"I thought, St. Louie is the only thing at the end of this road?" Cholo's eyes widened as he looked out the window next to him, pulling the seatbelt of the shotgun seat that he has on. "I had no idea there are these many shops here."
"First time coming here?"
The young police officer quickly returned to his seat when he heard the female police officer who was driving speak. In his haste, he even bumped into the window and flinched from the pain.
Meanwhile, SPO2 Felicity Soriano did not react. "Why, which prestigious university did the mayor's precious son go to?"
Cholo swallowed while still rubbing the part of his head that he thought would swell. "At S-Scitus University, ma'am."
Felicity only smiled lightly as she continued to drive.
"H-How about you, ma'am?"
"Where did I study?" the policewoman asked and in her peripheral vision, she saw her companion nod. "Here, in St. Louie."
Cholo's eyebrows gradually raised when he realized something. "Then do you still have the whole campus memorized?"
"Would I come with you if I don't?"
Instead of being scared because of the sarcastic question back at him, the young policeman smiled. "Nice! We can easily tell if something is wrong!"
Suddenly, the shy smile on Felicity's face disappeared. She spoke seriously. "Yeah, there is something wrong."
"H-Huh?"
"The printing and supplies shops close every summer and Christmas vacation, but those restaurants... I even ate at Cario's last week."
"Oh, you still come back here every now and then, huh?"
Felicity frowned. "That's not the point!"
"Y-Yes, yes! That is never the point!" Cholo said in a panic, terrified because that was the first time his admired policeman had yelled at him. "S-Shall we take a look? T-Those res—"
The young policeman was not able to finish what he was saying and almost pulled his seatbelt off again when Felicity suddenly hit the break. If it hadn't been for that seatbelt, he probably would have ended up buried in the dashboard.
Again, the policewoman didn't react and just quickly removed her seatbelt. "Let's go."
*****
"Now that everybody's got their partner, I want you to open the boxes," said the deep voice from the speakers again in a tone that seemed to be a host of a kids' party. "Ladies first."
The women quietly opened the box they were holding. Some were hesitant at first, but when they saw the inside of the others' boxes, they quickly opened theirs as well. One thing prevailed over all of them—extreme confusion.
"Nothing?" The deep voice laughed from the speaker. "It's a prank!"
Although they remained silent, because no one dares anymore to contradict the voice they were hearing, the irritation of the graduates was palpable. The others almost fainted from being so nervous, only to find out that the boxes were empty.
"Funny, right?" asked the deep voice, still laughing. "Now, gentlemen, open yours."
Arkin is one of those standing in the front with his partner. Annoyed by the loud laughter coming from the speakers, and thinking that the boxes the men were holding were also empty, he violently broke his own.
A small object fell in front of Arkin and all attention went to him. The packaging of the object even sparkled a bit when he picked it up.
"What the fuck?" Arkin almost growled, with a mix of confusion and annoyance evident in his expression.
"Surprise from St. Louie, the university of purity and righteousness!" the deep voice said in glee. "You're welcome, gentlemen."
"What the fuck are we supposed to do with this?!"
"Arkin!" It was Kingsley who had to pull the young man away and calm him down before he provokes the person behind the voice on the speakers, because his cousin was just silently looking at Ally.
"I hate that I know what this means," said the young lady with a sigh while also looking directly into Noah's eyes.
"I don't want to do it, but it might involve your life," Noah said slowly, trying to be careful with his words as it is a sensitive topic that he is discussing with a woman he had only known for a couple of hours.
"I don't mind dying."
Noah's eyes widened, unable to believe how the young lady in front of him said that without hesitation.
"But it might involve your life too," Ally added to what she said. "I'm not dragging you into my own grave."
Noah frowned again as he raised his hand holding the contents of his box. "Do you really know what this thing is for?"
Ally nodded casually, staring at the packed condom the young man was showing her. "We'll do whatever we have to do for your survival."
*****
"This is bullshit!" Arkin said while gritting his teeth, looking at the cubicles ten seconds after the first batch of pairs entered there to do the task.
"This is hell," Jerome added shaking his head as he looked down.
Arkin turned around and became even more annoyed when he caught sight of his partner who wouldn't stop crying. He felt that, apart from the task, she was even more afraid because he became her partner. "Hey, Clarisse."
The woman almost crawled back when she saw Arkin looking at her.
"Tsk. We won't do it if you don't want to."
"B-But what if we die—"
"Then we'll do it."
Clarisse began to cry even more making the young man sigh violently.
"Shut up. Save your cries for later."
"Arkin," Kingsley called the young man in a warning tone while giving him a meaningful look.
Arkin was about to turn to the former Student Council president when a sound made everyone stop. When they heard it again, they both looked at one of the cubicles.
"T-They... gosh, they're doing it!" Hailey blinked as her hand felt her forehead. Unlike Kingsley, Arkin, and Jerome, they were standing far from the cubicles. But even at such a distance, the noise coming from that one cubicle could still be heard. She took a deep breath and covered her ears. "Gosh, my virgin ears!"
"Hailey, you're not helping," Noah calmly looked at her. When she frowned, he just shifted his gaze to his own partner who seemed to be deep in thought. "Hey, you okay?"
"I was thinking—" Ally could not finish what she was about to say when one of the cubicles opened. Everyone fell silent as that was the same cubicle where the noises had come from just a few seconds ago.
A pair of a young woman and a man came out, both sweating and panting. The two were smiling from ear to ear, but they suddenly collapsed on the floor.
The young people screamed again in fear and ran to the other side of Louie's Hall. The other cubicles opened as well and those who were there quickly came out, curious about what was going on. One by one, they also fell down on the cold floor, lifeless.
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