Chapter One

Gravel snapped and popped beneath Ben’s foot as he stepped out of the car onto new ground. The sky was clear with very few clouds floating in what was an extremely cold bubble of air which surrounded the university. Through the bars of the main gate Ben could see the hills covered in a thick blanket of virgin snow, turned grey and flattened in two prominent strips leading up to the entrance from the thousands of cars which came from hundreds of miles away to arrive before the freshmen welcoming service starting at 2pm. Ben twisted his hand, pushed up his jacket sleeve and looked down at his watch. The time was 11:35.

Today was exceptionally important to both Ben’s family and him. For Ben it was important because moving out of his house meant the world to him; as scared as he was, he knew it was time for him to starting living his own life and achieve solely what he wants with the added bonus of not having any pressure from his father and mother and not having any demoting comments from his two older brothers which he felt he had to prove wrong. This day was important to his parents because they just simply wanted him out of the house; they had always pretended to love him, but, in truth, they almost hated him. They did, however, love Ben's brothers and Ben knew this but he never spoke of it.

Ben drew in a deep breath. The smell of freshly cut grass toyed with his nostrils in a delightful way, soothing and calming him down ready for the difficult and challenging years at Schelton University that lay ahead. He shut the car door behind him and made his way around his father's brand new Mercedes to the boot, which he opened and grabbed his suitcase and rucksack which he then hung around his shoulder. His father was stood next to him now, with an open hand extended.

"Good luck, son. Do us proud. Show them what it means to be a Fitzgerald." He said. Ben wanted to shout at him that he didn't mean that, and that, actually, he didn't even want Ben to represent the family, but he just gave him a nod and shook the man's hand. Then, out stepped the mother.

"My goodness, Ben, you do look handsome. We will miss you an awful lot, you know that, don't you?"

"Yes, mother, I know." But, he didn't really know that. None of the three Fitzgeralds standing around the Mercedes knew that, but each of them continued their act until the end of the service, after which they were all invited to the cafeteria for refreshments

During the welcoming service, Ben found out the names of all the teachers – but he only remembered about 10 or 20 – and which subject they taught. Mrs Barton, professor in mathematics, stood out like a sore thumb to Ben as she was definitely the most beautiful woman over 40 he had ever seen – she could even pass for 30; slim with godly eyes like diamonds surrounded by the darkness of her long black hair. He knew it was a problem that he had picked maths for his study subject. She wore a grey checked corset suite dress with a violet cardigan.

The second most prominent person was Mr Marsdon. This man was extremely tall – six foot five, at the least – and wore bifocals which suited him surprisingly well and a dull brown tweed jacket with a weirdly-matching green bandana wrapped around his neck with most of it tucked into his collar. He, on first impression, was someone who knew how to dress formally – albeit over the top, but he still looked the part in such a high status university. However, all of the expectations placed upon him from his appearance were met short as soon as he opened his mouth. Mr Marsdon was one of those slow-speaking, attention-drawing snobs who were immediately recognisable as the type of person who would fall into the category of men who stop you in the middle of a sentence to replace ‘who’s with ‘whom’s – in a patronising manner, not to be educational.

