7 Hasty Decision

'DR Academy...'

I whispered in my thoughts. The abbreviation sounded somewhat familiar to me. Though I'm not truly sure. What scared me most right now was the look this head mistress was giving me. Her eyes were targeting mine, as if she were assessing my very soul.

The harder she stared the more I wanted to look away.

"I dare say have we met before, young miss..." she trails on purpose. Hinting to me to say my name.

I almost wanted to neglect the question and not answer but I remembered her position in school. So I opted to be obedient and not disrespect her. Though this place gave me bad vibes, I had no choice but to spend my time here.

I huffed out a small breath before bravely saying, "Levi, ma'am."

Her right brow shot up in acknowledgement but she didn't seem satisfied with my answer.

"Miss Levi... daughter of whom do I presume?" she asks continuously.

I was now my turn to raise a brow.

'Why does she need to know who my parents are? Is it necessary for school staffs to know who we are? Or maybe it was because she said I looked familiar... Could that be because of my mother?'

I was still confused for a moment, contemplating on what I should say.

"Actually I—" I was about to answer when Mr. Black spoke for me. "D'emillo, ma'am..."

It could just be me, but I think Miss Pilgrim's eyes suddenly grew a little wider after hearing that. Must be of surprise, but I didn't know what for, could she know my mother?

Her expression shifted back to normal and her poker face renounced its presence.

"I see... a D'emillo," she utters more to herself than to us.

Her gaze lands on me again and her eyes felt heavier than earlier did.

"Who are your parents?" her voice dropped a few octaves deep that instantly raised red flags for me.

She didn't seem to realize the change in her voice. Her tone was spiteful almost and I could see raw rage rising from her eyes. I didn't know why, but it was directed at me so fiercely that I was reduced to becoming a mute.

Unable to answer, her gaze hardened and annoyance played across her eyes.

I was rooted on the ground as I continued to be silent, my eyes finally having the strength to look away. I whipped my head to the side and tried my best to avoid her beady eyes.

Tension arouse gradually as my silence continued. Though I didn't see her, I felt Miss Pilgrim's gaze directed at the back of my head, drilling holes as she waits for my answer.

"Well, Miss D'emillo?" she gave my surname a bit more of an emphasis than I would like, which closed my mouth shut and made me tremor in discomfort.

Mr. Black seemed to have felt this since he answered for me again, "She doesn't have parents, head mistress."

My body immediately felt at ease the moment the head mistress is gaze left me. I took a side peek over Miss Pilgrim and Mr. Black. Now Miss Pilgrim is questioning eyes directed at Mr. Black.

Though the man had a straight face, it was unmistakable how he looked almost terrified under Miss Pilgrim's watchful eyes.

"What do you mean, Mr. Black?" her tone genuinely confused but a hint of annoyance remained laced to her tone of voice.

Mr. Black cleared his throat first before speaking.

"I had picked up Miss D'emillo at an orphanage a few cities west from here. She was living there as an orphan ever since, head mistress."

I was undoubtedly impressed at the way Mr. Black handled himself under such a pressuring gaze.

The pressure in Miss Pilgrim's eyes withdrew at the statement.

Processing this newly presented piece of information.

Her eyes trailed back towards me. A skeptic looks now present in her expressions.

She studied me as she holds her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"There's no doubt..." she mumbles to herself as she gives me a once-over.

I wondered what she could've meant by that. The suggestive glint in her eyes was throwing me off as she continues to stare down at me.

I stood stiff on my spot as I tried to avert my gaze.

'She knew just how to scare people'

I thought as I felt another wave of shivers roam throughout my skin. Except for the whole building, I did not love it here on first impressions.

The bussing in the pits of my stomach has yet to stop bothering me. I just know that something was off about this place.

I could swear that I feel some kind of dark aura radiating from the interiors of this building. I couldn't shake the feeling of all the beauty of this place could no more be a mask of something greatly unsettling.

Maybe it was just me and another episode of my paranoia. But I could feel it so strongly.

Suddenly, the woman clasps both her hands together and utters suggestively.

"Whelp, let us head in for today and talk about the school arrangements inside.��

She says in an obviously fake cheery tone. I found it weird...

'Why'd she have to do that?'

Suddenly, Miss Pilgrim turns and glances back at them.

"Please do follow me inside," she instructs.

