The word surprise wouldn't be the right one to describe my shock at the moment. My face washed blank with confusion, and my brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information with my wide eyes. Every muscle of my body just froze as I gawked at the gorgeous Eric Warnard sitting by my bedside patting my back in the middle of the night.

My confusion just amplified as I saw the shine of serious compassion in his eyes. As far as I knew Eric Warnard, he didn't do compassion. But his eyes showed the kind of gentle concern my father used to have. He laid his hand lightly on my shoulder, and instead of flinching like I usually did, I was soothed by it. He left his hand there and spoke with such a soft voice I felt his words calming me more by the way they were said than the actual words. It felt as if I were wrapped in a blanket of his caring.

I could feel the fear in my chest slowly dissipating as I listened to his honey-toned voice soothing me, telling me to take deep breaths, making small circles in the small of my back. When the fog in my head finally cleared I sat up straighter and looked him straight in the eyes, but before I could ask him anything he stood up and said, "There's no time Phina. I wished to chat with you a little longer but seems like it's no longer possible. I will talk to you later; find me tomorrow as soon as possible." And then he jumped off my wide-open window. Just like that, he left leaving me as confused as always. Wait! Did he just jumped off the fifth floor! But before my mind could catch up with the events that were unfolding that night my door was barged open and Lydia, the girl next door came bustling in. I heard Lena jump out of her skin as she jumped off her bed, startled like a jack-rabbit on steroids. I didn't even realize that Lena was in the room up until now, how in the world did she not wake up when Eric was here. Never realized she was such a heavy sleeper.

"Wha-What! What happened?" She shrieked, startled.

"The genitor, he-he is dead!" Lydia shrieked in a scared voice.

"WHAT!" Both Lena and I yawped in unison.

What was going on in here. If I was right, Rudy, the janitor still had about fifteen days left till he was to kick the bucket.

So the ear-screeching scream just then was of the janitor!

Both me and Lena quickly got up and rushed after Lydia as she led us to the scene of transgression. The emaciated man had dirt and grit all over his clothes and grimy body. His dark grey shirt (which used to be white) was tattered and shredded mainly where his heart should be. I saw a scene that did in no way exclaimed natural death. Rudy layed there on the cold hallway floor covered in his blood. Blood was still oozing out of the open wound on his chest and by the amount of blood leaking out of him you could tell the kill was fresh. I staggered back at the sight of the red liquid on the floor. The color swirled in my mind, making me feel light. The red liquid, flowed through the tiny cracks on the floor. As I watched the trails I saw it heading towards me, and every limb in my body screamed for me to run. I did not listen though. It was as if I was enthralled by the panorama itself; or maybe it was something else. I do not know. But I waited; I waited for it to touch my bare feet. And when it did, I experienced the tiny tremors that shot through me like lightning.

"Hmm, how is it?"

"Is it warm?"

"Does the blood feel warm?"

"We can feel your tremors. Khe-khe-khe..."

"Do you feel it? Isn't it magnificent?"

"Next will be you" "You!" "You!"

"Khe-Khe-Khe...hissss..." The voices that tormented me in my dream were whispering in my ears again and I was wide awake this time.

Frightened and startled, I looked around frantically but there was no one around near enough to whisper into my ears. Was I hearing voices now! Fear drowned me as my stomach heaved, my heart beating so fast people could mistake it for a heart attack. Unintentionally so, my eyes fell over Rudy's dead body once more and I was reminded of that horrible night years ago all over again. My gut lurched, and a churning mixture of digestive fluids and yesterday's dinner almost filled my mouth, but somehow I managed to keep it down. I could feel an impending hyperventilation right on the edge. I lose my footing as I staggered back and was caught by Lena. "Sara, are you alright?" She asked, worried.

"Yeah! I..I'm alright. Just a bit light headed." I replied in a shaky voice. "I think I need some rest." I said as I left the scene in panic.

'Where is Eric? I need to see him; right about now would be awesome. Did he know about this? Is that why he broke into my room tonight?' Such questions kept popping up inside my head as I hurried to my room; my walking became running and my fast beating heart won't stop its pace. Even though there was no one there, I could feel eyes on me. Watching me, like a hunter watches its prey. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong tonight and if I could have my way I would be chasing Eric Warnard to the moon and back right this moment and cling onto him for dear life. I don't know why I felt this way but if I had to put this feeling into words I would call it instinct. It was weird, unreasonable and the most bizarre thought ever but my gut said he was my safe heaven. The one person I so desperately wanted to get away from was the one person who could provide me with the ultimate sense of safety.

