The Dark Inheritance

Chapter 16

Serah didn’t see Asher again that day. He didn’t show up for dinner as usual and she didn’t notice when he returned, if he did at all. Aria informed Jennifer about the upheaval which happened around Serah that day and they were both very concerned for her. Thankfully her eyes were back to normal, so they didn’t find out about the later incident. She reassured them that she would be able to deal with it and they let the subject drop under the promise that she’ll reach out to them if she’s ever in any trouble. 

“You’re sure you don’t want to have Mr. Clarkson drive you to and from work?” Aria asked Serah the next day as they were heading to school. “He wouldn’t mind at all. Isn’t that right?” She looked towards their personal driver in front of the vehicle.

“Of course, I don’t.” The middle-aged man politely replied.

“It’s fine.” Serah quickly refuted. “I don’t mind at all. It will also be an opportunity for me to familiarize myself with my surroundings.” And hopefully she’ll recognize something which will trigger her lost memory.

Aria understood her meaning and nodded in understanding. Just then, Serah’s phone started ringing, flashing Angie’s number.

“Hey Serah.” The girl cheerily chirped as soon as she picked. “You at school yet?”

“I’m on my way.” She mumbled.

“Great. Lisa and I will wait for you at the gate. This way we can ward off anyone who tries to bully you.”

“That’s so nice of you both.” She purred. “You’re an angel.”

Angie burst out laughing at that. “I’ll let it slide this time, but the next time you call me angel, you’ll get a piece of my mind.”

Serah giggled. “Sure, sure. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Aria was looking at her appraisingly as she ended the call. “It’s great that you were able to make some good friends despite everything.”

“Indeed it is.” Serah said wistfully. “Angie and Lisa are both wonderful friends.”

“I’ve heard of them.” Aria said pensively. “They do seem like nice people.”

Thankfully, Serah didn’t encounter any of the people who were trying to trouble her that morning. The students were still hostile to her, but they kept their distance. Angie helped her install all the social media applications which would help her communicate with her friends more easily as well as keep track of everything going on in the school. However, she also saw all the mean comments the students were saying about her, calling her a ‘slut’ who was trying to grab the attention of all the guys, and this dampened her mood. But then, with Lisa’s and Angie’s encouragements, she decided to just ignore them. They were just baseless ramblings, after all.

During lunchtime, Serah sat in a quiet spot beside the school, waiting for Lisa and Angie to return from the cafeteria with their snacks. She decided she’d avoid crowded places until the hype about her died down. She closed her eyes, basking in the warm sunlight when a voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

“Having a nice time, babe?” The rough male voice intoned.

Serah wanted to sigh exasperatedly. She really wasn’t given any respite here. Thankfully, the voice didn’t seem to belong to any of her foes. She spun on her bench, her eyebrow quirking in surprise when she took in his messy blonde hair and golden eyes. 

“You’re… from our class.” She tilted her head, trying to remember his name.

“It’s Caleb,” He said, flashing a handsome grin.

Her eyes sparked. “Right! Caleb… I didn’t get to say this yesterday, but thanks for standing up for me when those girls messed up my seat.”

She hadn’t observed the guy enough to learn about his character. But she knew he was quite popular. The girls from her class, even from other classes were always surrounding him and made a fuss about him. And naturally, he wasn’t insensitive to all the attention. However, she caught a couple of times where he was staring at her and her friends strangely. Despite this, he didn’t strike her as harmful. Maybe because he helped her out.

He took a few seconds, seeming to be trying to pull forth the memory. “That was nothing.” He shrugged. He added something under his breath, but she couldn’t quite place it.

He moved over to her, leaning down to peer right into her face. “But now that I look at you closely, you’re quite the looker, Serah. No wonder those guys are all over themselves over you.”

She frowned in displeasure and hedged away from him. However, he took that opportunity to sit beside her. 

She glanced at him with mild irritation. “Thank you for the compliment, but you have it all wrong. I’m being hated by the whole school. No one is ‘all over me’.”

