9 Unbelievable!

"She was caught being…with me?" Harith repeated exactly what Bryce had said.

"I-I-I don't… I don't get it. Wha-? By who??" Harith could not believe his ears. Harith and Adrianna had kept their distance. Nobody knew. They rarely meet up. Even if they did, they travelled far enough from everybody they knew.

"It seems like you've got tails…Or maybe it just happens to be a coincidence? Have you checked those around you?"

"No, they're fine. I saw them every now and then since we crossed each other's path when it comes to work. I just don't understand. Even if they confront her, why did she not tell me? Why so extreme that she committed suicide?"

"I don't know, maybe they threatened her?" Bryce answered hastily, feeling slightly guilty.

"How else could they threaten her when they could just… no. That can't be. Why would they kill her?" Harith was now talking to himself as he paced back and forth. He tried to reason with everything. If she was killed by "them", it would be quite obvious. But he was there to see her burial; he was there to see her for the last time. There was nothing unusual.

Bryce was just sitting restlessly by the edge of the bed, eyes following Harith when he finally speaks up. "There is one thing. I just remembered. She said they wanted to keep it pure. Does that help?"

The moment Harith heard such piece of information, he fell to his knees and his face was contorted with terrible grief. He wanted to cry but no tears fell. He wanted to scream in agony but his voice failed him. He felt like he wanted to end his life the moment he heard that sentence.

Uncomfortable with the awkward situation, Bryce walked out of his room to see Sara was staring at him.

* * * * *

Sara was stirring from her short power nap, with her back and her neck aching. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to open them, puzzled as she realised she was not waking up from her room. She looked down only to notice there was a blanket draping around her body.

Judging by the looks of emptiness in the living room and Bryce's room door is closed, she concluded Bryce was now home. Though she was suspicious of why Bryce was being kind.

Anxious, she started to fold her blankets and tidied up the living room. Once she felt slightly relaxed, she washed her face and took a deep breath. Sara tried to find out a way on how to start the conversation as she walked towards his door.

Nearing towards the door, she heard faint whispers coming from Bryce's room. She overheard someone mentioned the word threaten and kill. 'This could not be about Adrianna again, could it?'

Suddenly the doorknob rattled and Bryce walked out of the his bedroom door. She didnot understand why Harith was in Bryce's room but she could see Harith was kneeling on the floor, appeared to be in an unexplainable emotion. Sara could not read his face and emotion but her first thought was to blame Bryce.

"What did you do to my friend?" She scowled at him.

Sara's voice made Harith turned to face her. He walked towards her and said sadly, "I have failed to protect her. I was assigned to look after the two of you when we became flat mates. It was what we boys were told to do and I have failed miserably. Now you are my responsibility."

Sara looked at Harith melancholy. It just dawned on her that he must have missed Adrianna a lot and her death was affecting him. "If it is meant to be, it is meant to be. Maybe her time is up," Sara said gently, hoping it would help to console him.

"Your task completed when you three no longer flat mates," Bryce said flatly, interrupting the moment. Sara had no idea what is going on and spouting nonsense when Harith has already found out the truth is going to make the situation harder.

Harith needed an excuse to vent his anger and unfortunately Bryce bears the brunt of it when he said it.

"You were her flat mate too!! So why did you fail to protect her? Why did we fail to protect her? Why did I fail to…?" Harith punched Bryce on the stomach and his face and moved to smash the coffee table.

Sara was stupefied because Bryce did not even avoid the punches. He could have stop Harith if he wanted to and retaliate. But he did neither. She did not understand the situation she was seeing.

On the other hand, Bryce was just accepting the punches because that way he would feel better. He deserved to be punched. 'Harith was right, as her flat mate I have failed my duty to protect her. As someone who loved her dearly, I should have been able to stop it in the first place.'

"History is bound to be repeated. You better look out for her!" demanded Harith.

Like a light bulb, the word Bryce once uttered played on her mind. "I normally work at night, you see. Although I think now I need to change it since you are starting to live here."

When she first confirmed Adrianna had passed away, she initially thought he wanted to change his schedule so he could kill her at night. Turns out, he was just carrying out his task as a flat mate to protect her.

"What kind of task is it for you to need follow that through? I am fine. I don't need protection. Never have and never will." Sara asked quietly, truly uncomfortable to hear she needed protection where she least needed it.

"The kind of oath that benefits everyone. The one where it should not have failed in the first place."

Sara could not help but question the silliness of it. She did not understand why Harith is taking it to heart. 'Sure, if it was Bryce - I get it. Adrianna was the love of his life. But now all of a sudden, she is under Harith responsibility and Bryce? Unbelievable!'

What Sara did not know was that Bryce now felt more responsible to do his duty after the death of his loved ones. He did not want to feel the same way he is feeling right now whereas for Harith, he has a different reason to it.

Now, he is driven for revenge. He was not sure how to do it but he was going to use his excuse to protect Sara to bring the truth out. Adrianna might not come back alive out of this but he will expose "them" and make "them" suffer.