Echoes in Brick and Bone

The fraternity house stood like an aging monument, its once-pristine white columns now weathered with time, its brick walls holding the memories of a thousand drunken nights and half-forgotten stories. It looked different from how Jessica remembered it, not that she had ever been part of this world, but Jason had. Once.

Stepping onto campus again had done something to her. It stirred something deep, something uneasy. The feeling had crept in as soon as they arrived in Columbia, a weight pressing against her ribs.

Flashes of memory, things she shouldn’t remember, things that didn’t belong to her. The smell of cut grass in the stadium, the rhythmic pounding of feet on pavement during practice runs, laughter in this very house, voices that felt familiar but belonged to strangers.

She and Leanna stepped through the front door into a world that smelled of stale beer and the faint remnants of cologne. The new generation of fraternity brothers barely glanced up, too engrossed in their conversations, their phones, their own self-importance.

A young man, mid-twenties, wearing a backward baseball cap and a smug expression, leaned against the staircase railing. “You’re looking for Jason Carter? Man, that’s ancient history.”

“We’re looking for anything that was left behind,” Leanna said, voice even, controlled.

“Doubt you’ll find much. When guys leave, their stuff usually gets tossed if no one claims it. We don’t exactly run a storage service.”

Jessica forced a polite smile. “I get that, but Jason was a fraternity brother here, and he disappeared under strange circumstances. His body just turned up. Doesn’t that make you curious?”

The young man shrugged. “I mean, yeah, but I was like ten when that happened. Most of the guys here now don’t even remember him.”

Jessica exchanged a glance with Leanna, reading the same calculation in her eyes. This was a dead end. The brothers were either clueless or uninterested, and Jason’s belongings had either been removed or buried deeper.

“If anything turns up, let us know,” Leanna said, handing over a card before turning toward the door.

Jessica followed, stepping back into the cool evening air. “That was a waste of time.”

Leanna sighed, adjusting her jacket. “Told you they wouldn’t be helpful, but we're not done. We’re coming back.”

* * *

2:37 AM

The street outside the fraternity house was silent, the dim glow of streetlights stretching long shadows across the pavement. Jessica crouched near the side entrance, working quickly on the lock, feeling the satisfying click as it gave way beneath her touch.

Leanna stood beside her, arms crossed. “You’re getting better at that.”

Jessica smirked. “You should be worried.”

They slipped inside, the air heavy with the scent of old wood and a faint chemical smell of cleaning supplies used in vain to cover years of poor decisions.

Navigating the darkened hallways, Jessica felt the pressure in her skull tighten. Something was guiding her, an instinct buried deep, something surfacing from wherever the missing pieces of her past had been locked away.

The moment they reached the second floor, she knew.

She shouldn’t have known, but she did.

“This way,” Jessica murmured, leading them down the hallway with certainty. Jason’s room. She had never been here before. Not as herself. But the moment she stood outside the door, she could almost hear the echoes of a past life that wasn’t hers.

She moved to the built-in closet, running her fingers along the back wall until she felt a panel that didn’t sit quite right.

Leanna peered over her shoulder. “What are we looking at?”

Jessica reached inside, fingers grazing the cool edge of metal. She pulled it free, a small, dented lockbox, covered in a thin layer of dust.

Leanna let out a low breath. “Bingo.”

Jessica turned the box over in her hands, searching for anything notable. There was no obvious keyhole, no markings—just a weight to it, solid and promising.

She ran a thumb over the surface, that strange, gnawing familiarity pressing harder against her skull. She had been here before. Or Jason had. And if that was true, then this box held more than just forgotten things. It held answers.

“We take this back to the hotel,” Jessica said, securing it under her arm. “We open it there.”

Leanna nodded, glancing toward the door. “Let’s move.”

As they slipped back into the night, Jessica felt the familiar weight of the past pressing against her spine. Whatever was inside this box, it was something Jason never wanted found.

And now, it was in their hands.