Chapter 3

The odd pain in my chest wasn't the only concerning fact. There was something more.

"What do you feel about parties, Ana?"

A different kind of sadness.

"Ana?"

Like a part of my soul was howling to death. Literally.

"Ana!"

"Huh?" I jolted out of my thoughts.

"Where are you lost?" Samara quizzed.

"N-nothing." I shook my head. "What did you say?"

"I asked what you feel about parties," Talia repeated, her eyes glinting with something suspicious as we walked across the campus in our leisure period.

"Oh. Um...parties aren't really my thing," I replied, holding my notebook against my chest and fixing my glasses. I needed them while studying. "But I guess it's fine as long as I’m not drinking."

"Oh, come on, drinking is the fun part," Samara groaned.

"Until you drink yourself into jail or worse, pregnancy." Gosh, I sounded like my mom.

"Party pooper." She stuck her tongue at me.

"In that case," Talia spoke again, suddenly changing her approach to the matter and throwing her arm around my shoulder, "you'll be our guardian angel, looking after us when we drink." She winked at Samara, high fiving her, and both laughing.

"Why are we talking about parties though?" I inquired.

"Because—" Samara’s smile grew, "—we're going to Jaxon Blaze's party, baby!" she exclaimed.

"What party?"

"The party he's throwing this Saturday night before leaving for his big basketball tournament," Talia explained.

"Oh. You guys have fun then."

She pulled back, coming to a stop. "What do you mean, missy? You're coming with us and having fun too."

I was about to decline, but the warning visible in both the girls' faces halted me. "Okay. We'll see," I said, and hurried away from them to get to the library when the sound of a roaring engine brought my attention to the end of the way.

A black Maserati speeded right at me like an angry bull ready to end its opponent.

"Ana!" Talia's scream reached my ears, but my body froze on the pavement. Images from that night flashed behind my eyes, and a shriek reverberated throughout the campus.

Blood, blood and more blood everywhere.

Screams.

Sirens.

Just when I thought I was about to meet the same fate as my father, the car screeched to a halt just inches from me, and the sudden force of air knocked me off my feet. I landed on my back, my eyes widened, and my breath came in short, frantic gasps.

The world seemed to go eerily silent, everyone around frozen in shock.

Then the car door swung open and out stepped the new professor, Zeus Matthieu Valerious. He slammed the door shut and strode towards me, his dark shades covering half of his face. His lips pressed into a thin line as he looked down at me. With an impatient exhale, he bent to my level, his face mere inches from mine.

My heartbeat palpitated, and my insides fluttered. I thought he was going to help me up. I hoped so. Desperately, so I could determine he was only a coincidence with the real-or-unreal-wolf-man.

Instead he tilted his head in the most arrogant way possible and said, "Are you blind, or are you slow?"

My jaw dropped at his crudeness, the flutter turning into a twist in my chest.

Before I could recover from the shock and apologize, he straightened, climbed back into his car and drove away.

The girls rushed to me, helping me up. "Ana, you okay?" Talia asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Samara joined in the spree.

"I'm fine," I assured them, my eyes still fixed in the direction the car disappeared. Something warm trickled down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice.

Why was I crying?

***

In the Cafeteria~

"What the hell is wrong with this new professor?" Samara grudged, munching on a pizza slice like it was her life.

"Yeah, right," Talia agreed, picking french fries and absentmindedly biting them tiny.

"You sure you don't know him from somewhere?" Samara asked me.

"Y-yeah, I'm sure. This is the second time I'm seeing him," I told her. I couldn't be lying, considering I, myself, couldn't decide what was reality and what wasn't.

"What about past life feuds?" she continued with a mouthful. "Maybe you murdered his family, and he remembers it. Or you were the nasty piece of pineapple in his pepperoni pizza." Her face contorted. "Gosh, I would be mad too."

I let out a small laugh, putting down my notebook. "No, Samara. I don't think that is the case."

"Hm... I wonder if that's how he's going to be with all the students. So rude and lethal."

I wondered too if it was only me or everyone else.

"Though he's so damn hot I would've totally banged him if not for that Severus Snape attitude he flaunts."

I frowned as a discomfort waved through me at her remark.

"Stay away from him!" Talia shot almost immediately, taking us by surprise. But then her eyes widened as if she realized what she did. She then visibly swallowed and stole her gaze away. "I-I mean h-he is our teacher. We can't get involved with our teacher. It's against college policy."

"Relax, dumbo. It's not like I'm going after him. He scares the shit outta me." Samara resumed her barbarian-style eating.

But my eyes stayed on Talia. She had been acting weird since the incident. If I remember well, she had done the same yesterday when the professor arrived in our class.

I couldn't help but wonder if she knew him from before. And... more importantly, if they had any history together for her to react that way.

The thought pricked my skin like thorns. I didn't like it a bit.

But why? What was wrong with me?

I was different from others. I felt strange things at certain times. But all this—the odd pain in my chest, the sudden surge of various sensations—these were new to me. I didn't know what was the trigger. I didn't know what to do with them.

But I couldn't stop thinking about it and concentrate on my notes until I had Talia confronted in the washroom.

"What're you talking about?" she immediately refused. "I don't know him."

"But it seems to me you do. Like... you're afraid of him," I mused.

"Who wouldn't be? That man is dangerous," she shot back.

Is?

"Looks dangerous, I mean. I just have this gut feeling," she trailed, scratching the back of her neck.

I stared at her, not convinced. It wasn't like he didn't look dangerous because he did. On a scale of ten, he was a hundred. But somehow it felt as though there was more to it than she was letting out.

Could she have…?

"Look, Ana." She grabbed my shoulders, looking me right in the eyes. "Please, promise me you'll stay away from him."

