Bearer of the Ancient Curse

Chapter 16: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Axel ran through the corridors in a flash. She never wanted to spit lie and relinquish the chance to be with Melanie during lunchtime, but she had no choice. She needed to see what the student council and the faculty were discussing consistently those previous weeks. She noticed that the strange meetings started when Melanie received counselling from Ms. Marfori, and if her hunch was correct, the subject of matter must have something to do with her beloved.

"I must succeed in figuring out what they're talking about Melanie," thought Axel. "I can't just sit still and wait for them to brew their plans about her."

Axel moved her body like a silk, swiftly gliding to all pillars and posts. She stuck her tongue to the side of her mouth and rolled towards the space behind the moving food cart. She simply fished out bread from the trays and shoved it into her mouth, gazing at the surroundings.

"No one's here," she mumbled. "Adi told me their meeting's gonna start at 11." She glanced at her wristwatch. "And I'm three minutes late." She hissed. "If only Adi and Tamonji were not that loyal to the University, they must have already given me the contents of their meeting without me doing an extra fucking mile for that."

Axel doubled her pace than before and ran towards the halls in a stooping stance. Her steps were soft as a cotton, quietly making their way towards the last room in the corridor. She then glanced around, searching for the presence of some security guarding the conference room.

She raised her eyebrow and said, "This is fucking creepy, man." Axel removed her hands to the knobs of the two giant wooden doors and looked around. "The guards had one job!" She gritted her teeth, "and they obviously failed to do it. Where the heck are they? Usually, they'll drag the shit out of me like my previous attempts. Did they grow tired of me?"

Axel shook her head and focused on her main goal. "Whatever. It's much better they're not here to foil my plans again." She pressed her ear to the door, then turned the doorknob, hoping it would budge and grant her access. "I'll gladly listen to their so-called private meeti—"

Axel was not able to finish her sentence when the door suddenly opened. Due to the impact, her leaning body lost balance, but before she could kiss the ground, a group of people pushed her to the side and dashed by her sight in a blur.

She clutched her head. "What the heck was that?" She turned to the long corridor but there were no signs of life in there—not even shadows. She grunted and sprung to her feet.

"Back to the track..." she whispered, peeking her head through the gap of the ajar door. However, the next scene glued her on the spot. Her eyes dilated in shock, and her mouth stretched open, unconsciously moving her hand to the handle of her katana. She then propelled the door away from her body and stormed into the room. Blood permeated in the air and its rusty smell instantly filled her nostrils. Her vision saw nothing but pools of reds everywhere—each shade from the student council and the school faculty's lifeless bodies.

"Shit." Axel carefully made her way through the corpses and tried to recognize their identities, ignoring their open throats. She chewed her lower lip when she saw familiar faces in them. She stumbled back, panting. "This is so messed up."

She inhaled sharply and sought for a wall to support her weight. She glanced at the bodies once more and closed her eyes tightly when she did not see Amirah, Adi, and Tamonjie in them.

"They're..." She wheezed. "They're still alive."

Her short thoughts of hope were interrupted when she suddenly heard monstrous groaning. Her eyes quickly landed on the corpses. Some of the bodies were shaking back and forth, their faces looking like haze. The nerves on their necks enlarged, and the vessels in them drained in color, then became blue. Every strand of their hair simultaneously fell out of their head, leaving their scalp bare.