"You have finals soon, yes?" Mika asks as he climbed off his horse and nods at the groom happily waiting to guide the horses back to the stables.

Eros nodded, before he voiced his answer and thanked the little boy between them. He could only assume that the groom was his father, seeing as he never left his side.

"I need to go back. I have much to revise." He revealed and noted how Mika's shoulders slumped in defeat. He smiled, "—or would you rather I miss my exams?"

"School is important." Mika said as he looked back at Eros with an accusing raised eyebrow.

"And here I thought I could use you as an excuse."

"When I was your age I was top of my class—." Mika began but got cut off by a man running towards them with a frantic expression on his face.

Both of them stopped in their tracks and waited for the man in a white dress shirt and black slacks to close the distance, their bodies to alert and frozen to move. Eros' mind raced in and attempt to try and guess what could be wrong. He needed to expect the worse so that whatever was wrong wouldn't surprise him.

🔱🔱🔱

Ashley sighed as she placed her suitcase of the ground in hers and Ally's room. Beside her, her roommate did the same before she flopped on her bed on her back with a content sigh.

"Can't say I missed my room, but I'm glad to be back." Ally said, before she turned to face Ashley with her left hand on the side of her head,"—ready for finals tomorrow?"

Ashley let out a loud, breathy yawn while she shook her head, "No in the least. It's like everything I learned disappeared when we went on the trip. I expected nothing but failure. Goodbye Elite grounds, hello Novice grounds."

Ally scoffed at her as she let out a yawn and stretched her arms in front of her, her cropped sky blue shirt exposing her flat, hard stomach, "And I thought I was fucked."

Ashley sat on her own bed then bent down and pulled off her black silhouette heels that had left her feet throbbing and red from all the walking they had done. She sighed and looked to the window behind her. The sky had a soft, auburn glow to it with the sun resting right on the line of the horizon, though it was nothing compared to the sunrise she was getting used to in the island. From where she sat, she could see the street lights outside where already on despite it barely being dark out. The gate-man must really take his job seriously.

Ashley huffed and leaned on her bed. She placed her hands behind her head and gazed at the bright white ceiling in front of her, "When do you start your exams?" She asked her roommate, not wanting to be alone when she begins hers.

"Tomorrow actually. These damn lecturers sent us the announcement yesterday as if people weren't on a trip," She paused as Ashley turned to face her in disbelief, "—did they really think we would carry material with us? Complete bullshit." She finished with a grown as she tossed her phone on her bedside table and turned to lay on her stomach.

Ashley pursed her lips as her eyes involuntarily lowered to her stomach when her shirt had ridden up for her turning suddenly, before she met her eyes again, "They can do that? Better yet have you studied?" 

Ally groaned, brought her hands underneath her dark blue pillow and dropped her head on it face first, "Yes they can, and I couldn't be bothered. I'm not an Elite and I like it that way." She mumbled before she lifted her head to let out a yawn then went back to brooding on her pillow. Only, this time her head was turned and her cheek was the anchor on the pillow.

"See now, I wish I could slack off. I'm on scholarship and need to maintain my Elite status or I have to pay a portion of the fees." Ashley revealed as she lifted her gaze back to the ceiling,  "—yet here I am. Still procrastinating despite knowing this." She finished with a chuckle.

"You're on scholarship? What do you mean?" Ally's voice questioned in confusion. 

Ashley turned to her, raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. Once she saw the look in Ally's eyes however, uneasiness settled in her stomach. She raised an eyebrow at her roommate, "I mean scholarship. When, uh, the school pays for half if not all of your tuition?"

Ally sent her a deadpanned look, "I know but, Grudgeford doesn't offer scholarships anymore since Dad took over. That's really weird cause he even told me he wasn't going to bring the program back any time soon. Are you sure that's the case for you?"

Ashley nodded and was about to tell her who applied for her, when her phone suddenly buzzed from somewhere in her carry on bag. She grimaced and looked at Ally before she crawled to the other end of her bed and grabbed the black and beige duffle bag she was slowly getting tired of seeing. Unzipping it, she fished for her phone that was plugged to her power back and left in it to charge; all the while feeling Ally's curious gaze on her, watching her every move. 

