Death in Redwoods

November stood rooted to the ground on which she stood on at the sight of whom she'd been trying to avoid since.

However,Nico's bored eyes that were cold, seemed to drill holes through her skin. They stared at her like she'd become so transparent that he could see her inner organs plus her soul, while wondering what November had come to do at his dorm at the time he was enjoying himself.

" Leave."

Huh? Ember questioned, thinking that it was her that he'd asked to leave, until a girl quickly bolted through his door.

Then, he stepped out, to shut the door behind him." What do you want?" he questioned her, with a tone of intimidation..

" I-"

" But since you're here, I think it's high time you clear your depths."he trailed in nonchalantly....

Taking a few seconds to understand what depths he was talking of, she stepped back consciously.

And as if a magical spell was casted, the entire place turned deserted with no boy students around, leaving the two left out.

Break was over already?!!

Nico watched as she now turned her head to face him while before that, he'd taken the very small time to check her out.

" What were you thinking?" he asked with narrowed eyes," That you could run away from me?"

Annoyance, written all over his face from her actions from few days ago.

And to his earlier question, Nico heard her say," Yes."

He moistened his lips in slight amusement. The girl was bold and had quite some nerve... He thought.

And in a deep low voice, he asked" And do you know what happens to them that think that way?",in a way that caused her to gasp, with her guard, lowered a bit on sensing danger in his tone. Now she realized that her friends were hundred percent right about him.

And soon, she turned meek,not wanting to know more on what would happen to them which included her right now, if they crossed his boundaries, as she already, had enough knowledge about it.

" I think I'll pass," murmured the girl who then stepped back subtly again as with him close to her, she felt a bit alarmed.

Who knows what might happen next? She thought, and then, imagined him throwing her down the railings which in reality, caused her to grip onto the heavy textbooks in her hand till her knuckles had turned white..

" Cool"remarked Nico in a tone of indifference, " Go to the janitor room, there you'd find mop and water, use it to mop here."

But before Ember could retort in denial, he walked away.

She had Sunday classes that she couldn't afford to miss and here he was, telling her to mop here!!

Besides, did 'here'mean the entire floors of the boys' dormitorium or at his door step alone?

Few hours later, Ember was done with her punishment.. she'd worked tiredly but relentlessly and now that she was done, she felt her body turn to jelly even more.

Unsteadily, she wringed the mop after she'd soaked it in the clean bucket of water and then, held the bucket and the damp mop in both of her hands to walk away..

Coming out of the block, Nico who was listening to his friends, quickly caught sight of the girl with glasses and red eyes, walking below as he'd made himself comfortable on one of the trees inside Redwoods 's compound.

Khali, who noticed, asked," Did you punish her?" On seeing the mop and bucket in her hands.. Keaton turned to look too, before he then chuckled, for she was the one to approach him few seconds ago, to ask for Percy's dorm, while he sat at the base of the stairs..

However,

Earlier yesterday, Nico leisurely sat down to smoke although,he was supposed to be in class.. His hands, coated in dots of blood from breaking someone's nose which had earned him a stern detention from one of the staff members to attend the next day..

Nico had hoped that coming to this side of the school to smoke, would calm down the storm in him as his body still ached to spill more of the person's blood.

Closing his eyes, he pushed his head back so that it could lean at the bark of the tree at his back, before he then opened them on picking up the sound of someone walking, where they, for the briefest moment, flickered red which the oncoming person missed to share with.

At the corner of his eye, he noticed her mutely send a glare to him..

Was she still upset with him?

Soon, he called her to stop, not to intimidate her, but to apologize. But that was where the tables turned, where her on her on part, decided not to, but instead, run away.

Whereby, her actions seemed to have caused him to change his mind, as he decided to have her to replace him concerning his own punishment instead...

And now that she was done with it, he watched her walk to disappear at a corner where the janitor room was. A sly smile touched his lips on recalling the way her eyes had gone wide behind those glasses that belonged to her and the way blood had come to settle on her face, that even with him close, he could smell her blood that caused his fangs to elongate from thirst.

Nico also noticed that of recent, she'd started to wear clothes that covered almost her entire body, which was something that he wondered what it was all about..

Shortly, he replied his friend with a yes upon her earlier question and settled his back to lean on the tree on the branch he was sitting on.

The next day came, and Ember walked to the girls' bathroom after the second class. Shutting the door behind her, she sighed and leaned away from its surface to approach one of the sinks, pulled her sleeved up, and turned the tap on.

Setting out her hands, she cupped the running water in her palms before she then, splashed it on her face. Yesterday's work must have worn her out real bad that she still felt weak today that she needed enough time to rest as she hadn't been able to keep up with the lessons. It was either that she yawned, or dozed off for a moment with her head, down on the desk..

She splashed water on her face again and then, heard the door open and shut with girls to flood in while discussing something of their interests. Now, Ember, who'd been minding her own business, went highly alarmed by one of the girls who spoke.

Her brows, knitting together .

".....you think that it was actually a natural death?"the girl asked while her hand held her waist.

" I'm telling you what I heard,Lola. "said one of them who come close to the mirror next to Ember to apply her lipstick on her lips.

" Or maybe, it was rape?"

The girl who was applying her lipstick, scoffed at her friend's words." Pathetic."

" Heard it was Vera Kim, who knows, she must have killed herself for love, huh?" chimed another girl in the bathroom.

" How do you mean?"

Upon this question, the girl went ahead to explain saying," One time, she'd asked Keaton out, at the time he and Dahlia started dating, but he declined."

Dahlia dating Keaton? Death? Questioned Ember to herself in slight surprise.

Later on, the girls drifted into another topic which Ember didn't care to know, and so, she left.

With the classes over, the blonde haired girl named Bora, walked along side with Ember and Randolph? Probably busy as he belonged to another class,his major, science. And so, there was a possibility that he'd catch up with them in the lunch room later.

Bora asked," Have you heard?"

Causing the other girl to look at her shortly and then, forward. If there was something that she'd heard, then it was about the death of a girl student which she guessed was what she was asking of.

" Indeed, news spreads like a wildfire." mumbled Bora in a tone of indifference to her other friend who was beside her. " What if it's rumor?" Ember questioned to cause Bora to purse her lips.

" I don't know yet, but it seems real."she remarked.

To Ember, this entire story didn't make any sense, and she wondered if it was Nico who'd killed the girl..