Marked

by Stephanie Arehart

  “What are we doing, then? What kind of game is this?”

  “Shhh, Barbie J, there’s a story on the news about school. I’m just trying to see what’s going on, okay? It’s called being informed.”

  “Sure, well, there’s also this thing called a smartphone, and it tells us all kinds of valuable information,” Jenna sarcastically rattled as she pulled her phone from her pocket and began tapping it.

  “Well then, what’s your magic phone say, Genius Barbie J?”

  Jenna suppressed rolling her eyes at Vivian’s name-calling. “I can’t find anything. Are you sure you aren’t just seeing things? Maybe you aren’t totally sober right now?”

  “Maybe. I do hallucinate sometimes,” Vivian chuckled as she shrugged and walked away. “And I sleepwalk, so you can look forward to that too.”

  Jenna silently followed behind Vivian with her head bowed, as if she didn’t want people to know they were together. She was still having personal issues with Vivian being in the same program as her, with her slightly-off mark and her character, or lack thereof. Maybe it was just because she’d grown up in the calm countryside, while Vivian appeared to be a rough and tumble city girl.

  Vivian’s keen intuition must have alerted her that something was bothering her new roommate, even though they’d just met hours earlier that day. Jenna didn’t seem like the type of girl to get quiet for too long.

  Vivian asked, “What’s wrong with you, Barbie J? Are you stressing about perfectly coordinating your pink outfit for the first day tomorrow?”

  “No, I was actually thinking about your mark.”

  Vivian’s posture became immediately defensive. “Yeah? What about my mark? Is it not as good as yours? I mean, you do realize we both have the exact same destiny, right? Regardless of where we’ve been, we’re both going to the same place now. You’re no better than me.”

  Jenna stopped walking, causing Vivian to halt and turn back toward her. She aggressively pushed Jenna’s long blonde hair out of the way. Vivian squinted strangely at Jenna’s mark, tilting her head a little.

  “Hmm, your mark seems a tad darker than mine, but otherwise I think we’re twinsies,” Vivian said, trying not to sound too intrigued before getting more serious. “I’ve actually never met anyone else with the medical mark, not even in the big city of Cleveland.”

  She leaned in to inspect Jenna’s neck more closely, slowly reaching out to feel the spot, a small dark clover shape just above Jenna’s collar bone. Jenna jerked back, surprised that Vivian had actually touched her, but not before Vivian’s face publicized her findings.

  “You’re right. Yours does feel a little different, like it’s raised or something. Why’s it like that?” Vivian asked with a heavy dose of sincerity.

  Jenna recoiled more, “I was going to ask you the same thing. Maybe you’re some kind of medical mark fraud?”

  “Oh, I’m definitely not the fake one here,” Vivian sneered.

  Without another word, Jenna started walking briskly back toward home, her new home, a small single room that she was to share with a rude psychopath. She could hear the sounds of what were most likely Vivian’s footsteps behind her, so she sped up. The faster she walked, the faster the footsteps clomped behind her, until they were both running. After a couple of minutes of full-out sprinting, they were back in front of the dorm building. Each girl doubled over at the bottom of the stone steps, trying to catch her breath for the climb.

  “What are you, Barbie J? Some kind of high school track star?”

  “Actually, I’m a highly decorated triathlete. What are you, some kind of runaway criminal?” Jenna responded.

  “No, I was actually a high school track star.”

  They stared at each other in shock for a split second, before both started laughing at the same time. Jenna felt like the ice had finally broken, realizing that Vivian might not be the person she’d initially perceived. Even though they’d now found something they had in common, she wasn’t planning on letting her guard down anytime soon. That mark was still eating at her, and she was just hoping she’d be able to make it through the semester with her strange roommate. They walked together in sync back to the room. As Vivian was unlocking door 238, lights in the hallway started flashing and sirens blared loudly.

  “What the hell is that?” Vivian shouted while Jenna covered her ears with her hands.

