This place is a maze. If you weren't properly familiar with all the turns and corners in here before, then you actually won't be getting familiar with it anytime soon. And if you were familiar with them before or just some of them, I'm sure you're still gonna get lost in this huge palace like structure building, ending up in some kind of a cell.
As far as I've gotten to see the condition of this building, I'm sure this place does consist of cellars.
My new mission; find the cellars.
"...had told me beforehand about the structure..." It was going like this for the past hour, Jess blabbing and I tuning in or more like out.
As soon as we'd reached the room for fashion designing, that's what me and Alicia which I found out like an hour ago were studying in here. My plans were to get a degree in fashion designing, open a boutique back in my hometown and well that's it for now.
Anyways, since it was our first day and since we still weren't used to around here as Sir Harris liked to put it, he had us all lined up for a tour and here we are now; exploring.
We little explorers like Dora..
"...besides I've never seen anyone in there since the time I arrived. And you won't believe it! That place is completely deserted as i-"
"Wait, what place?" I scrunched up my face at her while also trying to pay some mind to what Mr. Harris was saying. So far I had only heard him screaming at students to stay close, or either pointing out the names of random rooms.
I'll have Kieran take me on a tour later. I could invite Alicia too...
I cut off whatever she was saying earlier, "Hey Alicia, I'll be going on a tour of the whole place sometime later with one of my friends, I was hoping if you wanted to join?"
She blinked back a few times, probably taken aback before answering, "Oh... with who?"
"Kieran. I met him in the airport back in my hometown. The one who's room I went to earlier today to take a shower."
Realization dawns upon her features, "Oh. Sure, no problem. I'd love to join you guys. When are you planning to go?" She gave me a curious smile.
"As soon as we get done with the classes. I just have to inform Kieran about it now." I take out my phone and message him quickly. Actually I had no idea when I had gotten his number even but nonetheless I was grateful to him for putting it in there.
Kieran; I want you to give me a trip of the whole castle since Mr. Harris's tour isn't helping me out at all. Also, I'll be bringing my roommate, Alicia with me. I hope that doesn't bother you.
My thumb hovered right above the send button before a thought struck me and I stopped.
Will he even have my number in his phone? What if he does not have my number saved??
So I quickly add,
Love, Raven.
With that, I sent the message and stuff my phone away. Turning towards Alicia, I saw her already looking at me with a smirk and I frowned.
"What?"
"You said he was your friend, right?"
"Yeah.." I looked at her in more confusion trying to figure out where she was getting with this.
To my avail, I was horribly failing.
"Well, as far as I've known, you don't use intimate words with a friend." Her smirk grew wider and I shook my head.
"No no, you got it wrong. I like to call my friends with intimate names, you'll be getting one in the future too if we still remain friends which I'm sure we'll be. So there's nothing like what you think." I smiled at her.
She scoffed though her smirk remained, "Whatever you say..."
I looked at her and smiled whilst shaking my head.
When we finally finished our tour, class was almost over and since I had only one class for today, I went back to my room. Alicia, on the other hand had another one.
During sometime between our tour, I'd received a message from Kieran saying he'll gladly show me around and was totally okay with Alicia coming. Since he too had only one class today, he'd told me we could start the tour at 2 in the afternoon.
Though as soon as I'd mentioned it to Alicia, her face fell and she looked kinda troubled. I immediately knew something was wrong and she said, "I've got two classes today actually and it won't be finishing until 3.45 p.m."
I had blinked for a few minutes trying to decipher what she was getting at and then it hit me, "Silly girl!" I had scolded her like a mother scolding her 5 year old upon consuming too much chocolate. "I'll just ask him to delay the time!"
Her eyes went wide and she was like, "Oh no, no no no! I can't let you delay your tour for me. Besides, I don't want this Kieran guy getting troubled because of me. That'd be so rude!" She threw up her hands in the air after finishing her rambling, which I noticed always seemed to get her worked up over nothing. Cute.
I rolled my eyes, "Girl, you won't be a bother to me and Kieran at all. I know him! And I know he'll understand. Here, I'll ask him about it right now."
So I'd messaged him asking if he was okay with going on tour at 4. His reply had been almost immediate, saying he's totally okay with it and also why. I'd told him about Alicia and her class and he'd been totally okay with it saying we can take as much time as we require.
Though it still didn't seemed to convince Jess who was biting her nails beside me and murmuring something quite too low for me to hear.
It took about 5 minutes but I managed to convince her that it wasn't a bother to us at all and that we were totally okay with it. I had to actually call Kieran and ask him to say this all to Jess and just like that, she was totally okay with it like I'd been the only one imagining her not agreeing.
Boy, Kieran's a charmer! I tell you!
