The car engine wheezed its death cough, the door swung open and the foot of a fair-skinned teenager reached out into the hot Monday morning. The sun shining down on her made her skin look as though it glittered.
The air was dense and stuffy enough; it felt like the entire street was indoors somewhere. She took off her dark sunglasses, glancing around. Her brown eyes glowed in the sunlight as she took in her surroundings.
She smiled. “Feels great to be back.”
“Natasha,” a masculine voice called from inside the car. “Just call me if you need anything.”
“Stop,” she said. “Dad. Stop.”
She heard him chuckle, and the car engine roared to life. “Have a great day, sweetie.”
“You too.”
She stood still, watching him drive away until he was completely out of sight, then continued towards the school gate with her notepad in hand, which she held close to her chest, and her schoolbag, which hung from her shoulder.
Her long-time classmates and best friends greeted her at the school gate. Natasha walked towards them, bracing herself for a hug. Madelia raced across the school gate and squeezed her in a bone-crushing hug. “So good to see you.”
Barely breathing from the tight hug, Natasha gurgled in a strained voice. “Can’t—breathe!”
“Oh, sorry.” Madelia giggled as she let go of her.
“Ah, what a hug!” She breathed.
Madelia gave her shoulder a small shake. “Sorry about that,” she chuckled, bubbling with excitement.
“Good to see you, Natasha,” Dreda calmly said, folding her arms.
She turned to her and smiled. “Good to see you too, Dreda.”
Dreda knitted her eyebrows to give her a quick once-over. “Looks like someone’s been adding up during the holiday,” she teased.
“Daddy’s fault! He treats me as if I’m incapable taking care of myself. Doesn’t let me do anything.” Natasha scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“Sounds like you had a glorious holiday,” Dreda chuckled.
“I wish!” She threw her backpack across her shoulder and they all walked past the school gate. “My holiday was anything but glorious. Under the watchful eyes of my dad, I could do only so much. I guess you’ll never know how that feels since you’re the mayor’s daughter. Your dad lets you do whatever you want.”
She smiled calmly—the kind she smiled at people who clearly didn’t know what they were talking about. “Being the daughter of a mayor is much more exhausting than you think. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to argue with me on this one.”
“Look, all I’m saying is that I didn’t have much of a holiday being cooped up in that mansion.” Natasha grunted in frustration. “Could you imagine he didn’t let me leave the house throughout the holiday? And even when he did, he would ask Derik never to leave my side.”
“You can’t blame him for being so overprotective of his daughter,” Madelia said.
“It can be annoying sometimes. And could you believe Derik—” She trailed when her phone rang. She stole a glance at it, sighed, and stifled an eye roll.
“Who’s that?” Madelia asked.
“Speaking of Derik, he’s calling. Probably to know if I’m—” She bumped into someone she didn’t see coming.
“Haa!” she exclaimed after her phone slipped through her fingers and scattered on the earthen floor.
Madelia froze, covering her mouth.
“Good heavens,” Dreda gasped, holding her chest.
A small silence followed—deep enough to splash in for a second.
Natasha turned and was positively wonder-struck to see him walking without any care in the world, not even a side-glance at them. He shuffled with both hands dipped in his pockets and appeared oblivious to what had just happened.
“Hey!”
He didn’t stop, but kept on walking as if he didn’t hear her. Dreda and Madelia exchanged glances.
Now feeling even more agitated, Natasha yelled even louder. “Hey!”
That didn’t stop him.
“Are you kidding me?” She lost it. “Excuse me! I’m talking to you. Are you deaf? Or are you just stupid?” She almost went after him, but then he stopped dead in his tracks.
Not knowing what else to expect, she waited for him to turn—at least to apologise. But he didn’t. He just remained rooted where he stood, his back facing her. In the silence that followed, she yelled, “You just bumped into me and shattered my phone! The least you could’ve done is—”
Again, she trailed when he slowly turned to look at her, then their eyes locked on like a magnet. She gasped as his eyes bored into hers, her mouth agape with wonder as she stared at his perfectly moulded features.