“But you didn’t hear what the guys have been secretly whispering among themselves.” He said in amusement.

She frowned. “No, I didn’t and I’m not interested in knowing. I’m not into such gossip.”

He burst out laughing. “You’re an interesting girl, Serah.” He leaned closer to her. “Why don’t you date me? I could make your life here much more pleasant.”

She wanted to roll her eyes. So much for thinking he was harmless. He turned to be just another Owen.

She had a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue, but just then a bag was shoved onto Caleb’s head.

“What the f**k!” He roared. “That’s cold!”

“Thought you might need to cool off for a bit.” Came Angie’s sneery retort. “What the hell were you thinking, hitting on my friend?” She demanded, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at her. Lisa stood a short distance away, an amused expression on her face as she watched them.

Caleb shoved the bag away and glowered at her. “It’s my choice who I choose to hit on.”

“Well, Serah’s my friend, so keep your wayward hands away.” She pertly said.

Caleb lifted his brows challengingly. “What can you do about it if I still choose to get close to her?”

“Sorry but I’m not interested.” Serah commented.

“See? You already got rejected.” Angie said triumphantly. “So run along back to your groupies.”

“Even if she refuses now, nothing can stop me from sticking around and convincing her.” Caleb said challengingly, those golden eyes of his brimming with interest for the first time ever.

Angie’s eyes then dimmed, and she looked away. “Whatever.” She mumbled. “You can do what you want, but keep it for later. We’re spending quality time as friends right now and I don’t want you to spoil that.”

Caleb’s eyes briefly flashed with some unreadable expression, but he quickly corrected it. “Well, I feel like talking to her right now.”

Caleb ended up pestering them for the whole duration of lunchtime. Serah tried her best to make him understand that she wouldn’t change her decision, but he refused to listen. Anyway, he seemed more interested in crashing their gathering above anything else.

That afternoon, as she was heading towards the school gate together with Lisa and Angie, Serah darted her gaze through the hallways, discreetly searching for Asher. She hadn’t seen him again since that incident yesterday. She still had his number which couldn’t bring herself to delete. But she swore she’d never call him. Even if her life depended on it.

“You don’t need to be wary.” Lisa said from beside her. “No one will dare do anything to you here.”

“Right! Even if they try we won’t let them.” Angie added firmly.

“Oh… um, right.” Serah awkwardly replied. “Thank you, guys.”

As they rounded a corner, they happened by Natalia and her group. She was steeling herself for another confrontation, but the girls merely sent her a venomous look and walked away.

“How strange.” Angie mumbled. “Natalia walked away without even giving her verbal tirade?”

“Did she give up on bullying Serah, after all?” Lisa asked hopefully.

“I don’t think so.” Angie mumbled pensively. “It’s not in her character.”

As she listened to them, Serah thought about how Gareth promised he’d make sure Natalia didn’t bother her again. Was it his doing? They advanced forward several more steps and then came across none other than Gareth himself. 

He flashed his charming grin as soon as he saw her, right under the shocked eyes of all the students and Serah wanted to bury herself in a hole.

“Hey, Serah.” He greeted as he approached her. “You’re going to the library today as well, aren’t you? I also happen to be heading there. How about I give you a lift?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I already asked Jennifer’s driver to pick me up.” She lied. “He should be here soon.”

“I see.” He said, his tone mildly disappointed. “I’ll see you over there, then.”

“Sure.” She smiled at him, but it came out strained.

“My goodness.” Angie mumbled as soon as he left. “It seems Gareth has the hots for you.”

“What makes you think that?” Serah asked wearily.

“Just one look at him and it’s obvious.” 

"I don't think that's the case." Serah said. Even if his behavior made them think otherwise, she had a feeling there was something else which made him want to get close to her.

Gareth was already at the library when Serah reached there and he yet again asked her to guide him through his book search. And needless to say, Heather's mood turned even more sour. 

"I passed by Natalia today, but strangely, she didn't try to confront me again." Serah said as Gareth was browsing through the shelves.

"Is that so?" He mumbled, sounding pleased.

