2 A university that is more of a haunted mansion

Alora was studying in a rather big university thanks to her good grades in school and her extracurricular activities that landed her a full-paid scholarship to UIN university.

This university looked grand from the outside and from the inside as well. The students who attended this place were mostly dressed in designer clothes and most of them owned their own cars. One thing, Alora loved about this place was the fact that most of the time, it was as empty as a haunted mansion. Maybe even more empty than a real haunted mansion because a haunted mansion at least had a few ghosts renting it out for free.

Rich kids didn't really like to attend classes so the empty college was a bit self-explanatory...

This university was the dream place for many, but those who saw it as a dream would most likely never get a seat here while those who took it for granted would always have a special seat reserved for them. It was just that kind of place.

A place where rich people sent their spoiled kids to burn their hard-earned money.

When Alora reached the classroom where she was supposed to be present like an hour ago, she didn't even need to open the door as someone from the inside had opened it up and stepped out.

"Ah! Well, isn't this the daydreamer?" The woman in front of her mocked Alora as she looked at her.

This was Mrs. Miranda. The professor who hated students more than the students hated her and the students hated her a lot...

Alora nodded her head and smiled as she greeted the evil teacher who was much alike a witch from movies who only wanted to make people suffer for the fun of it, "Good morning, Mrs. Miranda."

"Oh dear, it's already afternoon." The teacher smiled back, but it was as fake as her hair.

"I was gonna come to class on time, but my alarm was malfunctioning this morning," Alora lied with a straight face that looked like she was telling the truth, "I really need to get it fixed."

"Malfunctioning? Oh dear, you ought to throw such useless things away. How can an alarm clock be useful when it fails to fulfill its purpose?"

"I... don't have enough money to buy a new one so I was planning to fix it. If it can be fixed then why shall it be kicked, right?" For a second there, Alora's smile faltered but she still managed to answer respectfully with a small chuckle.

"Good!" The woman clapped her hands and added, "Try to fix your grades along with your alarm clock or you won't be amidst us for too long. A broken clock must be thrown away and a failed scholarship student must be..." The woman looked down at Alora with a smile as she didn't bother completing that sentence and asked, "You understand, right?"

It was a warning and an insult, but Alora still smiled as she heard this.

She carefully stepped aside and made way for the teacher to walk out as she answered, "I understand, Mrs. Miranda."

Even without taking the classes, Alora was still capable of keeping her scholarship and her title as the top student but if Mrs. Miranda wanted her to fail then she was completely helpless.

The teacher walked away and the students followed after. It seemed that Alora had got the class timings a bit mixed up and she was not thirty minutes late but had missed the whole one-hour class.

There was basically no point in entering the class now since it was already over, but Alora still waited outside the class.

"Why the hell are you always so late?" There was a familiar voice that called out to her and Alora looked up with a bright smile as she saw the person who was talking to her.

"Have you heard of legends taking classes? Class is for boring people," Alora looked the boy up and down as she added, "Boring like you."

The boy scoffed as he ignored her playful comment and asked, "You do realize that Mrs. Witch is going to fail you this semester, don't you?"

"Let her do whatever she wants," Alora clicked her tongue as she spoke, "Maybe I'll get a better teacher for the retest."

"You wish." The boy rolled his eyes and walked away from Alora who still followed after him as she called him.

"Daren, don't you want to know what my dream was about?"

Daren didn't even spare her a glance as he responded, "You're gonna tell me anyway so out with it."

"As expected, you know me so well," Alora smiled in satisfaction, "That freaking three-tailed fox was back and it was trying to kill me! If it hadn't been for my quick thinking, that thing would have certainly bitten my head off!"

They turned a corner and headed for the cafeteria as Alora narrated her dream with the use of both words and actions like a little kid that was excited to talk about her favorite story.

Daren ordered two hamburgers and stuffed one inside her mouth as he asked, "You haven't had breakfast, have you?"

Alora couldn't help but smile as she nodded, but her reaction caused the hamburger to fall down and hit the ground.

She looked at it in disbelief as she mumbled, "Does the three-second rule count?"

Daren looked down and with a sigh, he shook his head as he glanced back up at her, "If you eat that, don't you dare tell others that we are friends."

Alora looked at the boy with puppy eyes as she frowned, "Are you sure that I can't?"

"Definitely!" Daren cut his hamburger in half as he gave her one side and spoke, "Take this instead."

The tears that had only recently started to form, all went back up as Alora saw the half hamburger and immediately snatched it away as she thanked her friend, "You're so caring!"

Daren shook his head as he sighed, "Why do I feel like your mother sometimes?"

Alora took a minute to react as she thought about it and in the next minute, the other half of the hamburger was snatched away from Daren's hand as Alora spoke, "My mother gives me both halves! Now you can really feel like my mother."

"..."

She didn't waste any time as she sprinted away, leaving the boy behind in shock.

"You traitor! Wait for me!"

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Outside the room, a small girl shivered as she reluctantly tried her best to knock on the heavy metal door, but her fingers could only touch it without making a sound.

There was a heavy shattering sound coming from inside the room and she almost peed her pants in fear as she heard it.

Her mind was alert and she was sure that she could get herself killed at any moment now, but she still decided to bet her life on this situation as she mustered up all her courage to knock on the door.

"Y-Young prince, C-can I get you anything?" She asked in her little voice that was hardly audible across the door.

It took a whole minute for her to get a reply from the man who was inside the room, "Speak louder or I'll have your head be stewed for the hound dogs."

The girl quivered as she stammered backward till her back hit the wall. The hound dogs were the creatures that were kept as a pet in the royal palace. In the entire land, there were only two hound dogs that were known and both of them were vicious, bloodthirsty creatures that only feared one man, and that man was right behind this door.

If the man wanted to behead this little girl and have her head stewed to be fed to the hound dogs, who would be able to stop him?

Her breathing grew louder as her heart started to beat out of control from the fear.

She gulped as she used all her power to make herself sound as loud as possible and in the process, the fear caused her voice to break as she responded, "Young Prince, C-can I get you something?"

It was silent on the other side for a while and the girl thought that maybe the prince didn't want to bother responding so she decided that luck was with her today as she got ready to quietly walk away, but not even three steps after, she heard the man speaking up in his deep, hoarse voice.

"Get Carmen here!"

The girl flinched as she heard the angry voice but she still nodded as she responded in a hurry, "Understood!"