8. ATTACKED

|Annabel|

Ever since the school declared the plan to stay at the dorm, I didn’t know what to think about it. It had always been like that for the senior students, though, but I just wasn’t prepared for it. I still couldn’t understand why they would never give a notification ahead, it was always a sudden announcement.

My mother had gotten my suitcase packed before I even got home. She must have been waiting for the school mail.

“You should use this period to bond with Bernard since you will be in the same proximity as him. He will show you what he is like and not just want you to see from afar,” she advised, throwing the rest of my clothes on the bed for the maids to pack.

I was tired of her making everything about him. She just wouldn’t talk about me as a person. Bernard this, Bernard that, every single time.

“So if I don’t get to like him after all this, will you break off the engagement?” I slammed her and she paused

She probably wasn’t expecting what I just asked. I never voiced out my opinion about liking him or not, never refused the engagement or said anything about it, so she must have been taken aback that I was harboring that kind of thought.

She ran closer to me on the bed with a fake smile, touching my shoulder gently as she began her sermon.

“I am very sure Bernard is a sweet boy and a gentle soul.”

A sudden laughter choked my throat to the point it got me coughing continuously for some seconds. One of the maids had to push a glass of water into my hands so I wouldn’t die of coughing.

“A sweet soul I see. Sweeter than the devil himself,” my sarcastic reply flew out as soon as I calmed down.

“Come on! He has always been well-behaved and cultured. You will never have any issues with him, and he will treat you right,” she insisted, and since I wasn’t in a mood to bicker with her, I just rested my head on the pillow.

***

Luckily, I was able to get my friend Dela as my roommate. I would seriously have sulked over a total stranger because I hated sharing my space, but since she was someone I was already familiar with, it didn’t affect me that much. I decided to skip breakfast that morning and just had a warm cup of coffee since it was way too early for me to have a meal, threw on my jacket and packed my hair in a messy bun before finding my way to the reading hall.

Dela, who had gone way before me, already kept a seat for me, so I just hopped to her side happily. It was getting closer to the final examination, so I needed to tighten up my studying schedule. I had been so preoccupied for the past few weeks because of unnecessary concerns about the sick boy.

“He will be fine. I didn’t do that to him after all,” I told myself and drained every thought of him in the shower that very morning.

The reading session went on for about four hours before the bell sounded for lunch. Dela left for lunch, but I opted out once again, staying back to cover up for more topics. I didn’t realize that I was not the only one in the hall until I heard a sneeze from the front.

I looked up to see the new student in shock. He was also buried in his book and probably didn’t know that I was also in the hall.

Since I didn’t want any disturbance whatsoever, I ignored him and finished with my books around six in the evening. It was then I realized that he had left when I took a brief nap. I packed up and left for my room, where I met Dela snoring loudly on her bed.

“Disgusting. Gosh! I might develop insomnia before going back home. I miss my room,” I mumbled to myself, kicking her leg for her to adjust her sleeping position.

My room was known as the sacred room at home. No one dares enter my room without any prior notice or permission from me, not even my parents. My maids do all the cleaning and arrangement before I come back from school in order not to be in the same space with me.

I hate seeing people walking around in my personal space because it riles me up so much. Their presence makes me lose concentration, hence frustrating the life out of me.

Suddenly, the thought of the new student staying back to study as hard as me crept into my head. “I wondered why he is reading so hard though, he doesn’t have any point to prove. It’s not like he can catch up with our scores,” my eyes rolled in disgust as I sat down on my bed to rest a bit before dinner.

I realized that I had been feeding on junk throughout the entire day instead of reading, as an unexplainable hunger hit me all of a sudden.

“Dinner should be ready soon,” I mumbled, and the bell rang at that moment.

I didn’t waste any time getting to the dining hall, dishing out my food and settling my growling stomach. Again, I saw the new student reading as he was eating, and it struck me that he was also addicted to books just like me.

“At this rate, I will lose the title of the best student to him,” I sneered, a sudden competitive spirit getting active within me.

I rushed up to get my own books in the dorm, so I could continue my reading in the hall. I had gotten back to the hall when I realized that I had left my pencil pack in my locker earlier that evening.

“If only my brain could just be active in other things aside from books,” I slammed my palm on my forehead and rushed to the hall located on the classroom field to fetch my pencil pack from the locker.

It was around eight in the night and everywhere was dark already, but I didn’t have any cause to worry thanks to the streetlights and bright corridor lights. The school did a good job with the lighting, I guess to prevent any accidents or unpleasant situations, since they have a dorm for the students.

Upon retrieving my pencil pack, I turned to leave for the hall when the lights in the whole building suddenly shut down. I tried taking out my phone for a source of light but realized that I had forgotten it on the table where I kept my books.

Everywhere was silent and dark, and that gripped my heart with fear. I couldn’t process the sudden darkness, and the fact that everywhere was so silent got me shivering. There was no way I could contact Dela or anybody.

Never have I ever experienced such a situation of total darkness, so I didn’t know what to do. I also didn’t want to cry or panic, so I wouldn’t be too shocked in case of any unpleasant situation that might arise from the mess.

Taking a deep breath, I traced my right hand on the wall and started moving out of the hall. It was looking good aside from some slight bumps here and there until I made it out of the hall to the hallway, which was still much easier to navigate.

Suddenly, my legs stopped on their own accord and I turned back at a whim. My whole body was so active and on alert that I could sense a company. I scanned around carefully as much as I could but concluded that my imagination must have been messing with my head before continuing my fearless journey until a hand grabbed me from the back.

I screamed in horror, but the large hand covered my mouth, stifling any sound coming out of my mouth. My legs came into the scenario and flew everywhere just to kick whoever my attacker was, but he was too skilled. None of my kicks hit him, and he didn’t lose his grip on my mouth and hand.

I hated the fact that I was so small at that moment. At least, if I had weighed something high and a bit heavy, he wouldn’t have grabbed me that way.

He dragged me back into the hall that I managed to come out of and pulled me to him till we hit the wall. Upon confirming the presence of the hall, he turned and pushed me against the wall, but he was careful enough not to slam or wound me in the process.

What a considerate abductor!

I managed to mumble, “Who are you?” as his hold lessened on my mouth and an evil chuckle sounded from him.

I needed no one to tell me who it was.