So here I was now, laughing with Kieran as we walked down the unknown paths while waiting for the clock to strike 4 so we could pick Alicia up from our room and start the tour.
I didn't know he was good at jokes too! Tell me something he wasn't good at actually.
"Alright....." He gasped for breath like a fucking hyena and I laughed even more, clutching my stomach tightly.
"I've got another one; what did the traffic light say to the car?" He looked at me expectantly while still breathing hard.
"Um... traffic lights speak too?" I asked with a sheepish smile. I'm not at all good at jokes but I'm actually quiet the opposite.
He gave me an unamused look before completely changing his expression.
"Don't look! I'm about to change!" He waved his hands frantically for emphasis before going into another round of laughter with me right behind him.
Actually, those hands gestures made me laugh more than the joke itself. Also, that horrified expression he had on his face while saying it.
"You know we should do this more often..." He murmurs after a while of laughing his ass off.
"Yeah whenever you're not in one of your moods!" I say immediately, a permanent smile plastered on my face as we walk side by side along the ruddy hallways.
"What moods?" He says with a confused look although his smile remained.
"You know, when you have this intense look on your face and your eyes are all dark like you've seen a rival or someone you know..?" I ask in a questioning way, looking over at him for confirmation but he was already looking ahead so I continued, "It kind of creeps me out, you know..."
"I'm sorry." His reply was almost immediate that I was forced to face him.
Though as soon as I opened my mouth to tell him that it was okay and I really didn't mind it, he continued on.
"I'm sorry." He said it again and again as if some sort of mantra.
I frowned at this because at first I thought he was being genuinely sorry over his rude behavior - which I don't consider in the least - but then I realize he wasn't saying it to me but rather he was telling it to himself. Besides, he had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway with that horror-stricken look plastered over his face.
"Kieran? Kieran! Hey? It's okay... I don't mind it at all! I was joking." Did I mention before that I'm not at all good at comforting people? Because he's hyperventilating by now!
God!!!! I wish Alicia was here!
"Hey... Look at me! Kieran! You need to look at me!" And that one command was all for him to meet my eyes, making me his prisoner once again.
He had me captured in his beauty like everytime he does. But this time, I levelled it. I did not back down like before and stood my ground. I stood searching his eyes, trying to find any sort of emotion or well something.
When that didn't work, I focused on trying to stop him with his mantra.
"It isn't your fault. None of it is. You don't need to feel sorry at all." My voice felt foreign to my own ears. It was like honey. Like music to my ears.
It was calm and collected. Not at all like how felt at the moment. Which made me confused but I kept my cool and focused on Kieran. He was my main focus right now.
"You're right. I shouldn't be apologizing for something that isn't my fault. You're right." A small smile crept on his face as he uttered those words and I mentally did a happy dance.
"And now forget about what just happened, okay?" This time though, the sickly honey voice made me cringe even though I knew it beforehand.
"Of course. I think it's almost 4, so let's go get Alicia, huh?" He said while checking his phone and I hummed in agreement, forgetting myself what just happened in here.
So that's how we all ended up in a coffee shop - that I had no idea existed within the premises of the university - as Alicia had whined she was hungry and well I'd joined her too.
"Wait, so you mean you guy's have never met before??!" Alicia exclaimed a little too excitedly as she held her tea with both hands, seemingly about to jump out of her seat any moment now.
"Yup." Kieran replies, equally amused by Alicia, she kinda has that effect I noticed.
Alicia, though, being herself, narrows her eyes, unable to believe what we just told her. Honestly, if I was in her shoes I'd find that a bit suspicious too.
"I still can't believe it." She declares after a while of observation and I can't help the chuckle that escapes my lips, making all the attention turn to me.
"Well, it is true..' I say quietly while taking a bite out of croissant, moaning in delight from the rich chocolate that fills my mouth and senses.
When I do swallow and look up, I find them both staring at me, Alicia with a smirk and Kieran with his raised brows.
"What?" I question, frowning at them.
They both still stare at me for a few more minutes, their expressions remaining the same and I prepare to ask my question again thinking they didn't hear me the first time, but he interrupts first.
"Nothing." He says as a response to my question while shaking his head and diverting his attention to his coffee.
Which reminds me, I still didn't ask him that question.
"Hey, why black coffee?" I cross my hands on the table and lean forward a bit, hoping to look anything but genuinely curious.
"Because I like black coffee." He shrugs casually before sipping his coffee again. I sigh, annoyed.
So I look at Alicia to see her studying me and Kieran with slightly narrowed eyes. Actually you really won't be able to tell they're narrowed unless you pay attention and know her personally the way she looks.
She catches me looking at her and smirks lightly, I frown, "What?" I mouth to her.
She looks at me for a second, probably debating on whether to tell me the truth or not but then thinks the better of it and just shakes her head instead, the smirk remaining and my stomach twisting.
