As we were crossing the extraordinary entrance with the six feet tall iron-wrought gate with twisted black rods and the red brick wall, I could admire the magnificence and the splendor of the building. I was in awe with the large expanses of glass, the clustered columns, the sharply pointed spires, the ribbed vaults, and the flying buttress beneath of which we were now walking.
Lost in my thoughts as I was, I did not see Arthur leaving. One half of me was happy I did not need to say goodbye to him, the other half had already started missing him. The telepathic connection we had developed had more impact on me than I initially thought it would. I did not know what the reason was. I was not sure whether I wanted to know or not.
“Sometimes ignorance is bliss,” I thought as I climbed the breathtaking spiral staircase.
I had confirmed Arthur’s alibi knowing it was a blatant lie. I hated lying. I was already regretting it. Short of. I believed Arthur’s story and I did not want him to get in trouble. At the same time, I felt sorry for the man that had lost his life so brutally. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe I had bet on the wrong horse. Or maybe I was just losing my mind.
Only time would tell. I already had enough trouble to deal with. I did not need more.
CHAPTER 9
*
It was almost midnight and I was walking was fast across the corridors. I was feeling uncomfortable walking around this unfamiliar building alone at night. I had always been cautious but that particular night I was extra cautious after the weird events that had occurred to me in the last 24 hours.
As I entered the corridor that led to my room, I raised my head to admire the extraordinary ornate wrought-iron arch above me before I turned my glance to an elaborate wrought-iron door I passed by. I was getting obsessed with the beauty of that building.
A turmoil of thoughts suddenly erupted into my head, accompanied by a shrill sound that caused me so much pain that I unconsciously bent down, with the weight of my body collapsing onto my knees. I placed my hands on my ears in a desperate effort to block the horrific sound out of my mind, although I knew it would have little effect. It was like a vortex of thoughts was swirling in a mist of contradicting emotions. My scream was covered by the sound of the cars as I folded my body over my tights.
With my eyes tightly closed and my fingers pressing my temples, I did the trick that I had perfected throughout the years; a trick that had saved my mental sanity multiple times in the orphanage when everyone was loud and quarreling.
I imagined a large front door, like the one I had admired a few minutes ago, closing with a loud sound, keeping all evil outside and keeping my thoughts and memories safe. An unearthly strong force tried to prevent the door from closing, but I proved to be stronger and the battle was won. My mind was safe. Now I had to care for the safety of my body.
A strong wind blew abruptly behind my back and got my hair flying into the air. I knew instantly that the blow was not caused by a natural phenomenon. My senses had already been warned about the imminent danger. What had really scared the crap out of me was the huge dark silhouette that I caught with the corner of my eye as I turned around. Beads of sweat poured over my forehead as I realized that it was not one huge entity that had almost hit my back, but two human beings embraced in a hug so tight that they looked like one unity. They hit a wall as they flew across the corridor and crashed on the steep carpet.
Suddenly, one of the men pulled out a dagger glowing a radiant silver light and stabbed his opponent in the middle of the chest. The injured man howled eerily as his entire body caught fire simultaneously and within seconds he was burned down until all that left of him was a pile of dark ashes on the pavement.
Frozen to death, I stood still against the wall, silent and breathless, trying not to draw the attention of the man with the dagger. Alas! In a blink of an eye, the man came to stand in front of me.
“My lady, at your service,” Arthur said before he hid the dagger in the inner pocket of black purple his suit jacket.
“I’LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING when we get to my room,” Arthur said as he gently grasped my arm. “We cannot stay here, we must leave now.”
“Wait!” I yelled. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I am going to my room.”
“Please, Gwen, we have no time. They will soon be here. They must not find us here.”
“Who are they? Forensic wizards?” I asked.
“It is not forensics I am most concerned about,” he replied nodding politely that I should start walking ahead of him.
“What is it then?” I ignored his nod.
“Those people, the man in class and that one I just took care of, they were murderers. And since you were at both crime scenes, their friends may come after you. So, that is why you cannot go to your room. You must follow me. I need you to trust me.”
My gut told me that following him to his place was not such a bad plan. I followed him because I thought that being left alone was not a good idea.
A couple of
