The Girl Who Couldn't Kill

Chapter 1-Seeking Revenge

She killed him. Her wrists were bruised from the rope that dug into her skin. Tears were trickling down her cheeks as she gasped for air but her lungs deflated like a weighed-down paper bag. Her hands flew to her own neck, trying to choke herself back to reality. A dark shape rested in front of her, it was faceless with empty sockets and a stitched mouth. Blood trickled from her fingertips and seeped into the open cracks of her palm. Drip, drip, drip, until a puddle started to form into a pond of vermilion. Her vision blurred and she—

—Woke up on a Monday morning. Her sweat dampened into the fibers of her cotton shirt as she sat up with her hair in a mess. She glanced into the mirror and stroked her hair aside, chugging a glass of iced water. Feeling confident of her mission tonight, she plastered a smile across her face and stepped into the shower.

It was decided, Rory Peng, a sophomore at Taipei's Brighton American School, was going to take down the boy that tormented people for a living—Connor Lee. Connor was a junior and he was no sweet boy, he had a net worth of equivalent to Rihanna, basically filthy rich, or more like his family is. Rory saw Connor as a two-faced teenage boy, he was either known as an infamous bully and heartbreaker, who treated girls like reusable bags, toying with their fragile hearts; or he was the suck-up that complimented and bribed teachers with his expensive gifts. Connor was a pain in the ass and Rory was tired of watching teenage girls get played and seeing his heartless behavior go unpunished.

"Gooood morning, I made you coffee!" called the familiar voice of her roommate and best friend.

Autumn stood in the doorway with her sculpted blonde curls gathered into a high ponytail. Ultimately, Rory and Autumn were polar opposites, if Rory was north then Autumn would be south, repelled in different directions but always across from other. On one hand, Rory was well reserved at school, talking to only a few selected people whereas Autumn was always the life of the party, despite her short height, she was a bundle of light and energy.

Rory frowned, "Why do you have to be so cheerful on a Monday morning?"

"Why do you have to be so grumpy on a perfectly wonderful day?" Autumn said obviously.

She shook her head, her ponytail swinging behind her head. Autumn's mouth widened and Rory gave in. This was their morning bicker, a routine where both parties made jokes, mockingly, a highlight of their friendship.

"Well, I gotta leave early today, see you later loser." Rory made a snarky face at her and continued to think of her plan of attack for the night to come. She was going to exchange Connor's midterm cheat sheets for the fake ones she prepared thoughtfully. Connor would then miraculously fail his Midterm exams, which will 'seemingly' be the result of a tiring game day. Although it seemed like a quick task, Rory had planned this scheme for days, this was sure to be a junior-year triumph.

Throughout the whole day, Rory made sure she knew the rotation of the security room, to her luck it was Old Man Paul in the evening; the friendly janitor who obeyed his orders from higher-ups and was enticing with his fast food coupons. So to ensure her plans, she snuck a lazy cake into the janitor's closet, leaving a note declaring it was from Ms. Wang, Brighton Highs' specialized chef. As Rory walked into her first period, her ears rang and her balance wavered.

Vermilion splattered across the floor, like a painting in disguise, she clutched the hilt of the scorching blade in her palm.

Rory shook her head in irritation and forced her twisted fantasies away.

Now is not the time.

Saving the tempting thoughts for later, she made her way to a seat just as the bell rang.

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Rory made a mental note in her mind for the all things she had to bring: A pair of rubber gloves, a flashlight, her phone, the fake cheatsheets, and homemade pepper spray, just in case. The sun had drowned in the foggy clouds, the moon hung glistening in the wistful night. She tossed the combo of items into her satchel bag and took the stairs to avoid unnecessary attention on her way to the dining hall. Connor's locker was in the west wing, where the boy's dormitory was located.

This should be fairly simple, she thought. Rory had caught Connor right in time in an engaging conversation about his Tesla models and took a quick snap of his locker combo when he momentarily got distracted by his buddies. God, Connor was atrocious to talk to, she had to pin her lips into a natural smile and morph her facial expressions to prevent her mask from slipping. All she had to do was open the lock and exchange the papers, done.

As Rory made her way back swiftly through the eerie dining hall, something didn't sit right with her. She swore her instincts were always on point. She felt a haunting presence that leered in the vast area of space. She let herself fall into the darkness and ducked behind the assortment of trash bins.

A boy emerged into the limelight, his hair tousled behind his ears, revealing the contour of his side profile. The faint glow of the reminiscent light revealed his starched half-buttoned shirt and trousers. If it weren't for the unpleasant situation, Rory would've thought he was quite good-looking, like the male leads in one of those spotlight scenes from a 90s romance movie. Then again, Rory wouldn't know, since she didn't particularly enjoy that genre of movie. But it was the middle of the night and her senses were in disarray. One thing was odd though, the boy wasn't wearing the usual school uniform, he looked like he came straight out of a bachelor's reality show.

What was this boy doing out and about at this late hour?

She watched as the boy reach his fingers towards the elevator to push on the up button. Some time had passed while he waited for the elevator to descend from the top floor, white lights indicating its arrival. Just as he shifted his balance to approach the compartment, he stopped as she followed his gaze to the gap under the elevator door. A violent goo of crimson red swam through from down under and crowded against his burnished loafers. The boy stepped back and covered his mouth from uttering a sound, overwhelmed.

Dinggg

The elevator doors separated, exposing the corpse that sat straight up. Time appeared to stop in frozen motion, milliseconds counting at a snail's pace. Eyes bulging with glossiness and bowels sliced open, Connor was propped against the elevator wall, unmoving and silently still. Life and soul were sucked out of the poor boy, blood smeared on his empty palms and face, as the dim light made out his expressions of fear.

Rory's body began to tremble with shock, hyperventilating at an abnormal speed.

This can be real, Rory thought. Connor's not breathing...? What happened? How was a perfectly alive person now a somber body that lay sorrowfully empty?

Who could have possibly done such a thing?

The strange boy staggered on his heels as his eyes widened in shock, lifting his hands to his mouth to dry-heave. He was stuck in a daze between looking from Connor's face to the scarlet red that now soaked the bottom of his shoes. To avoid footprints, he took off his shoes frantically. A quiet noise erupted from the south side of the dining hall, the boy cursed under his breath, and without hesitation, he dashed north to the closest flight of stairs that led to the boys' dorm. He disappeared into the darkness while Rory's heart dropped into her stomach. She couldn't comprehend what she had just witnessed, her mouth soured and her ears rang with force, with more impact this time.

The poisoned red of vermilion seeped through the cracks of her nails and into her palms, swallowing her eyes, and filling up her lungs, seeping through her heart. Drip, drip, drip, until a puddle started to form into a pond of vermilion

No. She did not kill Connor, she told herself. Her fantasies were swallowing her whole, this timing was the worst. She managed to lift herself up in one desperate gasp for air, still wobbling on her two legs. She clutched onto the seats she had been hiding behind to let her dizziness subside. Once she had fully regained her vision and stopped seeing colors in the darkness, she sprinted across the dining hall and back to the girls' dorm in the west wing. She dashed up the flights and stairs and landed back in her room. She fumbled for the silver key on her lanyard and unlocked the door after 5 tries. She clicked the wooden door shut, as quietly as she could without waking Autumn in the middle of the night. Her initial trepidation had transformed into guilt and remorse. Immediately, Rory ran into the washroom and held a hand to her stomach, belting over the sink.