~~Ashley’s POV~~
The days following Anna’s death were somewhat chaotic as anxiety somehow crept into the students’ minds. Initially, it didn’t feel real until the news on Thursday night – last night to be precise – confirmed the series of murders to be a serial killer case done by one person. The girls feared for their lives, wondering who was going to be next.
Meanwhile, me and Carson never stopped talking. I thought the second case was going to make it a piece of cake to finally fish out the culprit, but just like in Makayla’s, the police always met with a hard wall.
The CCTV cameras in the area suddenly went blind on the day of the incident, there were no eyewitnesses to testify, and the victim’s friend still lying in the hospital was in no position to give any reasonable statement. But I was quite sure her case wouldn’t be any different from mine. She was going to leave the hospital, and still prove useless, providing zero clues to help solve this mystery. I was desperately in need of just anything that could change the course of this investigation, and turn the tables around. When neither of those were forthcoming, my drive slowed down but I refused to give up.
“If only a third death would occur,” I mused aloud.
“Pardon?” I heard a second voice in my head.
“Huh?” I returned absentmindedly. That’s when I realized I was in the cafeteria with Archer who’d become my lunch buddy. ‘How could I have said that out loud?’
“Are you okay? Is the meal not to your liking?” he asked, inspecting my plate with eyes glowing with sincerity. The food was okay. I was just lost in thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I nodded repeatedly to ward off his querying eyes.
“What would you like for dess – ” His statement was cut short by a sudden uproar coming from really close, in the cafeteria. We just finished having a meeting with the Chief Of Police who’d come to give us his words that the culprit would be caught soon so I didn’t bother to confirm what caused the ruckus. I simply assumed it was one of the aftereffects of the meeting since everyone seemed to still be hung up on it.
“Is that blood?” Blood. The mention of blood from within the crowd echoed in my ear. I paused eating and tilted to my right where the noise came from.
I saw the blue-eyed guy from the other day walk out of the cafeteria with perfect strides, hands fitted in his pockets. His face appeared grim. Or should I say… stoic? Anyway, I couldn’t read his emotions.
My eyes drifted to the side, landing on the source of the uproar.
“Is she okay?” “Hand her some tissues?” I could hear from the crowd. There, amid a couple of students, sat on the floor, a girl bowing over her palms. They seemed to be consoling her as I saw another girl crouched to her level, hand wrapped around her shoulders, rocking steadily while using the other hand with tissues to wipe off the blood dripping through the bowing girl’s fingers. While some of them chatted between themselves, probably talking about what happened, others whispered something to the supposed victim, and some others cussed, looking in the direction of the blue-eyed guy. It felt as if everything happened within seconds. The victim was the “Sakura” of IUC after all.
“Sorry, do you know what happened?” Archer called my attention again when he asked a student randomly passing by.
“Not sure but I think the guy pushed her or sum’n,” he explained.
“Oh thanks, man.”
Pushed her? Why? My eyes instinctively followed him again until he was out of eyeshot, leisurely sipping from my box of strawberry juice. ‘Son of a gun.’ I scoffed softly.
“Does that make any sense? Even if he didn’t want her company, he didn’t have to push her to confirm that.” Archer rambled, concluding too easily. But then, there was no other reasonable explanation for what had just happened.
“Does that make sense to you?” he asked me directly and I simply raised both shoulders, looking and feeling unbothered. A part of me was curious though. If he did indeed push her, why? I didn’t want to draw any conclusions just yet.
“Are you done yet?” I asked.
“Oh, sure.”
I grabbed my bag lying next to me, and slipped the straw in my juice box between my lips again, before getting up.
“One moment please.” Archer excused, trying to tidy up a little more. “Alright.”
We walked out together.
Just when I crossed the exit, my worst enemy came running in my direction. I felt that crawling sensation under my skin again, disgusted at his sight. I quickly switched paths to avoid any collision yet the idiot tried to talk to me. “What happened?” he asked and tried to touch me when I pulled my hand from within his reach without even sparing him a glance or pausing in my tracks. Learnt dude already bagged himself a girlfriend yet he kept pestering me like he still wanted anything to do with me.
‘Bitch.’
~~Daniil’s POV~~
I didn’t feel my best that Friday. I wanted to skip school but as usual, Andrei put a call across and I got an earful. My mood was sour, and I especially prayed no one would push the wrong buttons because I wasn’t sure if I still had the grace to conceal the beastly instincts in me waiting to erupt. I intentionally avoided Yoshida but as usual, the girl took no hints. ‘What do I do with her?’
