The Draugenir

'I have already sold my soul, forgive me'. "Ever since I lost my parents, you would expect me to remember all the fond memories we used to have when they were alive or to recall vividly what led to their deaths. However, none of that comes to mind." "The only thing that I remember is that one line, spoken by the stranger who visited us just before their deaths." "Up until now, I've not been able to find the person who spoke those words, nor have I gotten to know why those words were spoken, but one day I will find out." "If only I could wake up for my important class today, since it's already past 7am." ....................... "I'm so late!!!!", a young lady screamed at the top of her voice as she quickly got up and jumped from her bed. On her smartphone, she had several missed calls, unread messages and missed alarm notifications, but she didn't have the time to go through all of that. The lady took a quick shower and immediately got dressed as she packed a few books and scripts into a school bag and rushed out of the room. She hurried down the flight of stairs and onto the ground floor, but not without the woman that owned the bakery shop indoors seeing her. And like always, she threw a smile at her. "Xermaine, take this! You'll need energy with all the running you gotta do," the woman shouted as she threw a brown bag filled at the lady. The sweet scent of butter and ginger filled her nostrils. Mentally telling herself what to have the bread with, she fully turned to her lifesaver. "Thanks a lot, miss Trisha. You're a lifesaver!", the lady called Xermaine responded with a smile as she sprinted out of the building and into the adjacent pedestrian walkway. On her way to the nearest subway station, she took a few bites out of the sweet bread as the exquisite taste made her wince in delight. She was definitely finishing it at that instant. Who said anything about having it with anything? Soft giggles left her. She then branched into the subway tunnel and quickly took the subway train to the next sector where her college could be found. After exiting the subway train, Xermaine made her way through the usual early morning as she now found herself on campus. She went through a few buildings and finally got to her lecture hall as she was completely out of breath. She took a few minutes to relax before opening the doors to meet the stares of all her mates as well as the lady lecturer. “This is the second time this semester, you know”, the lecturer said as she turned to the white board to put some notes down. “Haha, I promise this will be the last", Xermaine laughed awkwardly as she quickly walked to her seat and settled down. She was a whole 30 minutes late. And some of her mates even giggled at how tardy she had become. But it wasn't all without reason. Xermaine didn’t pay any heed to them as she pulled out her notebook to take some notes as class went on as usual. In two hours, the lecture was over as the students got up to leave. Before Xermaine could pack her things and leave, she heard someone calling her. “Xermaine, my office”, the lady lecturer called out as she took her laptop and exited the hall. “Oh, miss perfect is in trouble now", one of the guys in her class whispered as he passed by her. Xermaine only rolled her eyes as she took her bag and went straight to the lecturer's office. When Xermaine entered the office, the sweet jasmine scent in the air took her by surprise, as she almost thought she was in the wrong place. She took a few steps into the room as she saw her lecturer brewing some tea in the mini kitchen in her office. The lecturer heard her come in and spoke. “Take a seat, I’ll be done in a sec." “Don’t mind if I do", Xermaine politely answered as she helped herself to the visitor's couch. In a few minutes, the lecturer was done as she brought two cups of tea and placed one in front of Xermaine. “Oh, thanks", Xermaine thanked her as she picked up the cup and took a sip. The sweet and relaxing flavor took her over like a storm as she couldn’t help but to express it on her face through a big smile. “I’m glad you like it. Mum’s recipe”, the lady lecturer said as she also took a sip from her cup. “I love it”, Xermaine complimented as she took another sip. “So as to why I called you here, it seems you haven’t been concentrating much on my classes or on any other classes ever since that incident." "You have good grades in all courses, so you haven’t really been affected, but think about your reputation. I know you feel guilty about what happened but the police and other authorities are doing their best to help look for your friends", the lady lecturer said as she placed her cup on the table and linked her fingers. “That won’t stop me from doing what I can. You may be right that it wasn’t my fault they went missing after I ditched them during the Honors party, but they’re my best friends and I won’t forgive myself if anything were to happen to them", Xermaine had a pained expression as she clenched her fists. The lecturer looked at Xermaine and she couldn’t help but sigh. “Well, don’t let that become a big priority, young lady. You still have other responsibilities and you also need to rest that body of yours. You weren’t able to come on time because you overslept, right?”, the lecturer looked her right in the eye. “Ack!”, Xermaine flinched as she turned away. “You see. Please let the school authorities and the police handle the case of finding your missing friends okay? We’re here for you”, the lecturer gently said. “Alright. Please give me any updates when you find anything”, Xermaine said as she drank all her tea. “You’ll be the first to know. Run along now, and stay safe", the lady lecturer said with a smile. “Yes ma’am”, Xermaine got up and left her office. She let out a big sigh outside which surprised the other students passing through that hallway. Xermaine slowly walked past her office as she felt like a dark cloud was hanging over her head and raining misfortune on her. “My best friends go missing and I get chewed out by my lecturer. These past few days have been nothing but pain", Xermaine thought, as she had now reached the central area. “Xermaine!”, a lady called out as she rushed over to her. Xermaine adjusted her sight to see who it was. “Oh Alice, were you looking for