Chapter IV: Marked

The students clambered about as they all gathered their belongings, getting ready to leave and head off to their respective classes. Rosalie placed her notebook and pouch into her bag before someone nudged her shoulder from behind. Stumbling, she lightly bumped into the desk before looking back at her best friend, Maria.

Maria stood with her crazy curly hair making a mane around her caramel-colored face, her amber eyes glinting with mirth as she had a mischievous smile sported on her plump lips.

"Hiya, girl." She greeted in her usual chirpy manner.

"Hi, Maria." Rosalie chuckled in response as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder. "How's your day?"

"Ah! Same old, same old." Maria exclaimed as she folded her hands behind her head, walking out of the room beside her friend. "Although, how are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"The past few months seemed to be rather tough on you. You had looked pretty out of it, but now you look better again."

"Oh, did I really look that bad?" Rosalie inquired curiously. "Sorry, I was stressing about studies, but luckily our exams are over."

"You can say that again." Maria scoffed as they resumed walking down the hall.

Since they didn't have a class until later, both of them decided to make use of the time they had together and grab themselves some lunch.

Making their way out of the university building they walked towards the little coffee shop on campus. The bell rung overhead as they pushed open the door, joining the line while talking about the mundane matter like the latest fashion trend or their favorite celebrity and models. Giving their orders, they paid and gathered their food before finding a seat to resume their chatter.

"Um!" Maria exclaimed through a mouthful of Ruben sandwich, chewing quickly to speak. "I almost forgot! The gang is all coming over to my place for a get-together."

"Oh. The usual bunch?"

"Yup! Wanna join?"

"Have I ever said no to hanging out?" Rosalie inquired with a teasing smile.

"Well actually-"

"-shut up." She spoke in mock shock as they both chuckled and finished their food.

Disposing of their mess, they both parted ways with a hug and a promise to meet up later.

Rosalie walked over to her classroom, seeing only a few people seated around as one particular person was grinning and waving towards her. Chuckling to herself, Rosalie made her way towards him as his smile grew.

"Hey!" He greeted as she sat down beside him. "Long time no see."

"You literally saw me yesterday, Dante." She giggled in response.

"Well, 24 hours is a long time, okay."

"If you say so."

Taking out her material for this class, she talked to the boy about his day, asking how his studies were going and if he were going to Maria's get together.

"Duh," Dante spoke with an eye roll as he leaned back in his seat, placing his arm on the back of Rosa's chair. "Are you going this time?"

"Yeah, I am."

"That's great. I missed you last time." He spoke without thinking as Rosalie looked at him with a raised eyebrow, the boy's face grew into a deep pink as he stumbled over his words. "I-I-uh-I mean we! We missed you the last time."

"Well, I'm going to be there this time."

"Want to go with me?" Dante inquired as he slowly recovered from his mishap. "I mean, I heard you took the bus today, so you'll need a ride, want to go with me?"

"Sure." Rosalie agreed with an appreciative smile that had Dante's heart leap in his chest. "When do you plan to head out?"

"I was thinking after this, do you have any more classes?"

"No, I'll be done." She informed as people started to pool in, the professor following behind. "Although, can we stop by my place so that I can get changed?"

"Of course,"

And after that, all conversations ceased as the professor started his lecture, going on about the day's topic and explaining it along with answering any questions and providing a few questions for the students.

Once the class finished, Rosalie walked beside Dante to his car before settling into the passenger's side as they drove to her apartment. On the drive there, they both talked about various topics ranging from someone's birthday coming up to American conspiracies.

Parking outside the building, they both made their way into her complex before she unlocked the door to her apartments; disarming the alarm system as she asked Dante to make himself comfortable while she freshened up. Taking her word, Dante settled onto her couch as he flipped through the magazine lying on her coffee table.

"Hey, Rosalie?" He called out to her as she responded from her bedroom. "Why do you think Maria called us all together?"

"Given the fact that it's Maria, I'd say just for the hell of it."

"True." Dante laughed in response as he leaned back, waiting for her.

"Okay, I'm ready." She told him as he heard her heels click on her wooden flooring.

Looking up, he gasped quietly at how beautiful she looked.

Rosalie chose to abandon her white blouse and denim jeans for a simple navy blue romper that stopped mid-thigh with a flattering v-neckline and a black belt around her waist. Her make up done neutral with a black purse in hand and corresponding pencil heels on her feet with her hair left open.

"Let's go?" Rosalie inquired with a smile as she pulled on her black coat while Dante nodded silently, standing up and following after her as his cheeks flushed by simply being in her proximity.

The drive from Rosalie's apartment to Maria's house was five minutes, making it a walking distance away. By the time they arrived, most of the people were already there and talking obnoxiously with chips stuffed in their mouths.

They all greeted one another before settling around Maria's lounge and catching up with each other, just like they do.