Eventually—with her heart still uneasy from Ally's revelation—she grabs her phone and hurriedly swipes to answer. Her father's name had flashed on her screen, something that very rarely happened unless it was very important.

"Muffin." He begun, "—how are you?" He asked, almost as if he could immediately tell she was uneasy. 

Ashley scoffed to herself, knowing instead, that this was nothing but small talk from him. He usually did this before he got to the point. She leaned back on her bed and sat crossed legged in the middle, her other hand tugging at her ear in anticipations, "I'm good dad. We were actually just talking about you." She revealed, though she never got the chance to include him in her and Ally's conversation yet. 

She spared her roommate a glance almost laughed at her confused expression. She would have, if her father hadn't gone silent for the little bits that he did before he replied, "To who? Why, is someone asking you about me?"

Immediately, Ashley's face fell and a frown graced her features, "No. Uh, I meant with how you were able to get me the scholarship."

There was another unusual pause from his end, causing Ashley's unease to triple. Her hand slowly dropped from her ear and she instead, brought her lower lip in between her teeth, "What's wrong?"

She heard him let out a long sigh, before there was shuffling from his end and then more silence, "Sweetheart. There are somethings I need to tell you," he begun, doing nothing but fueling Ashley's discomfort, "—but first, there is a man I need you to promise me you'll avoid. Two of them in fact."

Ashley said nothing, she couldn't because she knew the weight of his words, and that for him to be so blunt as to say this too her, then it must indeed be serious and his last course of action.

"Gregor Huxley and Eros Huxley." He continued, "—do not under any circumstance engage with them, look at them, or even listen to anything that involves them unless it comes from my or your mother's mouth, do you understand?" 

Ashley blinked as she felt the hand that was holding her phone weaken, "What do you know?" She asked him, knowing that he would tell her without question. It was unlike him to give her such an order without backing it up with a reason.

Her father sighed and she heard the sound of ice clinking together in what she could assume was water, judging by how the sound of his taking a sip of something followed, "Gregor is the one who put you in Grudgeford to scare me away, as I am investigating him." He paused and took a breath, "—as for his son," he continued bitterly and spat out the last word with so much bitterness and hate, that Ashley almost felt overwhelmed by it.

"He is a serial killer, and with the way things are going, I might just be his next victim." He finished as Ashley listened to him place the glass he had on a wooden surface.

So, Eros really did kill.

"Dad, I think I'm going to need the whole story." She said, her free hand now on her bed sheets as she gripped on them hard enough for her nails to dig through and reach her palm. She heard her father take in a breath of his own before he let it out and answered her.

"Of course. I wasn't going to spring this on to you without the whole story." He revealed, "—sit tight, Muffin. I get the feeling this will be a long night, and my warning came a little too late."

Ashley gladly did what he said and scooted to her pillows and laid on her back, facing the white, patterned ceiling. She grabbed one of her black pillows and hugged it to her chest as she listened to her father. Just as he said, the night was long and had her convinced then—since she wasn't before—that the Eros she knew was nothing but a pinch of what made him whole. 

What her father told her that night made her realized that what he did to her in their room was nothing. She understood why he had been unbothered by the man shot dead in front of him, and the blood that had splattered on him. She understood why his eyes showed no remorse, no shock, why they were as empty as they were. It was something he was used to, something he himself had ever done to a person. She wasn't afraid of him before, but now, now she was terrified.

She found herself thinking about how a part of her was looking forward to seeing him again, maybe even out what happened between them in the past and they could be friends. With the new incite she had acquired from her father however, she realized that it would be impossible to be friends again, and yet their paths were meant meet because of their mutual friend circle.

How will I face him ever again?

🔱🔱🔱

Ashley scowled as she made her way towards her exam hall. It had been exactly two days after her conversation with her father. As she walked the many hallways and turns of the University, she saw everything in a new light. She felt as if she was new again and absolutely clueless about anything and everything. The students seemed to know that she wasn't supposed to here at all, the walls seemed to have grown faces within them that were sneering down at her; judging her for being special and the only one not spending a single cent to be here. She brought her lower lip in between her teeth and nibbled on it as she kept her gaze downward at the hard, cold ground beneath her teeth, praying for it to split into a massive hole and suck her down to the pits of hell.

