Chapter 24

Larissa

"Come here, Sweetie," the soft female voice said, and I spun in a circle. Everything around me was white, as if light was flooding me. "Over here."

I cautiously took one step at a time, feeling my way forward because wherever I was, there were no ups and downs. There was only light here.

"You're almost there..."

The voice was closer now. And then I spotted the hand reaching out to me.

My heart gave a joyful leap, and I reached for the hand without hesitation.

When I touched it, it was warmth that flooded my body.

The hand pulled me toward itself, and I saw more and more of the body of the woman in front of me. A light green dress made of silk, a petite yet slender body, full dark blonde hair. Her face...

My breath caught, and I hesitated.

She had no face.

"Let's go home," I heard the woman say, and even though there was no mouth for the words to come out of, a sense of trust welled up inside me.

The woman turned, my hand still in hers, and led me behind her when suddenly I felt another hand wrap around my other.

I winced. This hand was cold.

My head spun around.

The strong hand on my wrist was tattooed.

Shocked, I looked up, into the face of a man. Poison green eyes flashed at me.

Diego.

"Let me go with her," I pleaded without hesitation.

He just grinned, showing his silver teeth.

"Come with me ," he said in a smoky voice. " Me , you know."

Nothing in me wanted to follow his request. I would rather shoot myself.

I wanted to go with the woman. She felt like home. And that was the place I wanted to finally arrive.

"Let go of me. You're dead !" It escaped me and I tried to free myself from his grip.

Diego laughed, and the sound made me tremble inside.

"So is she," he said, and his grin grew even dirtier. "You don't even know her."

I snapped my eyes open. The light disappeared abruptly, the hands that had touched me were no longer there. Diego wasn't there. Of course, he wasn't...

I wanted to gasp, but when I realized that I was lying in the student accommodation, together with three other girls, I jumped up and crept as quietly as possible through the room, toward the hallway, where I disappeared into the bathroom.

The second the door clicked shut, I gasped audibly, as if my life depended on it. I had to hold on to the door, clawing into one of the towels. And then, finally , the tears came.

It felt good to cry. It released the cramp in my chest and reminded me that I was strong and had made it far despite my past, that Diego could no longer play with my psyche.

He was dead. I had watched him die. I had killed him.

I discovered my reflection in the mirror – a girl with a reddened nose and disheveled hair, wearing black sweatpants and a sleep top with spaghetti straps that had slipped up a little.

As my gaze fell on my stomach, more tears came.

I pushed myself away from the door and stepped forward to the huge mirror.

My reflection seemed surreal. Probably because I wasn't wearing a black leather jacket, which gave my confidence an extra push whenever I needed it.

My gaze once again fell on my flat stomach. And almost automatically, my hand wandered to that spot, stroking the skin.

I didn't manage to turn to the side, because that would just show me even more that I didn't have it anymore.

More tears. I let them all come.

I had made the right decision, even if my heart said otherwise. I had been strong, and I would continue to be strong. My new life had begun.

I let my hand slide off my stomach, further up under the top, where it met the full curves of my breasts. When I felt the cross-shaped unevenness, I quickly withdrew my hand, trying to focus my eyes on the knot I had gotten tattooed on the side under my breast four years ago for my sixteenth birthday. The date below it had only been added six months ago.

I smiled encouragingly at my reflection.

Whoever ruled this universe would give me a second chance.

Determined, I turned away from the mirror to return to the room, where I paused briefly to look at Bayla's bed.

Whatever she had, it wasn't anything I'd seen from her before. Anyway, she had never told me about any chronic illness. Only about the pills she had to swallow every day because her wrist itched more often, or something like that. But that couldn't possibly have anything to do with what had happened last night.

I had just been looking for a job in this rather diverse town when suddenly another hot guy had been standing in the doorway of the room, holding an unconscious Bay in his arms. Grace's eyes had widened, and she had whispered, "What have you done, Bardot?" The guy had responded, "Nothing," and gently laid Bay on her bed. Her skin had glowed and the trembling of her body had been scary as hell, so for a moment I had thought she would stop breathing. She had been so incredibly sweaty.

