DAMNED

Chapter 4: Patterns in the Dark

Robina sat at her desk, staring at her bruised arm. The attack replayed in her mind like a nightmare: fists, shouts, the suffocating circle of men. She couldn’t dismiss it as random anymore.

Her friends had been shaken too. Joshua’s lip was split, Raell’s knuckles raw. They all agreed — this wasn’t just street crime. It was deliberate.

Robina whispered to herself, “Why me?” But deep down, she feared the answer was already forming.

While Raell’s quick, restless pacing around the classroom, anger simmering. He had grown up around petty gangs and thieves — he knew their patterns. But this was different. These men weren’t after wallets or phones.

He thought of Robina, her fear, her trembling hands.

He clenched his fists. “Someone’s targeting her. Maybe someone with power.”

Raell began to watch more carefully, noting the timing of the attacks, the way the men moved. It felt organized.

Cris tried to lighten the mood, but even his jokes fell flat. “We’re not paranoid,” he admitted to the group. “They’re after us. Or… after Robina.”

The others nodded reluctantly. The realization hung heavy.

**********

Santos reported back to Eugenio. “They’re suspicious now. They know it’s deliberate.”

Eugenio’s smile was cold. “Good. Suspicion breeds fear. Fear breeds isolation. Soon she’ll have nowhere to turn and I will save her.”

Santos felt his stomach twist. He wanted to quit, but Eugenio’s grip was iron.

Rose found a folder hidden in Eugenio’s study. Inside were notes, photographs, maps of WIU’s surroundings. And Robina’s name, written again and again.

Her blood ran cold. She realized her husband wasn’t just corrupt — he was dangerous.

Remore overheard his parents arguing. His mother’s voice trembled with anger: “She’s a student, Eugenio! What are you doing?”

His father’s reply was sharp, chilling: “She’s mine.”

Remore froze, horror dawning. He didn’t understand everything, but he knew his father was spiraling into something monstrous.

*****

Robina gathered her friends in a café. They spoke in hushed tones, fear in their eyes.

Joshua said, “We need to tell someone. The police.”

Raell shook his head. “No. Whoever’s behind this has influence. If it’s just gangs, fine. But if it’s bigger…”

He trailed off, unwilling to say the name forming in his mind.

Robina whispered, “It feels like someone powerful. Someone untouchable.”

The group fell silent.

That night, Robina lay awake, the shadows of her room pressing in. She realized her life had changed forever.

And in his mansion, Eugenio Cardinal stared at her photograph, whispering, “Soon.”

The predator’s plan was tightening, and the students had begun to see the pattern — but they didn’t yet know how deep the darkness ran.

Rose sat in the dim glow of her bedroom lamp, the folder she had stolen from Eugenio’s study spread across her lap. Photographs of Robina Aya Gasco stared back at her — candid shots outside WIU, notes about her schedule, maps of her walking routes.

Her stomach churned. He’s not just corrupt. He’s hunting her.

Rose’s hands trembled as she tucked the folder into her own hiding place. She knew Eugenio would kill her if he discovered her snooping, but she couldn’t stay silent. She resolved to dig deeper, to uncover the full extent of his obsession.

***********

Robina walked home with Raell, the streets unusually quiet. The bruises from the last attack still ached, but her fear was sharper than the pain.

“Raell,” she whispered,

“this isn’t random. Someone wants me afraid.”

Raell nodded grimly. “I know. And I think it’s someone with power. These men aren’t just thugs.”

Robina’s breath caught. “But why me?”

Raell didn’t answer. He didn’t want to say a politician’s name aloud, not yet.

Raell’s instincts screamed danger. He kept scanning the street, every shadow alive with threat. He had grown up fighting bullies, but this was different. This was organized.

As they turned a corner, he spotted movement — two men stepping out of an alley, blocking the path.

Raell’s jaw tightened. “Stay behind me.”

The men didn’t speak at first. They just stood there, eyes cold, bodies tense. Then one smirked.

“You walk this way every night,” he said. “Dangerous habit.”

Robina’s heart pounded.

Raell stepped forward, fists clenched. “Leave us alone.”

The second man chuckled. “Or what?”

Raell’s muscles coiled, ready to fight. But before he could strike, headlights swept across the street — a car turning the corner. The men melted back into the shadows, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared.

Robina exhaled shakily. “They’re playing with us.”

Raell nodded. “Testing us. Next time, they won’t just watch.”

From a distance, Santos observed. He had ordered the men to intimidate, not harm. Eugenio wanted Robina’s fear to deepen, but Santos’ conscience screamed.

He muttered, “This is spiraling out of control.”

Yet he knew he couldn’t stop it. Eugenio’s grip was iron.

Robina and Raell reached her home, shaken but alive. Raell promised, “I’ll protect you. Whatever it takes.”

But in his mansion, Eugenio Cardinal whispered to himself, “Soon, she’ll have no choice but to come to me.”

While Remore overheard his mother crying in the kitchen. He caught fragments of her words: “She’s just a girl… he’s obsessed… I have to stop him.”

Confusion and dread twisted inside him. His father was supposed to be a leader, a protector. But now, Remore feared he was something else entirely.

And upstairs, Rose Cardinal hid the folder, her resolve hardening. She would expose her husband — even if it cost her everything.