2. Life Threatened

What Hilda had just said made Zana reflexively round her eyes wide. She grabbed both of Hilda's shoulders, squeezing them slightly. "You can't say that, take it back."

"I don't know."

"Hey, I don't like what you said earlier, do you understand?" Zana glared at Hilda. "You're not going anywhere, you'll stay here, you'll be fine."

"I'm not, I'm trying to be okay, but it's not working. I'm a mess." Hilda replied softly. She even kept her head down, not glancing at Zana at all.

For a second, Zana did not respond at all. She was silent for a moment, thinking about what had really happened to her friend. She looked at Hilda more deeply and seriously. Zana remembered a few minutes ago when Hilda asked if she looked okay. And yeah, now Zana knew the reason behind Hilda's question.

Zana took a deep breath, then put her arms around Hilda and whispered something in her friend's ear. "Come on, we better get out of here, we need a quiet place. There are more and more people here, don't let anyone eavesdrop on our conversation, you also need a quiet place. Come, come with me."

Wordlessly, Hilda agreed. She nodded. Zana led Hilda out of the hall. Hilda's explanation was still ambiguous and unclear, Zana had to understand everything about why Hilda would dare to say that she would not live much longer. It was something that had to be discussed immediately.

"Where are we going?" asked Hilda.

"To a place where there are no people, so that you can tell me everything without hesitation, without fear of anyone finding out," Zana replied very firmly.

"You are indeed my best friend, you are very understanding to me."

"Never mind. I hate you now, you know that? I don't like what you said earlier." Zana gave a long snort. Meanwhile, Hilda did not reply to anything else.

As they were about to exit through the hall door, they both passed Alice. The three of them stopped and looked at each other.

Zana let out a long sigh and looked at Alice sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, get out of my way."

Alice snorted. She folded her arms in front of her chest. "Shouldn't I be the one to ask the two of you that?"

"You're such a troublemaker. Really, I'm so sick of you, Alice. I'm happy that I'm now spared from you and not your friend anymore, I'm disgusted with you. You know that?"

"I'm more disgusted with you, just so you know. Yeah, I'm actually sick of both of you, especially you, Hilda. Wait, why have you been silent all this time? Aren't you okay now? Do you have a fever? Well, I'm glad you're sick. It's better than you blabbering on." Alice chuckled while covering her mouth.

What Alice did and said just now aroused Zana's anger. Her hands were already clenched very tightly. Meanwhile, Hilda just stared straight at Alice's face. In truth, she didn't want to fight with Alice or anyone else, right now.

"Get out of my way right now, I'm sick of your behavior." Zana pushed Alice back hard, something Alice did not expect.

Alice had no time to dodge, she was pushed backwards until she bumped into a girl.

"Hey, you should be careful." She warned Alice while shaking her head, before she finally started to move away with wide steps.

Alice stared at the girl's departure for a moment, then refocused her gaze on Zana again. Behold, Zana was smiling contentedly at this moment.

Alice felt like punching Zana in the face right now, but since she didn't want to cause trouble in a crowded place like this, she abandoned her intention, replaced by her tightly clenched hands, followed by her teeth chattering in annoyance.

"You know, you two are two very annoying girls. I already know what you've done to me, I'll get back to you one day. Especially you, Hilda. You set me up. I know that."

Alice saw Zana and Hilda looking at each other. She said again, "Don't pretend not to understand. You're not stupid enough to know what I'm talking about right now."

Before actually leaving, Alice held up her middle finger to them. Then, she walked away, not forgetting that she deliberately bumped into the middle of them. Alice also entered the hall, mingling with the students of Starlight High School.

"Forget that bitch, let's go." Zana pulled Hilda's hand quickly. They quickly avoided the crowded place.

"Zana, I was thinking about what Alice just said. Does she know about what we did?"

"Yeah, she obviously knew. She knew that we put your phone in her bag, then set her up and told everyone that she had stolen your phone."

"But how did she know?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone saw what we did, and then that someone told her," Zana replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"You remember that there was no one around at the time, and you realize that. No one saw what we did."