*         

The aftertaste of mulled wine clung onto Ben’s tongue throughout moving his boxes to his room and saying his goodbyes to his parents, neither of which was particularly difficult; moving his boxes was easy as they were given a trolley and the block containing Ben’s dormitory had an elevator, saving more effort, even though his dormitory was on the first floor; saying his goodbyes to his parents was always going to be easy given that they wanted to start the 10 hour journey back home as soon as possible. In spite of his hurry, Mr Fitzgerald somehow managed to find the time – and the effort – to shake Ben’s hand one last time and slip a cheque into it. After the handshake, they exchanged winks and Ben’s father walked to the car door, stepped inside and drove off. Ben noticed through the windscreen his mother crying fake tears into a tissue. Then, he realised, he was on his own.
           Ben opened his hand to reveal the cheque. It read, ‘£5,000 payable to Benjamin Joshua Fitzgerald’. He stood there, jaw dropped, stupid. Why did his father give him this? Then, from over his shoulder, came a deep voice.
           “Five thousand, huh? That’s a pretty big chunk of meat right there. Hey, Chris! Come look at this! Come see what I found!” Ben tried to put the cheque into his pocket, but the stranger grabbed his hand, then the cheque itself. “Oh no you don’t. This here’s ours now,” he said, as he waved the cheque about in the air like a flag of which he was proud, “You aren’t ever gonna see this again, you hear?”
           “Give it back, Alex, now!” Someone, who Ben assumed was Chris, was stood behind who now was revealed as Alex with his arms crossed. Like every new freshman on campus that day, Chris wore a suit, but for some reason it seemed to fit him more than anyone else. Alex, however, simply looked out of place.
           “Why? Why should I?” Alex asked.
           “I was watching this kid earlier on in the cafeteria. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to take thing off, especially not a five thousand pound cheque. Leave him alone, yeah?” Chris averted his eyes from Alex to Ben, who was bearing a quizzical look. Chris winked at him. Alex nodded, handed the cheque back to Ben and walked off.
           “What’s his problem?” Ben asked, still confused about what Chris said.
           “He’s just nervous about being away from his family. He wants to make a good impression – not that stealing five thousand is a good impression, though. His parents are the type who want their son to be well-known.”
           “Do you know him?”
           “He was my neighbour for five years until today. Now we’re roomies. Oh, before you ask, I wasn’t spying on you earlier; I’m just the kind of guy who’s against stealing and, as I know Alex pretty darn well, I knew that that would work on him. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but he’s like my wingman; he helps me out and in turn I help him out. In this case, I helped him away from getting kicked out of this place on the first day.” He laughed nervously then turned to walk away. Ben stopped him and said,
           “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
           “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around. What’s your name?”
           “Ben Fitzgerald. You are Chris? And he is Alex?”
           “Correct. Do you know which dorm you’re in?”
           “I think I’m in Hapsley, room 6. What about you?”
           “No kidding! I’m also in Hapsley. In room 6, too. It’s you, Alex and I in that room, as well as another kid, but I haven’t met him yet.”
           “Well, it’s nice to meet you, and your ‘wingman’, even though we didn’t quite meet in the best of circumstances.” Ben actually hated Alex at that moment, but he knew he would have to change his opinion on him as he’d be sharing a room with him for the next year and maybe even longer.
           “He’s a good kid when he has reason to be friendly towards someone, and he does now, so he should be alright. If he isn’t just let me know and I’ll sort things out.” Chris patted Ben on the shoulder and headed off for Hapsley, then turned around a few hundred yards later and nearly shouted, “Ben, are you coming to the dorm introduction at eight?"
           “Yeah, I am. But if I’m not, it’s because I’ve gotten lost!” Ben replied. Chris laughed, not nervously this time.
           “OK, see you there, then, hopefully!” Chris started on his way to Hapsley once more.
The dorm introduction - which Ben didn't actually know about until now - started in two and a half hours which was plenty of time to look around most of the nearby grounds.

First, Ben went to the sports field. At this time of year, the main sport for men was rugby. Sure enough, St the sports field there was the upper years who studied the likes of Physical Education training and playing test matches with one another.  Ben wondered how they could stand playing in this temperature; he played rugby at high school and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was never as cold as this. Still, Ben wanted to play it from time to time so he introduced himself to the coach and then walked towards the church.

Having had the pleasure of basking in the amazing church's presence, Ben walked aimlessly around the rest of the campus - he visited the Green Gardens briefly, making a mental note of coming back to them whenever he was next free. He also went to 'Loch Mess', the lake, which was the complete opposite of its less-than-original name; it was absolutely beautiful. There were rowing boats available for rent. Ben thought about renting one sometime but decided he'll wait until it's warmer - in spring or summer he'll reconsider it. Ben looked down at his watch again. It was 7.30. Time to go back to Hapsley, he thought.

It only took around ten minutes to get there. Either the dorm was much closer to the lake than he had expected, or he walked quicker than he thought. The maps he came across en route definitely played a major role, though.

Ben entered the building and was immediately greeted by a bang to his whole body. In an instance he was on the ground cupping the back of his head.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" said a woman's voice.

"No. I'm all left, actually." He was fine. He knew that the bang from hitting the back of his head on the door's window made the whole thing sound much worse than it was, and by cracking that joke - as lame as it was - he made the woman know he was all right. She even laughed.

