Chapter One: "I didn't mean to see your..."
Hewn Heart College lies nestled in the woodlands of Pennsylvania, near the looming wild of the Appalachian Mountains. It offers a small variety of degrees, including Art, History, Environmental Science, Music, Biology, Psychology, and Mathematics. It is most well-known, however, for its degree in the Study of the Unusual and the Unexplained.
At the time of writing, this degree is not offered at any other accredited university in the whole of North America. It is rumored that three universities offer it in South America, yet no concrete evidence has been provided to verify this one way or the other (the three schools in question have not responded to any inquiries).
The story you are about to read is true. Its events have been painstakingly collected and fitted together in chronological order by myself after months of interviews with countless students, faculty, staff, government officials, individuals employed in the field of private investigation, and community members located in and around Hewn Heart Village. I have found, as I have attempted to craft this narrative, that the more people I spoke to, the deeper I dug into what actually happened, the more the story wound further and further into the dark abyss of the Unusual and the Unexplained.
It is no wonder, I suppose, that the college would offer such a degree now, and that it would be so popular. Anyone who knows a portion of this story will obviously be driven by an intense desire to know more, to understand the whole picture, regardless of how dangerous such knowledge might be. In the following pages, I will attempt to capture that elusive “whole picture” to the best of my ability. I hope, in doing so, that I will satisfy the desire of others who might have followed me down this destructive path otherwise. My other hope is that I do not lose my very self in the process.
Be warned: The Unusual and the Unexplained are two things that should perhaps remain as they are. If we seek to understand things that we were never meant to grasp, it is logical that the end result will ultimately be the unravelling of our minds… or worse.
Would that I could put down my pen and abandon this tale. Alas, the curse to know more condemned me long ago. Here is everything.
Part One, “I think the entire hockey team is comprised of werewolves.”
Cassandra Lee arrived at Hewn Heart College on August 25, 2005, a week before classes were to officially start. Her mother had driven the two of them all the way from Pittsburgh in her beat-up old station wagon, which had one section of wood paneling held on only with duct tape. The back of the station wagon was stuffed full of the things Cassandra would need to live out of a dorm room: clothes, shoes, books, decorations, a lamp, a toolbox, some stuffed animals, bedding, pillows, and boxes of ramen.
Her mother helped her carry everything into the cramped room, which was on the third floor of the girls’ dormitory building. Because of the limited space, Cassandra was not able to fit everything she had brought. The college-provided dresser in the room was smaller than anticipated. The closet was also shockingly narrow. Considering that she would be sharing this space with a roommate, it would not be fair to take up any more than half the storage space. She spent some time sorting through what she had brought, choosing what would stay with her and what her mother would take back.
Finally, after a few hours of work, the unpacking and the repacking of the excess items was finished. Cassandra and her mother stood outside the station wagon under a tall tree. Cassandra’s forehead and upper lip glistened with sweat from carrying things up and down the stairs in the heavy August heat. Both mother and daughter knew that the coming moment was to be a goodbye, the type of goodbye that would separate them for the first time in their lives for a long period of time.
“It’s only till Christmas break,” Cassandra said, biting her lip to calm her rising emotions.
This simple statement, however, was enough for her mother to well up with tears and seize her daughter for a long, drawn-out hug. “You are my little girl and my baby and I love you and I can’t let you leave me,” she choked out between sobs.
“Mom,” Cassandra groaned, trying to push back against the hug without success. “You promised you wouldn’t do this!”
“You’re right!” her mother gasped, releasing her just as dramatically has she had grabbed her. “You’re absolutely right.” She squared her shoulders in an effort to appear strong. “Cassandra, have a good time at college. Study hard. Make friends who will be a good influence on you. Don’t do any drugs or drink any alcoholic beverages. Don’t commit any crimes. Be in bed by five o’clock every night, even on the weekends. If you do consent to sex, something that I obviously highly recommend you don’t do for your own safety and to ensure that you stay focused on your classes, please be sure that you use at least two layers of protection. Condoms, dear. They exist for a reason. I left some in your room under your pillow. Make sure you also take the pill every night. Make sure-”
Cassandra, at first struck dumb by the onslaught of demands, finally managed to interrupt her mother’s tirade with a, “Mom, you promised you wouldn’t do this either!”
“Oh, you’re right, Cassandra. I’m sorry. It’s just that I spent all the savings on getting you into this school, so I can’t possibly afford an abortion for you now, so you’ve just got to be-”
“MOM!!!”
“Right, you’re right. I trust you, Cassandra. I do. You’re such a good girl. I know you’ll make the right decisions here, whatever they may be.”
