"Awweee, is he your type Aimee?" Connie followed her best friend's gaze and saw a man who looked like a mythical god as he walked down the hallway, exuding an allure that could ruin women.
"What? No!" Aimee quickly denied it before averting her gaze back to her food and gulping it down in one go.
"Come on, I saw how you've been glancing his way" Connie teased, waggling her eyebrows playfully "he is so gorgeous, isnt he?"
"He's.....fine" Aimee's voice came out whisper.
Connie's expression lit up as though something amusing came to mind, "Just fine? Come on, what if let us make this time memorable?"
"What do you mean?" Aimee asked confused.
She grinned before blurting out the mischievous idea swirling in her mind. "Let's be daring, Aimee! I'll approach Daniel, and you can converse with the man who just got up."
""Oh, no, no. I wouldn't do that — ever. I'm perfectly fine just admiring him from afar." Aimee readily refused. She's not thick-skinned enough to do that.
"Oh, please. Taking risks builds courage over time. Its time to take it into action Aimee! It takes courage to survive Grimvale University. Chasing courage must start now" Her friend said it as if she was convincing herself as well.
At first, the idea went over her head, "what kind of rationale was that- " Aimee blinked as if the idea suddenly turned to be good, she breathed "or...maybe you are right."
It would be good to jump over the fence and see what it feels like to conquer the fear of being timid and meek.
"Right?" Her friend brightened. " So you go first."
"No, you go first as it's your absurd idea" Aimee chuckled.
"Hahahaha, but you agreed. Okay what if we go at the same time?" Connie laughed when her friend gave in. Both nervous, hearts pounding rapidly in their chest, They stood up and headed off in different directions—one toward the next table, the other down the hallway.
Aimee walked through the hallway, which was short and dimly lit, with wavering shadows along its narrow walls, branching off to a restroom and the cold door of the cellar.
At the far end, she caught sight of the man's shadow slipping into the cellar. She froze, then lifted a hand to steady her racing heart. You can do this… maybe just ask him where he lives? CRAP.
It took her a while before she finally reached the door to the cellar. When she stepped inside, she noticed a luxurious stillness filling the room, where aged wine bottles rested like treasures beneath dim amber lights and towering wooden racks.
Before she could step further and looked for the man her foot touched something. Looking down, she saw a knife and noticed a dark crimson stain on its blade. She picked up the knife, wondering if someone had accidentally dropped it unknowingly. She was about to get up when a dark crimson liquid caught her attention, slowly spreading across the floor beneath the wine rack. Her breath hitched as she lifted her gaze through the shelves and saw a boy lying unmoving on the ground, his eyes eerily wide open.
"Did the beef fail to satisfy your hunger that you had to go further and planned to chop the boy?" Aimee flinched at the cold voice that emerged from the shadowed corner ahead, where barely any light could reach. She hadn't noticed him standing there—the man she had followed.
Though only a faint strip of light brushed against his face, his features remained striking and refined. But all the reasons why she had come up there vanished the moment she saw it. A dead body. She stood frozen, her heart pounding as she stared at the pool of blood spreading before her.
Rayden stood still, watching the girl intently who had just appeared. Wondering what was she doing here though by logic, he had arrived before she did.