“Let go of me!” you snarl. You try to twist and run away from the two goons dragging you down the hallway, but they take no notice. Maybe you should actually hit the gym more often because this was embarrassing.

“Should we wait for Kai?” one of them asks over your head to the other.

“Yeah, but he said to take the trash out first,” the other sniggers as he shakes you like a wet rag.

Behind the door you hear raised voices, but the wood is thick so you can’t make out what anyone is saying. The apes start tugging you toward another set of stairs. You stop struggling for now. They’re too strong for you combined. But before you manage to take many steps, the door to the dining room bursts open and Krystal runs out.

You’ve never been more happy and more terrified to see someone in your life.

“Let Amber go!”

Krystal barrels into the guy on your right. He releases you with a surprised yelp. The other guy drops your arm and steps away from you. Krystal hastily turns to you and starts pushing you toward the stairs. Behind you, the two guys stare blankly at each other. They probably didn’t have one brain cell between them. You ought to know. You’re a neuroscience major.

“Krys—what’s going on?” you try to ask as she hustles you toward the steps.

“Amber,” she says furiously, “just go!”

You want to stay but the desperation is plain in her voice so you think you better listen for now. You give her a curt nod and start down the stairs. She seems to huff with relief and makes an about face, just as the tallest guy strides into view. He doesn’t see you slinking away down the stairs and you continue down until you’re at the landing below. Completely hidden from sight, you stop to listen.

“Kai, are you kidding me? What’s wrong with you? You can’t just get your friends to do that to people!” Krystal angrily shouts.

“Krystal, I don’t understand the problem. You were never going to be friends with it anyways. I was just saving the both of you the trouble. It’s not nice to use people for attention, you know.”

“What? Use Amber for attention? What are you talking about?”

There’s the sound of deep cold laughter. It chills you to the bone.

“Oh, you even gave it a name. How cute. Tell me, are you getting attached? Do you have feelings for it?”

“Why does it matter to you? Just leave me alone. We’re done.”

You hear heavy footsteps right above you, which suddenly stop.

“Don’t touch me,” Krystal says. It comes out as a shaky whisper and makes you grit your teeth.

You hear cold laughter again, except this time it sounds even darker. It makes your skin crawl. You try to move your feet, to go towards Krystal, but they're frozen in place.  

“Don’t touch you? Don’t you remember last week? You were begging me to touch you then. What happened? You can’t live without me. You’re just a dirty —"

Suddenly, there’s a resounding slap followed by a roar of pain. Frantic footsteps thunder down the stairs and Krystal hurtles right into your arms.

“Wha—Amber! I thought I told you to leave!” she fiercely mutters.

“I was!” you stammer, but you can’t finish because Krystal is tugging you out the door and into the courtyard.

“COME BACK HERE YOU !”

There’s no time to think. You grab Krystal’s hand as both of you sprint out of the dining hall and into the courtyard. You don’t hear the other guys yet but no doubt they’ll be hot on your tail. Krystal runs slightly faster than you and takes the lead, circling to the back of the dining hall. She veers off to the right and approaches the high hedge that borders the campus. There’s a small breach in the hedge and she squeezes through. You hesitate but Krystal beckons impatiently so you force yourself through, branches gouging bloody furrows into your skin.

“Yeowch! What the hell!” you screech.

“Stop being such a wuss,” Krystal whispers as she roughly jerks you through the brambles.

You just barely squeeze through before you hear the faint sounds of pursuit. Krystal yanks you down by the collar and you crouch next to the hedge. You're panting like mad but she claps a hand over your mouth. Face to face, you two stare at each other. Her eyes are wide and fearful, her entire body vibrating with tension. You bring your hand up to hers and her skin. She relaxes a bit.

"Are you sure they went this way?" one of them shouts.

"I thought they did but maybe they went to North Quad," the other timidly replies.

"Ugh, I don't even know why I listened to you in the first place! Let's just go back. You tell Kai that they escaped."

"Why me! You're the slower one, I thought I saw them run around this building!"

They bicker for a while, but start walking away. You take a look at the gap. The hole is actually pretty small and you don’t think the bigger guys would fit even if they tried to get through. Eventually, their voices fade. You're huddled immobile, but Krystal cautiously rises and takes a peek thorugh the gap. She nods at you and pulls you up, dusting off your shoulders. You open your mouth to speak but she shakes her head and motions for you to follow her as she starts trotting away. You try to get your bearings. You're in some kind of forest. A faint trail meanders through the leafy undergrowth. Krystal seems to know where she’s going so you obediently stride after her. After about five minutes, she comes to a stop. You take a seat on a tree stump and try to catch your breath.