for sure. Most of my classes were just like English---boring as hell. Except the ones I was interested in. Theater 101 was all right but I really loved Acting. The teacher was an old eccentric that loved spouting out Shakespeare and wore flamboyant clothes.

I had Acting at noon. When I made my way into the Institute, I slipped quietly down the halls. I was almost to my classroom when I made a beeline for the bathroom. It wasn’t that I had to go but my stomach had been bothering me all day. I woke up with a nasty pain this morning. I thought maybe it was something I ate the night before and took some Pepto but it was still bothering me. I rushed over to the mirror, dropping my bag on the floor. I turned on the faucet and splashed some water in my face. There were bags under my eyes and I looked a bit paler than usual. I slept well last night but I tossed a bit before finally falling asleep. For some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn necklace. It was kinda weird actually.

After leaving the shop yesterday, Katie dragged me off to do more shopping. There were a few more places she wanted to go to. Our first stop was the bookstore---she still needed to grab a book or two. After that, she took me clothes shopping. I didn’t mind going because she didn’t make a big deal out of it---spending all day trying things on. She did have some fun teasing me here and there, asking me if she thought this looked good then holding it up to my chest to see. I was fine until we got to a boutique. While she was looking at skirts, I wandered over to the jewelry counter. There was a section here that had a display of New Age stuff---things like pentagrams and ankhs. I had been looking at a really cool Irish Cross when I got the first pang.

I kept thinking about the necklace. I had left it in the car but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It was like the damn thing was calling to me---as creepy as that sounds. When we left the boutique, I ended up opening the bag and pulling it out. Holding it in my hand made me feel better. I felt like Frodo Baggins with that damn ring---I made a promise to myself then and there that it I called it my “precious” I was tossing the fucker out the window.

Even now as I thought about, I got that feeling. My audition wasn’t until two. The necklace was in my bag but I couldn’t help but think about it. I stopped splashing water in my face and looked down at my bag. My backpack was resting against the wall, looking like a slumped bag of potatoes. But at the same time, it looked like the greatest thing in the world because the necklace was in there. I stared at it for the longest time before biting my lip and picking it up. I put it on the sink and opened up the outside pocket where I kept the necklace. I reached inside and pulled it out. It still looked really cool. It was made of silver, just fitting in my hand. I looked it up online last night---or tried too. I couldn’t find a damn thing about it though.

Holding it in my hand, everything just felt right. I stared down at it and smiled. As soon as I did, I felt like a freak. Who the hell smiles at a necklace? I groaned and stuffed it back in my bag. But as soon as I did so I felt a longing for it. I cursed. This was ridiculous---it was a stupid necklace. Guys aren’t supposed to be this attached to jewelry. I reached for the bag, ready to pull it out again but stopped myself. I shook my head. Then looked at my watch---I needed to get to class. I finished washing my hands, grabbed my bag and ran off to class.

I got there in the nick of time. I slipped into the empty seat near the door. I loved this class---Professor Ross was the greatest. But no matter how much I tried to concentrate, I couldn’t. My mind kept drifting back to the necklace. It kinda sucked too because Ross seemed particularly animated today going over something about technique which I’m sure I would have enjoyed. When class ended, Ross stopped me from leaving. He was dressed in purple today, which would have looked ridiculous on anyone else---but on him, it worked real well.

“You looked lost today, Ryan.”

Most teachers didn’t go out of their way to learn their students’ names but Ross did. It helped that he was my academic advisor too. He was really cool because he let me call him by his first name---though I was real weary about doing so.

“Sorry Profes…I mean Brian” He smiled. “Just a bit distracted today.”

“Thinking about the audition?”

I nodded, lying. I hated doing so but how do you tell someone you’re thinking about jewelry---they’d think you were nuts. “I’m worried I won’t get the part.”

He smiled. “You’re a brilliant actor, Ryan but you’re still young. Macbeth is a tough role for anyone. And I won’t lie to you and say you’re a shoo-in because there are a lot of guys in the program who are a lot more ambitious than you. I wish I could say I’ll be rooting for you but I have to be unbiased.”

I nodded then looked at my watch, cursing. “I’m late for lunch. My girlfriend is going to kill me. Thanks for the pep talk sir.”

He smiled. “That’s what I’m here for. Good luck today Ryan.”

