Chapter 8 HAPPY SURPRISE
MERRIELYNN.
I ducked, covering my head as the blast ripped through the lab.
Flames engulfed the area surrounding the building, and the air thickened with black smoke. My ears rang, and I coughed, waving my hands to clear the haze.
The heat was unbearable, and I could feel the floor trembling beneath me. I needed to find a way out as I still wasn’t sure what was happening. As I crawled through the debris, the smoke began to clear, so I stumbled to my feet, surveying the chaos. Students knelt, shielding their heads, their faces etched with shock.
I looked around, searching for anyone who might need help. The fire crackled ominously, and I could feel the heat on my skin.
“Is everyone okay?” someone shouted, their voice barely cutting through the panic.
As I kept looking around, panting heavily with my mouth open, gasping for clean air, I saw Cormac saunter through the crowd, his hands in his pockets, his expression eerily calm. He was with Valtor and the two other guys, but each of them looked just as unaffected by what had just happened.
“Hey, you okay?” I heard a trembling voice from behind me, but I simply nodded, my attention still fixed on Cormac.
And I wasn’t the only one staring at him.
Other students who had recovered from the initial shock were also staring, and I bet we were all thinking the same thing. He was completely detached from the panic all around us, and soon there were whispers as the students’ eyes darted between Chaos and the literal chaos.
I couldn’t help all the thoughts that were invading my mind at that moment—Did Cormac do this? Was that why he blocked the doors until Mr. Ravenwood arrived?
The… teacher was the target?
Goddess.
Did he just kill a teacher?
“Goddess!” I whispered out loud in horror.
I watched how his gaze swept the scene and soon landed on mine, causing me to momentarily hold my breath. I searched his eyes, but there was no guilt in them. No recognition flickered in his gaze either, just a bland indifference—a spark of nothing.
And then he looked away, scanning the scene as if he was watching paint dry.
“He’s crazy,” I said to myself as my eyes stung from the smoke.
I realized with a sudden crushing weight that Cormac had the power to bring all his depravity to life. And the evidence was the smoke in the air—the entire science lab engulfed in flames, flames he obviously caused.
As I stared at him, watching him walk away, I realized I was no match for someone capable of something like this.
Him threatening me after I trashed his car? That was child’s play compared to this—This…was pure madness.
We joined the stream of students fleeing the lab. Outside, whispers circulated like wildfire.
“Chaos…”
“…I can’t believe I survived that…”
“…Mr. Ravenwood always pushed all his buttons…”
“…and now he’s dead.”
I turned to watch Cormac retreat with my heart in my throat, thinking about how long my journey in this school was going to be with him holding power over me.
How would I ever survive someone like him? I exhaled heavily, realizing that I had been holding my breath. The weight of uncertainty settled over me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning of something much darker.
Following the tragedy, classes were canceled, but students still were instructed to hang around the school. I sat with Emorie during the mini general assembly organized to take headcount and ensure everyone was okay.
Emorie held my hands tightly, sensing how shaken I was. She kept asking if I was okay, especially given how close I had been to the explosion. I was visibly shaken, and her concern wrapped around me like a comforting blanket, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread that clung to me in the aftermath of what happened.
“Did he deserve to die like that?” I whispered to Emorie.
Her grip on my hand tightened. “Mr. Ravenwood wasn’t a good guy, but… I don’t know.”
I lifted my gaze and paused as soon as it landed on Cormac.
He was there too, acting like he wasn’t the cause of all this. Whispers circulated soon after the incident, and it was clear that everyone knew the truth. I had heard the name “Chaos” too many times in the last hour to ignore my suspicions.
To ignore the obvious facts.
Everyone was saying his name under their breaths earlier, but now, there wasn’t a single utterance of his name.
As if they feared he would hear them.
I couldn’t help but wonder what Cormac had against Mr. Ravenwood. Sure, Emorie was right about him not being a good man, but still…
My mind wandered back to the other day, when the lecturer had made a joke at Cormac’s expense. That couldn’t be the reason why. I watched him, my heart rate picking up the longer I stared.
A chill crawled over my skin. If it was this easy for Cormac to lash out over a joke he didn’t like, what kind of plans could he have for me after I destroyed his expensive car?
After I’d caught him betraying his father in a way.
Sudden fear washed over me like a cold wave, gripping my chest and making it hard to breathe. I looked away from him as my heart raced, pounding in my ears as the realization sank in.
The thought of Cormac’s potential, upcoming wrath sent shivers down my spine, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t just in over my head. It was a suffocating dread, the kind that made me feel small and vulnerable.
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my attention from drifting to Cormac, but eventually, I couldn’t help it. When I looked over again, I saw him sitting in the distance with his friends. They talked around him, but his eyes were focused forward, distant and unyielding.
He didn’t look like someone who felt guilty.
He didn’t look like someone who just took a life without a second thought.
I told myself the goddess made a mistake.
That had to be it.
Because how on earth could I be mated to someone as horrible as him?
Just as he started to turn his head, I quickly looked away, my heart racing, desperate to avoid making eye contact.
––––
I was trapped in a dark, endless river, the icy water drowning me despite my struggles to break the surface. Every kick only sank me deeper, and my lungs burned from the lack of air.
My mouth opened in a silent scream, and water rushed in, choking me. I unwillingly gulped down the salty liquid, and I felt suffocated.
I noticed someone else in the water with me.
A girl.
But she wasn’t struggling like me.
She wasn’t moving at all.
I tried to focus harder, tried to stop myself from panicking enough to see her face… but my lungs suddenly filled with oxygen.
I woke up with a start, gasping for air.
The darkness of my bedroom met me, as I blinked up blindly at the ceiling.
The nightmares had returned with force, and for some reason, they were… clearer this time. Only I didn’t get to see the girl’s face. I didn’t know if these visions were somehow connected to my blurry past, or if they were just dreams.
Dreams that had no meaning.
I was still lost in the aftermath of my nightmare, inhaling lungfuls of air when a terrible smell assaulted my senses, making my stomach churn.
I sat up, disoriented.
And that’s when I saw it.
On my chest...was a bloody, rotting pig’s heart.
And the sight of it made me scream in horror.