Kieran clears his throat, catching our attention just as he stands up from his chair, the metal scraping on the hardwood floor.
"So, we gonna tour or not?" He says by way of explanation and looks down at our confused faces before blinking in fake shock, "We aren't?"
"Of course we are." I say and stand up, finishing the last of my croissant as Alicia too does the same with her tea.
Once we are both up and done, our clothes straightened and ready to go, Kieran says, "Come on then." And we follow him out of the cafe.
"Wait, what is this place's name?" I gesture behind me, to the closed doors of the cafe that ring everytime someone opens them.
"Jolly's." Kieran says simply and I glance back to see the sign hanging right above the doors in beautiful calligraphy with swirls and flowery twirls.
Wow. I'm rendered speechless at the creativity.
As we're walking, I notice that we're walking straight to the main building so I figure everything important must be in here. That's good, not much to remember.
"Alright, so what do you wanna see first?" Kieran turns around and stops, his hands resting lazily over his hips as he scans the place.
My eyes find Ms. Whiffpiff's office and I'm immediately transported back to my first day here.
A small smile rests on my face as the day plays in my mind like its been set on repeat. I look over at Kieran to see if he's thinking the same thing and his eyes meet mine. What surprises me though, is the fact that the light brown that I'd grown comfortable too the past 2 days was gone, replaced by that dark brown-black color that always got me worked up over nothing.
Those dark, dark eyes. They had had me captured in them again and I couldn't seem to look away. Everything had faded around me until it was only me and him that existed. Even though I could feel my palms getting clammy but this time, it was different. So different that I could literally feel that difference.
Those once emotionless eyes felt to be filled with so many emotions all at once today. None good ones though.
That expressionless face now seemed to be playing million of possibilities all at once. Like it was some sort of an endless video playing on loop and I was forced to watch it.
So I did. I watched how his expression morphed into one of complete admiration. I read his thoughts focusing on only one and one thing, more like person.
My mind was filled with voices. Exploding all around me, some angry, some happy. I couldn't understand a single thing so I focused solely on one, the single calm voice at the back of my head that was too quiet for me to make out almost making it impossible to hear. Though before I could hear much, the voices vanished.
And just like that, I'm me again. I'm back in my body, left with my own thoughts, standing exactly where I was, staring into those same dark eyes that are staring into mine.
Though this time, there's another voice. Faint, very faint but it's getting louder by every second, getting more and more clear until I'm sure I can make it out.
"Raven!! Hey!! Listen to me... Kieran!!" Alicia.
I force myself to look at her, or even take a glimpse of her to get myself out of this situation. This is too tiring, I can't do this.
No! And just like that, everything's back to how it was. I'm not staring into intense brown eyes but instead into bright blue ones. I'm not hearing anything except Alicia yelling my name and loud chatters around me. I'm not seeing anything accept Jess's face and the castle like structures of Acadia university.
I'm normal. Everything's normal. Nothing happened. You're okay.
I force myself to breath and that's all it takes to wash away the last of my panicked state and bring about a state of normality in me.
Everything's okay. You're okay. You're normal. Nothing happened.
I smile at Alicia and say, "I'm fine, just remembering my parents."
Her face immediately morphs into relief and then pity before she hugs me tightly and I hug her back equally.
Then my eyes meet his and everything that happened the past few seconds come rushing back to me like a lion that had been waiting for its escape.
He knows. He remembers. I can see It in his eyes, written all over his face.
And then I divert my eyes, looking at anything but him, trying to forgot everything that happened.
Nothing happened. You're okay. You're normal.
He's okay. He's normal. I'm normal. We're normal. Everything's okay. Forget what happened.
She's beautiful, so beautiful that it hurts. Those big brown eyes that shine so bright like diamonds in the middle of the night. Her voice, that I'm forced to hear everytime I close my eyes. Her face which is literally stuck in my head. I can't stop thinking about her, she's beautiful like a goddess sent from heaven for me..
I know, I know, he'll come searching for her. I know he's waiting. I know that he knows about her. I know he's watching my every move. He's watching her, us. And I need to do something about it before he takes her away from me. I can't let that happen, I've waited just too long..
They're too many. I can't handle them all at once. I need time. Though they're increasing, everyday. Bit by bit, they're forming a whole army. They're preparing to attack and when that happens, I won't be able to protect everyone. But I have to protect her. It's my responsibility... I promise, I'll keep you safe.
Everything's messed up. I need time, I can't tell her right now. Just.. just some more time. I promise I'll tell her when the time's right. Please..
And I just can't seem to concentrate on anything else except these thoughts. His thoughts.
Who is Kieran? And what is he hiding?? I need to get the answers to those damned questions!