|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale is dominated by the perception of the conflicted nature of human life. . ." The voice of the female professor, who had her blonde hair tamed in an overly tight bun, thinned out.As my manicured fingers tapped against the surface of the desk impatiently, her face slowly blurred and the only thing I could see was the movement of her bright red lipstick and the gesticulations she made with her hands. I shifted in my seat for the umpteenth time, my eyes darting to and fro the theatre as a wave of paranoia engulfed me, consuming me from the inside out. The intense dread that washed over me had me throwing my head in different directions, now and then.And when my eyes singled her out in the room, I stopped breathing and my fingers grew shakier at the sight of the sadistic smirk that crawled up her lips. Cold sweat broke out on my skin and my stomach churned with nerves. The walls of the theatre felt like they were closing in on me, m
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Face it, Desirée Doyle, you'd be doing the world a fucking favour if you died because no one wants you. . ."Get out of my head."No one wants you!"That's not true. . .". . .Even the woman who gave birth to you couldn't stand you and she dumped your sorry ass!"The fiery liquid that hung in my eyes, which I was desperately trying to hold back felt like a heavy storm brewing in the clouds. I was trying to keep it together because I could feel heavy sobs and screams hanging in my throat like a bunch of explosives waiting to burst out from their confines.The air in my lungs was tightening up, making it so hard to breathe as each second ticked by. That pent-up frustration, that anger, it swirled in the pit of my stomach, hinting at the one thing I needed to do like an incessant fiery red light depicting danger.I needed to scream. To let it out.'Say the words, Desirée.' That voice in my head, one I hadn't heard in a long while, snickered at me, dripping with so
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|A light whimper exited my lips as I struggled to keep my eyes open. The wave of tiredness that crushed me made them flutter shut immediately. I brought my fingers to my face, brushing off the hair that might have fallen on my face over the night.Waking up plunged my body into a painful awareness. The throb in my ankle intensified, syncing with the banging headache that threatened to split my head into two. My eyes were hurting so much from crying really hard after Iris walked out on me last night.The day had barely even started and I was engulfed with so much sadness. It wasn't a day I looked forward to starting. I was so exhausted and every inch of my body hurt like a truck ran me over.The door flung open, and the deadly speed and renewed energy I used in swinging my head in the entrance made me doubt if I was ever tired in the first place. Her black messy curls sticking out in different directions was the first thing I made out as I sat up, followed by her s
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•|"So, where are you from?" the dark-haired man asked me, wearing an arrogant smirk on his face. The bastard knew what he was doing. He had been riling me up with questions that were unnecessary, spinning around in his swivel chair, and twirling a pen I felt propelled to ram into his carotid artery and watch every ounce of life seep out of his eyes.He was that annoying. His attempts at irking me only amplified my headache and heightened my hunger. My throat felt a little scratchy and my fangs were beginning to poke the inner walls of my mouth. It made me so sensitive. So sensitive, that I was drowning in the rhythmic movement of his heartbeat, eyeing his neck with an unnerving hunger that almost had me flying off the handle.What was more unsettling and fuelled my need to bolt out of his office was how I didn't even have to try so hard before I could pick up on the numerous thuddings of heartbeats I could hear from a distance. It was incessant—like a shrill noi
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I reluctantly tossed the novel—Rina Kent's Throne of Power—in my hands into my locker, letting out a frustrated sigh as I retrieved my uniform and apron. I slipped out of my mufti, and threw on the black dress, knotting my white apron over it. My touch lingered on the book for a few more seconds, and I wished I could read one more chapter before I went about my chores for the day.But then, who was I kidding? If I retrieved the book from the locker and dared read one more chapter, I would be propelled to finish the book in one sitting. Her book had that much of a compelling effect on her readers. I knew how much trouble that would put me in, so I cast a glare at my locker, and slammed it shut.I snatched my notepad off the desk and sauntered into the store to jot down a list of the essentials we would be needing. As always, it was Sasha's turn to make a list, but why would she do that, when she had a pushover that could get that done?While I scanned through the
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"I am grossly disappointed at you all's a sorry excuse of an assignment!" the professor spat. The severity of his tone, which reeked of contempt and disappointment didn't garner even a sliver of reaction from me.My pursed lips occasionally moved as I blended the edges of the drawing in my notebook. I wouldn't necessarily rate my sketching skills a ten over ten, but certainly not mid either. Sketching wasn't something I did regularly. It was more of a once-in-a-while thing that never turned out to be a flop.I took a moment to appreciate the sketch in front of me. Even his sketch made my breath hitch so badly, creeping heat onto my cheeks and making my insides tingle so badly, causing them to erupt into butterflies that made me feel so light. Unlike the impassive look he always wore, his features in my sketch softened a little, giving him an angelic look. He looked more alive, and that darkness that was always weighing him down, hanging around him, was nowhere t
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|The more I willed myself to move forward, the harder the searing pain clawed at the inner walls of my stomach, clenching my abdomen so hard and weakening my legs that it almost brought tears to my eyes. My back and my waist hurt so badly that I was tempted to think the ache came with a needle-like pain.Through my peripheral vision, I could see Tania shooting me one of her death glares, and it almost made me shrink into a ball underneath her heated gaze. She was staring at me and these unspoken words were hanging between us.She was telling me a lot through our locked gazes. I needed no soothsayer to tell me that she was screaming at me in her head to get my ass together and work.I reluctantly peeled my eyes off her when her gaze got too unbearable. I walked over to the Coffee dispenser and whipped up a cup of Espresso, fished out two freshly baked bagels and Croissants, and set them on the tray.A wave of dizziness hit me and the incessant throbbing in my abdom
|•| IRIS CORTEZ |•|'For how long are you going to keep it all bottled up?' the question posed at me by my subconsciousness that chose to creep in when I least expected it caught me off guard and elicited a frown from me.The anger that brewed within me tripled in folds, swirling like a volcano that threatened to consume me and I found myself tearing my boxing gloves off my hands, and tossing them into the laundry basket.Sweat trickled down my face, drenching the thick material of my sports bra and I found myself peeling off the small material, followed by my joggers. I threw both of them into the hamper, stomping into the bathroom to take a shower.I knew staying too long in the shower would leave me dwelling on the thoughts I desperately wanted to shove into the deepest part of my mind. The same thoughts that had me choosing to get my anger out of my system by using a punching bag, but it only left me more furious than I was.I strutted out of the shower, grabbing two towels, wrapp