Valerie

Chapter three

"Where are you from?" I asked, never taking my eyes off his.

"Near Liverpool," he replied, taking a sip from his drink, still keeping his gaze locked with mine.

"What are you studying?" I inquired, taking a sip from my own drink. It had been over an hour since Nina had joined her friends, and the night had already fallen. After some small talk with the others, when the conversation didn't engage me, I excused myself to the restroom and, upon returning, noticed Liam. Our conversation took an interesting turn, and intrigued, I chose to sit across from Liam instead of my initial seat.

After talking for a while, it was my turn to ask questions. "I study law," he said.

"How did you decide on that?" I inquired.

"I don't know, I guess I always enjoyed being right, and then I thought, why not make a career out of it?" he replied with a slightly selfish grin. "But I still have a year and a half before I graduate." How old was he? Unintentionally, I squinted my eyes, doing mental math in my head.

"I took a few years off after high school, so I'm finished yet. I'm 24, and technically, I should have been a lawyer ages ago," he said with a somewhat thoughtful and slightly mocking tone. So, he was three years older than me. I had started medical school without any breaks, and in a month, I would be continuing my clinical training. For the next three years, I would be working and taking exams.

After a bit more conversation, people at the table began to leave for their homes. It was already late. When Nina stood up, I thought it was time for me to leave as well. Liam, Ben, Nina, and Alex left the bar together. Nina turned to me and hugged me. "Thanks for the invitation," I said, smiling.

"No problemo," she replied. "Oh, almost forgot," she mumbled, taking a USB stick from the front pocket of her bag and handing it to me. "I don't know how organized you are, but all the notes from this semester are here. I hope it helps." I took the USB stick and tucked it into my pants pocket. "Thank you," I said.

"See you on Monday then. By the way, give me your number," she said, extending her hand toward me. I handed her my phone, and I watched as she tried to remember her number for a few seconds. She was a cheerful girl with a bit of a wild side, reminding me of my old self before Viola disappeared – the carefree and fun-loving Valerie who believed everyone was kind-hearted. When she handed my phone back to me, I smiled faintly.

"If you want, I can give you a ride home. It's on my way," Alex said, looking at Nina. "Oh, that would be great; I didn't want to walk in this cold anyway," she replied, linking her arm with Alex. Were they together? Alex and Nina bid us goodbye and started walking towards their cars. Oh right, Liam was still here. How was he going to get home? I turned to him.

"See you sometime later," I said, bidding farewell. It was quite cold, and I was only wearing a hoodie. I scolded myself for not grabbing a coat when I left in the morning.

"Are you going to walk home alone in the dark?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not far; otherwise, I wouldn't be walking. It's about a fifteen-minute walk," I replied as I began walking away from him. As I thought our conversation had ended, Liam reappeared at my side, walking backward.

"What are you trying to do? Laughing, I said, "I think you shouldn't walk alone in the dark; there might be bad people who want to do something to you."

"Don't worry; I can take care of myself," I said with a smirk. I messed up, it was cold.

"That's a bit doubtful; you can't even protect yourself from the cold," he replied, taking off his jacket when he saw me shivering. "Put it on." I did as he said, sliding my arms through the large sleeves and zipping up the front. The jacket was quite big, and it took some effort to get my arms out. He stopped walking backward and started walking beside me.

"Thank you," I said, turning my head towards him. "How considerate; now I'm completely protected from the bad people who want to harm me," I said, laughing. He put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me a bit closer to him, and whispered in my ear. I felt his breath on the back of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "Are you sure?" he asked. I swallowed, both because of the breath on my skin and the words he spoke. Was I sure? It was quite an interesting topic to think about while walking home with someone I had just met.

"Hmm," I said, nodding slightly in response. He chuckled, retracting his arm.

"Still, be careful," he said, slowing down my steps. We had arrived. He diverted his gaze from me and inspected the building. "It's a nice place."

"Yes, peaceful," I said. Peace. It was exactly what I needed at that moment.

"I would invite you inside, but someone warned me several times today about bad people. Said I need to be cautious," I said, smiling. I took off his jacket, handed it to him, and hugged myself. His black hair, parted on both sides and falling towards his face, complemented his laughing expression quite nicely. He was handsome. When he put on his jacket, his eyes focused on me again.

"I agree; you should listen to the advice about being careful," he said, taking a step closer to me. He was getting a bit too close. I felt my heartbeat quicken; it was audible in my ears. I held my breath. Could he feel the tension between us? His hand gently touched my waist, and his lips brushed against my ear. Fuck, yes, he felt it too. Valerie, calm down, take a deep breath. No, it was impossible.

"Goodnight," he whispered in a teasing tone, a slight smirk on his face, and then he left. I watched him until he turned the corner. Only then did I release the breath I had been holding. With a slight smile on my face, I entered my apartment. What was I doing? On the second day of moving here, a few hours after meeting him, I was about to invite a guy to my home."Be a bit cleverer,"

I said to myself. Damn, I hadn't even gotten his phone number, and who knew when we would see each other again. The idea of asking Nina crossed my mind, but then she would know I was interested in her friend, and I didn't think she would give me his number without bombarding me with questions. The sound of the doorbell interrupted my thoughts. Who could it be at this hour? Liam? Did he come to give me his number? When I looked through the peephole in the middle of the door into the corridor, no one was there.

I opened the door and looked around. No one was in sight. A lump formed in my stomach. It was a creepy situation, and every serial killer movie I had ever watched started to play in my mind. Yet, I was the perfect victim, having just opened the door. How clever of me.

As I was about to close the door, something caught my eye on the doorstep – a small cardboard box. Had the person who came left this? I looked around once more, picked up the box, closed the door, and brought it inside. Despite saying I would wait until tomorrow, even if I had already laid down in bed, half an hour later, I found myself sitting in front of the box, struggling a bit to open it.

Inside, there was a journal, and it had the word "Remedium" written on it.