The night was long and sleep refused to grace me, not for a moment. All my mind did was replay the gory scene of Rudy's lifeless corpse like a broken record. I was not a morning person but I had never wanted it to be morning anymore than this moment. The night was literally suffocating me and my body wouldn't stop trembling.

After what felt like a millennium, morning finally turned up and I got up and without a second though I ran to where Eric Warnard was. I don't know why but I felt this strong need to be beside Eric Warnard at this moment.

I found Eric at the edge of the west wing of the third floor, where he usually spends most of his time. I could've gone into his room like I usually did, but today, I didn't want to. For some strange reason, I never felt comfortable in that room of his. In fact I didn't feel comfortable in the entire ominous third floor west wing. That place was too gloomy and felt every bit wrong as it is. I felt exposed there, and I heard voices there. The same kind of voices I heard last night. And at this moment, the vulnerable me did not want to go anywhere near that place. So I waited for him, away from that place, but just far enough to be able to see him when he came out of that place.

Before I saw him, every minute was a painful torture but then, when I finally did, it was like I had found my personal brand of stress reliever. The tension that had kept me up for the last 24 hours straight melted into nothing. My body voluntarily stopped shaking and utter relief flowed into my system. He saw me, surprisingly so, he too heaved a relieved sigh. Was he worried about me?

"I was just about to visit you right now, didn't expect you to be waiting for me. But given the previous night's event, it's no surprise you are here for me." He mouthed in a calm voice. "But if you wanted to visit me so, you could've just come to my room like usual. Why did you have to wait out here? I was not asleep anyway."

"I just didn't feel like visiting your place." I replied, not wanting him to know of my fears about his room.

"(Sigh) I see. Shall we go somewhere more private? I'm tired and I don't want to talk while standing in this dingy hallway." He said and I nodded once I compliance.

We took the stairs to this fairly silent hall room that seemed very empty since it was so early in the morning. We sat down on the old groggy couch when Eric spoke, "I see you were really shaken up since yesterday's event. But I didn't think it would effect you so much so as for you to come find me in your pajamas."

"What!" My eyes grew as wide as a saucer as I looked down at myself to find myself in my favorite green pajamas. I can't believe I came to see Eric Warnard in my PJs. Not like he hadn't already seen me in my pajamas but it was still quite embarrassing so as to speak. I turned a shade of beet red and tried to change the topic, "Well anyone would be shakened if they found a dead body right outside their door. But that is not what I am here for Warnard. You know that."

"Yes I know." He nodded with a small smile.

"Then I assume you know I want some answers." I said and he retaliated with his little know-it-all smile, "Yes, I am aware."

"So... Are you gonna give it to me?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

He just sighed and said, "I suppose I could try to answer some of them."

"Try to answer!" I was, once again shocked at his nonchalance. A man had died here, that too before his appointed death date. And he was saying he could try to answer! I knew Eric Warnard was not normal, he was surrounded with mystery and he knew things. Things that were not supposed to be known by a normal seventeen year old. But I was never interested in his secrets. Until today. Not because of the dead janitor, but because his secrets were starting to haunt me. And I was not cool with that.

"Well, what I mean is I will choose if I want to answer your questions or not. For example, if I didn't like your question I will choose to ignore it and we shall move on to the next question. If you get my drift." He smiled that angelic smile of his and I wanted to knock the daylights out of him, again. What compassion! I must've been half asleep back then.

"Well for one Eric, whatever this is all about I feel like you are deeply involved in it and you're dragging me into it. And you know I don't want trouble. Since because of you, I am being dragged into something I want nothing to do with I think I do deserve some answers, don't you think so?" I glared at him.

"Of course you do. But that doesn't mean I will give them to you." He dared to shrug! "After spending so much time with me you should at least figure that much out about me Phina."

Oh God! Who was I even arguing with. This guy was as stubborn as a mule. If he didn't want me to know things he was not gonna tell me even if I asked him at gunpoint. "Alright." I sighed, "Then answer this, did you know that janitor was gonna die yesterday?" I asked.

He looked at me once and then said, "No."

"Then why were you at my place last night?"

