A Cruel Fate

Chapter three - The meeting

Paige’s POV

With a little luck, I managed to find the dorm room that had been assigned to me without getting too lost. Okay, that was a complete lie. I had to stop two times to ask for directions, once from a teacher and once from a fellow student who didn't really seem to care much about giving me the right directions. Nevertheless, I found it.

The door was open, and just as I was about to peek through, a tall blonde figure came in sight.

“I’m taking it you’re my roommate?” she asked and in return got a nod. “Hi, my name is Lynn.” she smiled.

“I’m Paige,” I said forcing a small smile.

“Let me help you with those,” she gestured to my suitcases.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

After about an hour I was all settled in, and boy was that one excruciating long hour.

Lynn talked. Like a lot. Sometimes she didn't even get to finish her own sentence before she started a new one which meant that I had to catch up on the change of subject very frequently.

Not that I minded it much. At least I didn’t have to try and fill the silence that would otherwise lay upon us.

Where she was definitely outgoing, I was more of an introvert. She was the complete opposite of me with many things.

Not just her personality, but her looks as well.

She was very tall compared to me. Her hair was light blonde and her eyes were golden brown whereas I had more of a red tone in my hair and had big blue eyes. She liked to talk, loved to be social, and didn't really like to have her head in books, whereas I was the opposite. If I could make a living out of reading books and not having to talk to anyone, that would be the dream. I had sometimes wondered if I should just become a librarian but I had always put that thought to the side.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” she asked as if she had read my thoughts or just noticed that I had spaced out.

“I’m sorry. I’m a little nervous,” I answered honest.

“Me too,” she smiled.

“Really?” I asked with a skeptical tone in my voice. “You don’t seem like it,” I pointed out.

“I try to hide it,” she shrugged. “Which is why I talk so much btw. Sorry for that,” she grimaced making me chuckle.

“It’s fine. Then I don’t have to.”

“I think you and I will get on just fine,” she laughed as she threw her arm over my shoulder.

After a few hours, everything was unpacked and more than once, Lynn had shown me her dissatisfaction with either a grimace or a weird sound leaving her lips.

“For a girl, you sure don’t have much stuff,” she said as she looked at my not even half-filled closet.

“My mom says the same,” I mumbled as I pushed my suitcases under the bed. "But I believe I have just enough."

“Then we have to go shopping someday. There are some great stores not very far from here,” she smiled.

“I will consider it,” I replied as I sat on the bed. "But I make no promises."

That made me earn a look that said you better say yes or say nothing at all.

“Now what?” I asked her.

“I can show you around if you want?” she asked.

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yes, my brother is a senior here,” she explained. “So, I have been here plenty of times and I know quite a lot,” she said with a wink before she grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”

She showed me the gym first and explained as we went on.

“This is where the sports jocks spend most of their time,” she said gesturing to the big gym in front of us. “We have two major sports here which are basketball and volleyball. I don’t know if you like sports?”

“Not really, I mean I like to run but that is about it,” I shrugged, and she gave me a nod in return.

“Where is the music class?” I asked as I looked around.

“You have music class?” she asked eying me.

I gave her a small nod.

“I do too!” she said excitedly. “It’s right down the hall. Room 205. We passed it on the way here.”

“Oh, great.”

“I didn’t take you as someone who liked playing music. I mean no offense, but that involves you being the center of attention,” she pointed out.

“I like to sing,” I shrugged. “I used to sing a lot before…” I trailed off.

“Before what?” she asked as we came to a halt.

“Nothing. Uh, where is there a bathroom?” I asked looking around.

“Just around that corner,” she said while pointing to my left. “I will wait here.”

I walked around the corner and stopped in my tracks as I felt a cold chill run down my spine.

I had to squint my eyes to make sure I was seeing correctly.

Further down the hall, two shadows were walking, the same way they did that day. Slender and tall, yet somehow muscular. One was only a tad smaller than the other but other than that, completely identical.

I looked up at the man’s face with begging eyes. My eyes went wide as I stared right into the face of my dad. “How did you…?” I panted as I turned around to look at the driver’s seat.

My heart was pounding, and my palms became sweaty. I barely got to see them before they turned around a corner.

I saw my dad giving me a sad smile before turning around and leaving with two slender shadows by his side, disappearing into thin air.

Before I knew it, I found myself running after them. It was stupid. I came here to escape this and yet within a few hours of being here, I was chasing my demons.

I ran as fast as my feet would allow me, my heart quickening its pace with every step I took.

The memories from that night kept flashing in my mind along with the feelings. Fear, despair, desperation... It all came flying back.

I reached the far end of the corridor and stopped while I looked around, scouting the very empty corridor.

No one besides me was here.

I let out a shaky breath that I didn’t even know I was holding in. Maybe I was going slightly insane. Maybe this was too soon... Maybe, just maybe, I shouldn't have pushed myself to go back to school so quickly.

“I could have sworn…” I mumbled under my breath before turning around, making my way back to Lynn, glancing back one last time just to make sure.

“Where have you been?” She asked when I arrived.

“I got a little lost,” I shrugged.

“On the way to the bathroom?” She asked, clearly not believing me.

I just shrugged it off.

“Where to next?” I asked in an attempt to redirect her focus.

“The coffee shop. I could use a cup or two.”

“Let’s go then.”

After getting our coffee out tour continued. She was even more talkative after getting her caffeine fix if that was even possible.

She told me about some of the people here. Since she visited her brother last year, she knew about those who were to start their junior year now.

She spoke highly of especially two of them.

Alex and Felix Reaper.

Their name alone made me turn my head and actually pay attention to what she was saying.

She told me that they mostly kept to themselves, but they had this mysterious bad guy look over them which of course intrigued and caught every female’s attention. Not that they cared apparently.

She also told me about a few of the teachers.

Her favorite was Mrs. Delany. A sweet middle-aged woman who knew how to catch everyone’s attention during class. As it turned out, she would be our teacher for three of our classes.

“So that was the library and the last stop on our little tour,” she spoke. “Judging from your book collection I saw while unpacking, I have a feeling you’ll spend a lot of time there,” she chuckled.

“Yeah, your right about that,” I laughed, trying to loosen up a bit.

I did my best to ignore the knot that had formed in my stomach as we made our way back to the dorm rooms.

“Ready for our first day tomorrow?” Lynn asked when we both laid in bed.

“As ready as I can be,” I answered feeling the tiredness come over me. “You?” I mumbled.

“Same,” she yawned. “Goodnight Paige.”

“Goodnight,” I mumbled before sleep took over.