2. That Scent
1393 Words
I am a looser.
Luke Wood is a looser.
'Luke Wood is a looser.'
'Hey Wood! do you even have any..?haha...'
'What the hell? You're such a creep. Lingering here and there.'
'Such a ghost!'
'Wood! Go away you don't belong here!'
'Get lost you creep!'
'Get lost!'
'Go away...'
An abrupt force hits me without any warning, it happened so suddenly that I am left completely unprepared, almost tumbling backwards. Next second, it's like I've taken a dive in a sea of sweet minty scent. My eyes blink open instantly, taking note of the long golden mane falling in waves before my eyes and feel the crushing binds around me, realising they're arms.
Rhea.
She didn't left.
I don't get the chance to catch hold of my jumbling emotions when the old familiar fear starts creeping inside me.
"I won't leave without you." Her words falling on deaf ears at the moment as I can only focus on the closeness of life. The anxiety rising inside me like spiders. Her smell not helping the situation at all.
She mumbles something else and tightens her hold on me. However, my mind can only registers the latter as I start feeling catastrophic, her scent clogging my nose and lungs, suffocating me—I feel difficulty in breathing. I want air. Without wasting another second, my hands come up to clutch her shoulders and I forcefully pry myself away from her grip, hurriedly bumping in her—and then running away from the library.
Without looking back.
-•-•-
Eyes.
A pair of intensely piercing one like lasers pointed straight at me.
Have you ever been in such kind of situation?
During the entire degree distribution ceremony I could feel eyes on me. Digging in my soul as though it were searching for something, especially when I was onstage receiving my degree.
Even now I can feel them on my back as everyone files out of the auditorium, making their way out, gathering in the hallways or outside the building.
Maybe its just my imagination or someone is planning to prank me or something. Anyway, it doesn't matters anymore because soon I'll be out of this place.
Convincing myself, I turn left.
Right now my main priority is to be alone and for that I need to go to the infirmary where Nurse Tasmin will help me with the backdoor which for the record is a no-entry-zone for today.
But I know Nurse Tasmin will help me out. She's been one of the most understanding person to me since the moment she's nursed my head when I received a wound on my forehead while walking into a pillar due to my super low hoodie. That was embarassing.
She's the only person other than Aunt Karen who's seen me without my hood on. Not even Rhea. Despite of her hundred times coming to me for her one-sided conversation, I have never given her a chance to see my hair. Ever.
My nordic white hair.
Rare but not unusual. However, what makes it unique and weird at the same time is the violet glow it emits under light. It's the very reason why I wear hoodies. Also, after so many years it has become a shield for me to hide myself from the outside world.
Be that as it may, today was a challenging day as I tried to hide each strands of my hair under that graduation hat of mine which's just a little bigger than my head. Although, it was a ridiculous fit but it worked out nonetheless. Other than them, no one knows what my hair look like. More like, no one bothers to know.
My shoes tap along the tiled ground as I make my way through the throngs of people laughing away in success, making plans for the future and several others getting emotional and crying. Ignoring them all, I clutch my bag tightly to my chest. I have already changed out of my hideous graduation gown after receiving my degree as soon as I got the chance and worn my hoodie back.
Now I only have to reach the infirmary.
When I turn another left, I can see the infirmary door fifteen metres ahead and a familiar turn at the end which will take me to the backdoor and out of this building.
I finally let the smile loose I have been holding back since the moment my degree landed in my hands.
With a relief slump in my shoulders, I take a few steps forward, walking down the hallway. When suddenly, I hear something.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Though its faint, I can swear they're the sounds of footsteps. As soon as that undeniable thought registers in my brain, my breath hitches.
Is someone following—?
Not wasting time on completing that thought and without any significant verification of what was actually that sound, I hurry down the hallway. Running.
My instincts are telling me not to take any chances. This is the last stage where I will finally gain my freedom. I won't let anything come between. I can't. Nothing. Hence, I do just that. Uncaring of my surroundings, I run. With a pounding heart I count the distance between the door and me, completely blocking out my surroundings.
Mistake.
The determination to reach the door compelled me to become completely unaware of the most expeditious hot pursuit which was precisely after me.
As soon as I nearly reach the door, I'm already gasping for breath and just as I stretch my hand to touch it.
Almost.
Almost.
I miss.
The narrow distance between my hand and the wood, became my preternatural doom.
With a hard dose of astonishment, I halfway take in the dark shadow shooting out from my right side in a flash.
An arm.
It lunged around me, promptly clamping my mouth shut, my eyes widening at the blockage and on reflex I try to fight back, only to fail. A blast of fear evokes inside me, following which something solid, emitting heat directly hits my back and before I can tumble forward with the swift force of strength, another vice like grip magically binds around my waist, holding tightly.
I do not get a chance to scream.
I do not get a chance to struggle.
I do not get a chance to fight.
Restrained in an unbreakable hold, my entire body is dragged away.
Away from the door.
My safety.
My freedom.
My mind in an inexplicable mess.
My body in a resilient hold.
And in the blink of an eye, I am already in a small, unlit room with my back colliding the door with such force that it slams shut, making me feel two things at once—a quick zap of sharp pain in my right hip due to the knob and unyielding, tight claws like grip on my upper arms.
Subsequently with is a smell full of the most delicious scent I smelled earlier in the library, but this time it's much, much stronger.
Purple asters and that scent.
Its overflowingly overwhelming yet it feels like it's not enough. I greedily breathe in the air which is utterly strong but weirdly calming.
Moreover, the touch around my arms shoots current like flux which penetrates my skin, entering my blood and heating me up from the inside out.
With a hard swallow, I try to look more and more into the darken abyss in front of me, trying to make out that person's face all the while feeling the touch that is strangely familiar yet unknown to me.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
There was only darkness and silence around me. If it isn't for the undetachable hold currently clamping around my upper arms, I would've thought no one is there.
Its like the stranger isn't even breathing.
Click.
The sudden appearance of light stings my eyes, momentarily blurring my vision and they immediately screw shut to escape it. I take this moment to calm myself down, hoping its all a dream....but then I feel it.
An unimaginable current in the air. It has so much power that I suck in a breath, my concise questioning the reality of it.
With a small amount of courage, a pounding heart and puffing breaths, I open my eyes and....
- Writer