His curls were dark brown and his eyes were a mesmerizing deep ocean blue, framed by graceful brows. He had a high-bridged nose that was among his two eyes, a prominent cheekbone and a well-defined chin obscured by a fuzzy, thin beard. He stood there, both hands dipped in his pockets, staring blankly at her with sore eyes. His face was neutral, giving off no trace of emotion.
“God! You’re so annoying.” Why do they always think they have the right to step on others simply because they’re gorgeous. “Seriously, who do you think you—”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled coldly, cutting her off.
Those calm, sincere words melted the walls of her angry heart. The wind blew gently across her face, pushing her hair back. She heard the sadness in his voice. She felt it. When she looked up at his face, she saw right through him. She saw the pain in his vapid eyes—only then did she realise she’d overreacted.
He looked away, turned, and walked on. Natasha stood there with mixed feelings, eyes fixed on him as he walked away. She wished she could take back all those hurtful words.
“Oh my God!” Madelia exclaimed long after he was gone. Her voice held barely contained shock. “What the hell just happened?”
Natasha stared wordlessly, unsure of what to say. Even she, too, did not believe she’d said those things.
“Natasha, what has gotten into you?” Dreda said. “That’s no way to talk to a stranger.”
She remained impassive, showing neither remorse nor concern. She bent over to pick up the broken pieces of her phone and tossed them all in her bag. Her wristwatch alarm went off, startling her. She glanced at it. “I got to go now. See you two after class!”
Her friends looked at her pointedly as she walked away.
The lecture was already in session when Natasha arrived. She walked past the bald old man who was putting down some notes on the board. She tried not to get noticed as she sneaked past him. Natasha hurried to an empty seat at the back, but then stopped midway into the lecture hall when she heard her name called from the front. All eyes immediately fell on her. She slowly turned—chest throbbing within her chest. Her eyes cast a guilty gleam on the old instructor whom she found still scribbling away on the board, too busy to glance her way. Natasha remained still, agitated from the sea of eyes watching her from all directions. She rubbed her fingers together while she waited. He spun to face her, his fierce gaze piercing through her. “You’re late—” The tiny lens that sat on his pointy nose moved as he spoke. “I’m sorry sir, but—” “—again,” he completed his sentence, cutting her short. Dr Legolas was an old science professor known among the students as a disciplinarian who compelled
Dreda was right. Something about the stranger made her a little wary of him. Back there on the field, when he’d gotten so close, she felt an unholy energy encircling him, the kind meant to shut things out. And his warning—stay away from me—was just so condescending. Natasha never recalled showing any sort of interest in the cold stranger. She was confused why he would warn her off so sternly. Perhaps this has something to do with her bumping into him earlier. She tried to choke back her anger when she remembered that her phone was still broken. She walked in through the front porch of the big bungalow into the lounge. There she saw her little brother knocking himself out on a video game. The moment he saw that she was home, he quickly tossed the control pad and trotted towards her, announcing her return with a loud scream. “Natasha is home!” “Cut it out, Damien.” She smacked his head, walking past him. “Ouch!” He held his head, frowning at her. “What did you do that for?” “Oh, ple
When Kevin opened his eyes, they were watery, and his throat felt scratchy. He wasn’t sure where he was. He felt himself sitting upright in an iron chair and tried to get up, but couldn’t. That’s when he noticed that something was restraining his arms. He looked down and saw the belt that wrapped around his wrist, anchoring his hands to the arm of the iron chair. Kevin moved his body, struggling hard to set himself free, but the belt was just too thick. He looked around the room nervously and noticed a long table in the corner of the room. Some bottles were placed on top. He glanced up at the window behind drawn curtains high up the cinder-board wall. The curtains sealed off a partial trace of light. The room seemed empty and devoid of life. A thin line of sweat rolled down his forehead and rested at the side of his lips. He took out his tongue to lick it off. It had a distinctive taste of sweat mixed with blood. That was when he realised he was bleeding. The last thing he remember
