Chapter 1

"You better be back early enough to make dinner or hunger would be the least of your regrets." I hear my aunty say over the counter.

Sighing silently so as not to anger her, I pick up my water bottle and strolled out of the house

Getting outside, I could finally breathe; the air was refreshing and the quietness was therapeutic.

Getting away from their barks of order was the most relieving thing…..ever.

The walk to the bus station was a long one as we lived in the heart of the City.

Sidon wasn't such a big city but it was beautiful especially her inner parts.

After inheriting all that my parents left behind for me after their deaths, my aunty and her family got their dream house; my parents house and all the money from their insurance which legally, rightfully belonged to me.

I really should be grateful they even let me under their….my roof and spared me something money to feed from which I took the bus.

I couldn't take the school bus, I had been severely warned by Justin and his gang.

Honestly, I was very sure I wasn't interested in finding out what they would do to me if I went against them.

Still lost in my thoughts, I noticed some man sitting across from me in the bus, staring so obviously.

People usually tried to hide when they were staring but the man made it so obvious that he wanted me to stare back.

His hair was black but I could see strands of hair that showed aging.

How old was he?

Mid forties, maybe?

Even when I looked back at him, he didn't look away.

What was wrong with this guy?

Unable to take the stares any longer, I decided to speak to him,

"Can I help you, sir?" I tried to be as polite as possible.

Instead of responding or looking away, he just burst out laughing.

Creep.

"There's nothing funny about staring, you know? It's uncomfortable." I was already irritated.

"You okay, kid?" It's an old man.

I blink and when I look again, the creep is no longer in his seat.

I looked around the bus searching for him but only met concerned faces of people older, irritated faces of people younger and scared faces of kids.

"I'm okay, thank you." I smiled at the man whose stare lingered on before taken away.

I swear, I had seen him; he was sitting right there.

I could not have imagined it, right?

I looked around once more and there were still a few people staring at me like they had boarded the same bus with a lunatic.

Was I hallucinating?

He must have been there.

Or maybe he wasn't….

I shut my eyes and dropped my head back.

All the intense reading, daydreaming about my future away from my family and the torture at the house must have messed with my mind.

When the bus stopped, I took one final look at where the creepy guy sat or at least where I thought he sat.

Shaking my head, I got out of the bus.

I put on my hoodie and quickly made my way to class before I encountered Justin and his gang.

It would be better not to encounter them before my last two examinations in this damn school.

The theory exams went as quickly as I hoped it would.

Theory physics were never a problem for me as well as practical physics.

However, I preferred theory over practical any day of the week.

Just the thought of having to work with anyone to earn my desired grade made my skin crawl.

Soon, we were all in the physics laboratory.

When I checked the roaster for the person I would be in the same group with, I almost cried.

If it wasn't the world working against me, why would Justin be my group mate?

"Hi buddy. Ready to earn us that A plus grade?" He snickered, brushing my arm as he made his way to his seat…..our seat.

Accepting my fate as the universe most unlucky human, I joined him.

He did nothing but sit and watch and I wholeheartedly appreciated it.

Doing everything on my own was way better than doing anything with anyone, especially Justin.

"If you're going to work alone while your partner does nothing then you might as well exit the laboratory Mr Ash." The physics teacher smiled at me.

It wasn't a kind one but one that warned me of my fate if I ever overlooked her warning.

"You wouldn't." Justin dared me to ask him to join me.

"Just this once, Justin." I begged him with my eyes but he did nothing but look ahead.

Of course, he already had his future planned out whether he worked for it or not.

His rich daddy made sure of that.

"Please." I added but that wasn't enough to move him.

"Please Justin, do something just this once." I begged him, whispering with clenched teeth.

We had all been matched before the examination so there was absolutely no chance of me requesting for a change of partner now, unless I wanted to totally fail this exam.

"Ugh! Fine, if you insist, I'll do something." He grunts but I catch a mischievous smile on his lips but before I could guess what he was smiling about, he picked up a syringe and stabbed me with it, pumping the chemicals in it, into my vein.

I black out, almost instantly.

For the few seconds my eyes are still opened and my senses are still working, I hear wild gasps fill the air, commotion setting in.

My heartbeat slowed down to a pace I couldn't decide was real or just an hallucination as I could already feel dead.

I fell to the ground with a heavy thud, holding my wrist.

When I look at where Justin had stabbed me, I see that the wound is healing.

Or I'm imagining it healing.

My blood goes from red to blue and I swear it was glowing under my skin.

I'm more confused than scared as my senses completely shut down and my eyes close.