  A girl in a towel came running fast from the end of the hall, directly at them. Just when it seemed like she was going to smack right into them, she dodged around and kept on going. As she sprinted away from them, she started yelling, “School’s on lockdown! Everyone in your rooms until we get the all clear!”

  “Who does she think she is?” Vivian snarled.

  “She’s the Dorm Advisor. I met her at orientation last week,” Jenna answered as they stepped inside the door. “I wonder what’s happening out there.”

  “You actually went to orientation? What a loser.” Vivian could tell her comments had annoyed Jenna, so she added, “I’m sure it’s just some kind of drill or hazing for us newbies. Nothing to be afraid of, I’m sure.”

  Jenna heard what Vivian was saying, and it sounded reasonable. But she didn’t always operate on logic alone. Sometimes her instincts were so strong that she imagined she’d been a wild animal in a previous life. She experienced that sensation from time to time when she slipped into one of her meditative states. That same inner voice was nagging her now that something bad was happening. But again, there was nothing specific coming to mind. She acquiesced, since not much could be done anyway.

  Jenna flipped on the television attached to the wall between both beds, just above the doorway, before sitting down on her perfectly-made bed. A bulletin flashed across the bottom of the screen. Jenna saw images of police standing around a body bag on the ground. She didn’t recognize the exact location, but the scrolling text said BODY FOUND ON LOCAL COLLEGE CAMPUS. VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS UVA STUDENT LENA PEREZ.

  Jenna glanced back over her shoulder to see Vivian staring not at the television, but at her. Suddenly Jenna’s skin began to tingle. Her intuition screamed that Vivian had something to do with this, but she didn’t know for sure. After all, they’d been together for the last five hours.

  Surely Vivian didn’t murder someone on her way to the dorm. Did she?

  Chapter 2

  Jenna’s phone buzzed violently on her desk. She leaped over and grabbed it, answering the call in a single motion. Before she could even speak, her mother’s frantic voice filled the air. “Jenna? Are you okay? I just saw the news.”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” Jenna calmly answered. “I’m safe in my room, just about to get into bed.”

  “Do you want us to come get you?”

  “No, Mother. I’m totally safe here, ready to start my career.”

  “Well, I want you to be extremely careful when you go out tomorrow. Try to stay with groups of people, and be sure you’re not out after dark.”

  “Of course. I’ll be extremely careful. Good night, Mother.”

  Vivian squeaked another veiled insult, “Why do you call your mom ‘Mother’? So formal and proper.”

  “Not now, Vivian.”

  Jenna and Vivian got into their beds without any further discussion, like they were trying to erase the evening’s events from existence. Jenna desperately fought to repress all the fears she had about her new roommate, but she was struggling. As she lay there with her eyes open, she could only focus on the raspy breathing coming from the other side of the room, speculating if Vivian sounded like that because she’d killed a person earlier. Wondering if she was planning to kill Jenna too, just as soon as she fell asleep.

  But when Jenna closed her eyes in an attempt to block it out, her anxiety only grew worse. She vividly saw graphic images, as if they were photographs. Her mind visualized what appeared to be Vivian on top of a slender woman, with her hands around the helpless girl’s throat. Jenna moved closer to see the victim’s face being drained of the last bit of
life. The girl’s face looked like her own, which caused Jenna to scream out loud.

  “Are you okay? I thought you were asleep,” Vivian asked, with only a minor degree of concern.

  Jenna could definitely tell that Vivian was amused by her fear. “I’m fine. Just hard to sleep after some girl got murdered here on campus, that’s all.”

  “How do you know it was a girl?” Vivian asked suspiciously.

  “Her name was Lena. Sounds like a girl’s name to me,” Jenna answered matter-of-factly. “I’m really scared, so no more jokes. Okay?”

  Eventually, from sheer exhaustion, they drifted off to sleep. It seemed like both girls tossed and turned all night, but somehow, when the early morning alarm sounded, Jenna still felt well-rested and eager for her first day. She jumped out of bed cheerfully and even sang while she got ready for her first class.

