Veronica was walking to meet Charles downtown so they could go clubbing. She'd always liked walking, especially at night. The darkness calmed her and the stars were always a beautiful sight. Besides, she liked to think when she walked and cool night air did wonders to clear her mind.
At that moment, she couldn't stop thinking how the whole day had gone. It has certainly been a one heck of a birthday, in fact, the weirdest day of her life…
After their breakfast in the café, the two bestfriends headed to their first class of the day. Calculus. Veronica dreaded it but Charles loved the subject which was something she could never understand.
They were just in time for their teacher (torturer, Veronica thought grimly to herself), Mrs. Robinson arrived just a few moments after they did. Immediately, she started handing out test papers for a test. See, she's definitely a torturer.
"Shit, shit shit shiiiiit! I'm fucking dead." Veronica freaked out, muttering more words that would be rude to repeat. She didn't know there was a quiz and Calculus was her weak subject. Plus she hadn't studied anything. 'What a wonderful way to spend my birthday: failing a test in Calculus' she thought to herself, sarcastically.
"Relax, V. Chill out. It's just a test." Charles said, his voice sounded sympathetic and yet, it sounded oddly amused to her.
"What do you mean it's just a test?!" she exclaimed almost too loudly. Several people near them had turned to look.
"Hey, come on! That's why I'm here, remember? Don't worry. I'll help you pass. Can't you see we're meant to be? Most of your strong subjects are my weak subjects and vice versa." Charles wiggled his eyebrows, teasingly and said "Don't you think we should have started dating by now?"
Veronica rolled her eyes. "You arrogant bastard. Are you blackmailing me now?"
Charles grinned. "Blackmailing is never above me." The two of them often teased and flirted with each other like that. It was something they did as bestfriends.
Veronica smacked him with a thin notebook.
"Ouch V! I was just kidding. Come on, the test is starting." Charles said.
The test was long, really long. They had two hours of Calculus and were expected to answer the whole test by the end of the period. Their teacher has got to be asking for too much, Veronica believed.
During the test, she'd sometimes whisper questions to Charles. Thankfully, they were seated next to each other. Even more fortunate was the fact that Charles was never selfish to share.
"Charles, how do I solve question number 5, page 1?"
Charles didn't even glance up from his work when he answered. "Use the 3rd formula on the review card I had you memorize before then all you have to do is shift the equation a bit."
"Thank you." she said. She quietly worked on her test, sometimes asking Charles for tips and pointers.
"I know nothing about the last set of questions." she declared after scanning the last page. She was almost done. Just one more hurdle to jump.
"Use steps 1-3-5-2-1-5-4-4-2" Charles said, smoothly never stopping from his work.
"What? I don't unders--" Veronica was cut off by someone slamming the door open. It was a guy their age who could easily have been a student in the university. Except, his hair was messed up like he'd been rolling in the ground, wrestling with someone. His bright green eyes were frantic and wide with fear. His clothes were torn and his skin cut or scraped. His lower lip was bleeding as if someone had punched him there.
He was still breathing hard, possibly from running hard. "Princess! Princess Veronica! The lost princess. You must run! They're coming! They want the royal family eradicated!" he said this strange words with short burst of breath.
Everyone was looking at Veronica by that time but she was just as bewildered as the rest of them. The man was saying too many strange things. Princess? Run? Who is he? Who was coming?
"What? I don't understand. Who are you?" Veronica asked, standing up.
Guards had come to take the man away by that time. Veronica barely registered the fact that Charles was holding on to her arm in a comforting manner. She suddenly felt scared for no apparent reason. It wasn't the man she was scared about. No, not him. In fact, the man seemed almost familiar. No, the man wasn't the reason she suddenly felt cold with fear.
The man fought wildly against the guards. There were more guards that should have been enough to overpower the man but surprisingly, the man managed to fight them all and shake them away. He went to the platform where the teacher stood, petrified with fear.
The man shouted again, now looking straight at Veronica. "You must run, Princess. Protect yourself. Find the regents. They should still be loyal to the crown. The four pillars protects the royal house-----"
Maybe he was about to say something more, maybe he had more ominous warnings to share. Veronica never knew for sure because they just heard the sound of gunshot, glass shattering and people were suddenly running around and screaming. Veronica stared at the man, now lying on the ground. He was bleeding from a gunshot wound through his head. Veronica's own head ached like there was something she needed to remember but couldn't. The sight of blood entranced her. She didn't know the man but she felt like she had just lost something important.
"Veronica? Veronica!" Charles was shaking her and she blinked, trying to get back to reality. The sight of the ruby red blood on the white tiled floor made her head ached. Like the image was trying to pull something from her head.
"Veronica!" Charles' voice was now frantic and worried. "Snap out of it!"
After the incident, the whole day passed with Veronica somewhat in a daze over what happened. School had been cancelled. The police tried to question her but Charles prevented them from doing so, saying she was shocked and was in no condition to speak. She tried to remember to thank him later for that. Honestly, she felt somehow out of it.
Yet, here she was now, a few hours after the "murder" and she was going to party. She had convinced Charles to go through their plans for tonight. She needed a respite from the horror from before. It was her birthday and she was determined not to let the horrible thing that happened keep her at home, terrified and shaking.
She'd receive two warnings now. She's beginning to think it wasn't just crazy talks.
