Chapter 0002
FEAR, THREATS AND TERROR.
RYAN'
"Oh my!!!" I heard someone scream as I bumped into her, distracted by my phone. The papers she was holding were scattered everywhere. Feeling upset, I knelt down to pick them up and apologized.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming." I apologized and got up to give her the papers.
Then I saw her.
She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. No insults to my mother. Her hair was immaculate and framed her face perfectly. When the wind blew, a few strands of it covered her face, revealing her mystical beauty.
For a moment I was lost in my own world.
As she took the papers from me, our hands met and a wave of electricity went through me. It felt as if fate had orchestrated our meeting.
It was so perfect.
As I stared at her. I couldn't help but notice that she was lost in thought, staring at nothing in particular, mumbling inaudibly.
She had a black eye, obviously from a punch that her makeup didn't do a good job of hiding. I continued to stare and noticed some bruises around her wrist. I tried to touch the bruises and she recoiled in horror, quickly pulling her hand back and adjusting her sleeves to hide them from view.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concern in my voice.
She glared at me. "Mind your own business," she snapped, grabbing the papers and walking away. Her heels clicked sharply on the floor, echoing down the hall.
I stood frozen, watching her disappear. There was something about her that captivated me. An attraction drew me to her. I was sure what it was.
"Ryan!" Eddy's voice brought me back to reality. He was my high school buddy, and we happened to be in the same college. He had started earlier than me, so he knew the teachers and how the school worked. I was a freshman and was walking to meet him when I ran into her.
We were supposed to go to class that morning.
You're blocking the hallway. Let's go." He said, gesturing for us to go to class. As we walked to class, I couldn't stop thinking about her.
"Who is she?" I whispered, my mind still reeling from the encounter.
"Who?" Eddy looked at me, confused.
I gestured in the direction she had gone. "Her. The one I bumped into."
"She's the new professor, I hear she's so good, but." He paused, scrolling through his phone.
"But what?" I asked curiously, "You should see this?" he said, turning the phone so I could see it. He noticed my attention was on Professor Elena and looked at me suspiciously, "She's beautiful." I muttered, still staring in her direction.
"Are you okay? Why are you staring at her like that?" He asked, tapping me, snapping me out of my reverie.
"Nothing, it's just, I stopped for a moment. Let's go to class." I said walking away, he followed me, still looking at me with confusion in his eyes.
"Try to stay out of her way, you don't want to have any problems with her class." Eddy advised.
"Why not?" I asked intrigued.
"Oh man, because she is the ice queen. Beautiful? Sure. But trust me, you don't want to get involved with her. Besides, she is married."
"Why do they call her the Ice Queen? Is that a thing?
"It's Ryan. She is cold." He stopped and stared to see if anyone was around. It was suspicious, but I was curious to listen.
"There are rumors, but no one knows for sure."
I couldn't get the image of her out of my mind. Her beauty was breathtaking and the mystery around her was captivating.
When Eddy noticed that I wasn't responding, he turned his gaze to me, concern written all over his face.
"Did you hear me, Ryan?" He asked and I nodded, "Of course, stay away from her, right?"
Eddy nodded, emphasizing what he had said earlier. I chuckled, "I know better than to take your advice."
Satisfied, Eddy walked on and we got to class.
Surprisingly, we had her class that morning. When she entered the classroom later, my heart raced. Throughout the class, my eyes kept drifting to her, her every move fueling my curiosity.
.
"At the end of the class, she asked if we had any questions. I had barely listened to the lecture because I had been staring at her the whole time, but I raised my hand. I didn't know why, but I just wanted a chance to talk to her. Yes," she said, pointing in my direction.
I stood up, suddenly excited. I didn't even know what the lesson was about. As her eyes locked with mine, my mind suddenly went blank.
I stammered, not knowing what to say, and before I knew it, I blurted out:
"Why are you so beautiful?
Soon everyone started laughing, she smiled and then suddenly her expression darkened as she silenced the class.
"Quiet everyone!" She shouted and the class fell silent.
"What does this have to do with the lesson?" she snapped. "Sit down, Mr...?"
"Ryan," I said quickly, a sheepish grin on my face.
"Mr. Ryan," she repeated icily. "Next time ask something important and don't disrupt my class again." She warned.
In the days that followed, my fascination with Elena only grew. Despite Eddy's warnings, I couldn't resist the urge to find out more about her. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew I had to find out.
One night while I was studying in the library, I overheard two students talking in low tones. "That's why she behaves the way she does," I overheard one student say.
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear what you said. Is what you just said true?" I asked the student with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
The student looked at me cautiously before whispering, "Yes, I heard that her husband is responsible, he molests her. "My heart sank at the mention of her husband's involvement.
"That's all lies, besides why wouldn't she try to get help?" The other student said, "Wait, she is married?" I asked, curiosity in my voice.
"You didn't know she was married?" The other student asked skeptically. "Well, I heard she was, but she's not wearing a wedding ring, so I didn't think she was." I said calmly.
"Oh, I also heard that he watches her, you know, so no one comes near her." She whispered.
"He doesn't want her to get help."
"You mean her husband?" the other asked.
"Yes, but no one knows the whole story."
This news only increased my curiosity. "What did she go through in her marriage? Was she happy?" The questions seemed endless with no answers. I had to find out for myself and decided to go see her one day after class.
My timing couldn't have been worse, but I needed to know what was going on.
When she saw me, she sighed. "Hello Mr. ..." Ryan. I interrupted, she had forgotten my name again.
"What do you want?"
"I wanted to see you, I wanted to ask you something." I said quietly.
"What did you want to ask?"
" Are you okay, ma'am? I couldn't help but notice..." she snapped, interrupting me.
"What makes you think I'm not?"
"I saw the bruises," I admitted. "If... if you need help..." "Stop," she cut me off sharply. "Stay out of my life." She said harshly, anger in her voice.
But I couldn't help but notice the fear in her anger.
She opened the door and walked into her office, slamming the door in my face. As she opened the door, I couldn't help but notice a picture on her desk. It was a picture of her with a man.
She was beautiful as always, but there was fear in her eyes. "What was she so afraid of?" I thought to myself as my mind raced with questions.
"Was her husband abusing her? Was she okay?" The stream of questions seemed endless with no answers.
As I drove home, strange things began to happen. My phone beeped, and when I checked it, I noticed it was a text message from her unknown number.
"Stay away from her."
At first I thought it was a prank, but then I got another message. This one was scarier than the first. It contained a photo of me talking to Elena outside her office.
"Was someone really watching her?" I thought to myself.
I pushed the thought away and went to my room. When I got to my room, I found a note on the door.
"Some lines shouldn't be crossed, Ryan. Stay away," I saw the words and shivers ran down my spine. The words were written in red ink, dripping down the door. I touched the ink and a sudden realization hit me. It was not ink or paint as I thought, it was blood.
Someone knew my name. Someone wanted me to stop, and they were threatening me, showing me how dangerous they were.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. The threats only fueled my curiosity. I had to know the truth.
"Who is behind all this and why?" I asked myself.