Devil's Game

ii

II

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"heaven is a place,

but not on earth."

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"OW," LUCI MOANED as she stormed into the kitchen, filled up the kettle and slammed the switch down to boil the water. Her hands moved over her head, and she sat down on the chair next to me with a loud thud. Luci's dark tresses were woven into an intricate knot, and the bags under her eyes were dark and heavy. "Remind me never to drink that much again. Ever."

I chuckled, and smiled at my cousin. We had been fortunate enough to request the same university accommodation, and had ended up - I couldn't yet tell whether to my relief or misfortune - in the same flat. The flat we had ended up in was small, with two other flatmates who never came out of their rooms. Although that meant the flat was constantly quiet and all I had for company was Luci, it meant that we mainly got the kitchen to ourselves. With a large plastic table, four chairs, and a sofa in one corner, there was more than enough room for us to crazy dance without anyone watching.

"You say that every time."

"Yeah, well this time I mean it."

I rolled my eyes. She said that every time, too.

Although my head hurt every time I dared to move, Luci had been hit by alcohol poisoning a lot worse. She scrunched her eyes as the kettle finished boiling, and I quickly got up and made her a coffee before she could move.

I pressed the warm drink into her hands and sat back down in an instant. The warming aroma of coffee hit my nose, and I sighed.

"Thank you," Luci said and attempted to smile. Her skin was almost as pale as a sheet of paper, but within two hours she would be back to her normal, Radiohead-loving self. After leaving the party last night, we had managed to get into our halls and to Luci's toilet without her throwing up again. We had stayed up until four, and finally passed out together on Luci's bed.

"God, I remember nothing," The girl groaned, taking a sip of her hot drink.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much," I reassured.

"I missed Halloween."

"Exactly."

Luci shook her head, raising her brown eyes to mine. They jokingly narrowed to slits. "I honestly don't even know how I'm related to someone who doesn't like Halloween."

"You don't like Christmas!"

"Because it's f*****g cold!"

I laughed at the girl and she chuckled, most likely at herself. We were both messes, and we knew that better than anyone. No matter how much we drank, one of us always ended up catatonic.

"Who was that boy you were chatting to last night?" Luci asked out of nowhere. A sudden shiver went down my spine as my mind flickered back to Zane and his moving wing tattoo. At first, I had cast aside the movement and blamed it on the alcohol lurking in my system. But after some sleep, I had come to the conclusion that they had moved. I knew what I saw. 

"What, the guy I was smoking with?" I enquired.

Luci nodded her head.

"Zane, why?" I stated. "Wait, how the f**k do you even remember that?"

"Because did you see him? He was beautiful," Luci rolled her eyes as though it was obvious, which, it was. Zane was a bit too attractive for his own good, and my God did he know it. "How could I forget a face like that? Did you at least get his number?"

"No," I exhaled, and Luci raised her eyebrows at me. "What? He was a dickhead."

"Oh come on, Ada, dickheads are your type." She wasn't wrong. I was always attracted to the tall, dark and handsome f**k boys that plagued the city clubs like locust. But I had a type, and no matter how much I wanted to fall for an innocent, sweet boy who brought me flowers and actually cared about my feelings, I couldn't. I liked bad boys. I liked mystery.

And Zane was a whole new mystery waiting to be unravelled.

"Don't call me Ada."

"Do you prefer Aaditya?" Luci asked, and I cringed at my first name. I hated it with a burning passion, and had forced everyone to call me my middle name, Nadia, instead.

I ignored the girl's question and checked the time on my phone. 

"f**k, I've got a lecture," I muttered, and swiftly got up from the chair. Normally when I had gone out the night before, I wouldn't attend, but I needed a distraction. I needed to get Zane's moving ink out of my head before curiosity consumed me.

"You're going?" Luci looked horrified, her forehead creased into a scowl.

"Feel like it," I muttered. "See you later, and please don't watch How To Get Away With Murder without me."

"Sure, Ada."

"I hate you."

We both smiled at each other one last time, Luci's dimples showing on her toned cheeks. As far as family resemblance went, we were almost identical. We both had the same petite nose from our father's side, and huge eyes that seemed to take up most of the space on our faces. However, Luci's facial structure was much sharper, with strong cheekbones and a defined chin. Aside from my strong jawline, my face was soft, giving a youthful appearance, and I had gained a scattering of freckles across my nose from my mother's side. My black hair had an awkward wave, and I constantly envied Luci's naturally straight tresses. 

I exited the kitchen in a rush, and ran into my room. It was untidy beyond recognition, but I didn't have time to address the state of the room as I packed my bag and headed to campus.

Campus was quiet as I hurried towards my eleven AM lecture, lengthening my strides so that I wouldn't be late. With Zane's wings plaguing my mind like a disease, and the way he had reacted when I brought them up, I needed to take my mind off things. A lecture on Design and Screen Cultures would hopefully do the trick.

I made it just in time; Evie was just about to enter the lecture theatre when I turned the corner in the stone building. The University of Edinburgh was stunning, which was one of the many reasons I had decided to study here. With a collection of buildings that had been built centuries ago composed of stone and wood, it felt as though I had taken a trip to the Medieval times.

"I can't believe you made it," Eve laughed as we embraced and headed into the room to find a seat. We opted to sit two rows from the back. Evie studied the same degree as me, and I had never been so thankful to have a good friend to spend lectures with.

