Rose's Worry - Part 2

"I made it out!"

Rose exclaimed in her mind as she ran across her home's fence. It has been a while since she has been this excited, her heart pounding like a galloping horse.

She just sneaked out from home in the middle of the night! Of course, she was excited!

The worst thing she did in her life was skipping school with Ryan just today and she already beat it with another stunt.

"I have become a bad girl since the two of us started dating, hehe," Rose commented with a soft giggle.

She stopped running when she passed the fence and pulled out her phone, deciding to use the map to navigate her way. Even though she knew Ryan's dorm was nearby, she has never been there so she needed some assistance. If she was lost, she could always ask some random students for help. It was late for normal people but for students, their nightlife just started.

As she walked, Rose realized how lonely the street was, giving her quite a scare. If there were no street lamps, forcing her to walk in the dark, she would definitely panic at every rustle caused by the win.

"It's a lot less scary with Ryan around…" Rose muttered, looking around anxiously.

She hated walking in the dark but she was willing to sacrifice her comfort for Ryan's sake. If something really happened, she would be there to support him.

"Don't worry Rose, just walk down the street and you will reach the main road. There are bound to be people and cars driving pass," Rose assured herself, quickening her pace.

Meow~

"Ahh!" Rose screamed, jumping away when her train of thoughts got disturbed with a sudden sound only to realize it was just a cat walking by.

"Oof…" Rose gasped, crouching to face the black cat with pretty golden eyes, "You scared me little kitty…"

Meow~

The cat called out again, walking up to her bravely and accepted the petting. It was really clean and well kept yet it didn't have a collar.

"Did you came because you sensed I was scared by myself?" Rose asked sweetly and received a murmur as confirmation, causing her to laugh. "Let's go then. We need to meet up with your daddy."

When Rose stood up, she realized what she was saying and squeezed her cheeks to stop them from reddening.

"I'm glad you can't understand me else I would be even more embarrassed," Rose muttered to the cat and got going. "Come."

The cat followed her as if he understood and even walked in front of her, leading the way. She was meant to move all the way down the street according to the map when the cat suddenly walked off the course, turning to the park.

"Where you goin—" Rose called out to stop him when she recalled this park as being the one she used with Ryan earlier this evening.

It connected two streets, leading to the spot where she first met him.

Meow~

The cat stopped, calling out to her so she gave in, taking out her flashlight. The park was quite open, so it wasn't completely dark but she felt safer having some additional light.

"You are really smart, aren't you?" Rose commented as it continued to walk forward just as she followed but she obviously didn't receive an answer.

The bench she and Ryan met was well illuminated. She was able to see it clearly from far away, making her smile.

"I guess this will be my forever favorite place?" Rose declared happily when her smile froze.

She noticed something weird on the pavement. The cat seemed to notice it as well as it sprinted forward and jumped on the bend, looking down. She jogged after him and her soul literally left her body when she saw what it is.

Blood… Lots of blood…

She covered her mouth, trying to hold herself back from vomiting.

"Was someone murdered here…?" Rose thought what first came to her mind, but she immediately shook her head, knowing it wasn't it. If that was the case, there would be marks of the body being dragged away but all she saw were footstep marks as the person walked away.

"It's better if I leave now… Someone will clean this up tomorrow."

Rose didn't have a hobby of watching the blood and it was rather disgusting so she wanted to get away as soon as possible.

Just after she named this place her favorite, it was quickly ruined.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Rose asked the cat who was still sitting on the bench, staring at her proudly. "Let's go, I don't want to see it anymore."

The black cat didn't listen and instead jumped on the trash can with its two front paws and reached inside, pulling out the edge of a bag.

She didn't understand what it meant when she focused on the bag and her face paled.

"No… It can't be…" Rose didn't believe her dark thoughts and quickly approached the trashcan to inspect the bag.

The moment she saw the whole bag and the shop's logo on it, the one she shopped with Ryan, her heart stopped.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" She repeated in disbelief as she pulled out the bag and spilled out the things inside of it.

Ryan's clothes, all wrinkly, covered in dried blood and black dots.

Her legs almost lost strength when she finally confirmed her thought but she caught the bench for support.

"Then this blood must be…" Rose guessed but she didn't finish the sentence, already running towards the main street.

Her lips shivered and more tears fell with each bloody footstep she saw on the ground. She now knew they belonged to Ryan.

Sniff…

She reached the main street in no time, her face already a mess.

"Where…?"

She found herself in the intersection and feeling the moment, she forgot which direction she was supposed to go. The red footsteps already ended, making her even more anxious. She searched for her phone frantically, bringing the pedestrians' attention onto her but he didn't care about them.

All she cared about was reaching Ryan as soon as possible.

Her fingers trembled, causing her to miss the password multiple times when a black cat suddenly skipped past her, running in one of the directions.

Meow! Meow!

Hearing his call, her legs moved out of instinct, following after it. She didn't know why she trusted a cat but if it wasn't a sign, she didn't know what was.

Rose was already out of breath but she continued to sprint forward, trying to catch up with the cat. A minute later, she was relieved to see the University Sign, leading to a dim park and she immediately turned into one of the gates.

Bah!

Out of her bad luck, a group of students was just leaving the park and she knocked into one of the guys with her momentum. Thankfully, her weight wasn't enough to trip the guy over.

"Girl, are you okay?" The guy asked, holding onto her arms firmly but she didn't even look at him, pushing him away.

"Let go of me!" Rose cried out, her voice cracking due to crying earlier yet the guy didn't listen, trying to play the hero.

"Is someone chasing after—?" the guy continued to question but he wasn't able to finish.

Bzzzt!

The stun gun pierced into his stomach, sending high volts into his muscles.

"Aaagh!" The guy screamed and after a quick three seconds, he was dropping onto his friend behind him.

Rose used this moment to break free from their encirclement and ran into the park. She could hear the other guys cursing in her direction but she didn't look back, her mind occupied by a much more important matter.

She warned them but the guy didn't listen so he asked to be shocked.

Meow!

Two golden eyes gazed at her from the distance, calling out as if telling her to hurry up and she caught up, following after him.

When Rose saw the building in the distance with a plate of Male Dormitory, she was both amazed and dumbfounded. There was no way that a stray cat could actually read her mind and lead her to Ryan?

"Do you know where Ryan is?" She felt crazy when she asked this question to the cat yet it nodded like a human and jumped into the building right after someone left the door open.

"I guess I'm really crazy…" Rose muttered and followed it inside.

She saw a janitor behind a glass counter, reading a newspaper so she walked normally, trying not to alert him and disappeared on the stairs. She was already tired from all the running so each step felt like ten for her yet she kept climbing with a determined expression.

Five floors later, Rose hugged the wall, dragging her body towards the last room where the cat was sitting.

"Hu… Is this Ryan's room?" Rose asked with hurried breathing and as a reply, the black cat pushed the door open with his head and entered inside.

She didn't have a reason not to check the room, knowing she could always ask someone for help and peeked inside the room.

It was dark but due to the corridor's lights, she was able to see part of the room and a silhouette of a person laying on the bed. She hesitated on turning the lights, scared it might be someone else's room but then she gazed to the side and her mind exploded.

She saw Ryan's shoes, covered with already dried up blood. Her hesitation was gone in a blink and the strength she lacked suddenly returned to her body.

"Ryan!"