Known Stranger

Prologue

She got into the lift, even though she preferred the stairs to the stuffy metal box. But today was her lucky day as she was the only passenger; and it was good too, for she was in a hurry. She knew repeatedly pressing the button won't take her there faster, but she did it anyway.

The doors opened to the floor she wanted. She was really excited, after Percy's urging, she had auditioned for The Royal Ballet School and was selected. He wanted to go along with her to London, but she had insisted he did not. He had only caught her dancing once and the incident still mortified her. She was still conscious about how the accident had affected her landing, her body seldom cooperated but today it thankfully did after the numerous training sessions.

He was supposed to pick her up, except he didn't turn up. She tried calling him, but when it went unanswered multiple times, she took the bus back to the town. With the academic year coming to an end, Percy was most likely to be finishing the papers and projects he had let pile up. Must be why her call wasn't answered. She lightly shook her head, how many times had she told him to finish his assignments the week he got them? Only a thousand times, but he still ignored them in the favour of his music. But she didn't bug him too much. He enjoyed playing the violin and he was good at it. Despite the lack of practice and formal training, he played wonderfully. What she thought was an instrument that could only make sad noises, made beautiful soulful music under his touch.

She walked to the end of the corridor to his room he shared with no one. The school gave its students the option to have a roommate or not, of course, one had to pay more to have a room to oneself. But most students here could afford it and five more rooms, leaving the scholarship students like her to do all the sharing. It was a good thing Percy did not have any roommates, whenever she wanted a quite place to study and the library was too crowded it was his quarter she would turn to. And it being a sound proof one huge bonus, for most of the time the other boys would be creating a ruckus.

She glanced at her wristwatch whose hands indicated it was well past eight in the evening. She would have reached much earlier, had the evening tea not run so late, but by no manner could she excuse herself without raising suspicions. But she didn't mind it too much, after all, she got a white rosebud for the trouble; her favorite flower.

Girls weren't allowed in the boy's dorm and vice versa after 7 PM, but rules like these were flouted throughout the day. Students were only punished when they were caught outside the school grounds without the adequate papers after curfew. However, most were smart enough to avoid this by using pathways that weren't monitored by cameras and wardens and having their friends cover for them, she wasn't too worried.

She caressed the small cluster of flowers . Their prickly touch made her smile at the memory of receiving it. For as long as she could remember, the flower was given to her every time they saw each other. She knocked on his door as she hummed the tune that was sung to her as a child. She didn't think they would be there, she had only mentioned in passing about the audition, but she was pleased about it; their faces beamed with the pride they felt at her selection.

She frowned as the door wasn't opened. Moving the bunch to her non-dominant hand, she turned the knob and it swung open. She placed her bag on the floor while feeling for the light switch. The light flooded the small sitting area of Percy's quarters. She surveyed the room, nose wrinkling in disgust at the mess. A sweatshirt was hanging off the back of the sofa by one sleeve, while a bottle was lying on its side on the coffee table, half it's content already soaking the rug.

Being the neat little lady that she was, the whole room irked her. She sighed as she folded the sweatshirt, it had the weird smell clothes had when they didn't dry properly. She bent down to pick up the bottle when she noticed the black jacket near his bedroom door she didn't quite remember Percy owning. She bent down to pick it up when she heard the slight noise. It was very muted because of the sound proofing but it sounded like someone flopped onto a mattress. In fact, the only reason she heard it was because she was near the door.

Was Percy home? Or was it someone else? Only she and another person had duplicate keys. But André would be at a group study session with a few others at his quarter; he had too much to cram to be here, even if  he was here, what would he be doing in his best friend's bedroom? Did someone break into the quarter? Is that why the door was unlocked? With these negative thoughts swirling her mind she opened the door, which too was unlocked.

The bedroom was dark, but the lights from the sitting  area illuminated it enough for her to see properly. She finally recognised the jacket. It was Sophia's, Percy's childhood friend, who was underneath him, moaning softly as he placed soft kisses on her neck, just like he did to her. So lost were they in their passion that they didn't notice the sudden light in the room. They came to their senses only when she dropped the bottle she was holding suddenly feeling light-headed.

Her boyfriend of two years finally noticed the audience, looking mortified as the haze of lust receded, while Sophia just looked smug and triumphant. Percy quickly scrambled off her as she protested. He was mouth was moving as he tried to find his clothes whilst Sophia just sat up against the headboard in all her naked glory. The need to cover up wasn't as strong in her as it was in Percy.

He was speaking, but all she heard was a loud ringing. All the images she had struggled to forget came rushing back. The bedroom turned into star themed room complete with a four poster bed. Sophia's face morphed into an older woman's while Percy's warm green eyes turned into a cold blue. She was seeing it all over again, the starting point of her nightmares; the very thing that destroyed her. She had to shut it off but couldn't. She stuck into a reverie until she heard her name. God! It was the same cold sneering voice. She had to get away.

She turned and quickly ran to the sitting room. Throwing the jacket down she picked up the small bouquet that had been set on the table. She got out of the quarter with Percy asking her to wait. She was still feeling light headed but the lift would take too long ; the stairs would have to do. She should be fine, her audition went good, the stairs would be fine as well. She would run to her building and then call her guardian to take her away from the Academy.

Percy called after her again as she took a turn to reach the staircase. She was jumping two stairs at a time when she heard another voice, more gentle and less British, from the staircase above her. She paused her foot centimetres away from next step. Her injured foot tingled with pain as it sustained her whole weight. Holding the railing to maintain her balance she looked up to see André smiling at her as he leaned down to get a better look at her. " Leah! Why didn't you come to the group study today? We all needed your help... " He trailed off as his eyes started moving over her face, " Why are you crying? "

Her slowing down for André had caused Percy to catch up with her. He called out again. She turned sideways to see that there was a very little distance between them while André just looked between them, confused. She had to get away, she had to place the call. Without even looking forward, she jumped the two steps like she had been doing. But her injured foot did not propel her, making her stumble. The other foot slipped off the edge of a step and no amount of dance training helped recover her footing as she fell. Two concerned and shocked voices called out her name again.

She slipped and rolled on the steps until she stopped by hitting the side of her head on the rim of a pot that housed a decorative plant. The pain came instantly and her light-headedness worsened. Barefoot jeans-clad legs came running down the steps she just slipped. Nimble fingers firmly pressed her temple. The pain felt like liquid heat, while the owner of the hand called out to someone," Call an ambulance, quick! Her eyes are closing. "

The person answered with an  shaky 'Oui'. Her eyes had closed on their own accord when the stuff of her nightmares flashed again. She had to get away, she had to call that number. There was no way she could go to the hospital. If he found her before 21st of June, then everything will be over.

The last she heard was a feminine voice that gasped and her eyes closed completely as the ringing finally stopped.