A Labyrinth of Forbidden Desire

VOLUME 1 - Chapter 5

A R I A

As we both step forward, we see a large group of people buzzing around at the entrance of Central Hall, the focal point for all activity in the university. Most of them have a flyer in their hands, some people even taking pictures of said flyer just as a few people hand them out.

Soren and I glance at each other curiously and continue to make our way towards them. I almost forgot that I still need to speak to Soren about how he needs to treat Oliver, but I guess it’ll have to wait…

We finally reach the closest person handing out the flyers, a guy with a solemn expression on his face. Not sure of his name, but I’ve seen him around campus before a number of times.

“Hey… what are these?” I ask him and he turns his attention to us, a sigh escaping his mouth before he reaches out and attempts to hand me a flyer.

“Jessica Sanders has been missing for 48 hours so if you find her, or know anything about her whereabouts, please contact this number…” the guy tells us just as I take the flyer from his hand and stare at it warily, a clear picture of the girl in question, printed on the paper.

I definitely know who she is. She’s quite popular here, a socialite and it girl loved by all. I’ve even seen her around Gabi a few times. She had a magnetic smile that everyone loved, and soft baby blue eyes. I wonder what happened to her…

“We’ll be on the lookout, thanks…” Soren says out of the blue and before I know it, he’s tugging me out of them and leads us away from the guy. I begin frowning at his odd behaviour, glancing back at the man to see him staring back at us with confusion before he carries on handing out the flyers.

Once Soren and I are a few feet away from him, I then snatch my hand away from him and come to a stop despite him still wanting to walk away.

“What the hell’s your problem?” I ask, beginning to frown at him and watching as he comes to a stop, keeping his back away from me for a few seconds. I then hear him sigh heavily, as if I’m inconveniencing him, and watch as he turns around to face me, an irritated expression written across his face.

“This is all just a little extra… who even hands out flyers in 2024...?” He tells me, scoffing lightly before he takes the flyer out of my hand, staring at it as he shakes his head.

“Babe, could you be a little more considerate? A girl is missing.” I scold him and he raises an eyebrow at me. There’s no way he’s being serious right now.

“She probably got wasted and got lost somewhere, I’m sure she’s fine… so it’s not our problem.” He answers harshly. He then begins to fold the paper he just took from me and stuff it in his pocket, all while glancing around carefully, as if to make sure that there’s no one paying attention to us.

“Soren? Really?” I question him in disbelief. I don’t understand why he’s choosing to be so insensitive about the matter… I then see that he’s not even paying attention to me, and his focus now lies on something behind me.

“Hold on…” He mumbles, not even bothering to look me in the eyes as he walks right past me. My eyebrows rise in shock, my gaze following him as he continues to walk away from me.

Is this seriously happening right now?

I watch as he fixes his hair slightly and makes his way over to one particular person handing out flyers, a girl…

My heart begins to race as I watch him walk up to the girl. All I can see from here is that she has dark hair, her skin just as fair as Soren’s. She has on a cheerleader's university, with the colours of the university, black and red and I'm pretty sure I’ve seen her on campus before. Anger invades my body as I watch Soren reach her, the expression on the girl’s face changing. She smiles at him with relief and before I know it, she throws her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tenderly.

My heart begins pumping with anxiety and anger and I find myself frozen in my spot. My mouth is left open as I try to find the right words to do. I can’t think. I don’t know what to think. Could that just be a friend? But still? Why is he hugging her like that? Not only that but did he just… dismiss me?

I don’t have a good feeling about this at all.

I keep my eyes on them for a few more seconds… 11, to be exact, and after seeing enough of that, my mind and body finally cooperate and my feet carry me forward.

The closer I get to them the more angry I become. The girl smiles up at him, and from where I’m standing, it looks like they’re even flirting with each other…

I finally reach them and stand right behind Soren, just as the girl he is with finally notices me.

“So you’ll be able to make it?” Is what Soren says to her and I’m guessing at this point he can’t tell that I’m standing behind him.

“Soren…” She lets out fearfully just as I glare at her before crossing my arms and keeping my gaze at the back of Soren’s head trying to see how long it’s going to take him to notice.

Finally, after I don’t know how long, he turns around to look at me, eyeing me from head to toe with slight irritation on his face. He then sighs softly before he turns back to the girl and carries on speaking with her…

“Sorry, Mallory… I’ll see you at practice.” He tells her, even though I’m standing right here. Has he gone absolutely mad?

“Okay sure… later…” Mallory answers him nervously, failing to look me in the eye and instead trying to hide her face from me as she begins walking away from us. I eye her as she walks away before narrowing my eyes back on Soren, remaining silent as I wait for him to explain himself. But he remains silent and looks at me cluelessly, shaking his head at me even.

"What?" He then questions and I also shake my head at him.

This is unbelievable...