"Was this your doing?" She prompted.

He darted a glance at her. "I did promise I'd help you out."

"But… that's…" she stammered, unsure how to respond to this. She felt grateful towards him, but his actions will only further feed the nasty rumors. 

"If you feel like thanking me, then I know just the perfect way." He said grinning widely. "Are you free this weekend?" 

"I work on weekends as well… why?" She cautiously asked.

"I see…" he mumbled pensively. "Then at what time do you get off today? We could go somewhere..." 

She stared at him, feeling conflicted.

"I hope you won't take this wrongly." He quickly explained. "I just like your company and wanted to talk to you some more."

She was about to politely decline him, but then she had another idea. "If it's after work, then Heather will also be here. Is it okay if I ask her to come along?"

He gave her a strange look. "Umm sure…" he said after some hesitation.

"That's great!" She said excitedly. "I'll tell her right away." Immediately after, she hurried towards Heather's desk.

"Hey Heather!" She paid no mind to the girl's cold behavior and stepped right into her field of vision. "Gareth just offered to take us out somewhere after work, are you in?"

Heather's head shot up, her eyes astonished. "He asked… me as well?"

"Of course! It won't do if you don't come along, so you have to."

When Heather still hesitated, Serah leaned down to whisper conspicuously. "You like Gareth, don't you?"

"What the hell are you saying." Heather angrily whisper-yelled, glancing around self-consciously. 

"I want to help you out with him." Serah murmured.

She stared at her skeptically. "Why would you?"

Serah smiled down at her. "Because you're both my friends and I think you'd make a nice couple."

A cute blush spread across Heather's face at this. "You think so?" She mumbled toying with her hair in embarrassment.

"Definitely." She firmly admitted. "So can I help you out?"

Heather pursed her lips. "But he seems interested in you."

"No he's not!" She vehemently refuted. "He's just intrigued because we share similar tastes in books. I'm also not interested in being more than friends with him." She smiled conspicuously, dropping onto the chair beside Heather to whisper in her ear. "How about this? I'll pretend to accompany you guys in the beginning and will find an excuse to leave halfway. Then you can spend some alone time with him." 

Heather appeared to be pondering her words, her pretty gradually illuminating in an eager smile. "Okay." She exclaimed excitedly. She then gave Serah a sincere look. "Thank you for helping me out. It seems I wrongly judged you. I'm sorry for my attitude yesterday and today."

Serah waved dismissively. "Don't mention it. As long as you can be happy."

Just then, Gareth appeared from behind the shelves and both girls steeled themselves. 

"So? Is it okay after work?" He asked.

"Sure." They both responded.

He flashed a bright smile and Serah barely held back her laughter when she saw Heather discreetly fanning herself. "I'll see you girls later, then."

When their work ended, Gareth came to pick them up in a vehicle with had both girls gaping in amazement. He took them to a nice café. Heather was fawning over everything the whole time while Serah tried her best to include her friend in each of their conversations. She stuck around only for some fifteen minutes, then left under the pretense that she wasn’t feeling too well. Gareth wanted to drive her home, but she had already anticipated that and had asked Jennifer’s driver to pick her up from the café. She felt elated at the grateful look Heather sent her way as she was leaving. 

As she stepped out onto the curb, a uncontrollable shiver coursed through her body, urging her to hug her arms around herself. For some reason the atmosphere had turned abnormally tense. Her eyes warily scanned her surroundings then were inadvertently drawn to an alley on the far side of the street and she immediately spotted the source of all the tension. There stood a guy, dressed wholly in black, his longish red hair fanned out over his face. His demeanor was relaxed, as if he was just watching the passers-by, but his eyes were trained on her, their intent obviously vile.  And even from this distance, she could make out the evil smirk on his face. She instinctively darted her gaze away from him. Thankfully, at that moment, Jennifer’s car pulled up at the curb and she hastily got in. They passed by the dark alley as they were driving off and Serah chanced a glance in the direction. However, the red-haired guy was no longer there, and she wondered if she had just imagined him. But the creepy feeling remained...