The Boy with the Blind Eyes

THIRTEEN

Tamsin awoke in the middle of the night. She'd sworn she heard a noise, even while she was asleep. She sat up straight in her bed, every fibre of her being warning her of something. She peered into the utter darkness in front of her, but the attempt was in vain. She saw nothing. But she knew she'd heard something—this noise that always awoke her. The first time she'd heard it was in the shower her first night here. The second time was hazier, like a distant memory, but she remembered it happening. And now, here it was again.

Tamsin clamped a hand over her mouth to quieten her heavy breathing. There was still silence. Mutely, she slowly rose up and out from under her bedding. The noise definitely wasn't Lina. The girl was still snoring across the room peacefully.

As Tamsin's feet touched their plush, red carpet, a shudder ran down her spine. This felt...wrong. Something about the room just didn't feel right. Creeping quietly into the darkness, Tamsin moved at the pace of a turtle. She was shaking with each and every step she took, but she refused to turn back to bed. Something was happening in this pit of darkness. She knew she was being stupid, but Lina was right there in her bed. There was someone else here to help if anything went wrong. All she had to do was make it to the front door and turn on the light. She had to.

But then something strange happened.

There was a soft click to Tamsin's left—the click Lina's closet door made when she closed it. Tamsin felt her eyes widen. She wasn't insane. It was confirmed—there really was a stranger in their dorm. A burglar. A murderer. A serial killer. Someone was there. And then it dawned on her—Lina's missing items. Her watch, the perfume. Whoever this person was, they must have stolen those things too. And if they were here, right now, it must have meant they were coming in every. Single. Night.

Tamsin threw both hands over her mouth to stop the shriek from coming out. She held her breath in her chest, tried to calm her racing heart. What was she going to do? They could be anywhere!

Don't go into panic mode, Tamsin, don't...

But it was too late. Already she could feel the symptoms of panic dragging her under, suffocating her. Her lungs gasped greedily for air, but that was all it took. Tamsin staggered forward, eager to do something, anything. But instead of helping the situation, Tamsin felt herself crash into a small but rock hard body—the person. A whiff of expensive perfume met her nose. Probably the stolen perfume. 

Without thinking, she screamed on impulse. She grabbed the air but her fingers only found a fistful of hair. She felt higher up—it was long, then, and the body was small and delicate—it was definitely a woman. She was still screaming when she heard Lina mumble confusedly. 'Tams--?'

She didn't hear Lina finish the word. The next thing she knew, she was stumbling to the floor, her head pounding, nausea enveloping all of her senses. She coughed and wailed. She'd been clocked in the head. Whoever they were, the invader, they were strong. Tamsin crawled along the floor, whimpering and gasping. Colours of a wide spectrum danced against her vision.

And then...

The lights came on.

And then...

Someone screamed. Lina.

'Tamsin! You're bleeding! Help!' She screamed, flinging their dorm room door open and running down the hall. 'HELP!'

Tamsin blinked and felt her head—her fingers came away with a blood stain. It felt like seconds later when help arrived suddenly, the campus paramedics rushing to her side, calmly talking to her and asking her to read how many fingers they were holding up.