Ava Hayes, was set to return to college after recovering from a recurrent illness that always threatened her life. She looked at herself in the mirror as she wore her watch, the mirror could only reflect her beauty and not her thoughts or her heart. As a nineteen-year-old girl, she felt very burdened within her and the reminder of her physical situation constantly came to her. Upon remembering her limitations, she turned her back from the mirror, knowing that all her efforts to become acceptable to the society were all in vain.
She was driven to the college by the driver, who had been working for her father for many years. The man was like a close friend to her that she could easily run to whenever she was troubled. Most times, even without talking, the man could tell when she was sad. His name was Mr. Ken.
“Mr…Mr…K-ken. D-did y-you e-ever h-have a-any f-friends i-in c-college?” She stammered. Most times, she wanted to rip her throat off and never stammer or talk again, but her dark thoughts didn’t always do an effective job on her.
“Friends…I had friends but not too many,” Mr. Ken said with a smile. She could feel Mr. Ken’s eyes on her as her face lit up a little.
“W-what a-about a g-girlfriend?”
“I didn’t have one until I got out of college and started working in a coffee shop. That’s where I found the woman of my dreams,” he replied and then their eyes made contact in the rear mirror as he drove. Ava suspected that he had found out the motive behind her questions. “You are among the attractive girls I know and any young man in his senses would want to be with you, Ava. So don’t rush things. The right person will come when it is time. Don’t make the mistake to think that you need many friends in order for you to feel like you belong. You only need one and that one is enough.” He added.
Ava thought about it and didn’t agree with his advice at first but after analyzing it hard enough, it made complete sense to her. The truth was that it was difficult to accept. She didn’t hate her father but she didn’t want to be as lonely as her father.
“Time for lessons, Ava,” Ken said, dragging her out of her deep well of thoughts.
“T-thank you M-mr K-ken.” she bowed her head as she got out of the car and closed the door.
“See you later,” he said and waved at her before driving off.
Now, she was all alone on the college grounds with other students moving about with their friends. In her usual manner, she walked into the building with her head down, looking at the ground. There was something she liked about looking at the ground, where she was walking. She liked the way the shadows of other students were cast on the ground and hers was either beside her, in front of her or behind her. That way, she could only shadows and not the real bodies of the humans. By looking at the ground and walking ahead, she had already mastered the art of knowing when someone was ahead, behind, or beside her.
As soon as she entered the class and sat down in the second column and on row fifteen. She wanted to be behind, but she knew that she wasn’t invisible. As she sat down listening to her favourite lecturer, a particular girl walked in and sat down next to other girls. Their giggles caught the attention of the lecturer but he simply smiled at her in an attractive way before going back to what he was teaching. Ava shifted her gaze to the girl. Her name was Cindy Harred and there had been rumours about Cindy’s relationship with the lecturer. Though the rumour had not been proven true, it was still visible.
Meanwhile, she always wondered why the man didn’t look at her the way he looked at Cindy. Some people knew that she was from a rich family, including the lecturer but he didn’t seem to like her or get attracted to her for any reason. He was obviously in his 30’s and would definitely know how to find a good girl to befriend but she wished that she could be the one whom he liked or was at least attracted to. She sighed and turned to look at her phone which had buzzed.
“Any problem, Miss Haynes?” She heard the lecturer ask. Instantly, she turned to look at the man and shook her head.
“You look like you are tired of my lesson,” he said. Ava heard Cindy and her friends whisper in low voices to themselves.
“N-no…. I-i….” She stammered but was interrupted by him.
“Nevermind, you might take the whole day to say just a few words.” He said, “Let’s continue.”
Ava could hear Cindy’s soft but harsh laugh along with her friends. As usual, Ava endured the insult she received from the lecturer and forced a sad smile on her face. After all, there was nothing good about her life. She had never been a happy soul and frequent insults from people were the things that made her feel like she was still existent and visible. At the same time, they made her feel worthless.
After the class, she sat down for a moment and waited for everyone to leave. She picked up her phone to view the person that had messaged her and it was her father. He wanted to know how she was faring in class and she responded positively. Her Dad was a caring person and she couldn’t deny that fact. He was always there to help her out whenever she got stuck or wasn’t comfortable with something or somewhere.