The two came together now for a reasonably gentle hug compared to the last one. Both pulled away from it with tears in their eyes.
“Well,” her mother said, looking upward to try to keep her tears in, “I’d better get going. I don’t want to get caught in traffic.”
With that, she turned and awkwardly got into the car. Cassandra watched her mother leave through the tears in her eyes, tears which turned the world into a blur of light and colors. She wiped her eyes subtly on her sleeve. Other families were in various stages of arrival and departure all around the parking lot. She was embarrassed to be seen crying alone in front of other people. She was on her own now. She needed to be strong.
Her dormitory building was located right next to the woods. A worn-out sidewalk led from the parking lot to the entry door, which was situated in the middle of the building and facing the forest. As she walked back toward the dormitory building, she heard a sound echoing from deep in the woods. It was a low snap, followed by what sounded like a human cry. Her heart practically jumped out of her chest. What was that? she wondered. She knew that if her mother or any of her old friends from back home were with her, they would tell her, “Don’t go in there. It might be dangerous. You should alert campus security right away.” As much as Cassandra’s instincts urged her to follow this advice, a deeper urge had taken hold. Something was telling her to go into the woods and find the source of that noise.
Cassandra stared into the mesmerizing labyrinth of never-ending trees and felt a cool wind brush her hair. It was dark in the woods. Inviting, almost, in a weird sort of way. For a moment she could not tell if she was approaching the woods or if they were moving towards her. She jumped, as if startled out of a trance, and saw that she was already thirty steps past the tree line. Looking back, she could still see the dormitory building. She could hear the chatter of other families unpacking their cars for their daughters and siblings who would be attending Hewn Heart. She turned her back on that and went further in.
Outside of the woods, the sun had been shining down warmly in the middle of a grand blue sky. Inside, Cassandra was shocked to discover just how dark and chilly it could get. She was dressed in short denim shorts, old converse shoes, and a grey Hewn Heart College T-shirt that her mother had insisted on buying for her. Truthfully, it was for the best that Hewn Heart was the only school that had accepted her. It was the cheapest option, and her mother did not make enough money to be able to afford anything better.
Cassandra shivered as she walked. She pulled her arms inside the sleeves of her T-shirt for whatever pitiful amount of extra warmth that might give her. It was like she was being summoned by an expectant, invisible power now. There was no sound to be heard. In fact, the woods had gone deathly quiet. The crunch of her steps on the undergrowth seemed deafening. What force could be driving her out into these unwelcoming woods?
She climbed a steep incline and descended into a ravine beyond it. The trees were growing closer together, creating an almost claustrophobic feeling in the pit of Cassandra’s stomach. The ground beneath her feet was covered in old leaves and twisted, brittle branches.
This is ridiculous, she thought to herself. What the hell am I doing out here? Why don’t I just stop and turn back?
At the base of the next hill, she heard the sound of rushing water. A river or a stream must be nearby. Perhaps that would hold the answers. Cassandra struggled to the peak and saw a glimpse of the river through the trees. She picked up the pace on the way down and only stopped when she reached the water’s edge. All was quiet, save the sound of rushing water. But hold on, the sound of rushing water was not all coming from the river.
Cassandra turned her head to the left and saw the back end of a boy, probably another Hewn Heart student, who was leaned back, pants somewhat sagging, legs apart, and clearly pissing against a tree. Cassandra was completely taken aback. What sort of human person would piss out in the woods like an animal? Surely that a bit too uncivilized? I mean, he was aware that he was a man, not a dog, right? Could he not have held it until he got back to the college like a normal person? They were not even that far away!
Somewhat humiliated to have caught him in such a compromised position, Cassandra tried to take a step toward a tree, hoping to hide behind it until he was finished. Unfortunately for both parties, she forgot to look where she stepped and so lowered her foot onto a twig. The crack it made echoed through the woods like a musical motif. The man rotated his whole torso to see what caused the noise at the same time as Cassandra turned her head toward the man to see if he had heard the sound. In that very brief moment, her eyes locked, not with his eyes, but with his penis, casually gripped between his thumb and forefinger. It was out in full view because of the way he had turned!
The very next instant Cassandra had her eyes tightly closed, screaming, “Oh my god, sorry! I’m so sorry!” She then tried to escape the mortifying situation entirely by running. This, however, is never a good idea when one’s eyes are tightly closed. She made it roughly three steps before she slipped on a patch of mud, bumped against a tree, and tumbled directly into the river, yelling as she went, “I didn’t mean to see your penis!”
