Superior

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Raiker

'I talked to Zander...'

That was it. That was literally it. That's all she texted me. I stared at the message for, like, ten minutes; waiting for elaboration, uninvited anger and anxiety building up in me. My fingers balled up into a fist, digging into the skin of my palm hard enough to leave half-moon imprints. I gritted my teeth, unable to take the suspense.

I opened up my hacked Receiver, fiddling with the controls until the cube opened up into a screen, revealing the security footage of the day.

What has that fool 'talked' to her about? This thought bounced around my head as flicked I through the various videos, bouncing from the most hidden hallways to the actual Gala hall. But no sign of the two. What about her dorm? I had no idea if the two were that close, but I suppose it was worth a shot.

I opened up the camera of the hallway in front of her dorm, to see a tall, muscular figure storm away. Bingo! I was close.

I further pulled up the surveillance in front of her dorm door, only to see a figure shaking with sobs click the door shut. Crap. This looked bad. I rewinded the footage until I saw Zander ringing the doorbell. His back was to the camera, so I didn't have a great vantage point to be able to make out his facial expressions. But I could see Aisa's, and that's what made watching the whole encounter so much more painful.

My rage built, growing with every hateful word spat out by that prick,and every confused expression from her. she even raised a few points of her own in her passive-aggressive way; but they were immediately crushed by his strong, raised voice. After I point, I couldn't watch anymore. It was too much injustice. I hurriedly shut down the Receiver, unable to listen- but not before I heard one last retort, thrown almost offhandedly at Aisa.

' . . . '

I couldn't believe my ears. My blood boiled. This was the last straw. THE LAST FREAKING STRAW.

I fumbled with the device, trying to find his contact. It wasn't hard. He was very active on the Forum.

"Meet me in the corridor next to the Events Room."

His icon popped up immediately, but he left me at seen. I didn't wait for a reply. I barged out.

My blood was boiling. First he messed with my mission. Then he hurt Aisa. Then he messed with both of us. I couldn't deal with his crap anymore.

Strange enough, I knew how I was acting, and I didn't even try to stop myself. I was too trapped in the moment to forget that everything I was doing could be jeopardizing the mission. Every action I made on impulse, I did it for this one girl, who hadn't done anything for me. I think, at that point, I just didn't want a repeat of Haiden. I didn't want the same thing to happen to every person I cared about- the constant oppression, the constant ache that would finally lead them away from me.

At that point, everything was unravelling. I knew this, somewhere deep within myself. I also think I knew that things weren't going to work, the way they were going- I needed to help us bounce back. But in order for us to do that, we also needed something to trigger massive change. We needed Aisa Farrow. For some unfathomable reason, I trusted her to be who we needed.

***

We arrived at the same time, wearing no fake smiles but only looks of anger and hate. He looked near perfect, except for his bloodshot eyes and uncombed hair.

"Zander Perin"

"Raiker Denlow. Or... Dein, was it?" He smiled humorlessly. "Who were you planning to fool with that, Mister Denlow? Me? Aisa perhaps? I see that you're very close now."