"I don't know, Hilda. Perhaps we weren't careful enough."

"Yeah, maybe. So what?"

"What how?"

"What Alice just said."

Zana immediately stopped her steps. She stood in front of Hilda with a serious look on her face. "Wait a minute, don't tell me you're afraid of her stupid threats? Right, is that so?"

"No, I'm not afraid of her. It's just that we know her! We know her very well. She is a dangerous girl. You must realize that."

"I agree, but there's nothing for us to fear and worry about. Besides, it doesn't change anything. Alice is a thief and a good liar. All this time, she has been using and controlling both of us. I'm glad that we're not friends with her anymore. In fact, you could say that we weren't her friends a long time ago, but we were her subordinates. We were stupid all this time. It sucks to think about the past."

"Okay, let's just forget about it."

Zana and Hilda finally arrived at a quiet place. The place they chose was a rooftop. They stood on the railing, letting the cold night breeze pierce the pores of their skin and blow their hair away.

For a moment, silence took over the atmosphere. Both Hilda and Zana were silent.

Hilda closed her eyes, then let out a long breath. "Someone's going to kill me, that's true. And I'm scared, I'm a mess right now." Hilda began.

Zana turned her gaze toward Hilda. She didn't respond, she just locked her lips tightly together, giving Hilda time and the opportunity to speak again.

"I got a threatening letter. I don't know who it was from, I don't recognize her handwriting."

"When did it happen?"

"Yesterday, more like midnight."

"What did the threatening letter say?" asked Zana, very curious.

"Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah, if you let me."

"I have the letter, here. Just a moment." Hilda quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. The paper was soiled. "Here, you can see it."

Zana immediately accepted the paper from Hilda's hand. She began to read the red ink on it.

YOU WILL DIE, SOON.

"Who did this?" Zana squeaked softly.

"I don't know anything."

"Can we just assume it's someone else's prank? Well, look, you have to think positively."

"How can I think positively if, a few days before the letter appeared, I got a package containing a dead rat. And just now, a few hours before I came to this party, someone wearing a mask came into my room and wanted to kill me. I'm pretty sure it was a man. He had a knife. I was about to be killed. I screamed so loud, I was so scared, Zana. Fortunately, my mom and dad rushed into my room. The killer managed to escape from my house through my bedroom window."

There was a brief pause before Hilda finally told her story again. "I don't know who did this to me, the killer wanted me dead, and I don't know why. I'm grateful that my mom and dad were at home, they saved my life. I might have died if they weren't there. I also don't know how the killer got into my room. I don't know what to do, Zana."

Hilda cried. Her tears came down in torrents. "Someone wants me dead. And I'm afraid if that happens, what should I do?" She turned her head, looking at Zana with her eyes already red. Her pale lips trembled.

Zana immediately pulled Hilda away. She hugged her friend tightly. "Hey, you'll be fine. I'll take care of you, I promise, I'm here. I'm right beside you, you're not alone, Hilda. You have me and your parents. They'll look after you, and so will I. You can't be afraid anymore."

"But what if the killer comes for me again? I can't prevent that. When I let my guard down, I could be brutally killed. I know my parents will take care of me, and you will accompany me. But that's not enough, Zana. I feel threatened, my life is not okay. I..."

"Hey, I understand how you feel, it's only natural that you're scared. Forget about it, you'll be safe here. Think about something that makes you happy."

Hilda nodded. She wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you, Zana. I'm already quite relieved and calm after telling you. I'll start being more careful. Yeah, you're right, I'm not alone. There's still you who will always accompany me."

Zana gently rubbed Hilda's hand.

"You know what? I wasn't going to come to this event, but my mom told me that I needed to have fun so I could forget about this problem. I know she has a point, but still, I can't shake my panic."

"I'm glad you finally decided to come. I would have been bored without you here, Hilda. Your mom is right, you should have fun. Let's get back to the party, it must have started by now."

They walked in the dimness of the night towards the hall again. Despite that, Hilda still had a nagging feeling. She felt something was wrong. And she was afraid that she was going to die.

Not for long.