  “So, not surprised Barbie J is a morning person. Shoot me now,” Vivian said from under her blanket heap.

  “I’m not a morning person. I’m just feeling charged up and ready for this day.”

  “That’s exactly the definition of a morning person.”

  Jenna watched in horror as Vivian literally rolled out of her bed, stepped into her worn-out sneakers, grabbed her bag and headed out the door. Then Jenna turned and looked at herself intently in the mirror, brushing her pretty hair relentlessly. After finally deeming herself suitable for public exposure, she grabbed her purse and book bag to walk across campus to her first class.

  As she entered the large auditorium, she felt an exhilaration that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. The past few years of school had been exceptionally easy for her, and she’d never had to worry about learning anything new. Her future had been pre-designed thanks to the Mark Theory, so her focus was always on getting the best grades, excelling at sports, and generally winning everything she attempted. Medical marks were typically competitive, and Jenna was no exception.

  Today, though, I’ll be learning something fresh and relevant for the first time in forever. Today I’m finally starting my life.

  After she found a seat and gathered herself, the professor entered through a small door at the side of the room. He mumbled a quick introduction of himself and launched right into his presentation, which included an assortment of colorful graphics as he spoke about recent advancements in medical science. Jenna could tell that he certainly knew his stuff, and his passion came through even as he muttered and faced his own presentation while addressing the audience. Most of the students were on the edge of their seats. Regardless of his lackluster demeanor, the content was enthralling to medical minds.

  Jenna kept gazing around the room as he spoke, eager to see these potential new friends with whom she already had so much in common. While she didn’t feel an instant connection with any of them, she did spot Vivian all the way on the other side of the room, in the very last row. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought her weird roommate was already asleep, with her head down on the desk. Ugh, such a waste.

  Jenna finished her survey of the other students before returning her full attention to the professor’s speech. Now he was talking about the Mark Registry, required learning for all college majors. This topic definitely piqued her interest, so she sat up straighter, as if to help herself pay better attention. As he discussed several impressive statistics regarding the usage of birthmarks for occupational selection, Jenna began to feel uneasy, like someone was staring at her. She glanced in Vivian’s direction, but it looked like she was still sleeping.

  Professor Mumbler lectured about the history and discovery that birthmarks revealed past life behaviors, essentially proving reincarnation while negating self-determination. Jenna already knew a good portion of this information, and was sure the others in the classroom did as well, but today it had different meaning to her. All the students in this room were sitting there together solely because they’d been born with the same birthmark on their necks. They were now cohorts, bound together because they’d all been healers in one of their previous lives.

  The science was fascinating, but it also introduced more questions in her mind about Vivian. She wanted to raise her hand and ask, but she was afraid. Besides, the oblivious professor probably wouldn’t have noticed even if she did.

  He babbled about other, less important, marks. As Jenna already knew, health and medical marks were considered highly esteemed, noted by a dark clover-shaped mark just above the collar bone. Other scientific marks were also found in various places on the front of the neck. Executive, managerial, and professional marks were typically very dark and bold, located on the forearms. Jenna recalled a bossy childhood friend with a dark round mark on her tricep.

  He continued through the list. Political marks were reddish moles found anywhere on the body, but most often on the chest. Teaching marks varied in color, but were always on the face or head to indicate wisdom. Marks for trade occupations were mostly found on the back of the neck, for whatever reason. Port wine stains, found anywhere on the body, identified colorful character for fine arts majors. Military marks looked like moles, mostly found on the torso. And the lowest of all were criminal marks. Jenna remembered seeing a man arrested at a restaurant once. He had the murder mark, a faint oval on his wrist.

