Chapter 4: Blood, Claws, and Death

Ethan’s POV:

Exceeding my expectations, this wicked jerk tried to manipulate me so that he would further enjoy watching me get belittled again, but I wasn’t a fool to commit the mistake of putting my trust in someone like him. 

I angrily turned my face away from him without paying heed to his deal, and rather sulked at him, “Why the heck you would assume that shit when I have always liked women? I would rather prefer to die than be interested in someone like you who is always annoyingly full of himself.” 

My blatant scowl paused Zeus for a moment, as I could feel him slowly backing off from me. However, I didn’t mistake seeing a tint of jealousy in his pitch-black eyes which he had fixated on me. Moreover, the surly expression on his face seemed to depict that he truly disliked my answer of preferring women over him. 

Wait, am I so exhausted now that I have started to see things? There’s no way someone like Zeus would bother to show any interest in my liking preferences… Yeah…I must have mistaken in reading his expression. 

“So, that’s it for the lecture today. Does anybody have any questions?” But the professor’s sudden words jolted my attention back to the class, as I was perplexed to realize the lecture was already over…and I didn’t pay any proper attention to it!

Damn…all because of this nuisance next to me! I glowered angrily at Zeus but found his grimace had turned a bit more serious than before. 

“If you do not have any questions, then don’t forget to submit the group assignments by next week.” She quietly assembled all the papers she was carrying along and held a cordial smile on her face when she uttered. But her sudden declaration winced me as I couldn’t realize what group assignment was see talking about! 

Soon, I found out about it when I looked at the whiteboard of the class where she had written every deskmate would form a group with their partners and would finish the assignment together, by next week. 

Following that rule, my partner will be none other than Zeus, which means I am entangled with him once again. 

Shit!

As much as I couldn’t hide the frustration prominent on my face, I couldn’t greet the professor with a smile as she exited the class. But when I stood up from the seat, the notebook suddenly fell off the desk, and the Fresher party invitation pass that Hermes had given to me before slipped out from it. 

I quickly picked up the invitation pass but noticed that Zeus was steadily gazing at the pass, without blinking his long lashes. I sneaked it back inside the notebook, and asked him as he seemed prepared to exit the class, “Hey, I hope you have heard what she said right? The professor assigned us into one group to finish the assignment.” 

“So? What do you expect me to do?” He spoke in a frigid low voice, with a carefree shrug on his broad firm shoulders, “I thought you wouldn’t have anything to do with me after today’s class, so now, I won’t bother about assignments or stuff. You’re the one who chose to forcibly seat next to me, so figure it out yourself. Don’t expect my help.” 

What the heck? As much as I was stunned by his cold growl, he seemed quite pissed off while he gallantly walked out of the class. 

Just a while ago he seemed to be in the mood for teasing me, but now…he’s that angry? 

Maybe he’s a bipolar jerk as well. Regretting my bad luck, ultimately I decided staying away from this jerk and doing the assignment alone would probably be the best choice for me here. But a thought struck my head…why was he glaring at my invitation pass in such a cryptic way?

….

After the class, I was completely drained out so I left for my dormitory room and thought to sleep off my exhaustion. But sadly, the room I was assigned to was probably the worst one anybody could have it. The ventilation was awful and the room along with the bed size was too small that it didn’t even cover my legs properly. I was also a tall guy myself, so it did irk me. But taking a few heavy breaths, I prepared myself to accept the terrible luck I was facing here. 

Maybe, that Zeus was the root cause of my bad luck! If I hadn’t run into him here first, I don’t think I would’ve been so exhausted like this…

Somehow I managed to pull on a long deep slumber, and when I jolted up from the sleep, it was already past 5! Quickly I took a shower in the tiny washroom of my room and dressed myself properly for the party. I put on a black shirt with ripped blue denim and made sure to apply my favorite cologne. My brown hairs were neatly styled with gel, and while admiring my handsome looks in the small mirror, I mumbled with a shy smile, “Who knows, I might get lucky to find myself a pretty girlfriend at the party today. Cheer up, Ethan! It might turn into the unforgettable night of my life.” 

“TING!” 

I knew this notification sounded on my phone. This was the notification of the tarot reading app which I have always followed, mostly because it has given me accurate predictions about how my daily horoscope. Facing all the chaotic events from morning, now finally I was excited to check what the app had to predict about my night time…

But the moment I clicked open the notification and read the prediction, my blood ran cold, with dreadful chills running down my spine. My ocean eyes rolled in shock, and despite trying to make myself believe that it must be a mistake, I couldn’t slide my gaze off the sentence written in bold letters. 

“BLOOD, CLAWS AND DEATH.” 

What does even such a horrifying prediction mean?