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Happy reading >.<
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"I thought you were going to call me last night."
Haven sighed, swinging her bag onto her shoulder as the bus halted at the stop.
"I went to sleep the second my head hit the bed since I was tired and everything." Not that I managed to get much sleep either way because of a certain 'someone'. "Theodore dropped you off safe?"
Lily instantly pouted at the mention of his name. "That man doesn't like me and I can't figure out why."
Haven glanced at her. "Why do you want him to like you?"
"He makes me curious. And the only way I can get to know him more is by making him like me!"
"..."
They were in the spacious courtyard of the university. Thick, billowing clouds stretched across every inch of the expansive sky, casting a shroud of somber gray upon the bustling scene below.
The radiant Sun, usually a radiant beacon of warmth and light, was concealed behind this veiled tapestry as if playing an enigmatic game of hide-and-seek with the world.
Out of nowhere, Haven and Lily's path was abruptly blocked by three girls who crossed their arms over their chests, clearly hostile at the sight of the pair.
The tallest one among them took the lead and exclaimed with a hint of mockery, "Look who it is! Got a new pal already? So soon after your best friend died? A little too shameless, don't you think Lily?"
Shit.
Adding insult to the injury, another girl chimed in, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Ooh! And with matching names and looks too!"
Unfazed by their taunts, Lily fired back, "Remember when I asked for your opinion? Yeah, me neither." One of the girls scoffed in response, glaring at Haven as if she were responsible for all the misfortune in the world.
Haven sighed inwardly. Well, my day's off to a great start!
Frustration bubbling within her, she couldn't help but confront the trio. "What do you three want?"
Sophie, the instigator of the group, sneered and her face darkened into a scowl. "You seem to have grown some guts since the last time we dealt with you. Maybe you need a reminder to keep your mouth shut!" With those words, she raised her hand, aiming it straight at Haven's cheek.
SMACK!
Haven's head tilted sideways as her cheek absorbed the impact, immediately turning bright red and beginning to tingle from the contact of Sophie's fake, long nails.
It shouldn't have affected her as much as it suddenly did. It was as if someone had pressed the rewind button and everything was going back to how it originally was.
'You're a weak little piece of dirt!'
'Keep your mouth shut!'
'Be a good girl and I'll let you out for a second or two.'
'You're nothing...'
[Take.]
She flinched out of her reverie, finding herself engulfed by a sudden surge of people who had materialized out of thin air.
As she blinked her eyes, feeling dazed and disoriented, the throbbing ache in her head intensified, compelling her to shut her eyes tightly. Seeking solace, she attempted to shut out the cacophony of voices that had invaded her mind, desperately yearning for a moment of respite.
"L-Lady Boss!"
Through the haze, she could spot a familiar-looking voice from somewhere. Somebody was grabbing her arm, helping her out from the crowd which was making her suffocate more with each passing second.
She hadn't expected her past memories to have such a toll on her. After CIA had found her beside her parent's dead bodies, they sent her to the orphanage. She had once questioned the higher up at that time but the only answer she received was that it was for her own greater good.
[Come.]
The orphanage was nothing out of the extraordinary. However, most of the kids staying there were either disowned or orphans who had been recruited by CIA. Especially the ones who were bursting with the desire for revenge, much like her.
From the very first day, she was taught to hate Ezekiel Wei. With all her heart, mind, and soul. One day she was writing about 1000 lines, repeating the words, 'I hate Ezekiel Wei.'
'I will kill him.'
Then it was repeated in her ear a hundred times.
When she went to sleep, that was what repeated like a broken audio tape inside her head.
Sleep was a precious gem that she never had the luck to receive. Gaining control of her emotions was the next step, getting starved and beaten up was the next. Hierarchies in the orphanage were not unusual and being the weakest amongst them, she was naturally the main target.
Days when she used to drag herself to lie beneath her bed so that nobody would hurt her while sleeping flashed inside her mind. Days when she would simply lie bleeding on the ground. Everybody was under the orders to specifically not help her.
Helping her equaled a public death sentence.
Within a year, they had groomed her into a monster.
A monster that everyone couldn't help but fear.
A monster everyone stayed miles away from.
But that monster still puked out her guts at the sight of blood. The very first time she was forced to kill someone. They had said it was the work of a second and then everything would be back to normal.
Haven knew they lied.
Nightmares haunted her from that day onward and no matter how hard she scrubbed and cleaned her hands, the unpleasant, metallic scent and feel of blood never left her senses completely.
The last thing she remembered before her body finally gave in was Lily's voice shouting her name aloud, resonating with a desperate plea for her to hold on, and a pair of piercing grey eyes, brimming with darkness and raw emotion, which she couldn't muster the energy to hate or resent.
Her eyelids fell shut.