Previously on chapter 4

Something in my backpack beeps so I unzip it and grab the phone.

A text message from an unknown number:

4462 Hillhaven Avenue at midnight

~

Veronica's POV

When someone you don't know, texts you to go to a certain address at a questionable hour, the wisest choice would be to not go.

I know it's stupid but I can't help but think it might be about Derek...

I will go with Irène just to be safe.

But who sent that message? What if it's Derek and he is out of prison? What if he escaped?

I quietly shake my head and I walk back to the dormitories.

I look at my phone and I contemplate whether I should text this person back or not.

If it was Derek he would have contacted me by calling... but maybe he can't. Maybe he is in trouble.

I furrow my eyebrows at the thought of Derek being hurt and I run hurriedly to my room.

Nicole and Irène must have lessons right now, I know if I tell Nicole she would think I'm insane that I want to go. Irène is the safest choice.

I rush inside the dorm and close the door abruptly, I lean against it and I press my hand against my forehead.

I let out an exasperated sigh, I miss him so much. I'm so exhausted from looking for signs in everything.

I grasp the phone in my hands tighter and I bring it closer to my face.

My fingers start trembling as I start typing on the keyboard.

Who are you?

I squeeze my eyes shut and I wait for the beep but nothing comes so I throw the phone on the bed, missing it.

The phone falls near the bedside table and I hear a crack.

"Oh, fuck." I curse too loudly.

I rush to the phone and the screen has a few cracks but it looks better than what I expected.

Perfect. This day couldn't get any worse.

The phone starts ringing:

Unknown number

I ignore my palms sweating as I pick up the phone, careful not to touch the split screen.

I let the resounding noise ring for a while and I stare at the screen terrified. My heart starts beating fast as I accept the call and bring the phone to my ear.

I hear their heavy breathing and I instinctively hold my breath as if they could hear every heartbeat.

"Who a-are you?" I repeat.

"..."

"You don't need to know who I am... but only what I can do to Derek," a deep male voice speaks with a sharp edge to his tone.

My heart sinks to my stomach and I gulp hard, trying to ignore the suffocating feeling in my throat.

This is not Derek, this is someone who wants to hurt Derek. This could be the person who framed us.

But it doesn't sound like James...

"What do you want?" I try to compose my voice and sound anything but threatened, but when my voice cracks it gives it away.

"Come to that parking lot and find out." He hangs up.

I begin shaking tremendously and I try to sit on the bed but I slide near it, bringing my hand to my heart.

I take a big breath of air but the air can't reach my lungs and I take another one and another one.

I gasp for air and I try to grab the phone again to call for help but I am paralyzed with fear.

My legs are motionless and I can't do anything else but stare at the wall trying to breathe.

Just breathe, Veronica.

I haven't had a panic attack in ages, I can't have one now.

One, two, three, breathe in.

Four, five, six, breathe out.

I close my eyes and I continue focusing on my breath, slowing it down and making it steady.

"I'm okay," I whisper exhausted and I continue breathing in every three numbers, then letting it all out composedly.

I keep my eyes shut even when I feel like I can breathe again, my heart pounds against my rib cage.

I regain control over my body despite the uneasy feeling I have in my stomach. It feels empty, and not because of hunger.

I'm terrified. I'm terrified for Derek.

I have to find out what they want but I know they are going to hurt me. I need to tell Alexander, he could help me.

I scramble up, shifting woozily. I don't even bother to grab my phone, I rush out of the dorm and I sprint to the elevator, ignoring everyone staring at me and that I might trip.

When I reach the elevator I realize it's under maintenance and I curse under my breath. A guy turns to me and chuckles in a derogatory way.

"What a temper."

I ignore him and I hurriedly rush downstairs, two steps at once until I reach the first floor of the dormitories.

When I finally arrive to Alexander's dorm, I take a big breath of relief and I don't even bother to knock before entering.

I mistakenly first notice a guy shirtless, changing into another shirt, and I look the other way.

Alexander is also changing into another white shirt.

The guy chuckles. "I'll leave you to it." The guy seems amused as he speaks to Alexander.

Alexander eyes me warily and I walk to him nervously.

"Sorry for bursting in," I apologize to the guy and he gestures 'no problem' as he walks out of the room.

"What's the problem?" Alex takes a step closer to me and I pull him in for a hug, he quickly exchanges it and I place my head against his chest for a few seconds.

"What happened?" His worried voice calms me down a little and I sigh, slowly breaking off the hug.

