เข้าสู่ระบบNoah kicked open the door to one of the rarely used guest rooms downstairs and laid Kai down on the bed with a grunt. The mattress creaked under the weight, and fresh blood immediately started soaking into the sheets. I didn’t wait for instructions and immediately turned and ran back outside, my shoes slipping slightly on the blood-smeared floor. In haste, I sprinted to the car, yanking open the back door and grabbing the plastic bags I’d thrown in earlier. My hands were still shaking, but I managed to pull out the first aid supplies I’d bought on impulse at the convenience store. Then rushed back inside, the bags crinkling in my grip, and froze in the doorway of the guest room.Noah was already working.He’d torn open what was left of the old first aid kit and was pressing gauze against a deep gash on Kai’s side, his movements quick and practiced even as he cursed under his breath. Blood was everywhere — on his hands, on his shirt, on the bed. Kai’s breathing was shallow and uneven
His face was swollen and bruised, one eye already turning purple, blood trickling from a split lip and a gash across his forehead. His clothes were ripped in places, and there were dark stains spreading across his shirt that I didn’t want to look at too closely. He looked like he’d been beaten within an inch of his life.“Kai?” I whispered, my hands hovering over him, not sure where to touch without hurting him more. “Oh my God… what— what happened to you?”He groaned, his eyes fluttering open just a sliver. Even in the setting sun I could see the pain etched across his face.“Saraphina…” he rasped, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Please help…”I scrambled back to the car, yanked open the passenger door, and grabbed my phone from the cup holder with shaking hands. My thumb hovered over the emergency number for half a second before I stopped.I couldn’t call the police.Involving the cops would only make things worse — for him, for me, for everyone. Noah would be pissed. Hell, h
My phone dinged.The sound cut through the fog in my head and jolted me out of my daze. I stared at the screen for a long moment before finally picking it up. Noah: Grab me a pack of Marlboro Reds before you come back? The ones with the gold filter. I stared at the message, my face a complete mask of indifference. Then sighed, and dropped the phone into the cup holder. Thinking about why Kai had done this to me was probably the same as asking a snake why it bit you. Pointless. Dangerous, even. Snakes didn’t need a reason. They just did what snakes do. And right now, I didn’t have the energy to keep trying to understand the mind of someone who had clearly been manipulating me from the start. It would be best not to think about it anymore. I started the car. The engine hummed to life, and I forced my hands to loosen their death grip on the wheel. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the convenience store a few blocks away from campus — the one I’d passed a hundred ti
“Kai is the one responsible for all this?”“Well, he’s the only one that’s glued to you always,” Sarah continued. “And nothing seemed to have happened to him. So everybody just assumed…”She didn’t get to finish.“Hey, Sarah!”The voice sliced right through the cafeteria noise. I looked up to see Emma, the tall one with braids, stomping toward our table. Her face was set in a tight, angry mask.“Are you nuts?” Emma snapped, grabbing Sarah by the wrist. “What the hell are you doing with her?”Sarah barely had time to react before Emma was dragging her up from the chair, her sandwich and drink forgotten on the table.“Emma, wait—” Sarah started, but her friend wasn’t listening.I just sat there, frozen, my water bottle still clutched in my hand as I watched them.Sarah twisted slightly in Emma’s grip, looking back at me over her shoulder as she was pulled away. Her eyes were wide, conflicted, like she wanted to say more but knew she couldn’t.“Are you not in a relationship with him or s
She smiled, a small, tired smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Honestly?” she said, glancing down at her half-eaten sandwich. “I didn’t want to. Especially after I got my own piece of warning the same day you found out about the rumor.” My heart stopped. “What?” “Yeah? “Were you hurt?” I pressed, the panic evident in my voice. She shook her head quickly, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. “I’m fine, really. It wasn’t... they didn't hurt me,” she whispered, staring past me. “They just tore my room apart. Ripped the drawers out, scattered everything I own, broke a few things. It was like they wanted to send a message without actually touching me. And if that’s the case I got the hint loud and clear.” I stared at her, the guilt hitting me like a punch to the chest. My hands started trembling before I could stop them. I set the water bottle down so I wouldn’t drop it, but the shaking didn’t slow. It moved up my arms and into my shoulders, spreading until I felt like I was
SARAPHINA°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・“That’s all for today. See you on Wednesday.”The moment the words left his mouth, the room erupted into motion. Chairs scraped against the floor, notebooks snapped shut, and the low shuffle of papers and bags filled the air like a wave breaking. Students were already rising, eager to escape the cold class lights and the silence that had settled over the last hour.I stayed seated a second longer, my pen still hovering over the half-finished page in my notebook as I searched for Sarah. Most of the class had already cleared out within seconds, chairs scraping and laughter fading into the hallway. I finally spotted her near the back, shoving her laptop into her bag with quick, distracted movements.I closed my notebook with a soft snap and stood, slinging my bag over my shoulder in one fluid motion.“Hey,” I called after her, my voice cutting through the thinning crowd.She didn’t turn around.I quickened my pace, weaving between the last few stragglers still lingeri