“My name is Craig Nelson and I’m reading for Macbeth”

I sat in the audience with the rest of the kids auditioning. I groaned when I saw Nelson. I only knew him from reputation only. He was a Senior and the king of the Theater Department. I’d never actually met the guy but looking at him it was easy to see how he got so many parts. I’m not attracted to guys in the least but Craig was gorgeous. I looked about at some of the girls sitting around me and I could see they thought so too. He looked like Heath Ledger except he had a little more stubble and dark hair. He was tall and he had this presence. I hated him already. When he spoke, his voice filled the room and exuded a great deal of confidence. He sounded like a man, hell he sounded like Macbeth.

That just made me hate him more. I sat with the others and watched him. A lot of people were smiling. I looked over at the three teachers running the audition. Mr. Ross---Brian---was there just to judge. The other two were the director and Casting Director. I didn’t know either of them but I knew their names. The Director was Miss White and the Casting Director Miss Fields. I’m not sure which one was which though. All I saw was a middle-aged blonde woman with glasses and a short red headed woman. Both of them looked important to me. I tried not to think too much about it though. Even though they were the two most important people in the room, I needed to get my nerves under control.

When Craig finished, the room broke into applause. That made me hate him more. He was good, hell he was fantastic. Which meant he was also my biggest competition.

“Excellent Mr. Nelson” said the blonde as Craig strode from the stage.

“Thank you Professor White” he said with a big toothy grin.

If she was White then the red head was Fields. Good to know.

I listened and waited my turn as one by one people were called on stage. We were given numbers at the beginning and we were called up accordingly. I was #23; #22 was on stage right now. She was a small, mousy looking girl. She was reading for Lady Macbeth but I could tell by looking at her at she wouldn’t get the part. When she spoke, she surprised me. She was good---she had great projection but she didn’t look the part. To me Lady Macbeth was a tall elegant woman, sinister and yet beautiful. This girl was definitely not that. People clapped politely when she was done. Then I was called. I slowly made my way onto the stage, smiling as I did so. I caught the eye of Brian, he smiled and nodded.

“What’s your name, young lady?” asked Miss Fields.

I groaned. Figures. “My name is Ryan Roth,” I said, emphasizing Ryan. “And I’m reading for Macbeth.”

There were some murmurs. Apparently, everyone else thought I was a girl too.

“I’m terribly sorry young man,” she said with an apologetic smile. “What piece have you prepared for us?”

We had a choice to read directly from the play or bring something of our own. Most of those before me had read from the play but I wanted to be different. So I chose The Raven. I was glad I did, it made me look unique.

“The Raven” I said, knowing I didn’t have to tell them who wrote it.

Brian smiled, the two women nodded.

I took a deep breath and reached into my pocket, pulling out the necklace. I delicately put it around my neck. As soon as I did so, I felt a hundred times better. There was this surge of confidence that went through my whole body. For a second there I thought I felt a slight tingle. This was the first time I’d worn it but it felt like it belonged around my neck. It wasn’t heavy at all; in fact, it was the lightest thing in the world. I smiled big, happy that it was there.

“Is everything all right, Ryan?” asked Brian, looking a bit concerned.

I nodded. “Sorry just catching my breath.”

He smiled and I started. I read as loud as I could with my girly voice. Though it wasn’t much I had good projection. I tried to tune out their faces, that always seemed to help me in the past. As I read, I got to my favorite passage. I’m not sure why I loved this part so much but it really spoke to me. I could see the opening line in my head: Deep into that darkness peering. It made me smile. I closed my eyes as I spoke and it was almost as if I could feel my own smile. I’m not really sure how to describe it. I felt this overwhelming sense of warmth. It was happiness, wonderful happiness. I took a deep breath and felt happiness all around me. I opened my eyes and looked out at the audience. What I saw looked a bit strange. For a moment, it looked like everyone had this pink aura around them. I’m not sure how I knew but it was like their happiness was seeping out of them.

It made me even happier. I looked at all the faces and stopped at Craig’s. There was no pink around him. It was a dull color, almost black. I frowned at that. He wasn’t smiling. He looked annoyed, pissed even. Was I showing him up? Yes, show him up. I shook my head, wondering where that came from. Show him up, make him look bad. I shook my head again. I paused in my speaking. The pink slowly started to diminish. I stuttered a bit over my words and the pink evaporated. I cursed in my head. What the hell was I doing? I looked at the table. Brian was smiling still but I couldn’t read the expressions on the two women’s faces. But looking at Craig I could tell his: he was pinkish now. Stupid ass. I fought back this overwhelming urge to tell him to fuck off. Instead, I narrowed my eyes at him. I’m not sure if he realized I was shooting him daggers but suddenly his smug smile disappeared. He looked away quickly and I smiled.