I bit my lip at this and stared up at the building, hesitating whether I should oblige or not. At this moment, my nerves were going haywire. I was freaking out; bullets of sweat began forming on my forehead the longer I stared up at the building. The once admirable structure began to look like an imposing creature of darkness in my eyes.

The small voice inside my head was also babbling for me to not follow and escape.

I side-eyed Mr. Black's car almost instinctually the moment the voice began screaming at me. I was starting to think that this was crazy. Which, it was...

The voice in my head had begun insisting that I steal the car and drive out of here. It wasn't like I knew how to drive, but I think I could wing it. I was a fast learner, all I had to do was look at how people do things, and I can memorize it the moment I observe and see it with my own eyes.

'It shouldn't be that hard right?'

I tried to convince myself as my adrenaline began to rise to the surface.

I looked down at Mr. Black's pocket, unsure if the car keys were there with him or was left inside the car. I spotted no ring of keys, so I assumed that they were still in the car. As quietly as I could, I tip toed towards the car. Hoping and praying to god for guidance as I made my way down the few flights of stairs.

I silently sprinted towards the car and glanced inside the vehicle. Sure enough, light was reflecting from the inside of the car and I saw the keys still inserted in the ____. I tried the car door to try if it was left open, lucky enough, it clicked open, and I hopped in.

'Sorry for this Mr. Black' I thought as I turned the key and the car came to life.

At this point, Miss Pilgrim and Mr. Black were halfway through the podium and are now nearing the doors of the academy. They must've noticed that I wasn't following and had glanced back at me. The next thing I knew they called out for me to stop.

The moment they shouted for me to stop, my adrenaline spiked into unbelievable heights and I started the car, twisting the key and pulling the lever forward. My heart skipped a beat when I almost drove into a nearby tree, in a panic my feet shuffled to find the brakes. Just as I was about to go off-road, I found the breaks and the car abruptly stopped.

I could hear my heart raising at the narrow escape. Just as my nerves were about to relax, the voices of the two snapped me back to reality and I frantically pulled the lever for reverse and I turned the car over, facing the gates.

A glimmer of hope flashed in the depths of my heart as I see the gates were still wide open.

I heard Mr. Black's voice booming from outside and that made me step on the gas pedal and sped off the road, towards the opened gates. I clutched on the steering wheel as I noticed the gates beginning to close up. At this moment, the fear of the unknown never crossed me. The small voice in my head screamed for me to stop, knowing that I might not make it.

But my mind seemed to have shut my ears off of hearing the voice, or anything at all. White noise surrounded my senses. All I could hear was my own heavy breathing as my eyes stare directly at the slowly closing gates.

It must've been the adrenaline, but it felt like the world slowed down on me. The sounds of my breath were echoing in my ears and my face suddenly felt numb as cold sweat trickled down my face.

Then, suddenly a figure appeared on the road ahead of me, it made me do a double take and my mind was snapped out of its trance. I hurried to hit the brakes, but the distance between us was too close so I feared that I might hit him. The screech of the car was loud that I was so sure the tires were creating skid marks.

I braced myself for impact as the car doesn't slow to a stop immediately and was about the run over the mysterious guy.

'I'm screwed!' I thought in panic as I closed my eyes.

The next thing that happened made my jaw drop in shock. I felt myself somehow float and next thing I knew, the car was tossed into the air and crashed on the grass field of the front yard of the school as I felt a huge silky thing push me to my seat.

When my eyes opened, I felt my adrenaline slowly dissipate and my heart skipping beats after beats as I notice that I was hanging upside down from my seat. The airbag was deployed, but I saw blood pool atop me. Scarlet red liquid trickled from my side burns to my temples and drip to the pool of blood.

My mind was unable to comprehend what just happened to me, all I heard was that my breathing was still unsteady and I oddly felt tired. Black patches began to appear in front of my eyes. Then my eyes mindlessly looked over at the place where I thought I was just a few minutes ago.

I noticed the head mistress and Mr. Black running towards me, but I wasn't focused on them. The figure that I saw earlier was nowhere to be seen. Was it a product of my imagination? Maybe it was the rush of adrenaline that I felt…

At this point, I was slowly shutting off, my eyelids were growing heavy, and I was getting more and more tired. The last thing I heard was someone calling after me...

'Levi...'

Then… everything went dark.

Quote of the chapter!!

"It's not the fall that kills you, Sherlock. Of all people, you should know that, it's not the fall, it's never the fall. It's the landing."

-Jim Morlarty-