Whatever had happened there, it was strange. Very strange . And I didn't even want to imagine what would have happened without that Bardot, where she would be now...

I released my pitying gaze from her and slipped back under my covers.

Adrenaline was still rushing through my body.

I would go for a jog later, before my first seminar, to clear my head. The wild wolves here that the annoying radio paparazzi was always talking about could cross me. But I wasn't scared. Everyone knew that wolves didn't attack people unless they felt threatened. And I had no intention of messing with a wolf.

The warm midday sun pranced across my face as I wandered through one of the many porticoes of the main hall.

Admittedly... I'd gotten lost twice so far, stumbled into a strange abandoned underground vault and a Catholic prayer group session, and realized that this gigantic university had what felt like a hundred courtyards with fountains or ancient statues.

How on earth was anyone supposed to find their way around this place? And then also in the first week? I had neither Bay's detailed map with me, nor had any signposts been put up here. Thankfully , I found the English seminar room anyway.

The English class had been over for about an hour, and since we only had the basic courses during the introductory week, and I only took English and one of my personal seminars, I had the rest of the day to myself.

Julie and Grace, on the other hand, had to attend a statistics seminar and Julie even had to attend a molecular biology seminar. That's why I was now alone on the road and used the time to take a few photos for my projects.

Looking for the right motifs, I got stuck on flowers every now and then, but at second glance they looked wilted or somehow ugly. The Vanderwood was full of them, like a fairy tale castle. Purple orchids, white flowers that reminded me of those on the Vanderwood crest, and even white lilies in the farthest courtyards.

Ivy grew on the columns, but somehow, I didn't like photographing plants permanently.

I wanted to capture moments in time – movements that were otherwise rarely photographed. I wanted to capture communication, joy, and intimate gestures between people , but also sadness, tensions, and the dark sides of humanity. I wanted reality in my pictures. And so far, this campus has offered quite a bit of it.

I stopped and picked up my camera. When I pressed the little black button on the side, the album opened, filled with the pictures of the last 3 hours. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers.

Groaning, I scrolled at the little wheel, and little by little, it showed me several pictures of the faculty. For a second, I wondered what it would be like to create a collection of pictures of Vanderwood, but quickly dismissed the idea.

I wondered how many had done that before me.

The next picture was of Bay. She was lying in bed, half-covered, and the rising sun was casting a shadow of stripes on her sweet face.

As I looked at it longer, I noticed her red cheeks and tousled hair.

The worry I was feeling about her had almost made me not leave the house this morning. Bayla was still not conscious. And I couldn't possibly have left her alone, but Grace, who had put a foul-smelling cloth bag under my friend's nose and promised me she'd wake up all right, had also been the one who had finally been able to convince me to go to English class with sexy Alarik Copeland.

I regretted it a little. What if she had another one of those seizures like the Bardot guy had described? Bay had apparently passed out. That was all he had said.

What had she been doing with this guy anyway? She had wanted to look for Emely, hadn't she?

Emely had come back at some point and had asked this Bardot what he was doing in our room. And then they had both disappeared together.

Nothing more had happened since then. Bay had slept like a bear drugged with sleeping pills, and since I always liked to annoy her, I had finally taken the photo that I would sooner or later put in one of the numerous university binders.

I had already done something like that before. Just let a few embarrassing pictures of us – or of her alone – disappear in her things until they reappeared one day and put a big grin on my best friend's face.

Now, standing here in an empty hallway with the camera in my hands, I kind of regretted it. Bay was having a shitty time and I just took pictures. What had I been thinking?

Determined, my fingers slid over the red button, and as I pressed, the question appeared asking if I really wanted to delete the picture. I chose yes and was about to confirm when I suddenly heard voices.

"Next time, I won't just polish his pretty nose."

"Leave it at that, Miles. We're above these mutts."

I quickly closed my camera's gallery and lowered the camera, searching for the source of the voices.