I managed to recover and finished my poem. There was clapping but not as much as Craig got. That kinda pissed me off. He was good but there’s no way what he did was better than mine.

“Thank you Ryan” said Miss White. “You may return to your seat.”

I smiled and nodded, walking off stage. As I walked back to my seat I passed Craig and he looked at me with that smug look again.

I heard him mumble “Nice try pipsqueak” under his breath but I ignored it. I wasn’t about to jeopardize my chances by telling him off. Instead, I shot him a confident smile as I sat down. He glared at me but didn’t say anything else. I sat there looking smug as other people went up to read. I felt good about my performance, it wasn’t my best but it was better than most of the people up there. When #27 got up there someone tapped on my shoulder from behind. I turned around and saw the mousy girl.

“You’re Ryan right?” she asked, I nodded. “I’m Becky. Nice to meet you.”

She had a nice smile. “The same” I said, being polite.

“Screw Craig, I thought you were fantastic.”

“Thanks” I said, smiling big. It was always good to be appreciated.

Becky slipped around the row and sat next to me. She went on to tell me how nervous she was the whole time she was up there. After that, she started telling me her whole history. I smiled and nodded a lot. She was a nice girl, kinda cute. But she talked a lot. It’s not that I didn’t like her but I couldn’t remember ever meeting someone who talked so much. I tried to contribute as much as possible. After talking about ourselves a bit, we started to comment on the performers. Becky may have looked mousy and sweet but she was downright wicked. She had a great sense of humor and together we quietly roasted the hell out of both our competition. It was kinda fun actually.

When the last person finally walked off stage, the audition ended. I looked at my watch, it was nearly four. I couldn’t believe it took that long. I grabbed the double cross hanging from my neck. I wanted to take it off and put it somewhere safe. It really felt like a good luck charm. But as I started to take it off I couldn’t bring myself to do it. When I tried to pull it over my head, my hand hesitated. I took a deep breath and sighed. Well it was kinda cool looking so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to wear it for a bit. Becky gave me a strange look but I smiled at her so she knew everything was all right.

“That’s a cool necklace,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

I smiled. “A little shop in town. It was one of those finds that sorta finds you, you know. I went in there looking for something that might give me a bit of an edge. We found this,” I said, lifting the cross a bit and smiling.

“We?” she asked.

I nodded. “My girlfriend Katie and me.”

Becky looked a crestfallen. I felt bad about it but it’s not like I was going to run off with her at this very minute. She was cute and sweet but I just met her. I could see us being good friends though. Yeah, definitely someone I could really hang out with.

The two of us walked out the theater together regardless of the awkwardness. Outside we parted ways. I looked around and saw Katie sitting on a bench. She smiled as I approached. She looked behind me to Becky. I looked and waved. She smiled and walked off. When I turned back to Katie, she was frowning. I never would have taken her for the jealous type but it was clear from her expression she didn’t like the way Becky looked at me. I quickly wrapped Katie in a hug and gave her a big kiss. When she pulled away, she didn’t look as pissed.

“New friend?” she asked, referring to Becky.

I laughed. “Are you jealous?”

“No’ she said, elbowing me the sighed with a laugh. “A little maybe.”

This time I laughed. “Becky has nothing on you, babe, I swear.”

She smiled. “Good answer.”

We hooked arms and slowly made our way out of the building. When we got to her car, she turned to me before starting. “So how did your good luck charm go?” she asked, pointing to the necklace.

“Real good I think.”

“Did you get the lead?”

I laughed. “I won’t know that for another few days. The only real competition I have is from some ass of a senior. He’s good but he’s not right for the role.”

In truth, he was perfect for it but I didn’t want to put myself down. I needed the role. OK so I didn’t need it but I sure as hell wanted it.
Katie still seemed to want to talk about the necklace. “So are you making a fashion statement now?”

I didn’t know what she was talking about until I realized she was referring to the fact that I was still wearing it. I laughed. “I kinda like it actually.”

She smiled evilly. “You know I have this great pair of earrings that would go really well with that.”