"I wanted to talk you into playing for me once more. So I went to see you." He said and I couldn't help but frown, "Okay! You and I both know that it's a white lie. Really, why did you break into my room last night? Not to mention how you broke in."

"I came in through your open window." He shrugged.

"You know that's not what I was going after right? And how did you even get in through a fifth floor window?" I narrowed my eyes at him, "Anyway, you can't possibly think I would buy your stupid excuse of an excuse. Why were you at my room yesterday Warnard? And I need the truth please."

"Okay, next." He waved his hand to skip to the next question.

"You really are not gonna tell me anything, are you?" I glowered into his thick skull.

"I told you Phina, I shall answer the questions that I feel like answering. Now don't push your luck."

"Okay, look here Eric, I have confided in you with the biggest of my life's secrets but what did I get in return? Disregard, conceit and indifference for my feelings." I was really pissed off now. No wonder I hit him the last time I spoke to this guy. This guy was the biggest prick ever and he knew what buttons to press to get me ticked off. "Why should I do your bidding when you've got no compassion for me?"

"Phina, I am not in the mood to fight with you right now and I had already decided to move on from that smack you gave me when I visited you last night. Let's just reconcile and forget and move on alright?" He said in all his nonchalance.

"Move on! How can I move on from something like this Eric? I confided in you, and I confided in your promise to cure me. I didn't tell you my secrets so you can poke me where it hurts when you are in the middle of your mood swings! I didn't confide in you so you can treat me like some disfigurement when you are pissed off at me!" I was in an emotional frenzy now. "I know I don't matter to you Eric Warnard but at least treat me like a human, will you? Not some flawed puppet that will do your bidding when you call for it." I didn't realize I was crying nor did I realize I was shouting as I let out the hurt and betrayal I felt at that moment when Eric Warnard dismissed me like I was a castoff good he spend too much time and money on. "You know what, let's end this. I dont wanna be involved with you anymore and I'm pretty sure I'm not your favorite either. So, lets end it here and be done with this farce. You can find someone else for your masterpiece. I quit."

I was breathing heavily now, my emotions all over the place. And Eric Warnard was staring at me with an unreadable expression. I originally wanted to be close to him because I felt a sense of safety being by his side. But at the same time, I couldn't overlook the fact that Eric Warnard was a totally selfish douche bag who didn't think even little of me. How do you stay with a person like that? What is the guarantee that he will keep you safe even if he had a need for me at moment? What was keeping him from running away while leaving me behind when danger knocked at my door? Even his sight irritated me at the moment.

No being able to stand another minute with him, I turned on my heels and left the guy to fret for himself. Also, I was afraid I would end up hitting him again if I was to overstay my stay.

~•••••••••••~

And now, we were back to the days where Eric Warnard would be following me like a lost puppy again.

I didn't think the guy would be so thick-skinned as to get over my rejections so easily and be back to his irritating self again. And I, being unable to hide my annoyance with him, looked for every opportunity to avoid him.

But something was strange this time. Normally, he would get extremely pissed when I deliberately avoided him and he would find every opportunity to yell accusations at me. But this time, he was acting out of character. Like he once ambushed me during lunch and I was so sure he was gonna make a scene again with him throwing a fit everywhere but instead he stood before me like a bill board poster with a mouth making an uncharacteristic grim line.

I stared at him and his eyes met mine for a second but then he looked away; his confident demeanor gone with the wind leaving behind a fidgeting individual. While I couldn't help squinting my eyes at him. For a moment he felt like a totally different person. Not the usual overbearing arrogant Eric Warnard. But then I was no longer interested in finding out what was up with him, so I exited the scene without further ado.

But that didn't seem to discourage the said personal, since he kept following me like I had him tied up to me. Well, the Veronans were not happy about it, but with Warnard around there was little they could do to act on their abhor towards me.

"Are you dating Eric Warnard?" The question almost had me slip off my chair and hit the floor. I looked up to see Delilah Adwell frowning at me, a little hostile maybe.

"Wha-What!" I couldn't even comprehend what was going on in that little messed-up head of hers.

"You know I heard he visited you in the middle of the night a few days ago, so I was wondering if you guys were going out." She muttered and I couldn't help but look at her in alarm.

What! How did she know he broke into my room that night? Even Lena didn't know about it. It was a secret and no one other than Eric and me knew about it. What the hell! Was she a stalker!

TO BE CONTINUED...