Chapter 9 Xave
XAVE
The campus is eerily quiet as I drive down the road that will take me to my dorm. I have no idea how many students are actually here right now, but other than the guards at the main gate, I haven’t seen anyone around.
That’s not surprising since it’s still winter break and school isn’t opening up again until Tuesday. Most people won’t be coming back until either Monday or Sunday, but it’s still weird to drive through an empty campus.
The towering facade of my dorm, which we call the main house, appears as I approach it.
I pull into the back parking lot and maneuver my car into one of the prime spaces near the entrance.
As far as I know, Carter is the only person who stayed here over the break, and he doesn’t drive, so it’s no surprise that the lot is as empty as the rest of campus.
The night air is cool, and a crisp breeze ruffles my hair as I sling the strap of my bag over my shoulder and head up the walkway to the back door.
Tapping my ID card on the sensor next to the door, I wait for the usual click of the door unlocking.
Instead, a small light on the bottom of the sensor flashes red.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Carter says through the speaker on the sensor.
I glance up at the camera over the door since I know he’s looking at it right now. “Are you going to let me in or not?”
“Depends on why you’re back early.”
I flip the camera off. “How’s this for an answer?”
“Try again,” he says, and I can hear the humor in his voice.
I flip him off with both hands. “Better?”
The lock clicks, and I pull the door open.
The house is a smaller, less flashy version of Hamilton House, the main dorm where most members of the Rebels live, and it’s where the leaders and their admin team stay. There are dozens of rooms in the house, but currently, only nine of us live here.
Just like Hamilton House, the main house is a lavish Gothic Victorian mansion that looks like it could double as Dracula’s vacation home.
It’s opulent and extra and everything you’d expect to find at a school like Silvercrest, where money talks and the traditions of trying to one-up each other are still alive and well today.
While the outsides of the main house and Hamilton House are nearly identical, except for the main house being significantly smaller, their interiors are vastly different.
Hamilton House is set up like a typical dorm with common areas on the main floor and the upper floors housing the private rooms. It also has multiple basements, but only the first level is open to members, and that’s where the pool, gyms, storage areas, and several secure meeting rooms can be found.
The main house looks like a typical mansion at first glance, but it’s a literal maze with hidden corridors, secret rooms, and multiple concealed staircases that will take you to specific areas and nowhere else.
And even though I live here, a good portion of the house is still a mystery to me since there are entire sections of the place that are off limits to everyone except the leaders and Carter.
Everything inside the main house is the same Gothic Victorian style as Hamilton House, but all of us who live here have single rooms and our own bathrooms instead of double rooms with private baths.
There’s also a small guest house tucked into the edge of the property near the woods where the staff used to live, but it’s been vacant since they were relocated to the small town off campus with the rest of the people who work at the school decades ago.
My footsteps echo on the dark hardwood floors as I head to one of the back staircases and dash to the third floor.
Once I’m in the hall, I pull open one of the heavy wooden doors that looks exactly like the others around it, revealing a hidden staircase that leads to the fourth floor instead of a room or closet like one would expect.
I flick on the light switch, but the single bulb doesn’t do much to illuminate my way as I hurry up the stairs and exit through another heavy door.
The fourth floor is actually divided into three sections that can only be accessed by different staircases, and I’m the only person who lives in my section.
A couple of guys live on the far side of the hall, but there’s no one anywhere near me, and the extra privacy is a nice perk.
I unlock the door to my room and step inside.
The rooms in the house all have the same Gothic decor and feel but aren’t identical like the ones in Hamilton House.
My room is one of the nicer ones, thanks to my status as part of the frat security team, and has a huge canopy bed, an ornate desk with a comfortable chair, an oversized dresser, a huge wooden wardrobe instead of a closet, and a bookshelf.
I also have a small attached den with a couch, an easy chair with an antique stained glass reading light, and a coffee table, while most of the guys only have an open sitting area in their rooms.
My bathroom isn’t anything special, but it’s got everything I need, including a shower and separate claw-foot soaker tub, a large vanity with a massive mirror over it, and a small cubicle that houses the toilet.