"Well, at least you have your wits about you. I'm Brianna. Can you remember your name?" She said with such a cute smile Ben couldn't resist the urge to smile back.

"I'm Ben. It’s nice to meet you, Brianna." He said as he got up off the ground. Chris's laughs became audible as he approached the two.

"My, my, Ben. That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! You even cracked the window!" Ben turned around to check and laughed at the sight. "Are you bleeding?" He put his hand over where Ben hit his head and withdrew without any red on his skin.

"Right, I should go. As much as I'd like to chat with you Ben," she winked, "I don't want to cause another accident, plus I have to phone my parents before they start wondering whether I'm here or in some foreign country far away from them. Adios, Ben." Ben watched her in amazement as she left, just managing to say the words 'buh bye' in the weirdest voice. Why did he do that? Why couldn't he just say 'cheerio', or even an 'au revoir' to match her ‘adios’?

"Smooth," Chris said, "real smooth. One of the hottest chicks around here and you say 'buh bye'? She was even hinting she wants you! Don't think I didn't see that wink, man." He gave a little punch on the shoulder and whispered, "Score fail".

"OK, so I panicked, big deal. It's just that that was the third wink I've gotten today: first Dad, then you, now her. I think I'm just tired out already."

"No worries. I'm sure you'll see her again. Just don't make a fool of yourself next time as well and you'll be in there. Oh, just a little heads up, I heard she's a year older than us but she regretted picking geography last year so she's starting the maths course this year - with you! Blimey, you're gonna have a good time with Professor Barton and her!"

"Shut up, will you?" Ben had turned bright red. "I've only just met the girl, and that was barely even meeting. Anyway, Chris, how do you know I'm taking maths?"

"I just saw it on the course candidates list. That's why Brianna was here - they haven't put it up in the girls' dorm yet." Ben moved to the pieces of paper pinned to the wall which Chris was pointing at. Among the many names he saw his followed by 'Mathematics, Mrs Barton'. Someone had drawn a winking smiley face after every 'Mrs Barton' on the list.

He then decided to see what Chris was doing: 'History, Mr Marsdon'. Ben immediately felt sympathetic for him; based on earlier freshman welcoming service, spending a year with that man seemed like torture. Ben thought Chris seemed like a fairly relaxed person, though, so he figured he would most likely be able to manage it. But, it would be funny to watch Chris’ hatred for Mr Marsdon grow as the year went by.

"Welcome to Hapsley, freshmen!" A booming voice penetrated deep into Ben's ears. He guessed that he was the leader of Hapsley, and the introduction had started. The man wore a dark blue T-shirt underneath a grey, checked, half buttoned-up shirt, along with jeans with Calvin Klein written all over them and green converse hi-tops. He was clearly 'in with the fashion'. It was difficult to put an age to him, but Ben thought he was somewhere between 25 and 30. "My name is Stu. This isn't a tour as I'm sure you're all expecting it to be. You can find your own way around. This is merely a read out of the rules." Stu withdrew a rolled up piece of paper from his pocket and unravelled it. It measured at least a couple of metres. "Rule number 1: no excessive amounts of alcohol. Rule number 2: lights out at the latest of midnight when there are lessons the following day; lights out at two in the morning when there aren't. Number 3: no girls are permitted beyond the staircase -" he pointed to his left in the direction of a 'no girls beyond this point' sign resting at the bottom of the stairs, "- that sign will be placed there from 6pm until 10am. From 10am until 6pm girls are permitted past the staircase into your rooms solely for the purposes of aiding you with your work and vice versa." He greatly emphasized 'solely'.

"Excuse me, Stu. How do you expect us to get laid? We are 18, man!" Someone shouted from the back of the room.

"That's for you to find out. You shouldn't be doing that, anyway. You have more important things to do." Ben could tell from the odd word he heard that none of the freshmen were happy about this rule. "The fourth and final rule: your dormitory master - yours truly - is able to cancel any of the above rules if he feels a suitable enough excuse is presented to him. He may bring the cancelled rules back into action when he feels is necessary. Any questions?" Surprisingly, there were none. "Well, that was easy. If you ever need me, you can find me in my office which is just around the corner.” He pointed down the hallway from where he came. “Set your alarm clocks for five – it’ll be an early day to sort everyone out with their timetables and give them directions, plus you do start your lessons tomorrow. You should all go to sleep now to get reasonable sleep.” He turned around and followed his still-pointing finger back to his office. Chris and Ben decided to go to their room.

