Anne Mu, an innocent and kind-hearted student, had always been the target of cruel mistreatment by her heartless coursemates.
Anne had no idea why they just loathed her. What could she have done for them to abhor her to a great extent?
Some said she was too ugly but the reflection she saw every morning was far-fetched, while some mocked her that she was just a scholar and should not have been with them.
Some taunted her for being an intelligent student...was that an offense?
Despite enduring their relentless bullying, she continued to wear a gentle smile and believe in the innate goodness of people.
One fateful day, as Anne diligently studied in her usual secluded corner of the university library, a group of her coursemates approached her.
Their smiles were deceptive, concealing the malice that lay beneath their facades.
"Anne," one of them said with feigned cheerfulness, "there's a party happening on the university rooftop tonight. It's going to be so much fun, and we thought you might want to join us."
The other girls beside beamed as they nodded, showing that they were all in approval with the invitation.
Anne's eyes lit up with hope. She had always longed for friendship, to find a place where she belonged.
She was 20 and in her second year and had not even gained any attention from anyone. No one wished to even be her seat partner, let alone her friend.
The only person who gave her his attention was her boyfriend, unfortunately, he died three months ago, he was reported to have been stabbed in his hostel and since then, there was no information about the killer.
The police men confirmed that he had committed suicide but Anne didn't believe this.
While some had said she was the killer!
The prospect of being included in a social gathering filled her heart with joy. It was a chance to escape her solitude, a chance to make friends.
"Really?" Anne's voice quivered with excitement. "I'd love to come! Thank you so much for inviting me."
Unbeknownst to Anne, the invitation was a cruel ruse. Her classmates had no intention of welcoming her into their circle. Instead, they saw this as an opportunity to humiliate her further, to revel in her vulnerability.
As evening descended upon the university campus, Anne arrived at the rooftop with a sense of anticipation, clutching a small gift she had prepared as a token of her gratitude for the invitation.
The night was illuminated by the soft glow of fairy lights, and laughter echoed through the air. But as she stepped onto the rooftop, the atmosphere shifted.
Laughter turned into sinister whispers, and the friendly faces of her classmates twisted into sneers of malice. It became painfully clear that this was a setup, a trap carefully orchestrated to break her spirit.
Anne's heart sank as the realization hit her like a tidal wave. She had been lured here under false pretenses, and her coursemates had no intention of letting her enjoy the evening. They circled around her, their taunts growing louder, their words cutting deeper.
The rooftop party had started with a facade of laughter and merriment, but it quickly transformed into a nightmarish ordeal for Anne Mu. Her coursemates, the very people she had hoped would become friends, revealed their true intentions with an alarming cruelty.
The first cruel taunts were aimed at her background.
"You don't belong here, Anne. You're just a charity case."
"Did your mother teach you any manners, or did she teach you to be a nuisance?"
They mocked her single mother, the woman whose reputation was tarnished by unfounded rumours. Anne's classmates revelled in her vulnerability, knowing that they held power over her, both socially and emotionally.
"You're nothing but a poor girl, Anne."
A girl whose lips were red as her hair smirked before coming closer to Anne. She held Anne Mu's chin and asked her, "Your single mother killed your father... how come you feel no shame? How do you still live?"
"Why don't you disappear, and let us enjoy our lives?"
An high-pitched voice broke the noise, "Her presence here in the university is endangering. She is a murderer's child, why did they let her school here? She definitely has her mother's gene, after all, she is her mother's daughter."
"Ow ow... Listen listen. She definitely killed her boyfriend! That handsome guy was definitely killed by this witch. How dare you?!"
"If you think of it, isn't it something in their DNA... killing their partners. She followed her mother's route."
"Hehehe...some kind of tradition is all I can see here."
Anne's eyes welled up with tears, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her break down.
They revelled in her pain. The pain of losing her father, the pain of been accused as a murderer's child when in fact it was a different story and her boyfriend's death.
She had been the target of their cruelty for so long, but this time was different. This time, they had gone too extremes. Just when she thought they were going to repent. She had believed everyone had a good side.
As Anne stood on the precipice of that rooftop, the rain mixing with her tears, she couldn't comprehend the depths of cruelty to which they would sink.
The ringleader, a sinister grin on their face, continued to taunt her, "Is this what your miserable life has come to, Anne Mu? A pathetic fall from grace?"
They circled her like vultures closing in on their prey. The other coursemates joined in, their insults escalating with each passing moment.
"Your mother should be ashamed of what she's produced."
"Why did she even bother having you?"
Anne's vision blurred, her ears ringing with their hurtful words.
Anne knew she had to fight back, not just for herself, but for the dignity she refused to surrender. In that moment of desperation, she pushed back against her tormentors, her voice trembling with defiance. "Hell is real, you all. You would rot in jail and hell if you don't repent."
They laughed at her.
"Look at the devil claiming to be a prophetess!"
But the struggle reached a fever pitch, and Anne's footing became precarious. She teetered dangerously close to the edge, her heart pounding in her chest. Her coursemates, fuelled by their cruelty, showed no mercy.
However, as they kicked her, spat on her, threw cans on her and she neared the edge, a dangerous mistake took place.
Trying to stand up, she was again pushed by the red-haired girl and unfortunately, her body betrayed her and she fell off the roof.
Time seemed to slow as her coursemates rushed to the edge with open mouths, their faces twisted with shock and horror as they watched Anne's body plummet to the ground below.
Their cruel intentions had gone too far, leading to a catastrophic accident they could never have anticipated.
Anne's body landed on the unforgiving ground with a sickening thud, her blood staining the pavement beneath her.
The impact was brutal, and pain shot through her body as she lay there, gasping for breath.
Her coursemates, now gripped by panic, stared in disbelief at the consequences of their actions.
"Charlotte, what did... you just do?" one of them stammered, her voice trembling with fear.
"It was a mistake," Charlotte replied, her face pale with shock. "Do not put the blame on me. We all did it!"
"But you kicked her, and she fell," another classmate accused.
"Fuçk," Charlotte exclaimed, her voice desperate. "Don't put the blame on me. If you all had not pushed her to the edge, she wouldn't have fallen when I threw her a kick."
"We shouldn't be making a fuss," someone urged. "Let's clear things up here and run before they come here!"
"The camera..."
"Stop being such a dummy," another classmate snapped. "We fixed that matter before coming here."
In the midst of their frantic discussion, Anne Mu lay on the ground, her body battered and broken, her life hanging in the balance.
That was how Anne Mu's life ended on that fateful night, but it would not be the end of her story.