"Someone called me and threatened Derek if I don't meet up with them tonight," I speak hurriedly and I look up at Alex.

"Who?"

"I have no idea, it was an unknown number."

"You won't go." He orders me and my eyebrows furrow.

"But Derek is in trouble."

"It's his problem, not yours. Do you want to get hurt?"

I scoff, hurt by his statement and I turn away. I don't want to look at him right now.

"You know Derek would do the same for me," I whisper.

"No. From what I know, Derek might be just as dangerous as them. Stay away from his circle."

I turn toward him and I sigh. "No."

"Veron-"

"Shut up. You have no right to speak about him like this. Derek saved your ass when you were getting beaten to death by Felix. Spare me your jealousy."

I rush out of the room, smashing the door as hard as I can, the resounding smash against the walls makes me flinch but I sprint to the stairs.

Alex doesn't follow after me and I'm glad because no one can change my mind.

I spot Nicole entering the hall and she waves at me with a bright smile. Who is that happy after a class?!

"You have no idea who I just met!" she exclaims and I try to hide the previous nervousness.

"Antonia Dafovski, my friend from high school!"

"Oh- right, I met her this morning and she asked me about you," I explain.

"Really? I'm just so thrilled she lives in the dorms now." Nicole seems so happy to see her and I feel a pang of jealousy. They got very close during that sophomore year, I never went out with both of them but Nicole was almost always with Antonia.

She felt horrible when Antonia left for college in a further state.

"Why did she transfer here?" I ask as we walk back to our dorm.

"She didn't tell me but she asked me to meet up tomorrow at the cafeteria. You should come!"

"I will," I say shortly. "Ehm- do you know if Irène is back?"

"She left, she said she has to visit someone."

Then it clicks. Irène told me she would try to visit Derek at the penitentiary and today is Monday so it's open to visits...

I would be relieved if he accepts her visit... maybe he is okay, maybe he will see me soon too.

"She is visiting Derek," I admit and Nicole's eyes widen.

"What, why?!" she exclaims with a judgmental edge to her tone.

I roll my eyes at how everyone seems to be so defensive over me wanting to see Derek. Is it that unbelievable and wrong?

"Ronny, stop hurting yourself over him," she grabs my hand and I just stare at her emotionless.

"And can you even trust Irène? Haven't you learned anything from what she did to me?"

"I can't fully trust Irène but I'm desperate. I need you to understand, Nicole." I'm vulnerable, I need someone to support me for once.

"Okay," she says confidently, " I understand. I will help you."

"Irène thinks Alexander framed me and Derek."

"What?!" Nicole's eyes bulge out of her head and I realize how crazy it sounds right now.

Someone suddenly clears his throat — making us flinch — and he walks inside, his eyebrows pulled into a frown.

"That's the bullshit Irène's been telling you?" Alexander raises his voice visibly furious and Irène and I stare at him, speechless.

"I don't believe her," I explain and he shrugs.

"Then why are you telling Nicole about it?" He walks closer to me, stopping only when he is a few inches away from my face.

"Irène framed you, not me."

Nicole eyes him up and down with a wary look on her face and I can't help but notice.

They are both blaming each other. Who should I even trust? Both of them talked shit about Derek, both of them are against him. Both of them aren't trustworthy, apparently.

"Don't yell at us," Nicole speaks suddenly, she seems startled by him.

I am wasting time... I can't be here right now, I should already be driving there. Why isn't Irène back?

"I'm sorry, we will handle this later. I have to go."

"Did you tell Nicole how stupid you are? That you are about to see someone who texted you with an unknown number and threatened Derek?" Alexander attacks me and both Nicole and I gasp, although I'm sure we are shocked for different reasons.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Nicole asks me, now siding with him.

"I'm going with Irène, calm down," I say calmly, surprising considering I haven't asked Irène yet, but she loves danger.

"Perfect, get yourselves killed. What's one more person?" Nicole laughs sarcastically.

They both scoff and I turn my back on them, grabbing the car keys from the desk.

I sprint to the door to leave but Alexander shuts it close and positions himself in front of it.

"You aren't going anywhere." He grabs my wrists and forces me to listen to him.

"Have you ever asked where Irène was when you came to Shanice's house to say your goodbyes?"

I shake my head, unsure where he is getting at.

"She was with Felix."

"What?" I gasp at his accusation and I can't believe him, she would never buy from that guy. She doesn't even consume drugs-

She was in rehabilitation with me, she said her dad put her in there as punishment. She said she wasn't addicted to them, neither buying them.

