My cell phone sounds my alarm as I struggle to shut it off. I stretch my arms before pulling my tired body out of bed, moving to put on a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt. Grabbing my phone, wallet, bag, and dorm key, I head out towards the cafe to get some coffee and read ahead before my class starts in the next hour.

I wait in line for quite a while before getting my coffee. Seeing I have thirty minutes before my programming class, I decide to sit and go through the first chapter of the textbook.

As I skim through the pages of the book, the television mounted to the wall plays a news segment, mentioning people and bodies being found around the city.

“The living victims show no signs of struggle.” the caster said as he continued the segment. “Stranger still, they appear to be in a catatonic state. The dead victims bear no wounds of any kind, therefore, the cause of death remains unknown. All residents in the area are urged to be aware of their surroundings, and to report any suspicious activity immediately.”

That seems pretty close to the campus. I wonder if any of those people were students here.

Brushing off the unsettling news, I hear a familiar voice as I turn back to my textbook.

“Cayne?”

I look up, seeing Angela in front of me, her straight hair put up in a neat ponytail.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” I say, smiling as I gently close my book.

“Same here.” Angela replies, adjusting her bag strap on her shoulder. “Did you come here to study too?”

I nod as she pushes the sleeves of her black jacket up her slender arms. Her Face Turns a familiar color before she speaks up.

“How well do you know this stuff?” she asks, fiddling her thumbs.

“I’d say pretty well.” I say as I rub the nape of my neck. “Software and coding comes pretty naturally to me, but I’m horrible when it comes to building computers.”

Angela giggles as she slides into seat across from me.

“That’s so weird! I’m the opposite, good with building, horrible with programming.” she says.

I chuckle as Angela’s Face turns a darker shade of red.

“Do you think, maybe you could help me with the class?” she whispers, turning her head away.

I raise an eyebrow with a hum. Angela perks her head up. Her face looks more like an apple with eyes at this point.

“If you can! I mean, I understand if you don’t want to! I just really need the help!” Angela says, frantically waving her hands in front of her.

This girl really is something else! I gently grab her hands before answering.

“I’d be glad to help you.” I say as my own face turns warm.

Angela’s eyes light up as she smiles, throwing herself across the table to pull me into a hug.

“Thank you so much!” she says, tightening her grip.

She releases me when she hears me grunt in pain, looking towards the ground with sad green eyes.

I look at my phone, seeing that class is about to start in ten minutes.

“Class is starting soon.” I say as I stuff my book back in my bag. “We should get going.”

Angela follows me through the door as we head towards our classroom.

When we walk in, the computers lining the desks around the room are the first thing I notice. Angela and I move to take the two empty seats at the front of the room, the professor walking in immediately after we set out bags on the floor. A middle-aged man of heavy build, he goes into a lot detail with his lecture. I chuckle quietly as Angela stares intently at the pages of the textbook. She really wants to do well in this course.

Surprisingly, our professor give us an assignment following his lecture. He gives each of a certain program to write using the code he lectured about earlier. Of course, I complete it with no problems, but Angela has a hard time with it.

Seeing her fidget and scratch through her hair is almost impossible for me to watch. Eventually, I give her some advice, telling her what code to use, and she writes the code out with no problems.

We leave after the professor checks our work, Angela pulling me into another “death hug” as she thanks me for helping her. For someone her size, she is really strong.

“You’re really good at this stuff.” Angela says as we walk down the walkway.

“Thanks.” I say. “It really isn’t anything special, though. I just like writing code.”

Angela giggles as she wraps her arms around mine.

“Still, I owe you one.” she says with a smile.

My face turns hot as I feel Angela press herself against my arm. I jerk my head away from her, trying to keep myself from looking towards the low cut of her dark-purple shirt. What is with her all of the sudden?

I feel my face flush as my arm falls in between Angela’s cleavage. Her own face turns red as she releases my arm, her eyes turning to a troubled look as she starts to fiddle with her thumbs.

“Cayne, can you come with me for a minute?” she asks, sliding her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

“What is it?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. For some reason, I have a feeling that Adam may be more right than even he might have thought.

Angela gently takes my hand in hers and begins to lead me behind her. She stops we when arrive at a dorm, I assume it’s hers. She pushes me inside before spinning around, shutting the door behind her. She turns to face me with a fearful look in her eyes. What the hell is happening right now?

Angela slowly moves towards me, gently placing her hands and head against my chest.

“Are you okay?” I say, my voice cracking with worry.

She stays silent. I hear her sniff quietly as she slowly slides down my front. I cautiously wrap my arms around her back, hoping to comfort her.

“I’m sorry, Cayne.” she says, her voice suddenly serious and stoic. I instantly feel a sharp pain run through my body.

I look down at Angela, seeing her holding a knife embedded in my chest, its blade glowing and pulsing with an intense white light. Did she seriously just stab me? And what kind of knife glows like that?

She steps away slowly as I drop to my knees, clutching my shirt in agony as I feel warm blood run through my fingers.

Surges of pain course through my body as shocks and chills convulse through me. I feel my breathing stop suddenly as I groan in agony. My hands glow with red and black streams of light as I look up at Angela. I don’t think that was a normal knife! What the hell did she do?

She kneels down to me with a blank expression on her features. The words she whispers in my ear are the last thing I hear before I fall unconscious.

“Please forgive me, but this is tradition.”

Thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a like, and comment what you thought about this chapter!