A few feet away was a corner I couldn't see around, so I crept quietly to the large column to see more.

"But you're not going to let them boss you around like that, are you? We should show them what happens when they mess with a DeLoughrey," replied a tall guy who wore his brown hair nearly down to his chin.

I recognized him and the others immediately by their clothing, including the handsome black-haired man with great cheekbones who, like the tall athletic one, was dressed entirely in black. The shirt clung tightly to his trained body...

"This is their territory. Don't forget that," he murmured, slightly annoyed, looking at the brown-haired guy warningly.

"They treat us like a bunch of dirt, Adrian," the brown-haired one replied, slightly tense.

Adrian . What a nice name.

"You want trouble with Nicolaj?" The blond contributed to the conversation this time.

The brown-haired man rolled his eyes silently.

Apparently, he didn't like something about the blond guy's words at all.

I liked what I was seeing. A casual conversation full of tension. If that was not worth a photo...

Very carefully, I lifted my camera and peeked through the lens.

"And if Nicolaj never finds out?" the brown-haired guy finally continued.

And there it was. The expression on the black-haired man's face. Full of disapproval, but at the same time there was so much more. A hint of boldness? Defiance? Almost longing and yet doubting.

I didn't know, but I did what I thought was right at that moment and pressed the button. A small, barely audible click sounded.

With a jerk, three heads turned to me, and I disappeared as fast as I could behind the column.

Shit . There was no way they could have noticed that. I should get out of here as fast as possible before they would discover me for real.

But where was I supposed to go?

"Hello there. Who do we have here?"

I flinched in such a way that my camera would have almost slipped out of my hands if I hadn't gripped it strongly. I hung it back around my neck far too quickly.

Standing in front of me was the brown-haired guy with a mischievous grin on his lips. How had he gotten here so hectically?

"Look, Adrian, who I found here..." he shouted.

The next second, the black-haired man appeared.

For a very brief moment, I seemed to discover surprise in his dark brown eyes, but in a split second, it turned into a look similar to that of the brown-haired man.

Behind the two, I noticed the blond guy, eyeing me suspiciously.

"What is such an innocent girl doing here all alone in the dark corridors of Vanderwood?" the tall one inquired, leaning his arms against the pillar next to me. In such a way that I could not get away from here.

I was surrounded. Damn!

The feeling of fear spread through me. Fear that I knew all too well. But I was prepared, just in case something happened.

I pressed my lips together.

"What are you doing here? Were you eavesdropping?" Adrian asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

Take it easy, Larissa. You're safe. Here, at a place with tons of students, where everyone knew everyone after a while. A small town full of acquaintances that was in stark contrast to my hometown of Sacramento. So... what did I have to worry about?

I wanted to take a step forward, past Adrian, but he pushed my shoulder against the pillar so that it hurt slightly.

"Ow, are you crazy?!" I hissed angrily now.

Nothing could happen to me here on campus. But the three of them seemed to have nothing better to do than intimidate people with their ridiculous macho looks.

I tried to break free, but Adrian had a strong grip. Fortunately, I knew how to handle it.

"Who sent you?" he inquired when I didn't answer his last question.

"The Blairs, I'm sure," the blond guy assumed, still looking at me suspiciously.

"They don't involve humans," Adrian only replied, squeezing a little tighter.

Well , that was enough for me.

I set to kick, but to my surprise, Adrian dodged me. And when I tried to twist his arm and dislocate his elbow, he took my second arm and pushed me back against the pillar again.

I cursed softly.

The second time I tried to lift my leg, Adrian put his foot on mine.

Why wasn't any of this working? It had always worked. Always . So much for the self-defense classes in Sacramento... I had had to pay a stupid $900 for those. Fuel money that I had worked hard to earn.

But no matter what I did, they wouldn't let me go.

"Do you smell that?" the blond murmured. "That smell is stronger than the others."

"What's your fucking problem?" I finally hissed in a grumpy voice. My temper gradually faded.

"Sweetie sure has some balls," the brown-haired man laughed. And there it was again, that cocky grin.

