12:01am

[Visit the new website - www.thehorrorgrove.com]

"5 minutes left everyone, find your someone special!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, the University had been extra cruel with her timetabling this year and her exams were to start on the 4th January which not only meant that she was taking a test on a Saturday but that she was also stuck in the library on New Years Eve. Her friends had tried to lure her to the impromptu street party that had sprung up outside the dorms but this exam was much too important. Her first round of exams hadn't gone so well and she was expected to resit in order to catch up. 

She wasn't the only one with her head in the books that night, Amy, her course-mate (if that's what you could call her), was also expected to resit in order to pull her up from a fail to a pass. Sarah had struggled with the workload, leading to her fail, but her fellow library-goer for the night simply never turned up to lectures.

Sarah had hoped that Amy wouldn't base her study operation too close to her own area for the night, expecting that she'd be asked countless questions about course content. Thankfully, Amy contained herself in the private study area, leaving Sarah to revise in peace. A guy Sarah didn't recognise had also entered the library that night but she hadn't seen him since he first arrived a few hours earlier. They'd exchanged polite smiles and left it at that. 

Slamming her hefty book closed on the sleek new tables the University had installed during its "modernisation period", she circled her fingertips against her temples attempting to subdue what felt like the beginnings of a headache. The revelers in the street had increased in decibel as the clock drew closer to midnight, so she stuck her hand into her mess of a handbag and fumbled around for her phone. Locating the device, she clicked in the side button and sure enough the time read 11:59pm. Deciding to at least acknowledge the impending new year, she wandered over to the window to partake in the festivities (even if it was from the silence of the library). 

"3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!"

Making sure she was truly alone in her little area of the library that night, she did a jig of sorts to celebrate the arrival of 2014 and just as quickly regained her composure readying up for the next couple of hours of studying. 

Stealing one last glance at the party in the street, which had broken into song with Auld Lang Syne, she headed back to her table. Spotting her phone dancing around dangerously close to the edge of the table, she realised someone had managed to fight through the millions of phone calls being made at that precise moment and get through to wish her a happy new year. Catching it just as it was about to drop onto the thinly carpeted floor, she frowned at the unknown number message flashing in her hand. 12:01am on New Year's Day, it must be someone she knew,so she slid her thumb across the screen and answered. 

"Happy New Year!" She exclaimed, expecting a familiar voice to identify themselves on the other end to no luck. The crowd had gotten louder with the second rendition of Auld Lang Syne so she blocked her other ear with her finger in an attempt to hear her caller.

"I can't hear you, speak up." she said, frowning at the festivities now. Still nothing. Moving to the corner of the room she could just about pick up a faint thumping noise on the other end. Realising this was quite possibly a pocket dial, she shouted "HELLO" down the phone to try to gain the attention of her midnight dialler. She could just hang up but it was 2014 and she wanted at least one person to talk to for a few minutes. Pushing her call control buttons on screen, she changed the call to speakerphone to try to figure out who it was. 

Almost on cue, the drunken party-goers had grown tired of singing and had resumed normal celebrations for the night. 

Still thumping on the other end of the phone. It didn't really fit the profile of a pocket dial, which usually featured some heavy rustling and voices on the other end. This call was silent except for that thump, thump, thump noise. Resigning herself to defeat, she was about to hang up when a new noise filled the air. A dragging sound.

She frowned. What on earth is this call about? And then footsteps. It dawned on her that someone was dragging something on the other end of the line and for some reason this made her very nervous. Setting the phone back to its normal call mode, she decided to go find her course-mate and get a second opinion. That and to calm herself down. Something just didn't sound right, she didn't know what but it had freaked her out a little.

She made her way across the main library floor to the stairs which lead to the private study area. For some reason she was creeping down the steps one by one but she didn't stop herself. The air felt tense around her despite the celebrations happening outside. She found her way to the area that her course-mate had said she was headed and pushed through the door letting it swing shut behind her, to alert Amy to the fact that she was coming (and partly just to break the silence that was making her nervous). 

Deciding she was only freaking herself out, she called out "Amy" before she came to the private area. Just as rounded the corner, she stopped. Every single hair on her body stood on end and dread filled her limbs. The smiling guy from earlier was dancing around with one of Amy's arms in hand, leaving a dark stain of blood across the carpet as he dragged her.

"You finally joined the party, come, dance."