Secrets of The Gallifrey University.

part 4

Grace.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Sierra.
She seemed distant..
I couldn't help but worry about her.
After classes ended,
I decided that I needed to find out what was going on.
I wanted to help her,
or at least understand what was troubling her so much.

Josh and I had already planned to go out,
even though it was still raining heavily.
Josh, always prepared for anything,
pulled an umbrella from his backpack.
He was the kind of person who always folded it up and tucked it away just in case.
As we stepped out into the rain,
I glanced over at Sierra.
She was clutching a book tightly against her chest,
almost as if it held a secret she was desperately trying to protect. Her grip was so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

I felt a pang of sadness and curiosity at the same time.
What could possibly be in that book that she was holding onto so tightly?
I wanted to ask her,
to reach out and say something,
anything, that might let her know she wasn't alone.
But I hesitated.
Instead, I looked over at Josh, trying to find some sort of understanding in his eyes.

He met my gaze with the same concerned look I knew I was giving him.
We didn't need to say anything to each other,
the silent exchange was enough to know that we were both thinking the same thing.
Sierra needed help, and we had to figure out how to provide it.

I kept on stealing glances at her,
wondering what was going on in her mind.
Whatever it was.
As the rain poured down around us.

Sierra.

The book sat heavy in my lap,
its cover black as night with the title etched in a bloody red font that seemed to glow .

"How to Hide a Corpse."

I'd found it on a dusty shelf in the university library,
tucked away as if someone wanted it forgotten.
With 399 pages..
it wasn't too long nor too short,
but there was something unsettling about it.

This night,
I have decided to read it again.
As I flipped through the pages,
exhaustion washed over me like a heavy wave.
Before I knew it,
I'd fallen into a deep sleep.

☆☆☆☆☆

Suddenly,
I found myself in a dark, endless void.
The air was thick,
almost suffocating, and my heart pounded like a drum echoing in the silence.
Out of the darkness emerged a pair of hands,
so long and black, with sharp, menacing nails that i feared it might slash my throat.
It reached toward me,
placing the book in my hands.

With a deep voice,
almost desperate echoed around me,
shouting,
"Read it! Read it! It's important! Please, you must do it!"
The sound reverberated through my bones, and I trembled under the weight of its urgency.
I tried looking up the figure only to notice it covered with a black-red fogg.
I couldn't see its face.
It then began to cry agonizing sobs that filled the darkness and my face with dots of tears.
I touched the dots only to notice that they were red.
A metallic smell.

Blood.

I didn't know how to react .
But I just sat there.
As it moved away, shrinking and morphing into a fragile form,
I realized it was a young girl.
She looked no older than eighteen,
with long ginger hair and eyes that seemed to hold the weight of the world.