Adrian looked more and more displeased.

"I'm serious, girl. Who sent you?"

I pressed my lips together tightly.

These guys weren't just weird. They were completely deranged . Probably, the three of them were on some dangerous luxury drug that completely clouded their brains.

Adrian eyed me insistently.

What did he want to hear from me? That I had deliberately overheard them? Hardly .

"Let go of me!" I shouted a little louder.

"Let go of her, Adrian. We can't do anything here," the blond finally said.

At least someone who didn't want to commit a complete crime.

"Don't let her go now, Adrian," the brown-haired guy demanded.

If I got out of here, I'd go straight to the Blairville police.

"Well, I can help her a little..." the brown haired continued. And there was that grin again. What an asshole.

I tried to wiggle out of this again, but Adrian wouldn't let go. He looked at his buddy.

"No, Miles. Not here . They can smell us."

They can smell us?

Okay, whatever they had taken, it had to have been something very strong.

This Miles touched my wrist with his oddly cold hand, but the blond pulled it away. "You don't want to do that, Miles."

And then I saw Miles's eyes. They were glowing . Red .

My heart stopped, and I started to wiggle, to which Adrian held me even tighter.

"Damn it, Miles!"

The blond pulled him back completely.

"You're right, she does smell a lot stronger than the others..." Miles murmured slightly absently, then backed up even further and squinted his eyes.

Adrian looked back at me and fixated my gaze.

"You're not going to..." the blond inquired, confused.

"She's witnessed too much."

He looked at me more closely and I suddenly felt warm.

My skin started to tingle. Why was I suddenly so hot?

"What are you going to do?" I asked, and the fear seemed to fight its way up again.

His eyes seemed to pierce me. Those deep dark eyes... Until they suddenly turned reddish. Like Miles', except fine veins were added, stretching around his eyes to his cheeks and temples.

I flinched and stared at him. So, he did. His irises were still partially brown, but the individual fibers were slowly turning reddish.

I had to be hallucinating. Maybe I had gotten too much of the sun... Or I was already fantasizing in my adrenaline rush.

I had never seen anything so beautiful. Fascinating and scary at the same time, like a deep blood-red sea whose black bottom drew me to it.

Suddenly, a door at the end of the corridor burst open and a group of students poured out.

Adrian backed away from me and turned his back as if nothing had ever happened.

His buddies did the same, and eventually they disappeared together around the corner from where I had overheard them earlier.

I remained standing. Still motionless.

What in the world had just happened? What had happened to his eyes ? And what had the three of them been talking about that I hadn't been allowed to overhear? Something those rich snobs had screwed up? Were they perhaps up to something?

The thoughts in my head grew louder and louder until the questions in it threatened to burst my brain.

My curiosity grew. Sooner or later, I would give in to it. I would find out what the rich kids of this town were hiding. And what damn drugs were doing such a sick mess to their eyes.

I turned around, letting my adrenaline-filled legs carry me through one of the side corridors, hoping to put as much distance as possible between me and these maniacs before I could change my mind and follow them. Then suddenly, a strained cursing sounded.

I stopped and scurried behind the nearest column. The corridor I was in was empty, and only the sunlight of another courtyard, with Greek statues, was dancing on the stone floor...as well as on the tousled dark blond hair of the Copeland guy twenty meters away.

Wasn't that the rowdy guy? Emely's brother? Nash Copeland?

"Damn it!" it escaped him, and he ruffled his hair. "Damn it, Mady!"

He kicked a pillar so hard that the stone snake's head began to crumble.

"Why are you still here?!" he snapped, and I had never seen anyone kick a stone pillar so desperately.

The buzz of a cell phone sounded, and a few seconds later, Nash reached into his pocket and read the message he had received. He pressed his lips together, ruffled his hair again, and then disappeared through the courtyard into another hallway.

I stayed behind the column a bit longer, trying to process the first few days at Vanderwood, while I watched a black raven balance around on the arm of the courtyard statue, slip, and fall into the pool.

Could it be that everyone here was nuts?