Everything Irène says is a lie, she is a compulsive liar, she takes pleasure in seeing people conflicted. What she did to Nicole is proof of that.

"Those cocaine bags are from Felix. I talked to Dominic right after Derek was arrested."

"You didn't tell me any of these informations, why should I trust you?!" I yell at him and I glance at Nicole, she doesn't seem surprised at all.

"We are friends. I've been there for you in your hardest times. You know me for longer. Do you want me to keep going? I didn't tell you because you needed to move on. You still need to move on."

I scoff. I'm tired of hearing the same stuff over and over again. I don't want to move on. I don't want to let those who framed us roam freely on the streets, and if it's someone close to me, I need to know before they cause any further damage.

"Nothing of this makes sense. Get out of my way, Alexander." I say authoritatively.

"No."

"Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way." I aggressively emphasize each word and he stands straight against the door stoically.

I can't trust anyone, I can't go with Irène... Nicole doesn't support me, Dominic is lying to me, Alexander wants me to move on.

I can't reach out to anyone.

It's not Derek's fault. He would never lie to me, I saw how disappointed he was when he saw the drugs. Irène claims it's not James and Olivia either, and I'm starting to believe her.

Could it be Felix? No... why would he do that? He knows Derek would rat him out. He knows Derek would never let him frame me, plus he has no reason to frame me.

It's either Alexander or Irène.

Or both.

"If you don't get out of my way, I will start screaming." I threaten him and he stares at me, not reacting at all. Just like Nicole.

Dozen seconds later Alex steps out of my way and I storm past him, running as fast as possible from them, from all of this.

I rush out of the dormitories and I walk straight to the parking spots.

When I reach my cheap silver car, I press the key button and I climb into my driver seat.

I put my seatbelt on as I look for the phone, I quickly realize I left it in the room.

Fuck it, I won't need it.

It's not very far away, but I want to be there before him. I need to see where he comes from, who is that person contacting me and harassing Derek.

I drive out of the parking spot and I look at the rear windows. Nicole and Alexander are looking at me, disappointed and worried.

I hope they don't follow me with his car.

Thirty minutes later I reach 4463 Hillhaven Avenue, it's near a shopping center, and there is also an underground garage.

This is exactly where they want to meet up.

I won't park there, it's even more dangerous. They must know who I am, my car, everything.

I stop the car in a place where I'm not allowed and I lock it.

I see the stairs to the underground parking lot, and before I walk there, I look around to see if there is anyone sketchy here.

"Can you give me some money?"

I flinch as someone speaks behind me and I turn around, terrified.

A homeless woman in her thirties is holding out her hand and she has a sad smile on her face.

I nod, still terrified, and I press my hands on my front pockets and then my back pockets.

I forgot my wallet, I don't even have any documents on me.

This is a stupid idea... if they hadn't tried to stop me I would have come here with Irène, prepared.

"I'm sorry- I forgot my wallet," I respond apologetically and I smile at her.

"Fuck off, dirty spoiled bitch." She spits.

I gasp at her pungent words and I get away from her as far as possible. What the fuck is wrong with her?

I look around and I notice this is a place I've seen before, it's not far away from the city but it seems like a bad, filthy place.

Trash scattered all over the sidewalk, cars driving way faster than they should. Many homeless people including one particular couple with a starved dog.

I walk to the stairs and I look down before proceeding, the light is very dim. I can't see anything.

I slowly take a step down the stairs and I repeatedly look behind me. My heart is pounding as I almost reach the underground.

I want to run back to my car, I want to drive off and never come back, here or to my college, but I can't.

I have to do this for him, although I'm sure he wouldn't approve.

But it's not Derek's decision anymore.

There are so many cars here, I can't see anything else but cars. It does feel safer knowing that maybe — if something happened — someone must have a dashcam or maybe they are coming back to their cars.

I try to slow down my breathing as I walk past the first car. There is no one here, not a single soul.

I look behind me and further away, I see some shadows moving.

I rub my eyes, trying to understand if I'm hallucinating. My eyes adjust to the dim lights.

The three silhouettes become more clear as I straighten up myself to see them better.

I am about to walk up to them when someone pulls me back and presses their hands on my mouth so hard I can't make a sound.

My heart pounds against my rib cage as I'm being dragged to another spot and I try to scream and breathe for air but I fail and it makes this person even more livid, forcibly pulling me out of the parking spot.