76 A Close Call 1

A soft and fair hand grabbed at his shoulder, knocking Chris out of his dazed state. A pleasant, but agitated voice then rang next to his ears.

"Let's get away from here. She's become dangerous! What if she kills us next?!"

Because Chris had not yet completely managed to absorb the situation, he couldn't react fast to the girl's words. When he recovered grasps of his mind and body, the beautiful girl had already dragged him out of the room, leaving him to stagger and awkwardly regain his gait at the hallway. There, his breathing was still ragged, and cold sweat was running down his spine.

The young man couldn't help but ask, 'Is that really...her?'

The image of that pest-like girl in his mind had always been that of a playful and haughty queen whose pride could blast through the roof. Her smarts and beauty made her proud, so much that it was already sometimes hateful. But she was not that bad as a person. When they had that talk at the Friendlies', he couldn't also deny that she was interesting to talk to.

"That was frightening. It just happened so fast and so unexpectedly. I mean, no one ever saw that coming. An SC President candidate suddenly assaulting a teacher? No, that was just so... fishy, unless you witness it. And now, we couldn't even tell if Teacher Matthew is still alive. Mr. Junior Schoolmate, are you alright?"

They were only a little more than five meters away from the door of the Faculty room. The girl who pulled him out there was standing before him, looking as out of breath as him. Fear was written all over her pale face and her eyes even looked like tears would come out there any time soon. The expression she was having showed disbelief and dumbfoundedness as though she had just witnessed a very unbelievable thing.

In a sense, they did see something unthinkable, especially considering who the person was.

But even if Chris Meyer was also as terrified, his reason was different.

True, he was shocked to see a knife-holding girl there who had obviously hacked a Faculty member. After all, despite hearing from the system that she was controlled to do something, he never imagined her harming others. It was normal to be shocked. But since he knew a part of the truth, the effect to him was lesser when compared to others. There might be some fear, but then, he had already recovered and realized there were some other things that were more terrifying.

He remembered three odd things that took place in the past few minutes, all of which were related to the girl faking words of concern and scaredness before him.

First, when he initially arrived, this campus beauty was smirking and filming through the doorway...

Starting from when he ignored the girl's greeting to when she dragged him out, it might appear like so many things had already happened, but in reality, only a minute passed.

In that short span of time, how come this woman already changed stance into that of a scared witness? He was even positive that this woman saw and filmed the crime. Why did she suddenly start acting like a scaredy cat the moment he barged in? She was clearly there from beginning 'til the end. If she was really frightened, why didn't she run away the moment Wendy stabbed their fatty teacher?

He breathed deeply and immediately broke eye contact with the girl. He pretended to be in a stupor too as he looked down to the pavement.

The second thing weighing on his mind was that she's too strong for a woman! True, it was a well-known fact that she was a gangstress, a leader even, but was it normal for a thin girl to have easily dragged a grown man taller and probably 40-50 pounds heavier than her? In a few seconds, he managed to almost carry him to where they currently were. The up and down motion of her chests seemed to be not due to fatigue, but plain fright, but he was not even sure if she was not faking that. So was all of these normal?

Chris almost exclaimed. There was no need to wonder about the third puzzle because the system already answered it.

This pretty female student who was notorious for her violent tendency was trying to mind-control him as well the first time he saw her faintly glowing eyes.

He closed his own eyes and calmed his chest. His feet were already slowly backing away from the girl, to the direction of the Faculty. However, before he concluded whether to completely run away from her or run back to the Faculty, he first asked the system in his head,

'She's the one who controlled Miss Gomez to randomly kill, right?'

It was silent for a while, and then when he heard its affirmation, he continued,

'She video-recorded what happened?'

Chris almost cursed.

How would he save someone who had already destroyed her future and social life? There were proofs and witnesses everywhere. What more could he do? Take her out there? Then what?

He was like someone doused in cold water as he pondered about his current situation. The more he understood, the more his body froze. He was already being tempted to not continue involving himself in this.

He breathed deeply again and said to himself, '... Wendy is controlled. And this girl is obviously the culprit. She's the real one who tried to murder a teacher... So what should I do now?'

He tried to calm himself, trying to regain the previously composed expression. Not long after, he opened his eyes. What greeted them was the sight of an open and dirty water canal at the side. He moved his eyes away from there only for them to land on the hands of Clarissa.

His sight went up to the beautiful girl's eyes that were almost hidden by her bangs and saw that they were still faintly glowing. When he thought that he almost ended up mind-controlled like Wendy, he almost shivered in fright.

He dared not imagine what she would make him do. Especially now that she was still trying to do the same. It seemed her violence was not what's frightening about her...

Unnerved by her eyes, he lowered his sight again, and they once again landed to the water canal.

Out of a sudden, something crossed his mind, enabling him to see some hope to salvage the situation. He then fought the fear in him to voice out what he wanted to confirm. '.... Has she shared the video yet? Is it a livestream? If you anwer me, I'll consider being your host.'

Of course, he was just playing with the system. Saying he'd reconsider doesn't mean he's saying yes to it. Thankfully the seemingly desperate system easily fell for it and answered. Reluctantly.

Instead of answering it, Chris strengthened his resolve and began to speak with the woman who was still engrossed in her acting.

"Miss Guzman, I think we should go back to help out there! We have to go back and apprehend Miss Gomez to ensure there'll be no more victims! Please come with me!" He righteously said while simultaneously reaching out to her right hand as if he wanted to grab it in order to lead her back to the Faculty Room.

His actions had been swift and decisive, and when he grabbed her, it did not appear forced one bit. It was as though the phone suddenly slipping away from her grasp and into the water canal due to his sudden action was not his intention all along.

Chris also didn't glance at her direction, even going as far as to start running while pulling her. When viewed a little distance away, he looked like someone desperate to run back to a certain direction, and that the phone dropped into the dirty water was nothing but an accident, something that could not be blamed entirely to an anxious guy.

Even so, the girl immediately protested and if it ain't for him using all his strength to grab and pull her hand, he would have been stopped or flung back already. Fortunately, the campus goddess did not expect his actions and that he had used all his strength right off the bat, otherwise, he would be in an awkward situation.

"Wait! My phone!"

Chris cursed and did his best not to flinch at the anger he made out from Clarissa's voice. Then he also acted angry, shaking his head as he furiously scolded her,

"Your phone can wait! But we're not sure about Teacher Matthew's life!!! Can't you see the bigger picture here! That's a life and he's probably already half-dead! What if that crazy woman stabs him again!!! We have to go back and apprehend that madwoman! I'm sure the two of us at least can do that much until the help arrives!"

They were only one or so meters away from the door when the girl finally demonstrated her superior strength again and successfully escaped from his grasp.

"No!!! You go back by yourself! I'll call for others!"

"Hey!" He no longer managed to play angry any more and delay for time because Clarissa had already fled away from him.

His face darkened and multiple curses ran through his mind. With a grim expression, he could only rush back by himself and see what his course of actions should be.

......

A/N: Continuation for later, thanks for reading!