Out of habit, I scan the room to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be and nothing seems off as I toss my bag onto the small bench at the end of my bed.
I shrug off my jacket, then throw it on the other side of the bench and unzip the main pocket of my bag so I can get the laptop and phones we stole from our kidnappers.
Thanks to the ridiculous layout of the house, I have to go back down to the third floor, then use another hidden staircase to get to the middle section of the fourth floor.
No one lives in this section, and as far as I know, the rooms here aren’t used for anything and are kept locked at all times.
Bypassing the rooms, I stop in front of a heavy wooden door and glance up at the tiny pinhole camera in the frame.
“Password?” Carter says through a hidden speaker, his voice as clear as it would be if he were standing in front of me.
“Bite me.”
I’m used to Carter’s jokes and eccentric ways, and this is one of his things. He doesn’t actually have a password he wants me to say; he just enjoys messing with people.
“Nope,” he says, his voice light with humor. “Try again.”
I lift the laptop and show it to the camera. “Wanna have some fun?”
There’s a loud click as the door unlocks, and I pull it open to reveal yet another staircase that will take me to one of the turret rooms on the fifth floor.
The door at the top of the stairs is already unlocked, and like usual, I find Carter at his desk, his chair pointed toward the door as I step through it.
Carter’s room is probably the coolest in the entire house, and not just because of the impressive security and tech setup he has going on.
Since it’s in a turret, the room is completely circular with no corners or straight lines, and it’s more than twice as tall as the other rooms in the house, with sharply vaulted ceilings thanks to the peaked roof.
The room is set up so one side of it is Carter’s living area and the other is full of security camera screens, multiple computers, and a ton of other equipment that I don’t understand and isn’t my business.
There’s also a loft Carter uses as his bedroom, and there’s an attached bathroom that’s identical to mine, including being a normal shape and not round like his room.
“You have something fun for me?”
“More than one,” I say as I cross the large room and hand him the laptop.
“Two questions.” He eyes the laptop. “What’s this, and why the hell are you here and not hiding away in a hotel with a beautiful woman?”
Grabbing his spare desk chair, I wheel it over so I can sit with him.
“There’s a funny story that answers both of those questions,” I say, settling in the plush chair. “That’s a laptop I stole from some guys who drugged and kidnapped me and another guy.” I dig the phones we stole out of my hoodie pocket. “And these are their phones.”
His eyes widen. “Say what?”
“And to answer your other question, the reason I got drugged and kidnapped wasn’t because I was the target, but because my date bailed on me to get back together with her ex, so she can warm his bed since she made her choice.”
Carter blinks at me a few times. “Are you shitting me, or is this serious?”
“Serious.”
He nods gravely and puts the laptop on one of the only clear spaces on his desk. Then he holds his hands out for the phones. “Okay, tell me what we’re dealing with before I start messing with these.”
“Do you know Damon Cosgrove?” I ask as he examines each of the phones.
He pauses, a thoughtful look crossing his features. “The name is familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“He’s a member of the Keepers.”
“The one who looks like he’s the front man of an emo band?” he asks, his eyes widening again.
I nod. “He was at the same rave, and he was the target.”
“But how did you get mixed up in this?” he asks, his brow furrowing with confusion as he puts the phones on top of the laptop. “I didn’t know you were friends.”
“We’re not. I had no idea he was there until after we got kidnapped.”
Carter shoots me a confused look.
“Here, let me start at the beginning.” I briefly outline what happened, leaving out the part where we went into the smash room and hooked up while high off our asses, and his mouth is hanging open like it’s been unhinged by the time I finish.
“Christ on a bike,” he says after a long pause. “I don’t even know where to start with all that.” He points to the pile of electronics. “But why are you giving this to me and not to Jace?”
Both Jace and Carter are hackers, and Jace is not only incredibly skilled, he’s basically Carter’s number two and works with him to maintain the frat’s security and sus out cyberthreats.
This kind of stuff is my cousin’s bread and butter; it’s no wonder he’s confused about why I came to him and not Jace.