DAMNED

Chapter 1: Shadows in the University

Prologue

The forest was silent, but silence never meant safety.

Robina felt the weight of arms around her — Santos’s grip, steady and unreadable. His breath was close, but his words never came.

Each step he took carried her deeper into the shadows, and with every heartbeat, the voices returned.

Joshua’s strength. Eyrah’s fire. Cris’s regret. Krystina’s hope. Amanda’s defiance. Alice’s sacrifice.

They whispered her name, not in comfort but in warning. “Do not falter. Do not surrender.”

Robina’s tears blurred the trees into smoke. She clutched the memory of hands that had once held hers, of love confessed in blood, of screams silenced by cruelty.

And now, carried by a man whose silence was heavier than chains, she wondered: was this escape, or another prison?

The forest swallowed them whole. The voices lingered.

Only one truth remained.

She was alive.

But she was damned.

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Eugenio Cardinal’s POV

The applause still echoed in Eugenio Cardinal’s ears as he stepped down from the podium. Another speech delivered, another promise made, another crowd convinced. Politics was theater, and he had mastered the stage. His smile was polished, his handshake firm, his voice steady — but behind the mask, his mind was restless.

WIU had invited him to speak about “Leadership and Civic Duty.” He had stood before hundreds of students, their eager faces lit by ambition. Yet among them, one face had burned itself into his memory.

She was seated near the aisle, notebook open, pen poised. Her eyes were sharp, attentive, but softened by a quiet warmth. Eugenio felt something stir — not admiration for her intellect, but a hunger he couldn’t name aloud.

Her name is Robina Aya Gasco. A graduating college student with soft features and almond-shaped eyes that makes her attractive. Her hair is long, often tangled, framing her pale face. Observant and quiet yet intelligent.

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That night, as Eugenio lay beside his wife Rose, her breathing steady in sleep, his mind replayed the image of Robina. He imagined her face, her smile, the way her hair caught the light. Dreams twisted into fantasies. He told himself it was harmless, but the persistence of her presence in his thoughts gnawed at him.

His wife, Rose Cardinal, had lived long enough to know her husband’s flaws. Eugenio was charming, but charm often concealed rot. She noticed his late nights, his distracted silences, the way he sometimes stared into nothing as though haunted.

She suspected corruption, perhaps another political scheme. But she didn’t yet know that his obsession was not with money or power — but with a girl half his age.

Remore Cardinal was sixteen, caught between adolescence and adulthood. He admired his father’s public image but sensed the cracks at home. His mother’s quiet sadness, his father’s temper — these were shadows he didn’t understand.

At school, he heard whispers about Eugenio’s dealings. Rumors of bribes, of intimidation. He shrugged them off, but unease lingered.

Robina Aya Gasco’s POV

Robina had always believed universities were sanctuaries of ideas. WIU was her world — lectures, group projects, late‑night study sessions. She was a fourth‑year student, balancing ambition with the ordinary joys of her youth.

The politician’s speech had been impressive, but she didn’t dwell on it. Men like Eugenio Cardinal belonged to another world: power, wealth, influence. She’s focused on her own path — her friends, her suitor Raell Layle, her dreams of becoming an Accountant.

Yet she couldn’t shake the odd feeling of being watched during the event. When Eugenio’s gaze swept across the audience, she thought it lingered on her. But she dismissed it as imagination.

Raell Layle’s POV

Raell was protective of Robina. He wasn’t blind to the dangers of the city — the alleys, the men who stared too long, the cars that slowed near students. He walked with her whenever he could, his presence both comfort and shield.

He didn’t know that a powerful man had marked Robina as prey.

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Days passed, and Eugenio’s obsession deepened. He instructed his personnel to gather information about Robina. Discreetly, of course — no one could know.

Reports trickled in:

* Robina often walked home with classmates Cris Sintra, Joshua Ocampo, Krystina Rusco, Eyrah David, Amanda Samson, and Alice Reye.

* Sometimes she walked alone with Raell Layle, her suitor.

* Her route was predictable: a two‑kilometer stretch from WIU to her neighborhood.

Eugenio studied these details like a general, planning a campaign. He told himself it was curiosity, but the truth was darker.

His dreams grew vivid. He imagined reaching out, pulling Robina close, kissing her and whispering promises. He woke drenched in sweat, guilt gnawing at him, but desire stronger still.

He began to fantasize about control — not just affection, but possession. He wanted her in his orbit, away from her friends, away from Raell.

His personnel reported again: “She sometimes walks alone.”

And that was all Eugenio needed.

The night was heavy with rain. Eugenio sat in his study, the sound of thunder masking his thoughts. On his desk lay a folder — photographs of Robina, notes about her schedule, maps of her route.

He touched the papers with trembling fingers. His wife slept upstairs, his son dreamed of school, but Eugenio Cardinal was awake, plotting something.

In his mind, the line between desire and crime blurred. He whispered her name — “Robina Aya Gasco” — as though invoking a spell.

And somewhere across the city, Robina laughed with her friends, unaware that a predator had begun to weave a net around her life.