SOUL DORM

38

Just walkin' in the rain
So alone and blue

***

CHAPTER 38:

TAKE THE WIN

They say making a decision lifts a weight off your shoulders, but I felt anything but light. I stashed the pink case back in its hiding spot and returned to my room, holding just one cigarette. I sat on my bed with it until midnight, mulling over my next moves. Once the corridor quieted down, with everyone else tucked away in their rooms, I knew it was time to act.

When I opened my door, my heart was racing. I silenced it with a rebuke. Now or never! I refused to spend another day crippled by the fear of Pam. I clung tightly to Mars's voice in my head. Start thinking like her. Start thinking like her. Start thinking like her.

I strode into the corridor and made my way to Pam's room, a location I had regrettably memorized on my first day by an unfortunate collision. As I approached her door, I steadied myself with a deep breath and steeled my nerves. I clenched my trembling hand into a fist and knocked. Silence. I knocked again, more insistently this time. After several attempts, the door swung open to reveal Pam in her pink satin pajamas, her eyes instantly narrowing at my presence. Before she could react, I swiftly raised the cigarette between us as a shield.

"This is your first and last warning," I said, just as I had rehearsed in my head. She had threatened me in the same way in the cafeteria. My bold move shocked Pam, but before her surprise could turn into anger, I stepped forward, pushing her back into her room, and closed the door behind me.

"I know why the souls are addicted to the cigarette you provide."

My gaze shifted to the aquarium tucked in the corner of the room, exactly where Mars had said it would be. Inside, a large pink snake coiled, precisely as he had described. Pam couldn't have chosen a more fitting creature to reflect her persona—a pet that epitomized her character. Yet, she exploited it for more than mere companionship; it was a pawn in her sinister schemes. Truly, the snake that needed caging was Pam herself.

"What are you blabbering about?" she said. She knew exactly what I was blabbering about. Her jaw was clenched.

"The snake," I began, my voice steady as I pieced together the truth. "You've been using its venom in the mushroom blend. That's why your cigarettes are unparalleled—more potent, more addictive, more dangerous. You manipulate dependency to such a degree that people are willing to enslave themselves for just one hit."

Pam suddenly reached out, snatched the cigarette from my hand, and crushed it in her palm. "You can't prove anything, darling," she said with a victorious sneer.

It was exactly the response I expected from her. I replied with a devilish smile similar to hers. "Oh please... You don't think I'd come to you with just one piece of evidence and watch you destroy it, do you... darling?"

She swallowed. I could see her weighing my words, the possible consequences lining up in her trembling pupils.

"Try to cross me again and find out for yourself," I dared her. "See where else I've stashed evidence throughout the Dorm, who else knows your secrets, and just how quickly all that proof could reach the Principal's ears..."

She put on a cocky expression. "Do you think you're the first smart one to threaten me? Want to know what happened to the ones before you?"

I responded with a similarly smug smile. "But I'm not like the others, Pam darling. Why do you think Angel Ria suddenly appeared in the cafeteria that day? Why did she save me from you? What did she want to discuss after your grand show? What did she ask me when we were alone?" I paused, giving her a moment to digest the lie.