Halfway through a movie -- everyone had settled on after two hours of arguing -- Dante's phone rang as he excused himself. Coming back five minutes later, he gave everyone a sheepish smile as he got their attention for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, guys." He apologized. "I have to go pick up my brother from a friend's house, I forgot I promised to look after him today, so I'm heading out early."

"Aw. Alright," Maria responded as the other waved dismissively since they all had been in such positions themselves.

"Hey, Rosalie, can you get home by yourself?"

"Yeah, yeah," She assured with a laugh. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"Okay," Dante nodded, "Sorry guys, bye."

"Bye!" They all called out before resuming the movie.

Once it finished, everyone noticed it be getting quite late with the time being almost ten and their assignments still pending.

"We'll head out now." They all called from the lounge as Maria and Rosalie were clearing away the stuff.

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow," Maria responded as they bid their farewells and left.

Once they cleared away all the mess, both Rosalie and Maria settled onto the couch, talking about how nice it felt to have all friends together after a long time. After a few moments of chatting, Rosalie felt that it was time she went too.

Grabbing her bag, she bid her farewell to Maria who suggested that she'd drop her off.

"Oh no, it's okay!" Rosalie assured with a wave. "I'm just ten minutes away from here. I'm sure I'm going to be alright."

"Are you sure? It's no trouble at all."

"No, no. I'm good."

"Okay." Maria relented as she hugged her best friend. "See you soon."

"See you soon," Rosalie responded with a wave and a smile as she walked down the few steps and onto the sidewalk.

The chilly breeze blew through Rosalie's hair as she inhaled the fresh fragrance of her surroundings, her heels clicked against the pavement. Wrapping her arms around herself, she enjoyed the lovely weather and continued on her walk; stopping for a moment to admire the starlight above, a broad grin adorning her lips at the magnificent beauty of the night sky overhead, her breath fogging up before her.

Her heart beating with life in her chest, as she felt like herself tonight. After all these months, and the constant nightmares, she finally felt alright again.

Sighing in content, Rosalie resumed walking, being almost halfway there when a sudden sensation pass through her as if though she were being watched. Her step faltered for a second as she was fighting the urge to turn around, but knew better than to succumb to paranoia.

Shaking away the thoughts, Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest as she ever so slightly increased her pace, wanting to get home.

In an attempt to get her mind off the paranoia, she made a mental list of all the things she needed to get done. Her assignment being on the top of her list, followed by her emails, and notes along with the revision of the day's course.

She was just thinking about how long each task would take when a hand grabbed her by her shoulder, frightening her and turning her around. However, the moment she turned, a hard force collided with her cheek, the impact so strong that it had her topple to the pavement, hitting her head against the ground.

The daze hadn't even started to lift when she felt a weight on her, causing her to scream as someone rammed their fist into her rib cage, forcing the wind out of her lungs as she gasped for air between the hits that were being delivered to her. The metallic taste of blood infiltrated her mouth and in a feeble attempt to protect herself, she raised her arms, trying to claw at him but feeling only cloth since it was dark and she couldn't see and her head pounded.

"Questo lo insegnerà. (This will teach him)" The man above her growled as she heard laughter, her mind going from conscious to unconscious before a searing pain shot through her arm. Her scream pierced the night as she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, writhing beneath him as tears streamed down her face, the sticky blood oozing onto her skin as she sobbed at the pain that coursed through her.

When he finally removed the blade from her arm, he sent a few more punches to her body as she was weak and defenseless against him. Or maybe there were more than one? Rosalie didn't know before the weight was lifted off her and the sound of tires pulling away infiltrated the air.

Her tears mixed with the blood as her head lolled to the side, the pain exhausting her as she couldn't move. Every muscle in her body aching, screaming, from the assault as she felt like she was going to die on the pavement. Her arm throbbed with the warmth flowing around her, seeping into her torn clothes and causing them to cling to her like the cold of the December night.

She wanted to cry, to scream, but she couldn't.

She couldn't do anything but let the cold wash over her as she awaited her impending end.

The tears flowed in a steady stream as her mind was slowly slipping into darkness. Rosalie had been so close to peace when the sound of a car speeding on the road had her mind jolt awake. Her cry of help nothing but a feeble moan of pain. The sound of the tires halting had her wonder if it were the same men again, here to finish her off, once and for all.

The sound of the door being thrown open reached her ears as her eyes were dropping to a close. A pair of footsteps approached her as she knew they were too late.

"Fuck!" Someone hissed above her as she felt a presence hovering over her. A sudden satin-like feeling enclosing around her throbbing arm. The next thing she registered was something being placed beneath her, causing a pained whimper to escape at the sudden movement. "I got you. I got you."

Within seconds, she was placed against something warm and soft before she registered movement. The sound of the engine roaring in the night as the heart against her ear hammered wildly. The last thing she comprehended before darkness consumed her was the fact that there was a lot of chatter going on, but only one voice pierced through her veil of pain, that voice so familiar and demanding and saying only one thing

"Save her!"