Chapter 24
The Prey
My stomach lurched, bile rising in my throat again as I emptied the contents into the toilet.
I shut my eyes tightly as I tried to brush away the sight of those lifeless eyes, the paleness of the skin, the blood matted in the hair—it was a grotesque vision straight out of a nightmare.
I tried to swallow, but the lump of fear trapped in my throat choked by terror, making my body paralysed.
I didn’t know how or when I made it to the room and locked myself in the bathroom.
I couldn’t look at them anymore. My scream woke up the dorm, and soon the guards were there, followed by several students, and to my horror, none of them could offer me any comfort.
The horror on their faces mirrored mine, but it couldn’t compare to what I was feeling.
My breath came in ragged gasps, and I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my back. My fingers shivering from the coldness, yet the back of my sweater was drenched in my sweat. I wanted to flee, to run away, but my legs had given out.
I pushed myself further away from the toilet, my hands slipping on the slick floor.
I rocked back and forth, clutching my knees to my chest, desperate to feel some semblance of safety.
Panic clawed at my mind, making it hard to think, hard to move.
From somewhere far away, I heard footsteps approaching, but I was too anxious. My heart pounded in my chest like the frantic drumbeat of dread.
“Sera?” Alina. It was her. The soft and concerned voice called out to me, followed by two knocks. “Are you okay?” I shook my head, crying on the cold bathroom floor. Another impatient knock followed. “Can you open the door for me, please?”
I couldn’t. I couldn’t move. I whimpered, staring helplessly at the door, my arms trembling as I tried to reach it. Suddenly, it felt impossibly far. I sobbed harder, my body shaking with the effort. Please, someone help me.
“Sera, please,” Her voice was more urgent now, and I hated to make her worry. “Just open the door.”
I tried to speak, to call out, but all that came out were choked sobs. My vision blurred with tears, and I could barely see the door through the haze. The floor felt freezing against my skin, adding to the numbness spreading through me.
Alina knocked again, louder this time. “Sera, I’m begging you, let me in.”
I clawed at the floor, trying to drag myself closer, but it was like moving through thick, suffocating fog. My body wouldn’t respond; my muscles were weak and uncooperative. I cried out, a pitiful sound that barely echoed in the small space.
Please, I thought again, someone help me. I was so scared.
The next few hours were just a blur of faces and echoes of voices. Darkness seemed my only friend and my companion as I slipped into it, hoping when I woke up, it’d be my mother’s arms around me, except for the snake coiled around me.
?
Morning came, and I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep had eluded me all night.
The events of the previous evening played on a loop in my mind, and the fear gnawed at me relentlessly.
The first light of dawn filtered through the curtains, casting an eerie glow over the room. But the warmth was far away from me.
I sat up slowly, feeling exhausted.
Alina wasn’t in the dorm. I hadn’t seen her since she called the guards into the bathroom. After that, everything blurred. I remembered her changing me into something warm, but not much else.
My bag sat beside the bed. The only things I could take were already inside it. My phone lit up—taxi on the way.
I’d booked it hours ago. I just needed to leave. I couldn’t stay here anymore.
There was commotion downstairs; I didn’t want to know what was happening. Everyone must be traumatized.
I got to my feet, legs unsteady, and grabbed my bag. I walked down the stairs, and the voices grew louder. I reached the bottom stair and paused, my hand tightening on my bag as every pair of eyes looked at me.
Their voices turned hushed, and I felt their judgmental eyes on me. My heart raced, and I took a deep breath.
Just a few more steps and I’d be free. But then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around, my heart sinking, to find a police officer looking down at me.
“Miss,” he called out in a soft voice, “we need to talk.”
My throat tightened, and I struggled to find my voice. The eyes on me were making my skin crawl, and I nodded, realising I had to give my statement.
“Of course,” I stammered, glancing nervously at the door.
The officer nodded and guided me outside, away from the prying eyes of the students. As we walked, I couldn’t help but glance back at the place where I was last night crawling and screaming.
I took a deep breath.
We stopped near the police cars, and he turned around to face me. I swallowed hard.
“Miss,” he began in English with a thick accent, “we need to talk about last night. You understand how serious this is, don’t you?”
I nodded, though my heart was pounding. “Yes, I understand.”
He smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Good. Now, why don’t you tell me exactly what happened?”
I hesitated, trying to piece together my thoughts. “I... I found the… head in the box, and I screamed. That’s all.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that really all, Miss, Rosewood? You seem awfully shaken for someone who just found a body. Maybe there’s more to the story?”
My stomach twisted. For a moment, I contemplated telling him I was being stalked, but then I had no proof. I shook my head. “No, that’s all.”
He leaned back against the car, crossing his arms. “Funny thing is, some of the students mentioned seeing you with the victim earlier. Care to explain that?”
My eyes widened as I struggled to find the correct words. “I wasn’t. I barely knew him.”
The man’s gaze hardened. “You expect me to believe that? We’ve got witnesses, Miss Rosewood. “One of the students saw you with the man a few nights ago in the hotel room. He said there were some other people too, and you came crying out of the room.”
Panic clawed at me, and my thoughts raced. I felt a chill run down my spine. “What… are you talking about?”
He smirked and pulled out a few photographs from his jacket before handing them to me. I looked horrified at the pictures.
They were of me. Coming out of the hotel room, wiping away my tears. The second picture was of a man clad in a large brown fur coat as he left the hotel room. And I recognized him.
Dontello.
He was there when Judas brought me with him.
The face was so pale and unrecognizable I couldn’t see it in the haze of my fear. But if—
“You can keep denying it, but the witness was pretty clear.”
My throat tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s not helping you,” he said. “If you were involved, now’s the time to say it. We can work with you—but only if you cooperate.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I shook my head. “I don’t even know who he was.”
He leaned back against the car, tapping his fingers on the hood like he had all the time in the world.
“Then tell me this,” he said. “Were you just in the wrong place at the wrong time… or did you see something you’re not saying?”
My vision blurred. “No. Please. I was there, but I didn’t kill anyone.”
His expression shifted. “Then you’ll need to come with us,” he said simply. “Until we sort this out.”
The words didn’t register at first. I just stood there, frozen, trying to process what I was hearing. Two more officers appeared beside me.
One of them took my bag before I could even react.
“No—please, there’s a mistake,” I said, panic rising in my voice. “I didn’t do anything.”
Cold metal snapped around my wrists. My breath hitched. Around us, people had started watching.
“Please,” I tried again, my voice breaking. “You have the wrong person.”
They started walking me forward. I stumbled trying to keep up.
The noise of the dorm faded behind me, replaced by the sound of my own breathing and the rush in my ears.
I couldn’t think properly. I’d been so close to leaving. And now… this.
They shoved me into the police car, and I huddled in the backseat, my tears falling. The world outside blurred as the car sped away, my hope of freedom slipping further out of reach.
The cuffs cut into my wrists, and each turn made my heart sink deeper into despair.
I knew then that I was truly trapped, caught in a web of fear and danger from which there seemed to be no escape.