Kevin was having another disturbing nightmare, and he kept seeing four distinct images in this order; houses on fire, blackbirds sitting on a tree, a name written on a paper, and a man screaming while he was being tortured. His grip on the bed sheet tightened, and drops of sweat gathered on his forehead. His head turned, eyes remained closed, his chest heaving rapidly. Once again, images of a gigantic cloud of smoke rising from burning houses, Crows pecking an oak, a finely written note with a name on it, and a man screaming in pain floated around his mind. His body was hunched, his breathing hastened and fingers clenched together. Kevin—screaming, woke from the nightmare, a horrified look plastered all over his face. That was the second dream in one night. Panting, he sat up straight on the bed, his palms sweaty and his face covered with sweat. He looked up at the big clock that hung on the wall. 3:14 am The door swung open, and Cedric rushed in with a lamp which he held up above
The other girl wasn’t with them—what was her name again? Of course. He finally remembered. Natasha As he sat in silence, listening to them talk, he began to understand why she hadn’t joined them, the numb expression on their faces. It had something to do with an assault of some sort, but then he berated himself not to concern himself with her—she was not his concern. Landry noticed how frequently he looked in their direction. “Are you okay?” He turned to look at him. “What?” “Noticed you staring at those girls over there, and thought—” “I only met them yesterday. In school.” He brought his voice low. Just as he listened in on their conversation, the girls could also do the same. “You know that’s a bad idea, right?” “The girls? Or school?” “Both” He didn’t answer him. Landry took his silence to mean that he agreed. “Imagine my surprise when Cedric told me you enrolled in a college? College? How could you be so unreasonable? You’re a danger to everyone who gets close to you, i
Kevin could still feel Loretta’s pain from that day—even though it was almost a year since she’d been tortured to death. He wished so desperately to forget what had happened—that’s part of the reason he moved into Burnout City with Cedric, but the memories kept coming back. Standing there in the hallway, watching Natasha through the large transparent window, upset him. Then he realised he had tears in his eyes and took out a handkerchief to wipe them off. He still couldn’t understand how T-Murek had gained pleasure from torturing Loretta. He was more upset that the cops couldn’t find him or the masked man that’d kidnapped him, even after months of a thorough search. It was harder even to find the masked man since no one could identify him. The case had gone cold with no new lead. Returning to the present, he noticed that Natasha was awake and was having a conversation with her friends. She seemed to be in pretty bad shape and could barely sit up straight. She just laid there on the
Kevin sat outside the store opposite Pittsburgh bar, waiting patiently, intending to confront the thugs that’d assaulted Natasha the previous night. It was already dark, and the street was lonely. He glanced up at the big clock that hung inside the shop. 11:48 pm. He wondered how much longer he’d have to wait before they showed up. The shopkeeper who’d noticed him sitting there for a while came to meet him. “Sir, is there something I could help you with?” After a momentary silence, he said to him, “I’ll have a bottle of tequila.” And at once the shopkeeper left to get what he’d requested. He soon arrived with a bottle of tequila placed side-by-side with a bottle opener on a tray and set it down on the table before Kevin. “Thank you.” Kevin opened the bottle and poured it into a dark glass. “Wait, please! Don’t go,” he said to the shopkeeper, stopping him mid-way into his store. “I’m waiting for someone, but I don’t know where they might be. Maybe you could help me.” The shopk
A man quickly highlighted from the car, held up a gun, and scurried to where they’d gathered. “Hey!” he shouted, firing off three rounds to warn them off. Gunshots echoed throughout the dark street, and they scampered, leaving Kevin to lie in pain on the earthen floor. Aiming in their direction, the man fired. The thug in the black jacket stumbled to the floor while attempting to flee; the bullet had caught his knee. He shrieked, holding the injured knee to stop the bleeding. In a desperate attempt to flee, he crawled on his knees—wilting, trying to get away. The armed man quickly caught up with him and grabbed his hair, held him up and kicked him hard on the knee. Shady uttered a loud, horrible cry, his knee bleeding. The armed man grabbed his hair and forced him to gaze up at him. “What’s your name?” “Screw you!” the thug sputtered. A punch landed squarely on his broken nose, arousing the pain. The thug piped up, spitting out blood. Holding up his hair, the armed man uttere