In their room were two bunk beds, two desks with two seats each and two wardrobes – both were separated down the middle. Each person essentially had their own piece of furniture.

Ben rummaged through his boxes, which were now stacked up in his side of one of the wardrobes, to find his nightwear and alarm clock. He put on his pyjama top – a black T-shirt with a white ‘Zzzz’ written on the front and a ‘LOL’ on the back. He just wore boxers for sleeping in.

            After brushing his teeth, he chose one of the bottom bunks – he felt sure that if he picked a top bunk he would fall out of it at least once during the next year – slipped under the covers, finally feeling warm for the first time in hours, set his alarm for five as instructed by Stu and drifted off to sleep.         

Prologue

The plan was simple. All he had to do was stick to the plan. If he stuck to the plan, nothing could possibly go wrong. At least, that's what Ben told himself. 

        Chris and Alex were stood behind him, hoods over heads, hands buried deeply into their pockets, whilst the unravelled paperclip slithered around the inside of the lock. It was always amazing to watch Ben do what he did best; his skills in entering truly-forbidden areas were remarkable to anyone below the age of twenty, but not quite as highly respected among the older generations.
        Click. The lock was freed and the door swung open. Chris patted Ben on the back silently and whispered in his ear, "Well done. Keep an eye out, will you?" Ben nodded and stood in the doorway looking down the dark, seemingly lifeless hall.

        Alex also gave Ben a pat on the back as he entered the room, but he had never had a soft touch and the thud echoed down the corridor. Chris gave him a stare that showed how important it was that they did not get caught. Alex put up his hands as if to say 'it wasn't me', but Chris wasn't looking; he was too busy searching for what they had come for.

        After a few minutes of peering into each and every one of Mr. Marsdon's desk drawers, Chris let out a sigh and sat down in the teacher's chair, feet up on the desk. "I have a safety pin, a couple of elastic bands, some pens and highlighters, an old Oxford English Dictionary and one ... two ... three sheets of paper, but they aren't here, Alex. Now what? You said they were here!" He looked like he was about to smash his fist down on the coffee-stained furniture before him, but he slowed his hand down to stop any unnecessary noise. His fist only made a quiet tap on the wood.

        "They were. He must have known we would come to get them and moved them someplace else. I swear to you, I saw him put them in his top right drawer during History after you left. I swear to you, Chris."

        "Right. Well, what do we do now? Come back tomorrow? It doesn't quite work like that, Alex. This was our one and only chance!" He looked round at Ben. “How long do we have until our good old friend, the caretaker arrives?”

            “Just over half an hour. I think we should try Mrs Barton’s room, Chris. I heard her say something about seeing Marsdon later this afternoon – after your history. Maybe he took them with him and left them in there.”

            “Excellent. Thanks goodness for Marsdon and his flings with the teachers, eh Chris?” Alex was stood next to Chris, who was still sat in the chair, and nudged him with his hip.

            “Let’s go. We’ll have to be quick to avoid Mr Broomstick.” Chris said, with a hint of hope in his voice again.

            “Mr Broomstick? When did you come up with that?” Alex asked.

            “Just now,” he smiled, “come on. Is the corridor clear, Ben?”

            “Yeah. But don’t count on my word, it’s really dark. Anybody could be hid in these shadows.”

            “Keep your wits about you, boys. Use the shadows to your advantage, regardless of the risk of someone else using them, too.”

            The trio left Mr Marsdon’s room and walked from the history block to the maths block, keeping in the shadows as Chris ordered. He went first, followed by Alex, with Ben keeping an eye on their tail. They walked past the sports field and the Green Gardens, in which they saw a few couples enjoying themselves on the benches, but, thankfully, they were too busy to catch sight of the three. Ben doubted that they would have done much if they saw them, anyway.

            Chris pointed upwards to the sky and whispered, “Did anyone else notice it’s a full moon?” Alex and Ben shook their heads. “We’re crazy, you know that?” Alex and Ben nodded, smiling cheekily.