Even with headphones on Anne could still hear the other girls from her floor singing Christmas carols and other songs. It seemed everyone was enjoying the various small parties going on, or the larger gathering in the central common room put on by the school, punch and pastries provided as a gift (though alcohol was strictly forbidden). Yet in room 418 the seasonal spirit failed to make an impact, save perhaps a twinge of annoyance at the volume of the merrymaking.

Indeed, the room's dark haired occupant sat alone at her desk trying to drown out the singing with music on her iPod, half-heartedly attempting to get ahead in her course work. It wasn't that she hadn't been invited to any of the parties (the invitation to the common room gathering was slipped under every door), she just didn't feel very...festive. She never did this time of year. Perhaps it was the lack of a family to celebrate with, or the crippling fear she felt of socializing with others, a necessity for most during the holidays. Likely something of both.

"Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" wound to a finish, only to be almost immediately replaced by "Frosty the Snowman". Anne sighed and turned off her iPod, closed her books and took off her headphones. Stretching as she rose from her desk, she shuffled to the window and looked out over the night shadowed grounds. Pools of shifting light and moving shadow speckled the ground, evidence that the festivities were in swing all over the dorm building, yet more singing drifting up and down from the windows around hers.

I just want some peace and quiet... she mused, leaning against the window frame. Maybe she could get away with sneaking out of the dorms tonight? After all, the staff were likely having their own party, or busy keeping an eye on the students'. She turned away from the window and sidled to her closet, digging out a light jacket to wear against the chill that had permeated the night air these last few days (someone had said it was even supposed to snow soon) before turning to pull on a pair of jeans over her simple white panties. Her overlarge night-shirt was discarded, revealing a similar bra, before she tugged a long sleeved shirt on, the cotton dyed alternating bands of black and white. Knee high white socks and her worn in sneakers covered her feet, and she was ready to go.

She peeked out of her door before shuffling out, locking it behind her. No one paid her any attention as she made her way to the elevator, and she let out a soft sigh of relief as the doors closed. Her fingers rose to absently comb out her long, straight hair, making sure the grown out bangs covered the scarred right side of her face and her blind eye. She hesitated as the doors opened on the ground floor, peeking out once more to make sure no faculty members were in the lobby. Seeing no one she quickly shuffled to the doors and stepped out into the chill night air.

Her jacket quickly found its way over her arms, her hands diving into her pockets as she looked back up at the twin towers of the dorm building. With all of the lights shining through the windows, they almost seemed like Christmas trees... Shaking her head sadly, Anne turned away and ambled along the path towards the school grounds, careful to skip over the cracks in the pavement. Without really thinking about it, her feet took her towards the opposite side of the campus, in the direction of the mountain looming over the grounds.

The winter holidays weren't a very good time for hunting, Kakumaoh had found. It was difficult to find any students alone or in a small enough group that he could catch all of them at once. Add to that the problems of trying to sneak around successfully when there seemed to be an unexpected cluster of students around each corner, and he just found it too much trouble to look for new prey on the campus itself once the last classes of the semester ended.

That wasn't to say that he intended to be celibate until the holidays ended, mind you. There were always the occasional students who made ill-advised trips into the forest to be alone for him to satisfy his urges. Some days, however, there didn't seem to be anyone worth his time around.

Today had been one of those days, and he'd been prepared to give it up as a hopeless cause when he'd noticed a girl heading away from campus. She seems like she'd be quite... enjoyable... company for the night, he thought as he began to quietly follow her. He hadn't managed to get a good look at her, but he had been able to sense the despair that seemed to flow from her and almost promised that she'd be entertaining when he took her.

Despair indeed emanated from the huddled figure aimlessly making its way towards the still, lightless gray buildings of the campus proper. With nothing but the soft whisper of her black/lavender hair and the quiet click of her shoes on the pavement to break the silence, Anne's mind had turned almost completely inward, memories of the last holiday season surfacing unbidden. She, Mark, and Leslie had all stayed at school over the break, either unable or unwilling to return to their families. It had been a wonderful week, spent lazing around one of their rooms talking, or playing in the light coating of snow on the grounds. Lamenting the loss of her two closest friends, she hugged herself tightly through the jacket more for a sense of comfort than warmth.

"....I wonder what they're doing now...." she whispered to herself, imagining them having a Christmas dinner together, exchanging presents...ending up in Mark's bed...

She shook her head violently, sad, angry tears welling up in her eye. It just wasn't fair... Worse still, the dreams she'd been having lately drove the knife even deeper into her heart. The illusion of Mark returning her love, taking her in his arms...the nightmare of a monstrous Leslie, attacking them both....the cold bite of metal against her throa-

Her legs went weak as the memory of her throat being cut came to the fore, doubly as upsetting as she could remember it happening not once, but twice. Staggering, she leaned against a lampost set along the path, gasping for breath as she stood in the meager circle of light, head down and face concealed behind the soft curtain of her long hair. Even she didn't know if she was shivering now from the cold, or from misery and remembered fear.

Kakumaoh slipped up quietly behind the girl. He'd decided to play with her for a while before having his way with her. How long would depend on whether she looked at him when he spoke to her. He suspected that she wouldn't, with the amount she seemed to be wallowing in self-pity.

"Hello there. I hadn't expected to meet anyone out here. I was sure everyone would be at one of the parties. Is something wrong?" His voice held a note of concern, such as one might expect from a staff member worried about a student.