Coraline? Who? (2)

The presence of Coraline as their flatmate has improved Sara and Bryce's friendship as though she was the missing piece of the puzzle, the one that bridges the gap. Fortunately for Sara, Bryce has stopped bringing the sensitive topic up.

Unlike the ignorant Sara, Bryce was fully aware Coraline is a vampire. He is certain that she is a vampire because of the accommodation law set by KEI. The general law that every member of KEI knew to being a resident in the accommodation provided by KEI is the two girls and one boy ratio per flat - Coraline has proven to complete their initially lack of member as stated.

However, there was another rule that only vampires knew and only a handful of the humans are in the know. Bryce was one of them and he would know better than to let the cat out of the bag. Exposing this piece of information would only spell trouble for him and he would not want to find out what that trouble would be.

The said rule that most humans are not aware of in regards to the accommodation is that there should be a ratio of 2:1 for humans per vampire. Bryce knows he himself is a human and he is pretty confident that Sara is a human too based on the invitation to be the Guest of Honour for the Blood Red Party, which leaves only one last person, Coraline. Regardless whom their third flat mate was to be, it will definitely be a girl who is bound be a vampire by default and in this case, Coraline.

Even though the three of them gets along well and were pretty much harmonious but deep down Bryce was still wary of Coraline to a certain extent. He was not sure whether they were under influenced or their chemistry was genuine. At the end of the day, his knowledge about vampires was still limited.

To celebrate and welcome Coraline as their new flat mate and to commemorate the completion of their flat mate members, they wanted to throw a mini celebration. However, everyone schedule was slightly busy that they decided to push it to weekend. On the plus side, Harith mentioned he would be dropping by over the weekend and it would be a perfect opportunity to throw the party. As the saying goes, the more the merrier!

Come Saturday, each of them had been busy in the kitchen preparing their own favourite dish to be shared whereas Harith bought some on his way with no knowledge of the new third member. Sara chose not to bring it up either when she went down to fetch Harith. She was looking forward to see the shocked face on Harith's face and giggled unintentionally.

"So random, giggling by yourself. Are you in love now with Lucas? Is that it?" Harith peered in Sara's direction as he teased her.

"Oh, I just remembered something funny that's all," Sara responded brusquely, wishing Harith would remain oblivious of her sudden reaction.

As luck would have it, Harith chortled and coughed out the three-syllable word, "typical!" implying Sara is in her natural element – being silly.

The moment they entered the door, Harith looked dumbstruck to see a woman in there and questioned Bryce with his raised eyebrows while pointing to the girl whose back was facing Harith.

He tried to mouth the word silently but the girl turned.

'She seemed familiar. Where have I seen her before?' Harith pondered as he tried to rummage through his memory.

Everyone was too focused on Harith; Bryce wanted to know Harith's reaction of Coraline, if she is a friend or a foe, Sara wanted to picture the moment of Harith's shocked face – no one paid any attention to Coraline when her eyesight landed on Harith.

Coraline made her way towards Harith and introduced herself, prompting Harith to do the same. When she clarified she is the new member, Harith finally figured out why she looks familiar. He has seen her many times when attending family events but they have yet to exchange an actual lengthy conversation.

Sara was gleeful when she got what she wanted and she tee-heed. "Perfect," she mumbled quietly.

Harith turned to look at Sara and realised that was the reason she giggled. 'So innocent,' he thought to himself but aloud he said, "Simple-minded!" as he tousled Sara's hair.

Various meals were spread out on their dining table and Sara asked if Coraline did not mind having Harith over from time to time since he tends to hang out at their place while waiting for his shift or just to have a catch-up session over the weekends.

"I'm okay with it. Although I'm curious, don't misunderstand me but don't you have your own flat mate to eat with or hang out with?" Coraline expressed her train of thoughts.

"Nah, I don't have flat mates. I live in my own house, not KEI accommodation."

This shocked Sara more than she would have thought but she managed to regain her composure. She cannot afford to be embarrassed by Harith too many times in a day.

"Just admit it if you don't have friends. What's so shameful about it?" Sara taunted.

Harith knew she is a vampire but he needs to find out whose side Coraline is on. He needed to be on guard, in case she might be the one who stabbed them from the back. He should also take into consideration for Coraline to be one of the unpredicted factors if he were to execute his plan.

He also needed to know how close Coraline is to Sara and if Sara would ever confided Coraline. He is dying to know whether she was sent as a spy for Lucas' convenience or is she just there because she needed a place to live.

If she is one of Lucas, he would be grateful if Coraline would try to make Sara and Lucas fall for each other. If they do, he could proceed with the next step of his revenge. Unfortunately, Sara has to be the pawn.