Chapter One

Empty boxes were strewn around the apartment as Collin prepared to start college. The boy was eighteen and had never lived on his own before. Unfortunately, he had missed the deadline for on campus housing so he was forced to move into a rat hole about a mile from the university. Collin was just grateful that he would be living alone.

As he surveyed his work, Collin realized that he hadn’t eaten all day. He decided to go to campus because his refrigerator was still empty. He grabbed his skateboard, wallet and keys and headed out.

The small college town was new to him. He stepped out of his apartment and closed his eyes to take in the warm summer afternoon. Collin had always dreamed of moving away from his Central Florida home. When it came time to pick a college, Collin decided on a small liberal arts college in Washington State.

Balancing carefully on his skateboard, he glided along the sidewalk to campus. When he reached the campus he took a minute and got his bearings. He expected that he could get an easy meal in the student union. What he hadn’t expected were the lines in the cafeteria. After he got his hamburger, he stared around the room and looked for a place to sit. After a minute, he spotted an empty table and made a beeline for it. He noticed another boy around his age doing the same thing. The two boys got to the table at the same time.

“We can share the table,” the mystery boy said.

“Thanks,” Collin replied.

“I’m Justin. Justin Baker,” the other boy said as he reached over to shake Collin’s hand. Collin looked his tablemate up and down before sitting. Justin was about average height and had a slight build. His dirty blonde hair was tucked behind his ears. He wore a red and blue striped shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and a pair of ripped jeans. Collin noticed that Justin had a strange tattoo of a gargoyle on his left forearm.

“Collin Roberts. Cool ink,” the younger boy replied, commenting on the tattoo.

“Thanks. I’ve had it forever. It’s nice to meet you. Are you new here?”

“Yea, I just moved here from Florida,” Collin replied, “What about you?”

“I’m a junior and a townie.”

“Cool. I live off campus too. It’s a rat hole, but it’s home,” Collin said.

The boys sat in a comfortable silence for a while as they ate and when they finished the older boy offered to show the younger around campus. As they walked they made idle conversation about the town and the school. They found that they had a lot in common. They talked about video games and girls as Justin pointed various things that he thought Collin should know about.

“There’s not much to show, but I’ve heard some interesting stories about a few of the buildings.”

“Define interesting,” Collin said.

“Mostly just urban legends and scary stories; things you tell girls to get in their pants.”

“Really? Tell me one,” Collin requested.

“Sure, follow me there’s something I want to show you.”

Collin quickly and quietly followed his new friend to a non-descript, three story brick building.

“What’s so special about this building?” Collin asked.

“I feel like we should have a campfire for this story. Anyway, the story goes like this: there are two elevators in the building. They both look and run like normal elevators. That is, they look normal until you see Provo Andrews--”

“The Humanities professor? I heard he’s brilliant. I’m taking his intro class this semester,” Collin interrupted.

“Well the rumor is that he’s not human. They say he’s like six hundred years old, but stays young by killing students,” Justin continued his story.

“What do you mean he kills his students? Wouldn’t the university notice the disappearances?”

“The way I’ve heard the story is that when you get into the elevator with him, you’re never seen again. He takes a few of his best students each year. Just enough to stay young, but not get caught,” Justin answered.

“Why has no one tried to stop him?”

“Dude, chill out, it’s just a story. I’ve taken his classes and he’s actually a really cool guy. You’ll have fun in his class. Listen, I’ve gotta take off, but we’ll hang out soon and finish the tour. Text me,” Justin said as he gave the younger boy his phone number.

“Okay, see you,” Collin said, still distracted by the story. He wandered around the campus on his own for a few hours and explored, trying to get his mind off Justin’s story. He found where all of his classes would be held. His mind was clouded because of the story, so Collin located Andrews’ office. Everything about the building looked normal. Maybe it is just a story, Collin thought.

The boy went back to his apartment to finish unpacking but he could not shake the feeling that there was some truth in Justin’s story. His class with Provo Andrews did not start for two more days and he still had to focus on his three other classes. By the end of the day Collin had decided that he would investigate more after he met his Humanities professor.

The next day Collin’s classes started at nine AM. Collin’s tall frame sailed easily on his skateboard. Even though Collin looked lanky and uncoordinated, the boy was actually very much in shape and toned. He started skateboarding when he was two. It came to him naturally. He had never seriously competed against other skateboarders, but if push came to shove, he could hold his own. As he arrived to campus, Collin took his cell phone out of his pocket. The teenager was not a morning person but, as a freshman, the only classes he was able to register for were early. His schedule stared back at him from his phone screen. His first class was on the third floor on the library. The campus was not very big, but he did not want to get lost or be late on his first day of college. He skated in the direction of his first class and once he was inside the building made his way towards the coffee cart. He ordered his morning jolt and headed upstairs to his first class.