me?”, Xermaine asked. “What do you mean, was I looking for you? I called several times but you didn’t return my calls", Alice said in an annoyed tone. “Ah, so that was you. I was in a hurry so I wasn’t able to return your calls. Sorry", Xermaine apologized. “It’s fine. By the way, I heard you were called in by one of your lecturers", Alice replied when she got close. “Yeah, I got chewed out. I stayed up all night trying to find a lead on where my missing friends might be but I got nothing", Xermaine said. “Well, no wonder you look like you’re gonna pass out. You don’t have to go overboard, you know, you can rely on me after all", Alice said with a chest pump. “I know but I got this”, Xermaine said with a smile. “Oh no you don’t. Girl, go back to your apartment and get some rest, I’ll cover for you", Alice said, making a peace sign. “Thank you. You’re the best. I really need some sleep, my eyes are killing me”, Xermaine said as she then made her way out of campus. Alice watched her walk all wobbly out of the college gates as she had a worried look. Xermaine was back at her place in no time as she sent her bag flying in a direction she had no idea of and threw herself on the bed. God knew how tired she was as she slept soundly. That was until she heard loud banging noises at her door. “Now who in God's name is that? I’ll just ignore them, they can come back later", Xermaine thought as she decided to go back to sleep. However, the banging only got worse, and so, Xermaine reluctantly pulled herself up from bed and walked over to the door to see who the hell was trying to invade her privacy like that. She opened the door and immediately yelled. “What in Christ's name do you want? This better be something important or I swear I’m suing y'all for harassment- Xermaine immediately paused when she noticed that there were two men in front of her door who were dressed in black suits and wearing dark shades. One of the men ignored her threat earlier and asked. “Are you Xermaine Quist?" “Yeah. And who are you gentlemen?”, She suddenly became polite. “I’m agent Stanley and this is agent Fred. We’re here with some very important news that we’d like you to know but first you’d have to come with us", agent Stanley said as he made a gesture. “Is it about my friends? Have you found them?” , Xermaine asked in a rush, as she thought there might be hope. “Not exactly, but it’s quite grave. You’ll have to come with us”, agent Fred spoke as the two men waited for her response. “Alright let’s go", she said as she followed the two men downstairs. Miss Natasha saw Xermaine being escorted by the two men. The woman could suddenly feel for Xernaine. Her eyebrows were pulled up and her bottom lip dragged down. Xermaine noticed her looking at them and so she mouthed, "I’ll be fine". She then got into the black car as the two men got in and sped off in a certain direction. It was quite a long ride as the car finally pulled over in front of a large building on a remote island. “Where are we?” Xermaine asked as she looked at the unfamiliar scenery. “You’ll know soon enough. Let’s head inside", agent Stanley said as he opened the door for Xermaine to step outside. She got down and followed the two agents as there were a bunch of other people in similar attire, patrolling the outskirts. “Have I been kidn*pped?”, Xermaine thought as she became alert. “Where are you taking me?”, she asked as she stopped walking. The agents saw her change in attitude and also stopped. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Please remain calm and follow us, you have my word,” agent Stanley said with a slight bow. “Umm well I’m here anyways, so let’s just go I guess", Xermaine thought as she started following them inside the building. Once inside, she immediately noticed that the place was more like a church on the inside, as there were nuns and deacons walking about and sharing the words of the Lord. The two men then took her into an office where a father was kneeling down in prayer. “Father Bernard, we’ve brought her", agent Fred said as they gestured to Xermaine. Father Bernard stopped praying and slowly got up, turning to face Xermaine. “Ah, she’s just as pretty as he described. Leave us", Father Bernard said as the two agents bowed and left the room. “I apologize if they handled you roughly in any way", Father Bernard said as he approached her. “Well, aside, rudely waking me up, I’m good", She said. “And you are?”. “Oh, where are my manners?, I’m father Bernard of the Sixth Enlightenment church, at your service", He said with a slight bow. “Nice to meet you. I guess you already know who I am", Xermaine said. “Indeed, I do. Well there’s a lot of matters I’d like for us to discuss, but let’s have a seat before. Wouldn’t want to keep a fine lady like you on your feet all day", Father Bernard said as he gestured to one of the seats. Xermaine took a seat across the table as Father Bernard also sat down and crossed his legs. “So, to begin with, are you acquainted with a man called Zanadis Quist?”, he asked. "Sorry but that information is quite personal", Xermaine swallowed hard. Father Bernard just sighed, staring straight at the girl. "As expected. But I'm not going to harm you. This is a parish home", he replied. “Yeah, he’s my grandfather. Did something happen to him?”, Xermaine asked, now with a worried look. “Not quite. You see, I deeply regret informing you, but your grandfather is not who you think he is", He told her dead in the face. “What do you mean by that?”, Xermaine asked, confused now. “You see…your grandfather is actually a sinner,” Father Bernard answered. “Oh, just that? Well, we all have our fair share of sins, right? Haha", Xermaine faked a laugh. “Oh, you don’t understand. What I’m trying to say is that your grandfather is actually a murderer", he stopped beating about the bush. “What did you just say?”, Xermaine thought she didn’t hear him right. “Just as you heard. Your grandfather, Zanadis, is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people…including your parents", Father Bernard said with a serious look. “What? You’re joking. This must be some sort of prank, right? Where are the cameras?”, Xermaine couldn’t believe what she had just heard as she started to panic. “Tell me it’s not true!” she suddenly screamed as she stood up.