Rose Thorns & Love Letters

20 ➪ Love, Thomas

•Phoenix•

9/8/1872
I dreamt of you last night. You will never guess what it was about. You left me. Will you ever leave me? I will never leave you. You are my troubled pleasure and I cannot let go of the thrill I get when my eyes come in contact with yours.
Love, Thomas

__________________

My mind races as I search through the possibilities of what Camilla may be summoning me for. What the fuck could be the problem on a Tuesday afternoon? Isn't she supposed to be at College?

I forcefully pull open the door to the drivers seat of my car, make my self semi-comfortable, and start the engine. My car grumbles in response and my eyes immediately fall onto the dashboard.

I curse and slam my palm down onto the wheel when I see that my gas is dangerously low. My mind tears apart as I decide whether to find the nearest gas station, or take the risk and rush to Camilla.

Hold up. Why am I so stressed? It's not like I even care about the girl all that much.

Fuck, what if she's hurting herself again?

My mind is quickly made up as I speed out of the parking lot of the Club and onto the road. I look over to the time. 14:53. Her College should be about 45 minutes away from here. Fuck that, I can make it in 25.

I receive honks from drivers as I swerve the road and am nicely greeted with the middle finger as I overtake them. The stern look on my face does not diminish as I race down the road leaving a trail of I don't give a fuck's behind me.

After a long 27 minutes, I arrive at the gates of the august College. I watch as students leave campus, sit on benches, and aimlessly chat among themselves. But a certain Forest girl is nowhere to be seen.

Hurrying, I excuse myself from the safety of my car and make my way towards the front office. My eye catches the same woman who checked Camilla in on her first day. Her red-painted lips part and I think she says something to me. I don't hear it though.

All sound around me is cancelled as the thumping of my own heart consumes me. What if she is locked in a room, alone and tired. I mean shit, she hasn't seen any of her parents in over a month. She must be going through it.

Stop it, Lodovico. You don't even care that much.

I scan the campus for her familiar face, but none of the ones I see are identifiable. I reach for my phone to check the time. She should be leaving her History class by now. Don't ask me how I know that.

I make my way towards the Ignite class building. My mind drifts off to her rambling on about how she found out she was in Ignite hall and how she loved her new sweater-vest. A small smile touches my lips without my permission so I quickly brush it off as I search the halls for any full lecture halls.

I check the door to my right. Nothing. The door to my left. Nothing. Maybe she is not in class. Maybe she is in a bathroom, carving her body into the nothingness, with a thick, red substance creating streak lines down her thigh. I wince at the thought of it.

My heart rate quickens as the remainder of lecture halls are empty. A sign pointing to Ignite Dorms catches my eye and I almost feel compelled to follow it. I am not a student here, and I know I shouldn't do so but before I even begin to question my morality, my feet are already taking me in the direction the sign points.