The Enemy Who Collected My Corpse

the second chance

Evelyn’s P.O.V.

I looked at the boy with a red rose bouquet in his hands, beaming widely with those radiant, sparkling eyes that kept me captivated for so many years in a daze.

“Say, yes….. say, yes…… say, yes.” The crowd around us was cheering aloud.

My head was fuzzy and it took me a few seconds to actually understand what was going on around me.

The chill of the winter winds still had wrapped itself around my body.

The suffocation, the helplessness, and the coldness of the metals around my limbs were still fresh on my skin.

Everything felt like a dream.

I saw a very familiar crowd around me.

Clapping hard, cheering aloud, and grinning widely while looking at me enthusiastically.

Their cameras pointed towards me.

“Say yes.”

“Say yes.”

“Evelyn”

I jolted hard when a familiar, yet strange voice called my name affectionately.

My heart was now thudding hard against my ribcage.

My hand shot to my chest.

I felt the thud against my chest under my palm.

“Evelyn?” Zack Hayes called me softly after some time.

I looked at his handsome face and then at the bouquet in his hand.

And then to the clock hanging high in the stadium, ticking slowly.

Without making a sound…

Still I heard the ticking of the second hand clearly among the noise around me.

“We…. uhhhh….. it’s al… almost time, Zack. Yo… you need to go now.” I managed to utter these words out of my mouth.

My mind was now flipping through two different scenes, and it was making me feel dizzy.

My head was spinning, and I was about to pass out at any time.

“Evelyn, hey! What’s wrong?” Zack asked me worriedly, his right hand approaching me.

I flinched harder and took two steps backward.

Once, I would have run into those arms without hesitation.

Now they felt more terrifying than the prison bars that had held me captive.

“No… nothing. I am fine.” I yelled in fear.

A scene of so many hands approaching me popped up in front of my eyes at once.

Filthy laughter

Curses

Hands roaming all over my body.

The memories of everything that I suffered in that damp and dark cell hit my brain so hard that I felt everything in my stomach churn violently.

I covered my mouth to stop myself from vomiting in front of Zack.

Not here

Not now

Not in front of all these people if I am not hallucinating.

“You…. You are not fine. Let me take you to the doctor,” Zack said to me worriedly, approaching me, but I screamed and staggered backward.

“J… just go. Thi.. this match is crucial. Go. I am fine,” I replied to him while yelling.

Tears were now almost on the verge of falling at any time.

I looked around and saw so many familiar faces, looking at me in confusion and worry.

My breath hitched when I gaze landed on Evan Sterling.

His gaze was still cold, but he had narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to see through my soul.

Unlike everyone else, he wasn't looking at me with confusion.

He was studying me.

And it unsettled me more.

I looked down on his body, and my eyes widened.

The jersey on his body.

I immediately spun on my heel, looking at everyone frantically.

All I saw was that old jersey.

The same jersey that they wore to play in the inter-college hockey championship five years ago.

My breath ragged when a very similar scene replayed in front of my eyes.

Zack Hayes, the center forward of his team, proposed to me before the crucial match.

I said yes with tearful eyes, beaming in joy.

I had been in love with Zack ever since middle school, and he proposed to me in the freshman year of college.

The day that was the start of my doom.

I blinked harder, clearing my eyes from tears, and tried to breathe properly first.

Then I felt something hard poking against the palm of the free hand, or that’s what I felt earlier.

I looked down at my hand and almost stopped breathing.

The tablet..

My tablet…

The one with so much crucial information about the rival team.

The information that helped Zack win this match and helped him rise.

“Okay…. You are fine… you… you are just tired. My bad. I am sorry. I should have thought it before doing this.” Zack spoke worriedly, trying to approach me again, but I stepped backward again, keeping the distance between us.

“That’s it for now, guys. As my apology, the treat after the match is on me.” Zack announced to everyone, but my gaze was now completely glued to the tablet.

That day…

What did I do that day?

Yes…

I said yes to Zack’s proposal and then gave him all the information that he needed to win this match.

The information that I had gathered after five sleepless nights in a row.

And what happened after I filled in all the information?

He said “I love you”, kissed my cheeks, and went to play.

I was over the moon and continued cheering for him with all my strength throughout the match, like a devoted simp that I was called.

They won, and then he met the captain of the cheerleader team.

Jessica Stone…

The girl who made my life hell throughout the college years and then orchestrated my doom with Zack.

I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion crash over me.

“Evelyn!” I heard someone yelling aloud in panic.

My body didn’t hit the floor, though.

“Evelyn!” I heard Zack yelling in panic before someone embraced me tightly.

I crashed into a solid chest, not familiar to me.

The person was definitely not Zack.

He held me tightly against his chest.

“Give her to me,” I heard someone yelling aloud, but the ringing in my ears kept on increasing.

What exactly was going on?

I died in that cold and dark cell.

They left my corpse there to rot.

I remembered watching my already rotting body decay slowly.

And then……

My mind went blank, and I felt weightlessness.

Did I come back in time?

Did heaven really bless me with a second chance?

“Evelyn. Hey…. Drink some water, girl.” I heard a very familiar worried voice asking me something.

I felt something warm on my lips.

I drank warm water greedily.

The warm sensation not only soothed my throat, but also my soul.

I didn’t remember the last time I had something warm.

After finishing drinking, I slowly opened my eyes, and my breath hitched.

My vision was still blurred, but I recognized her.

She…. She was in front of me, looking at me worriedly, asking me something that I couldn’t hear.

“You….. you are here,” I whispered in a choked voice before I lunged at her, overwhelmed by everything.

"What's wrong? Why are you shaking so much?" she asked me worriedly, but I had no time to explain things to her.

She wouldn't understand even if I try to explain anything.

"Nothing." I sniffed while moving away from her.

I needed to find someone fast.