Intuition

"So?" Yvann was staring at her.

By the time they came back to the campus grounds, night has already fallen.

Yvann was not bluffing about the ice cream shop. It was worth wasting their time on.

Even until now, Szeina could still taste the heavenly goodness on her tongue. She wished they could have stayed longer.

But she was well aware that time was precious.

Wanting to tease Yvann, she made a face and pretended to deliver bad news.

"It's…" she trailed off on purpose, breaking out into a huge grin upon seeing his face fall. "You're doing really great, Yvann. Give yourself a pat on the back."

Shaking his head in unbelief, Yvann chuckled and held out a hand towards Szeina.

"Let's give ourselves a high-five. We deserve this."

Making contact with him, Szeina joined Yvann in the little merriment. After which, a vibration from her bag had her reaching out for her phone.

The caller id told her she must be on her way home in a while. If that was the reason for Neyandro suddenly calling her.

"Szeina," the hushed tone of his voice mixing with a bit of urgency had Szeina squinting her eyes, her heart racing for no reason.

She excused herself and talked to Neyandro in private.

"What's going on, Neyan?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm still at school. I'll be home in a few. Is everything alright?"

"Good," Neyandro replied, ignoring her question. "Stay where you are and no matter what happens, do not come home. I repeat: do not come home."

Szeina couldn't understand why he sounded so desperate all of a sudden. He was pleading for her not to go home.

Why?

"What's going on, Neyan? Answer me."

"I can't really tell you right now, but—crap!" The line went dead.

Szeina was left to stare at her phone, the hairs on her body coming to attention.

Whatever was happening, she knew she needed to go home. Despite Neyandro's warning, she had no choice.

If there was something terrible happening in their house, she didn't want to do nothing.

Gathering her things as soon as she tucked her phone away, Szeina caught Yvann's attention.

"I need to go now." She could feel her nerves almost jumping.

The fear and worry were making her uneasy. It was escalating every passing minute.

"Is everything alright?"

Szeina wanted to scream no. However, she knew it wouldn't help, nor would it take her anywhere close to home.

"I need to go home. Now." She said, almost repeating the same words over.

"I'll take you then."

Szeina looked at Yvann. She was trying her best to calm her erratic heartbeat.

"Can I ask a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you drive as fast as you can?"

--

The tires screech to a halt. Szeina bolted out of her seat, unbuckling the seatbelt and was ready to jump when Yvann grabbed her hand.

She took the time to look at him, giving him the chance to tell her what he was meaning to say.

"I can come with you."

Szeina shook her head vehemently, immediately rejecting his offer.

Whatever was going on inside their house, it was better that he stay out of it. It could be dangerous for all she knows.

"You've done enough."

Yvann wanted to persist. If anything, he could be of assistance to her. However, the determined look on her ocean blues stopped him from trying to make a point.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then. You take care, Szeina. Whatever is going on, you and your family will be fine."

Forcing herself to fake a smile for Yvann's sake, Szeina nodded.

Gently removing his hold on her, Yvann watched Szeina step out. She bade him goodbye before running towards the two-story house.

The eerie silence from yesterday seemed to have doubled as Szeina neared the enormous house. She pushed the door open, her instinct warning her to be careful.

She had no idea what was going on or where to start looking for Neyandro when an ear-splitting growl erupted from upstairs.

Szeina cannot decipher what kind of beast made that noise. She could only imagine, but that was not her priority right now.

Right now, she needed to find Neyandro and Granola if she too was already there.

Taking the steps two at a time, Szeina was almost flying. Upon reaching the last step, she put a hand over her mouth.

The scene in front of her was not something she had expected.

In the middle of the hallway leading to the rooms on the second floor, a cloaked figure was tauntingly moving towards Granola. The latter was holding an unconscious Neyandro in one hand while on the other was what Szeina would presume was an axe.

Granola was threateningly pointing the sharp edge of the axe towards the monstrous beast, its horn protruded on top of his head, the cloak failing to cover them.

She looked desperate, her eyes scanned the surroundings. When her gaze landed on Szeina, she quickly averted her stare lest the cloaked figure would notice where she was looking.

"Where is she?" the monstrous beast growled, his voice sounding like the thunder and gurgled noises coming from different beings.

"I'll never tell," Granola replied, her hands shaking as she took a step back while the beast took a step forward.

Granola's fear reflected on Szeina. She has no clue what this cloaked figure wanted or what it was.

Szeina did not know what to do. She stood frozen in her place. An enemy was before her, but she did not know how to attack it or if it was possible for her to cause it any pain.

She faced an unknown opponent, and there she was, fear gripping her to the core. Nevertheless, Szeina knew that if she did nothing, they would all end up dead.

And she can't have that.

Remembering her phone, she held onto it and hoped that whatever she had in mind would work. If not, then she was doomed.

"Hey ugly!" watching her mobile device sailing through the air, Szeina heard a resounding plonk as it hit the monster at the back of its head.

It hardly scratched him. She was aware of that. But, her purpose was to distract the beast in order to give Granola enough time to do what she was planning to do with the axe in her hand.

Successfully achieving her goal, Szeina met the monster's blazing red eyes. It was the only visible thing under the hood of the cloak he was wearing.

She then shut her eyes and waited for her demise.

The clock ticked, but nothing else happened. Szeina slowly reopened her eyes and found Granola panting. The cloaked monster was no more.

Black ashes littered the floor in his wake, and Szeina didn't need any more explanation as to where it went.

Granola dropped the axe, its blade clean with no trace of any blood that would indicate it even hacked into a strange beast.

Rushing towards Szeina, she crushed her in a tight hug.

"That was stupid and very dangerous. But, you managed to save us all."

Unable to form any coherent words, Szeina wanted to collapse and erase from her memory what she just saw.

Granola sensed it, releasing her and cupping her face in her hands.

"I promise I'll answer every question you have. But right now, we need to get moving. That thing was not alone. I'm sure of it."