At times I managed to slip through her infuriating claws, to the library, but she somehow found me every time and the torture continued. Jordan was of no help. Yoshida seemed like one who couldn’t easily be tossed around. I was teetering on the edge, merely hanging on in dealing with every nuisance in my way no matter where I turned. While Yoshida was busy marking her territory around me, the other girls tried to give it their best shot at me. ‘I’m losing it!’
It was lunchtime. I seized advantage of the moment Jordan went off somewhere with Yoshida, and proceeded to the cafeteria alone. One difference between Yoshida and the rest of my admirers was that they all knew how to read the mood whereas Yoshida was as clueless as anything I could think of. Tightening my face with raised shoulders, and a glum expression overall, I managed to avoid unnecessary attention. But all that came crashing the moment I saw her walk through that door.
The drink I had in my hand suddenly lost its flavor. I flung it perfectly to the trashcan closest to me and stood up at once. The last thing I wanted was to sit there as it would cause another neverending boring session of needless talks and chatter. ‘Where the hell is Jordan?’
With my head inclined slightly downwards, I approached the exit, walking in her direction. As she closed our distance, everything that happened afterward happened in the space of an instant. Just when she was about to get in my way, I shifted a bit but she still clamored for contact. I lost ownership of my mind at that moment. Getting my right hand to the back of her head, I pushed her away, grazing her against my arm before she fell face-flat on the floor behind me. I wanted to avoid her but oh well.
I exited the Cafeteria only to see Andrei standing outside, staring at me with creased brows and a questioning look, clearly displeased. Pretty obvious he saw what just went down. Why does he always show up around me? Were we lovers in our last lives?’ I scoffed, knowing I had to prepare for another earful tonight.
“Young master,” he called.
“Take me home,” I said bluntly, walking past.
“But you need to – ” Before he could finish, I shut him up at once with a hardened glare. He really should learn to just keep shut and listen when I talk.
“Take. Me. Home,” I said in a calm tone that didn’t match the daggers I stared at him.
“Sure.” He bowed, sharply crossing both hands in front of him before raising a meeker gaze to mine. Much better. I guess my dad’s fondness was slowly getting into his head.
***
“You worthless imp! Hooligan!!” my dad reviled from behind the screen. As I said earlier, my actions were duly reported and we were currently in a virtual meeting in my private study. It had barely been a week since Andrei came to Chicago and I was already receiving tons of calls from my dad. Before this, my life was peaceful, void of him.
“You promised not to cause any trouble! How dare you go back on your words!” Although we were continents apart, I still could feel the intensity of his rage from the monitor. “How many more sacrifices do I have to make before you gain some use, you mad dog?!”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” I drawled. Not like any of his insults or derogatory speech got to me as I was used to hearing them, I badly itched to leave his presence so I at least pretended to be listening.
“Do you never wish to return to the Smirnov mansion again?” I scoffed inwardly. I couldn’t care less. “Do you never wish to see your mom again?” My gaze stiffened. The mention of my mom made my ears tingle. There were only two women I felt protective over – my mom and ex-girlfriend. And this vile man was holding my mom hostage to make me do his bidding. He currently cut all lines of communication between us, threatening to do something unthinkable if I didn’t follow his wishes duly. I loathed his presence more than anything in this world and wished he’d just disappear into thin air.
“I promise to be better,” I managed to reply coolly, conflicting the anger that swirled up in me as clenched my fists tightly.
“You had better. Apologize to the girl in question and seize all forms of communication! Focus only on your books and marry your library. Study like your life depends on it and yield me some fruits! I shouldn’t be receiving calls from Andrei over this. I’m a very busy man.” Following his last word, the screen went black. I
t was finally over. I exhaled, relieved that the dreaded moment finally saw its end. But the word “mother” kept re-echoing, causing me to feel a knot in my stomach.
I feared for my mom. My dad was cruel and only ever cared about his investments. Whatever wasn’t bringing yield to the table was considered useless and easily disposable. He termed people around him as either assets or liabilities. Those he considered assets were his business partners and competitors. While those he considered liabilities were mostly his family members who feasted on his wealth. My mom fell under that category and became a housewife. He could easily do away with her without breaking a neck, and that thought was the only thing in the world that frightened me to death –my only fear. It rendered me vulnerable to my dad’s schemes.
Being the only heir to the Smirnov family, I was considered an asset but acted like a liability instead. That angered my dad the more that I could feel his desperation getting more intense every time he spoke to me. Of course, the idea of apologizing to Yoshida made my blood boil but unfortunately, I was left with zero choices. I had to swallow my pride and go for it.
I vented on the computer before me, crashing it on the floor. That was the second computer in two weeks.