Chapter 2 : The Alleyway Brawl

Dawn’s POV

Sneaking out of the plane and away from the baggage collection area without being seen by Craig Blackstone was as easy said as it was done, thank God.

I hadn’t really seen him after the first initial glance, having lost him in the crowd as people rushed to get out of the plane and to their possessions as quickly as possible. Candice’s arm stayed linked through mine since we found our separate bags and then the taxi that was waiting for us to take us to the university campus.

And once we had gotten there and I saw the place, I didn’t think I could have gone back to college back home and thought highly of it. Unlike the college back home, Coaliton University was a spectacle to behold.

Trees lined every pavement you could see, and in the midst of it surrounded by old, ivy covered face-brick stone was a huge courtyard filled with statues from marble to bronze. There was metalwork winding up and down the staircases as intricate as a fingerprint, even the grass seemed to be cut in delicate patterns.

It truly was a university for the arts, from stained glass that cast rainbows around smaller areas to gushing fountains perfectly carved from stone. There was a banner in the center of the courtyard, directing all the newcomers belonging to the competition programme towards a tall, thin man with a megaphone.

“Reckon he’s the man we go to for instructions?” Candice asked sarcastically as she pointed to the man with her brows.

“What gave it away,” I began to ask. “The huge banner or the megaphone?”

“The little podium, actually.” She laughed as she pulled me towards the man and we stood in with the rest of the crowd as he began speaking.

“Welcome all, international students!” He yelled into the megaphone, earning a chorus of excited yells and whoops along with it. “We know many of you have traveled quite some distance so we’ll keep this short. I’m going to briefly explain to you the aims and rewards of this program, after which you will be directed to your allocated rooms.”

Candice and I, as well as the rest of the students, listened intently as the man continued speaking.

“Now as for the competition, I’ll start off with the juicy bits first. This competition is going to consist of four rounds, each of which you will be competing with in tandem with the other representative of your school,” my smile fell as the man said that, just in time for my gaze to drop slightly, straight into the direct eye of Craig Blackstone.

No way.

“Should you and your partner find yourselves lucky enough to win, a cash prize of twenty thousand dollars shall be yours!” More cheers and hollers sounded from around me, but I couldn’t bring myself to be happy at this exact moment.

There was no way Craig was here, too. There was no way!

But I’m staring directly at him. And he’s staring back at me.

“More than that, you will each be granted a scholarship to study here for a year to perfect your skills and in order to gain a deeper understanding of your art, cushioned with your own private studio space!”

The man continued speaking for some time, and I felt myself zone out as I recalled what was quite possibly the most embarrassing and humiliating moment in my life. The very moment that had had me swearing off boys for my entire college career to focus, instead, on my studies.

“I’m gonna go get my room key, okay?” Candice said to me, and I barely nodded before she made her way to one of the SRC members and left me standing alone in the middle of the crowd.

But I wasn’t alone for long, however, before I was accompanied by none other than the guy that I had been staring at.

“What are you doing here?” I found myself blurting out as soon as he walked up to me.

“I’m here for the competition, I saw your band and figured we were from the same college. My name is Craig Blackstone.” I felt my jaw fall slack as I stared at him. Did he seriously not remember me? After everything—

God… maybe he was just a—“What?” Craig asked me, shocked.

“A sl*t.” I seethed at him. “Guess none of the sh*t you said on our date was true, huh?”

“Date? I’m sorry, have we met before?” I scoffed at him, which caused Craig to become irritated with my behavior. “Look, if I somehow offended you, the least you can tell me is what I did. And is the name calling necessary?”

“Why are you here anyway?” I asked him. “Pretty boy like you doing art? Isn’t that a little messy for your taste?”

I watched as his jaw twitched before he set it. “If you have a problem with being my partner, then maybe you should leave and let your replacement have the opportunity.”

Opportunity. HA! To work with him? Don’t make me laugh.