My brows dipped low at the genuine worry in her eyes. "What has gotten into you, Tal? Of course, I will. Professor Valerious scares me, too."

Could she have been in a similar situation as me?

"Yeah." She sighed, pausing. “If you're ever in danger, I'll save you."

I wanted to ask what made her so terrified of him. If she had seen the same strange wolf or felt the same pain. But I was afraid to find out.

“Is…is he going to kill me?"

She laughed, facing the mirror and touching up her makeup. "Let's stay out of his way and hope he doesn't."

I blinked. If he was supposed to be this dangerous, then he shouldn't be allowed in a college full of people. He shouldn't even be allowed in that profession. But then if he really was, he wouldn't have been in this position in the first place.

“Talia, did you ever—” I wetted my lip, “—see a wolf in the woods?”

Her hand, holding a lipstick, froze in mid-air as her eyes flicked to me from the mirror. Then she resumed her activity while clearing her throat. “There are lots of wolves in the woods, Ana. That's why I don't want you wandering anywhere near it.”

“What about a man?”

She looked at me again, frowning. “What man?”

The bewildered expression on her face faltered me.

Turning to me fully, she narrowed her eyes. “What happened, Ana?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. I wanted to tell her more than anything, but I was afraid he might come after her too if I did. “Oh, would you look at the time? We’ll be late for the next class.”

Not giving her another chance to question me, I clutched her arm and led her to our next class. Dreadfully, it happened to be math.

However, once we were in the classroom, something new was transpiring there. A few guys hid by the door with balloons and confettis.

"What's going on?" I asked, taking my seat at our usual spot at the back.

"Jaxon arranged a welcome party for the Professor. Isn't he so sweet?" Samara gushed, her eyes twinkling.

I and Talia eyed each other. He had some guts to be doing that.

Anticipation ran thick in the air as everyone waited for the scene to unfold.

A guy burst in and announced, “He’s coming!”

Just as the door opened next, with a pop, confetti and balloons flew in the air, and everyone yelled, "Welcome, Professor!"

The hubbub died abruptly when a girl appeared from behind the cloud of colorful papers, looking lost and confused. "I... I was just looking for my friend," she said, then ran away with a squeal.

A set of disappointed groans echoed throughout the room. But over all the noise, I didn't fail to catch the sigh of relief that left Talia. But I let it slide for now because deep down, I, myself, was scared for Jaxon and his minions.

Sure enough Professor Valerious did not look like someone who appreciated balloons and confetti, and in case, he was really the man from the woods, then— my eyes went to the mess at the door and right then the familiar pair of dark shoes came into view.

The classroom tensed.

My eyes rose higher to find those deep emerald ones frozen on the colorful ground. A nerve on his jaw ticked. He wasn't happy. Not the least bit.

"What is this?" he spoke low and clear, slicing the silence with the intensity of a katana.

Slowly his gaze moved up, cold and menacing, targeting the one standing before him.

Jaxon Blaze.

My breathing slowed, low-key expecting him to fall to his knees just like I did.

But surprisingly, the popular badboy had no pain written on his features. Or fear. Rather a smirk pulled onto his lips.

"Welcome, Professor. You were this close—" he held his thumb and index finger barely apart— "to making a grand entrance in your welcoming party. What a shame."

I gasped inwardly. Did that guy have a death wish or what?

Something dark and perilous flashed beyond those emerald green eyes. But the professor didn't act on it. He simply shoved his hands into his slack pockets, stalked toward his naive, disrespectful student, and looked down on him.

"Shame indeed," he drawled, the scanty smirk tugging at his lips effortlessly outmatched the full-fledged one played on Jaxon’s face.

The badboy glared at the Professor as though he just robbed him off his most precious treasure.

Something passed between them. A quiet resentment that seemed to extend far beyond this moment.

Then Jaxon turned away and strolled to his seat.

Mr. Valerious directed his steely gaze to the class, and as though suddenly thawed out of a frozen era, everyone shuffled to their seats in a panicked rush.

The professor stalked behind the teacher's desk and stood there. The man was so mountainous, the piece of furniture looked too tiny and vulnerable for his use, like if he slammed his hand on it even a little hard, it'd burst into a million splinters.

Power. All he exuded was pure, unrestrained power. And that stirred something deep within me.

Just like that night.

I shook my head, shifting in my seat. Get yourself together, Ana.

"Page seven, chapter one," the Professor boomed, uncapping a marker and furiously scribbling on the white board, the muscles on his back flexing with each movement. His voice was so deep like the ocean, one could drown in the sound if they focused on it too hard.

"Today we're going to learn about Exponent Rules." He hit the board twice with a pointer stick to grab our attention to the board like he knew people got lost in his voice. "There are seven laws of exponent."

His eyes scanned over the class, never once clashing with mine.

He looked like he couldn't be more than thirty, yet here he was, employed in a renowned college as a professor. As much I heard from the gossips in the cafeteria, his expertise on the subject was so praiseworthy he was put in this position as soon as he applied.

"Now who can tell me what those rules are?" he asked.

No sound came.

Not even from the high-IQ know-it-alls.

Second day of his career, and Mr Valerious earned himself quite a reputation.

"Very well." He went back to the board and one by one listed all the rules and elaborately discussed them. Though his definition of elaboration only included a few words but definitely the effective ones.

At the end of the class, he bestowed several pages of homework on us, completely disregarding the horror on everyone's faces before striding out of the room like he slept just fine after disrupting others's.

I couldn't sit still any longer, the whirlwind of questions and confusion pounding in my head dulled the edge of my fear. Without thinking, I ran after him. "Professor!"

He stopped, his broad shoulders stiff, tension rippling through them, but he didn't turn to look at me.

I swallowed, the strange pull in my chest tightening, and my heart pounding like a relentless drum.

"Have we met before?"