I smacked her playfully on the arm. She laughed. She stuck her tongue out at me then she started the car and we drove off.

We went out to dinner after that. Katie thought we should celebrate a bit so we did. I’m not saying we went overboard but we did go somewhere after we ate that didn’t card us at the door. We had a lot of fun. I’m not usually into the nightclub scene but I had an awesome time with her. It didn’t even bother me when a pair of guys thought we were two chicks and wanted to dance with us. I declined the dance but took the drinks they offered. When they left, Katie and I laughed our asses off. I hate to admit that we might have had just a tad bit too much to drink---me more than her. She was driving after all. She was a bit tipsy when she dropped me off in front of my dorm but that didn’t stop her from getting me there.

I surprised myself then. AS soon as the car stopped, I buckled my seat belt, crawled across the console in the middle of our seats and straddled her. I think I might have mentioned I’m not a big guy. So sliding on top of her was nothing. It surprised her though and she had a giggle fit over it. I muffled her laughing when I started kissing her on the neck. I felt like I was on fire as I tore my shirt over my head and two of us went wild. I’m not sure what had come over me but I wanted to ravage her. As I started unbuttoning, my pants she pulled away and laughed.

“You’re exceptionally horny tonight lover,” she said with a tipsy laugh.

“I don’t know what’s come over me but I feel more alive than I have in months.”

She reached up and rubbed my nipples. For some reason that felt so good. I’m not sure why she was doing it. In fact I’m not sure she knew she was doing it either. We laughed then started kissing again. I found myself unclasping her bra underneath her shirt. But I didn’t make any attempt to undress her. I just wanted to cup her naked breasts. I pulled her bra free and tossed it onto my shirt. Neither of us noticed. I massaged her breasts, feeling her nipples going hard under my fingers. Mine went hard too which was something new. Our kissing got real intense after that and I started to nibble on her lip. I got a little rough and tasted blood in my mouth.

That seemed to break whatever spell that seemed to over us. It was like there was a fog and suddenly me biting her lifted it. I pulled back and felt embarrassed, dirty almost.

“I’m sorry,” I said, sliding off her.

She looked embarrassed too. It’s not like we hadn’t had sex before. But never like that. It was like we had no control. The scariest part was how much I liked it. If I hadn’t bit her lip like that, I’m not sure if we could have stopped. I might have screwed her right then and there. I shuddered at the thought. Making love in the bedroom was one thing but neither one of us was crazy enough to do it out in the open like that. I rubbed the back of my neck and turned away. Then I looked around on the floor, looking for my shirt. I picked it up along with the bra then buttoned my pants. Katie didn’t say a thing. I slipped my shirt on, pecked her on the cheek and left the car.

It wasn’t until I was in the elevator going up to my dorm that I realized I was still holding her bra. I looked down at it and groaned. I stuffed it into my pocket, making a mental note to give it back tomorrow. When I stepped out of the elevator and headed to my room, I opened the door to darkness. Well not complete darkness. The TV was still on and Bart was sitting in front of it, watching some bad reality show. He turned around, clicking on a light as he did so. We both winced from the brightness. After he recovered from his temporary blindness, he looked me up and down.

“Some one looks like he had a fun time,” said Bart, referring to my disheveled appearance.

I nodded numbly. “I almost fucked Katie in the car downstairs.”

Bart’s eyes got real big. “Way to go dude”.

He held his hand up in the air, waiting for me to give him a high five. I didn’t.

“You left me hanging” he said and frowned. “So almost fucking her is not a good thing then?”

I sighed. “It wasn’t us. It was like we were wild animals, like passion and sex were taking over. It felt wrong.”

Bart laughed. “Welcome to my life, dude.”

I sighed and didn’t say anything after that. Instead, I sat down and watched his stupid show with him until the end. The news came on afterward. We were about to shut the TV off when the top story came on: YOUNG WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN WOODS. Something about it sent a shiver up my spine. Especially when the story started and the camera showed very familiar scene. What shocked me the most was when they said the girl’s name and showed a picture? I totally freaked at that. It was the girl in the white dress, the one from my dream.

“Holy shit” I said softly, Bart looked at me oddly.

“Know her?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I felt sick and rushed into the bathroom. I threw up a couple of times. I kept seeing the girl’s face in my head. What the hell was going on? How did I dream something and then it comes true? I looked at my quivering hands and threw up again.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF