trigger warning : slight visual imageries of gore, please skip if you're not comfortable x
THE COFFEE WASN'T HOT. A plastic cup in the shape of a demitasse, with an espresso shot inside it. She robotically traced her hand on the rim of the cup for a good five minutes. At least the cop had been true to his words and sent them a coffee.
It's been more than ten minutes since she's gotten the coffee but even as the heat in the coffee slowly dissipated due to the harsh cold weather, she couldn't bring herself â or muster the courage â to drown an espresso shot down her throat.
She was seated on one of the beds in the infirmary, a relocation where she doesn't remember much of how it happened. She racked her brain. All she could remember was people (students? teachers? It had to be them, this was private property. Although Ryan couldn't figure it out as they all meshed into a series of colors) crowding her the instant the cop left, hounding her and Tate with a plethora of questions â quite absurd ones.
Someone had even asked her if she killed the girl that died. Her throat had dried up at the very moment, but even if it hadn't, she was sure that she wouldn't have been able to return a biting remark at the girl who asked that.
Tate had also stayed silent, a tight straight line in the form of his lips, even though Ryan knew he had the strength to talk. A kind teacher with a sporting bald spot and a necktie whisked them away. Even then she was just forced to trudge along, her fingers tightened at the hem of Tate's blazer, the metallic smell of blood hanging in the air.
He took them to the infirmary, where the nurse on shift scurried towards them with a look of horror. Her face was almost comical to Ryan, slack mouth and jaw, wide eyes, the whole fiasco. In any other circumstance she might've laughed. The blood wasn't hers after all.
When Tate had assured her that none of the blood splattered on their clothing was theirs she had breathed a sigh of relief.
After a while, they were called to the Head's office but Tate had told her to rest here while he went alone.
As a sudden clack could be heard from the other side of the door â which surprised Ryan and broke her train of thought â she jolted hastily, spilling her espresso on her knee.
"Ah," she jerked. Thankfully, the coffee wasn't warm so it didn't sear her knee.
The door slid and Archer entered panting, sweat dripping from his forehead. Pumps of cold air blew from his open mouth. His chest heaved in rhythm.
"Uh, hi?" She asked timidly, getting up. Pools of amalgamated coffee and blood (patches of dried blood stained her uniform when she had touched Tate) that had gathered at the dip and crease of her uniform skirt poured down the moment she straightened her leg.
She looked around for a cloth to wipe her leg and the floor while Archer tried to catch his breath. Ryan spotted an array of white towels rolled neatly on top of a cupboard.
Ryan selected a towel at random and bent down to wipe the stains on her leg. Once she was done she tried to wipe the spilt coffee on the floor.
"Youâ" Archer jabbed a finger at her while he tried to straighten his back. He panted while trying to speak. "IâI was worried. Are you okay? I had a heart attack. Wait, thatâthat blood is not yours right?" He finally heaved it out.
"I'm fine Arch. Did you run here? Also, the blood isn't mine, stop freaking out." she clarified, placing the towel inside the sink that was stationed in a corner.
You're not fine. A voice inside her chided. Tell him how you haven't stopped shaking.
Ryan ignored her thoughts and opened the tap, letting cold water run and soak through the stained cloth. Remnants of coffee and blood mixed together in the water. She lifted the cloth up and wrung it twice. Her eyes bore on to the sink, watching liquid red bubble before getting sucked rapidly into the drain.
Suddenly, her heart jabbed at her ribcage while her hands shook. Bits and pieces of her encounter with death a few minutes earlier glossed in her mind. Blood on the grass, stained leaves decaying. What had she done? Why was she remembering this, when all this time, she'd been willing herself to forget?
And then she remembered. Blood. Blood. The blood chipped off from Tate's clothes that had stained her skirt had been wiped off with coffee and water.
Ryan's wrist shook violently as she dropped the wet towel back in the sink. Dirty water splashed all over her.
Her legs gave way and she immediately crumbled down to the ground. She heard Archer speak in alarm but the ringing in her ears made it harder for her to hear what he was saying.
She felt Archer crouch down next to her. His hands made way to her back as he pat it repeatedly. His lips mouthed a question, asking if she was okay.
Ryan's lower lip trembled. She didn't exactly know what he was saying but she got the gist of it. She shook her head slightly before she passed out on the ground.
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WHEN SHE WOKE UP, a pair of emerald colored eyes was looking down at her. She blinked once. Then twice.
"Hey," Tate said in a whisper. "Are you okay?"
She looked around the room, trying to familiarize herself with where she was before trying to answer him. White sheets, smell of sanitizer and rubber gloves. She was still at the infirmary.
Her head was pounding like someone had opened her skull to switch up all the wires in her brain. "Uh, I'm okay, I think." She tried getting up. "Where's Arch?"
"He and Aanya went to go get some new clothes for you." A voice behind Tate answered.
"Carter? What are you doing here?" She asked while he sat at the edge of the springy bed. The mattress dipped under her.
He reached forward and messed up her hair. "What do you mean, idiot girl? I go to school here." He answered jokingly. "But, I was worried about you when I heard from Tate about what happened. I met him in the hallway. Are you okay?" He added after Tate glared at him.
"Oh. I'm doing alright now I guess," her heart warmed up at her best friend. "How long was I out for? What's going on outside?"
"You weren't out for long," Tate responded. "After you uh, fainted, Archer carried you to the bed. I came back here after my talk with the Head. He wanted to take you to your room but I told him to keep you here cause the nurse might want to have a look at you."
"Speaking of which," Carter added and then looked at Tate. He then asked him in a low voice, "didn't the Head want to see her too?"
Ryan's ears perked up in surprise. "He wants to see me?"
Tate nodded, "yeah. Sorry. It's actually the reason why Arch went to go get some clothes for you. You might have to wash up before you go meet him, I think he's afraid of blood. He gasped at my blazer." He said laughingly.
"Mhm, he should be here soon." Carter commented.
"Oh. Is there a shower here?" Ryan realized just how dirty she was. Blood, dirt and grime stuck to her limbs like solid glue. She'd probably dirtied the white bed she was sleeping on with the dirt from the grass.
"Yep, we checked. Just before Arch went to go get your clothes. It would be useless you know, if there was no shower here."
Ryan was about to reply but she was cut off when the door opened yet again, this time with Aanya in the front. She held a bunch of clothes to her chest tightly. Arch stood behind her, clutching a paper bag in his hands.
"Ryan! Oh my god, you're awake." Aanya decreased the distance between them hurriedly. Worry laced her honey voice. She dropped the stack of clothes on the bed before she embraced Ryan tightly. "Are you okay? Do you feel fine? We met the nurse outside, she was gossiping about something to another teacher â what an idiot. But anyways Arch managed to glare at her which I think did the opposite effect so I don't think she'll be coming to help you but it's okay cause we didn't need that bitch anyways."
"Uh, slow down. I can't take everything in at once." Ryan said, hugging her back.
"Great going man," she heard Tate tell Arch with regards to the nurse. "Now what are we going to do? She needs to come to take a look at Ryan."
Arch's face morphed into disgust. "Shut up, she was useless. She should've been here doing her job but she was in the hallway chatting up with some bald old man." He handed Ryan the paper bag. A soft, white towel was inside it, along with some body wash and shampoo.
"Thank you." She mouthed to him. He shot a smile at her in return, although Ryan could still see the remnants of worry in his grey eyes.
"You still shouldn't have stuck your tongue out at her," Aanya reminded him. She let go of her hold on Ryan to look at her face carefully.
"You stuck your tongue out â"
"Guys," Carter interrupted Tate solemnly. His face was glued to a message on the phone. He looked at it for a few more seconds before tearing his eyes away from it.
"Tim sent me a message. Head's calling for a general assembly." He paused for a second to gauge everyone's reaction before he continued.
"And they've identified the body."
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Hello! It's been a year hasn't it haha. First of all I'm super sorry it's taken me this long to churn out an update. But I promise it's the end of my hiatus. I'll (hopefully) try to get out updates as fast as I can and this time it won't take me another year to get another update out. With that being said, I hope you liked this update x
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