Ever since I lost my friend, I lost my mind. I know it sounds dramatic, even stupid but I can't find any other way to put it.
The Principal forced me to attend therapy, but, I don't see any change, not even close.
My sleep,
Sleep?
That's a joke.
Every time I close my eyes, I see Nathan. Not the way everyone remembers him, laughing, relaxed, alive.
No.
I see him the way I last felt him.
The anger that was in his eyes when I told him about Emma. Maybe that is what makes the way I feel worse. I keep replaying everything in my head, over and over, like if I think hard enough, I'll find the one detail that changes everything.
Now, he is gone..no time for me to make up for what I did.
Gone.
Everyday, I try to convenience myself that I was not responsible for what happened to him. Nathan's death wasn't right. I know it. You know when you just have a feeling and you are so sure you are right. He was attacked.
The truth isn't just out there somewhere…
And then there's her.
Jane.
At first, I didn't think much of her. Quiet. Observant. The type that blends into the background. But lately…..but she's been watching. Intentionally.
How would I know?
Jane never goes to library and reading aren't her thing.
But, for a while now, she is always at the library borrowing books on investigation, reading them without dozing off. I followed her back to her dorm and there I saw everything, a board with the pictures of victims, and some other people with tapes. It looked like the board serial killers uses to pick their victims.
"She must have been the killer" I thought.
During the ceremony of the Biology teacher, my mind kept wandering, nobody would help, my friend would not receive justice or what…
After the programme ended, I rested my head on the chair in front of me, trying to shut everything out, although it didn't work. It never does.
Footsteps.
Soft.
I ignored them at first. I've gotten used to people moving around me like I'm fragile. Like I might break if they come too close.
But then I felt it.
Someone.
Close.
I lifted my head slowly and there she was;
Jane.
Of course.
"Why are you still here?" I asked.
My voice came out flat. Tired.
She started stuttering immediately. "I… I… I saw you… I… um… thought…"
I didn't care well not right now.
"Please leave."
I kept my tone calm.
But inside? I was already irritated because she didn't leave.
"You heard me," I said, my voice rising slightly despite myself. "I said get out."
Still… she stayed.
Why?
Why does she always hesitate like that?
Why does she look like she knows something she's not saying?
Yes I wanted her to stay but I don't want to make her.
"Why are you still seated…?" My voice cracked before I could stop it. "Please… leave."
I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Like I was begging but something inside me was slipping.
I broke.
Before I could stop myself, I reached for her.
My hands found her, pulling her closer I rested my head on her shoulder. I don't even know why and then the tears came.
Damn it.
I hate crying.
Hate it.
But I couldn't stop.
They fell quietly, soaking into her shoulder, carrying everything I've been holding in.
Nathan.
The guilt.
The fear.
And the one thought I can't get rid of—
What if I missed something that could have saved him?
What if he actually unalive himself because of our argument?
Her hand moved gently through my hair softly, like those aimed at making a baby sleep. She didn't pull away and that surprised me..
"Andrew… are you fine?" she asked quietly and I snapped back.
What am I doing? I pulled away immediately, wiped my face, stood up.
"I am good. And forget about everything."
My voice was steady again.
Like nothing happened.
I even patted her head out of reflex, habit, something to dismiss the moment and the I started to walk away.
"Why are you being weird?" she asked.
After a big back and forth, I got out of there.
I could finally breathe.
UNKNOWN POV
In a room, not dark but not so bright. No pictures on the wall, no bed, in one word- empty.
But there is something in this room, a board. It stretched across the wall, meticulously arranged. Photographs pinned with precision. Red strings intersecting like veins, connecting people who had no idea they were part of something far bigger than themselves. Some pictures with a big cancel sign on them in which on is Nathan.
Beneath it, in small, neat serif handwriting:
"Lesson Two."
I walked close to the closet, opened it, there are my three musketeers, tied up together.
A quiet chuckle filled the room as I shut the door back.
I brushed my fingers lightly against the edge of the board as I walked past it, almost affectionately… like greeting an old friend.
I stopped,on the floor was one of the musket picture,
Andrew.
Unlike Nathan's, this one was untouched, had no mark on it, yet….
He is the one who think he can save the school from its destiny from the founders prophesy. It was raised by destruction and it shall end the same.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
"He's starting to see it…" I murmured.
I traced the edge of Andrew's picture slowly and then placed it on the board, underneath I wrote "Disobedient."
"Good."
Another photo.
Jane, miss detective.
Placed slightly to the side and with a thin red string that linked her to Nathan some other people's pictures.
"That curiosity…" I whispered, almost amused. "It's such a fragile thing."
He stepped back, looking at the board as a whole.
Everything was moving exactly as it should.
Almost.
He turned and walked toward the table.
The red ink bottle sat where he left it.
He picked it up, letting it roll between his fingers before placing it down again with a soft, deliberate tap.
Then he laid out a clean sheet of paper.
Ipicked up his pen.
Paused.
Smiled.
Then began to write pressing the pen on the book.
From your dearest nemesis.
A brief pause.
The pen tapped once against the paper.
Reader.
I smiled widened slightly.
Dear Reader,
Who am I? You may ask…
I am…
The dearest nemesis of this school.