  After class, she looked over to see that Vivian was already gone. Jenna made her way down to the front of the class and timidly approached the professor. He was a much older man than she’d originally guessed. His tiny glasses were so heavily smudged, Jenna wondered how he could see through them at all. As he hastily grabbed his papers and briefcase, she noticed the birthmark on the side of his neck. It wasn’t a medical or a teaching mark. In fact, she didn’t recognize it at all. He looked up and noticed her just as he was spinning to rush out the side door.

  “Can I help you, Miss?” the professor inquired.

  “Yes. I mean, maybe. I hope so anyway. I’m one of your students,” Jenna stammered in response.

  “Yes, I gathered that much,” he said with a slight smirk, shifting his weight impatiently.

  “I’d like to ask you a question about the Mark Registry.”

  “Yes, what is it?” He eagerly leaned in to hear more.

  Jenna continued, “I’ve seen the statistics, so I know there are a small number of cases where the marks are wrong. But my question is, could a person intentionally change their mark? Like if they wanted to get a different job or something?”

  “Good grief, girl, yes! There are entire underground organizations solely dedicated to precisely that purpose. You must learn to question the world more and stop being so naïve if you want to make it in this field,” he snorted.

  Jenna could feel her lower lip start to tremble. She certainly wasn’t accustomed to being scolded, or bluntly told that she failed to meet expectations. He reached into his briefcase and thumbed through some papers, pulling one out and handing it to her. Then he walked away without another word, muttering something about new students under his breath.

  It took her a couple of moments to regain her composure and look at what he had given her. The paper contained some general information about the Mark Registry, along with a website. She noticed that the path didn’t look like anything she’d seen before, as it was a lengthy one on some obscure domain.

  Feeling embarrassed and somewhat frustrated, Jenna crumpled the paper into a ball. Then she quickly changed her mind and smoothed it back out before stuffing it into her purse. She still had two more classes to endure on her first day, and then she could return to the sanctuary of her dorm.

  *****

  When she arrived back at her room, Vivian was nowhere to be found, so Jenna sat down alone and enjoyed the peace. From her position on the bed, she could see the corner of that crumpled paper poking out, beckoning her like a snake charmer’s flute. After a couple of minutes, she simply couldn’t take it anymore and jerked it out of her purse.

  Jenna moved over to the desk and opened her laptop. After typing in the ridiculously long add
ress, she waited. An eternity passed before the page began to populate with text, lots of text. She scanned through and found a section about authenticating birthmarks.

  The site instructed her to upload an electronic image of the birthmark for an anonymous analysis. It promised to provide a code that could be used to log back in and find the answer, nothing traceable. The process seemed easy enough, and would hopefully solve the mystery while putting her fears to rest, or possibly justifying them.

  Satisfied with her proactive decision, Jenna closed the laptop and walked over to Vivian’s side of the room. She looked around and realized that she wasn’t likely to find any pictures of Vivian. From what Jenna had already observed, she just didn’t seem like that kind of girl, plus she’d taken nearly all of her possessions with her in that rumpled duffel bag of hers.

  She’s one step from a flat-out drifter. A cool drifter, but still a drifter.

  After considering a deep Internet search, Jenna decided it would be easiest to take a new picture, though risky. She was devising a plan of attack when Vivian burst through the door, looking angry and dodgy at Jenna standing next to her own bed.

  “Why are you creeping around by my stuff, Barbie J?”

  “What stuff? You don’t have anything. You’re like a homeless girl over here,” Jenna babbled. “If you must know, I was just seeing if you had any pictures.”

  “Okay, why? Are you doing a Single White Female thing to me?”

  “No, the Dorm Advisor wanted pics of us for the bulletin board downstairs. It’s that whole ‘get to know your neighbor’ thing. They’re having a big welcome party this weekend.”

  Though she rambled as she talked, Jenna was amazed at how calm she felt lying to this pretender, perhaps even a murderous pretender. She impressed herself with her extraordinary composure under stress. After a little more protesting, Vivian finally agreed to let her take a picture of the two of them, probably just to shut her up. Jenna set up shop to take a few selfies, obviously experienced in that arena.