Adrian took a bite out of his sandwich and listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. He was eating his lunch on a bench located near the center of the Campus Green, a quasi-park inside the boundaries of the University he attended.
It was still a little chilly to be outside like this, but he vastly preferred the solitude of the park to dealing with the mass of sycophants and false-faced friends that sought to endear themselves to him at every opportunity. Besides, for whatever reason, he was less bothered by cold than usual today.
There were still a few students moving along the cleared sidewalks, but they rarely tarried for any length of time, so Adrian was largely left to his own devices.
He was enjoying the sight of the small dusting of snow that now covered the dormant grass of the park. Winter had always been his favorite season, and there were few things that brought him as much solace as a soft snow on a quiet night.
The hairs on the back of Adrian's neck rose.
There was a sudden, overwhelming sensation that all was not right with the world. That something unnatural was nearby. Almost as if by reflex, he stuck his hand into his coat pocket and grasped the key.
There was a man standing in front of a tree about 20m away. Adrian hadn't seen when he'd arrived, but the mere sight of the man gave him the creeps. He was tall and lanky, around 180cm, and was dressed in an old-fashioned suit made of varying shades of black and grey. White gloves covered each of his long-fingered hands, and a top hat adorned the man's head.
The most unusual aspect of his appearance, however, was the plain white mask he wore. It was designed in the vein of the comedy faces commonly associated with the theater. Two eye holes, squinted in permanent mirth, sat above a sharp gash of a mouth. A single, black tear was painted at the corner of its left eye.
Adrian shuddered, suddenly feeling a great deal colder than he had before. He watched, gaze fixed, as the man slowly and gracefully walked forward. Something about the movements reminded him of a spider approaching its prey.
Once the man had reached a point about 5m away, he stopped and gave an elegant bow in Adrian's direction.
"Adrian! I'm so glad I ran into you! I didn't see you at the cafeteria like I normally do." A bright bubbly voice stole his attention. He briefly glanced up at the owner of the voice, before returning his gaze to the terrifying man, only to discover he had vanished.
He looked around quickly, but saw no sign of him.
[Was I imagining it?]
"What's the matter, Adrian? Is there something wrong?" The woman wearing a designer jacket asked with a believable amount of sincerity. The stunningly beautiful blonde had always made sure to have the right expression when talking to him.
"I'm fine, Miranda. Just lost in thought there for a moment." He replied, trying hard to not let his discomfort show on his face.
The woman gave him a breathtaking smile, "That's good to hear. You looked like you'd seen a ghost there for a moment. Anyway, I was going to go do some last minute review for our Latin exam this afternoon. Would you like to join me? I know you don't need the help, but I would really appreciate the pointers."
Adrian briefly took note of the way she leaned forward slightly to express her interest, the slight parting of her lips as she let the question hang in the air, and the way her posture seemed to accentuate her fine figure, even though she was dressed in heavy clothing.
[She's either a natural, or particularly well-trained. I can see why her family sent her here.]
For a moment, Adrian thought about simply telling the conniving woman to fuck off, but he had appearances to maintain. The last thing he needed in his life right now, was to give his stepfather a reason to interfere again. Besides, the Carlyles were a reasonably powerful family in their own right, and one that could make his life miserable should the heiress become offended.
"I'd be more than happy to. Should we meet in the library at, say, 2:00 pm?"
"Aww, I was hoping to walk over there with you now." She pouted playfully.
Laughing a little to hide his disgust, Adrian replied, "I'm afraid I have a few things to take care of before then."
"Well, alright. I know you are a busy guy. I'll see you there. Don't be late!" She yelled cheerfully as she walked off towards her next destination.
Adrian sighed, he had hoped to avoid dealing with the woman today. She wasn't the only one who tried to get close to him because of his family, but she was, by far, the most devious. Standing up, he took one last look around the Green, and, still not seeing any sign of the man in the suit, started walking towards the Journalism Department. He needed to finish proofreading his piece before submitting it.
It never occurred to him to check the snow, where a set of strange circular footprints could be seen leading up to the spot where the man disappeared, almost as if he were walking on a pair of pointed sticks or some kind of long, tapered limb. Like the legs of a spider.
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Walking into the dusty office of The Journal, Adrian felt himself relax. He stood for a moment, taking in the quiet, almost sepulchral atmosphere before a head of mousey, brown hair popped out of an office labeled: Editor.
"You're late!" The bespectacled woman underneath the tangled mess exclaimed in what could only be called a quiet shout, since her words were only barely above the level of a whisper. Adrian always felt that it was like her volume knob had been turned down to the lowest possible setting.
"For the thousandth time, Chief, we don't have regular work hours. Therefore, I cannot possible be late" He felt himself smiling now, falling into the old, familiar argument.