“I will be away for a few days and so, for tomorrow, Ken will take you out for a party just this once and then he will take you back by 10 pm.” He texted.
Ava smiled when she saw the text message and she responded happily. All she wanted was to know how the outside world felt like and he had finally granted her wish. His last message to her was ‘be careful’ and he went offline. With that, she stood up and left the class quickly with a smile on her face.
*********
“So your father told you about having a little bit of fun today, right?” Mr. Ken said as he guided Ava to the car. She could tell from his stare that she was looking attractive but he wasn’t obliged to say it.
“Yep. H-how m-many d-days is h-he g-going to b-be g-gone a-again?” She asked.
“Three days. He will be back in the next two days.” Mr. Ken opened the door and she entered the car. When he had closed the door, he walked over to the driver’s side and got into the car.
“You haven’t said anything to me about my dress,” she said observing him.
“The servants must have already told you how you look. I don’t need to say anything, do I?”
“I just thought you would say something,” she smiled.
“You looked in the mirror before you came out, so you do know what you look like.”
There was a wave of silence for a short while before he started the car and as he drove, she relaxed back in the back seat and sighed, “No, I don’t,” she said.
When they arrived at the party’s venue, Mr. Ken opened the car’s door and laid out his hand. She placed her hand on his and got out of the car with a smile. “Thanks,” she said.
“Be careful, Ava. If you suspect that something bad is about to happen, come out and meet me here,” he said, “Remember that we leave by 10:00pm prompt.”
“I will remember. Don’t worry too much about me,” she said as she walked into the party.
As soon as she walked into the hall, the loud sounding music drummed in her ears. The lights in the party flashed in her eyes and it affected her a little. Looking around at the party, she saw how girls of her age were dancing and laughing hard with their friends and boyfriends. They spoke so normally and smoothly without any speech limitations. As she sat down, she discovered that she didn’t fit in any group. She would have ordered some drinks but saying the words was the problem.
When she crossed her legs, she felt someone staring at her from a certain direction in the party. Looking up, her eyes caught his and after suspecting that she was probably doing something wrong, she shifted her eyes away from the man and sighed. For some reason, she could feel her heart’s heavy drumming in her ears and she placed her hands over her chest in order to control the beats but that danger could not leave her.
Ava stood up from her chair and started to walk out of the party, passing through the different people that were in the way, but before she could walk out the door, she felt a masculine hand, holding her arm. Before she could scream, the person held her hips and drew her close to him.
“Scream and you will be dead in seconds,” the man whispered in her ears. With a shaky voice, she nodded and relaxed a bit. She didn’t try to fight back.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I-I c-can’t s-say t-that,” she replied, still fearing for her life.
“You can’t say it…. or you won’t?” His voice was very firm and deep in her ears that she was beginning to fear for her life.
“P-please d-dont h-hurt m-me…” she pleaded as that was all she could do.
“I won’t hurt you, pretty girl. I just want to know your name,” within seconds, she felt a blade on her neck. “Don’t be scared, it’s only a toy.”
Ava knew very well that the man was holding a knife. The unfortunate thing was that she couldn’t see the man’s face. He was behind her and so, he had the upper hand. Another strange thing was that he had a green tattoo on his hand and looking at it carefully, the green tattoo was a skull.
“I-I b-beg y-you…” she cried silently. The man slowly stepped in front of her, still gripping her hips. He was a young man in his 20’s, with obvious muscles and sharp blue eyes. But the blue color of his eyes became darker and clearer when he gently shoved her hair away from her neck and kissed her softly on the neck. His hot breath caressed her neck and then she heard him whisper in her ears before he withdrew.
“Don’t forget my eyes, pretty girl,” he said and walked away from her into the crowd. Ava looked around and walked out of the party, shaking as if she had been standing in a cold atmosphere for a long time. The fear that crossed through her was unendurable and the thought that she could die anytime still lingered in her mind, until Mr. Ken snapped her back to reality.
“Are you alright?” he asked while approaching her.
“Y-yes I-I am f-fine,” she said and got into the car immediately. It was when she sat down that she realized her hands were getting cold even when the weather wasn’t chilly. Her heart beat slowed down and when Ken was just about to drive, she closed her eyes and fell back into the chair, unconscious.