I didn’t dignify his statement with a response, and instead began walking away from him in favor of looking for Candice or my room. Whichever came first.

It seemed like neither did, apparently. Because the next thing I knew, I walked through a door and found myself entering what looked like an open area but it really just turned out to be an alleyway. The door slipped from my hand and slammed shut before I could catch it again.

I looked to see that there was no knob or handle on the outside to open it again.

Seriously. Who even builds one way doors that only open from one side?

I groaned out and stomped my foot in frustration, and just before I began cursing, heard the door behind me open up. I opened my mouth to say thank you to whoever had come up to save me only to see the approach of three unfamiliar men. Well, at least two of them were unfamiliar to me, the third however seemed like I had seen him before.

Was he at the crowd gathering of competitors? Or no… did I see him at the airport?

“Well, well, look at what we found.” One of the men slurred in an accent that I couldn't place. My senses immediately went into hyper drive.

I was smart enough to know that no well-meaning person said something like that, in that sort of tone, without having a sinister intent. That was a phrase saved for villains.

I swallowed and tried to run from the men, but they grabbed onto me and pushed me against a wall. I opened my mouth to scream, but one of their grimy hands covered it. In a desperate attempt to break free, I bit down as hard as I could and the screams of the man filled my ears.

And then something else sounded out before I could register it. The sound of a door banging, glass shattered, and then the man closest to me went flying. It was a blur as I scrambled back and as far away as I could. But as I took in the scene, I saw Craig standing over the three men at his feet, his eyes glowing bright and dangerous.

Slowly, I moved forward to reach out to him. He jerked when I did, and I pushed back.

“Are you alright?” I asked in a soft voice.

“You should probably go inside.”

“Okay,” I said as I nodded. “I’ll call the police.”

But before I could properly unlock my phone and dial the police, my phone was lifted from my hand. I looked up to see that Craig had taken it from me, and I would’ve yelled at him if the commanding glow in his eyes didn’t stop me first.

“What are you doing?” he asked me. “I already dealt with it.”

I swallowed as I looked back to the three bodies behind him, and then back to the guy in front of me. “I-I know but we should still inform the officials. If they’re attacking students then it’s an issue, and plus, I think I recognized one of them…”

I peered behind Craig again to try and get a better look at one of the men who seemed most familiar to me, but I couldn’t get a good look before he was moving in front of me. Craig reached forward to grab at my wrist, and I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing before he placed my phone back in my hand and pushed me forward lightly, towards the door.

“I’ll deal with it, just get inside.”

I felt a sense of frustration shoot through me at his dismissive attitude, so instead of allowing him to push me further I planted my feet in the ground. It didn’t seem to do anything, instead of stopping like I thought I would, the bottom half of my body and the top turned into an unsteady concoction of limbs as I lost my balance for a moment.

Craig’s large hand came up to steady me before he let go, barely giving me time to register what was happening. When I turned back to him he was staring down at me with a raised brow, as if to ask what I was planning to do now.

“We have to alert the authorities. It’s not safe for the students.”

“I already dealt with them,” he said again, slower this time. “They won’t come after you again.”

“But what if they go after someone else? Or what if there’s more of them? A gang? Who knows what they get up to here in Europe. They could be a part of some underground—”

“Fairborn,” Craig sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “go back inside. I’m serious.”

I paused for a moment as I regarded him, and I might not have listened to his request if it wasn’t for the look in his eyes. I suddenly came to the shocking realization that Craig had just saved me from an attack, not only that but both he and I had come out unscathed-minus the mild trauma from being attacked-and yet I was here, being ungrateful and forcing him to stay here longer than he probably wanted to.

“Thank you,” I said as bravely as I could, and Craig’s eyes met mine for a moment before he turned back to where he was keeping an eye on the three bodies that were on the ground. “I mean it, you didn’t have to help me, thank you.”

Craig didn’t say anything in response before I turned around and went back to find Candice.

What just happened?