Amanda Schmidt, the Editor in Chief of The Journal placed her hands on her hips in an overly dramatic fashion, a small smile forming on her lips. "Excuses!"
Chuckling, Adrian walked over to his desk. "Alright, Chief. I'll do better next time."
The editor nodded enthusiastically, celebrating her successful interaction, and, after adjusting the neckline of the thick woolen sweater, returned to her own work.
She suffered from a rather severe social anxiety, which made it difficult to hold a conversation with other people. It had taken her close to a semester to even speak Adrian when he first joined, and even when she did he had barely understood her, so softly she had spoken.
Glancing around, he noticed that the others hadn't been in yet, although he expected Leah would be in soon enough. Darren was a rare sight at the best of times since he preferred to work from home, and Brad only seemed to work at night.
The five of them represented the entirety of the staff for The Journal, a once widely acclaimed periodical that had been relegated to a neglected weekly publication by a lack of interest from the student body.
In the Age of the Internet, no one seemed to care much for the dying print media, and the office was filled with the slowly decaying copies of old issues that were left unread for a lack of readership.
As depressing as all this should be, Adrian actually enjoyed the time he got to spend in the basement office of the Meyer's Building, home of the University's underfunded Journalism Department. While researching, interviewing, and writing about current events was interesting enough on its own, he really felt at home amongst the musty scent of old newsprint.
Luckily, the newspaper had maintained enough of its old glory to make for a decent addition to his resume, which in turn satisfied his parents. After all, they didn't want him wasting any of his precious time in such a tawdry industry as news media.
Adrian got to work on his most recent article, covering the recent changes in school regulations regarding parking. The growing number of commuting students had led to a minor parking crisis, which had abruptly been brought to an end by the University when it simply banned commuter cars in every almost every parking lot on campus.
This had resulted in a general outrage amongst the students, who now had to pay out every day to park in commuter lots in the city and ride on public transportation to get to class. Adrian had originally seen the new regulation as especially arbitrary and unfair, but an interview with a representative from the Administrative Office had changed his mind.
Apparently, part of the University's reasoning behind the change in regulation had actually come about due to an increase in accidents on campus. The larger number of vehicles traveling the old, irregular streets which honeycombed the center of higher learning, had led to larger numbers of injuries and even a few fatalities.
He was now trying to write his piece in a balanced, objective manner. Even though he knew that only a few people would actually bother to read it, the act of creation in and of itself was soothing to him.
Not too long after he had finished proofreading his work and emailing it to the editor for final review, the door slammed open, announcing Leah's arrival.
"Adrian, my man. Looking good today. How has the brooding been going?" The dark skinned woman asked in a volume that was easily heard in all corners of the dingy office. She flicked a lock of pink-dyed hair, currently cut short and spiky, out of her eyes.
"Good, good. I think I'm really getting close to understanding my own inner darkness and the fundamental pointlessness of life." He replied sarcastically.
"Only that far? You need to step up your game, boy. Now where is my favorite tiny editor?" She asked while striding boldly into the room and shucking her leather jacket onto her desk.
The door to the Editor's office slammed shut, and they could hear the audible click of the lock.
"You can't hide in there forever. I need to recharge my Amanda batteries." Leah sighed, before sitting down, and kicking up her boots onto the desk.
"I know the two of you have a complicated relationship, but go easy on her." Adrian replied while standing and packing his things.
"Meh, she's fine. Needs to break out of her shell a little anyway." Placing her hands behind her head, she gave him a calculating look. "I know you don't have class for another hour or so. What's got you leaving so early?"
"I promised to help Miranda review for our Latin test." He explained quietly.
Leah threw up her hands dramatically, "You know that girl is no good! Why do you let her wrap you around her finger like that?"
Adrian sighed, "It's complicated."
"Well, whatever the reason, you need to give that bitch the boot." She replied, raising her own black combat boot to emphasize the point.
"By the way I needed to ask you for a favor."
"And now you're changing the topic." She shook her head, as if to say 'at least I tried.' "So what you need?"
"A friend of mine needs a date to a gala, someone with the right background. If you know what I mean."
"Ugh! Another one of those? I hate wearing those dresses."
"I know, but I'll be going as well, so we can be miserable together."
"Fiiiinnnneee." Leah exclaimed while slowly sliding down into her chair. "You tell him about my requirements?"
"Yeah, his family's well off, so he'll pull out all the stops." Adrian started walking towards the door. "I'll send you the details later."
"You owe me one!" She shouted as he was leaving, but he just casually waved as he left. Exiting the building, he started making his way to the library.
[Alright, just need to get through an hour alone with Miranda, take a quick Latin test, and I'll be home free.]
A solid, vice-like grip settled on one of his shoulders, as a deep, gravely voice announced in a threatening tone, "Adrian Veldt, I presume."