"I can't believe you made it," I replied with a smile. "How's your head?"

Evie scrunched her brows. "f*****g kills."

"Worth it," I said with a wink. I knew that she had ended up going back to Emily's from a string of very drunk Snapchats.

"Yeah," Evie beamed, looking down as though she was embarrassed. She had been seeing Emily since Fresher's Week, and were almost official, but Eve was too afraid of commitment and had the task of coming out to her parents which she was not ready for just yet.

"How's Emily?"

"She's... good," Eve bit her lip. "Really good."

I knew what that meant and laughed.

All of a sudden, the room fell silent and I looked up to see the lecturer walk in. I hurried to get out my small Acer laptop, a pen and my notepad. I knew that I wouldn't make any notes, but having my laptop out would perhaps motivate me for once.

The seconds ticked by, and male lecturer was about to start his presentation when the door to the room clicked open. Usually, I wouldn't turn around and scowl at the late students as it was typically me, but this time, I couldn't help myself.

First came a boy with hair the colour of honey, the tresses just reaching his eyes as he moved a pale hand to swipe them out of the way. He was so tall, my breath caught in my throat and my jaw dropped in disbelief. His face was beautifully sculpted like clay, with high cheekbones and slanted green eyes that were paranormally bright. He looked like he belonged in a magazine, not in a Film and Television lecture.

The next boy was much shorter, and wore a stiff leather jacket that appeared fifty years old. His dark skin glowed in the bright lights of the room, and his handsome face was adorned with one dimple on the left hand side. His black hair was cropped short, and his smile was crooked as he followed the other boy to the back row.

But the moment the third boy walked in, my skin began to crawl.

At the back of the trio, with his curly hair and fierce brown, eyes walked none other than Zane himself, except this time - much to my disappointment - he had a shirt on.

My heart began to beat tenfold as we made eye contact, and I quickly looked away. What the hell was he doing here? First of all, he was a second year, and he didn't even take Film and Television.

Eve followed my gaze and turned to me, looking equally as confused. "Wait, is that the guy..." She trailed off.

I nodded and bit my lip.

"What the f**k is he doing here?"

I shook my head, the room suddenly feeling ten degrees colder.

I knew it wasn't a coincidence that I had met him yesterday, and now he had suddenly decided to turn up to my lecture. My blood began to boil in my veins, the oxygen bitter in my lungs with every breath.

"I have no idea," I sighed.

"I mean, he's very good looking," Eve commented. "If I was straight, then holy fuck."

"He's fit, I'll give him that, but he's also a prick."

"Sounds like the perfect guy for you," Eve said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. She knew what I was like, and I wasn't ashamed by the amount of boys I had taken back to my room. I was living my best life, even though some of the boys had been bad decision after bad decision. But Zane looked like he could be my worst decision yet.

"Don't tempt me," I whispered as I leaned in, inhaling Evie's sweet Marc Jacobs perfume.

The lecture was over quickly, and I finally turned around to look at Zane as we exited the theatre, only for the trio of boys to have disappeared.

I sighed as we made our way out, the corridor before us empty and stretching for eternity. We walked to the exit, and I bid my goodbyes to Eve as she headed off in the opposite direction to go to the library. There was no way in hell I was hanging around the University for longer than I needed to.

I checked my phone for messages as I walked past the student union, only for a familiar voice to call out my name.

"Nadia," it called calmly.

My blood turned to fire as I turned out, coming face to face with Zane. Leaning up against the wall of the nearest building stood the trio, brooding like a murder of crows. They all wore either black or white, the only colour being the honey of the tall boy's hair. I balled my hands into fists - was he following me?

"What the f**k is your problem?" I enquired angrily, pacing over to the boys without hesitation. "Why the hell are you following me around?"

"Who said we were following you around?"

"You came to my lecture? And you do classics?" I raised a brow, stopping a meter away from Zane. Up close, he was completely and utterly beautiful, but it didn't make up for his creepy behaviour.

"I was thinking about doing a minor this year in Film and Television, so I went to the lecture as a taster."

"That sounds like bullshit."

A crooked smile appeared on Zane's face, his handsome features suddenly becoming much more sinister. "Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't."

"Well, just leave me alone. I'm not interested."

"About what."

I waved my arm at him. "You."

"Who said I was even interested in you?"

Rage surged through my body like a tsunami, and I had to fight to stop my anger from exploding. 

"There it is, more bullshit," I uttered, and turned to leave. I had had enough. Maybe a small part of me wanted to get to know Zane better, or even spend a night at his. "See you round, arsehole."

"Or I'll see you at Holo tonight."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he was planning on going to Holo, the biggest student club in Edinburgh on the one night we had planned to go.

I turned around, whilst walking backwards and smiled. "Or, you won't."

I wasn't a mean person by nature, but I loved playing hard to get. I had built walls around myself over years of rejection and mistreatment from boys, and they were almost reaching the clouds. To protect myself, I acted tougher than I was, and was never afraid to pick a fight if someone did something to hurt my friends or my family. Zane's strange behaviour had done just that. 

"We'll see about that."

As I continued to walk home, I couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline pulse through my body. Of all things, I was excited - excited that Zane had taken a strange interest to me. But there was something about him I couldn't quite put my finger on, and I couldn't wait to figure out what.