As each day went by, she dreaded bumping into Eros as she was a hundred percent sure she would freak out and make things worse. She—unlike before—would peek behind a corner before taking it to make sure he wasn't anywhere in site. She couldn't blame her father for being the cause of her now constantly paranoid state either. What he told her was something that was always there, she was just too ignorant to see and figure it out. She sighed as she stuck her head into the exam room for a quick scan, before she let out a relived sigh and reached for her pen from her pocket.

Ally had been kind enough to throw it at her this morning when she was in a rush to get to her exam. She would have overslept and missed her paper if Ally hadn't thrown a pillow at her and jolted her awake. If this was any other day, she would have laughed at how similar the siblings were, what with them both having a habit of throwing pillows at innocent, sleeping people. But alas, she shook her head at the thought of him and strutted in to the room.

"Avoiding someone?" A familiar, deep voice said, just as she was almost past the door frame.

Ashley's heart jumped to her throat at the sudden voice. Slowly, she turned her head and was met with bright, amused sky blue eyes that she hadn't realized she missed so much, "Pfft. No, whatever gave you that idea?" She mused with a scoff as she stepped aside to let a disheveled man with the biggest eye bags she had ever seen pass by her.

"Sure. I may have known you for three weeks now, but I can easily tell you are." Reece said as he reached for her waist and brought her close to his chest. He sent her one of his charming, boyish grins that immediately had her melting in his arms, "—I can only hope it isn't me you're running away from." He finished as he dipped his head and kissed her forehead lightly.

Ashley smiled and placed her hands on his white dress shirt, only to retract it as if it bit her, "No! My pen boiled! You've got to be kidding me." She exclaimed as she groaned and frantically looked around, as if waiting for a tissue or something to wipe her ink soaked hand with to materialize out of thin air.

She heard Reece snicker at her and she turned to glare at him, only to watch him in disbelief as he reached for her messy hand, grabbed her pen and tossed it in a bin right by the door. He then guided her hand to his shirt and wiped it almost clean despite her trying to pull her hand away from his grip. He looked back up at her with a satisfied grin on his beautiful face before he kissed her again and released her hand.

"Problem solved." He commented, "—you don't want to be late for this exam, trust me." He finished, before he took a step back and walked into the exam room behind her.

Ashley blinked at him, still processing what just happened, and how he was able to walk around with a whole ink blob shouting at anyone who could see on his white shirt. Shaking her head at him—though thankful—she followed into the room and picked the seat next to him. She looked at him in time to catch the pen he tossed at her before he winked and turned to a random woman with short, mint green dyed hair and conversed with her; most likely asking for a pen.

Ashley couldn't help the smile that wound it's way on her lips at how selfless Reece was being. She wondered if it was because they were still in their honeymoon phase of the relationship and whether they'll soon be at each other's heads over the littlest things once it was over. She shook her head at the distracting thoughts swimming in her head and instead tried to picture her Critical Thinking notes in her head page by page. The best she could come up with was the folder she had them saved in and how the word document looked, but not a single sentence made sense. 

She had absolutely no content.

Sighing, she raised her head and watch their lecturer—a tall, dark skinned, old and balding man—walk around with heaps of papers nested between his forearm and stomach that he handed out to students. Mr. Amulega was a respected lecturer with a kind, nurturing heart and the most adorable laugh. It was because of how easy-going and friendly he was that everyone seemed to like him and not bully him with a nickname. Although sometimes his classes did stretch out for a longer period than the required sixty minutes, everyone stayed and always listened to his stories. Ashley had always assumed it was because of his age, that he had so many to tell, as he had lived quiet the interesting life thus far.

He eventually reached her and handed her a bright yellow question paper face down; instructing her to wait before turning it over with the rest. She took in a breath and said a silent prayer that it was an easy one, before she remembered a few students saying that though he was nice and easy-going, his exams were almost set by Lucifer himself. She nearly groaned out loud and rubbed the spot between her eyebrows. With the way her luck was going, that was likely the case with the paper.

Fuck me.

VOTE. COMMENT. AND KEEP BEING AWESOME.

©