Another Delay

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"Here's your form and schedule."

"Thank You." I reached out and took the files I would need to confirm that I was a registrant and participant for the exam from the lady.

Smiling politely at her, I uttered a 'thankyou' before I turned around and finally left the place.

The directions were actually useful. I also didn't experience any traffic on my way here, even passing a neighborhood as I was driving.

When I got here, I waited for some good 20 minutes before it was finally my turn. I also updated my mom and Liam—who still didn't reply to anything until now—on my registration.

By the time I finished registering for my incoming exams, only then did I notice the faint pink and orange hues from the windows outside, the heavens above getting relatively darker every minute, thick nimbus clouds hovering the horizon.

Despite it being summer, the sun sets earlier than usual in countrysides and the threat of a possible rain is contributing to the darkening of the horizon.

I let out a yawn and stretched my back out, hearing and feeling the crack and popping sounds from my strained bones and a relieved sigh escaping my lips as I did so.

I walked to the parking lot and entered my car, fixing the papers I acquired from the registration on the backseat.

As I was about to start the ignition, I halted at the familiar ringtone that filled up the air.

I grabbed the device and saw a name I hadn't heard from for a while now. I raised my brow and sighed, answering the call.

"Reyna! How did it go?" I instinctively flinched away from the device because of the sudden volume that was introduced in my ear and grimaced at his unusually chimed and high-pitched voice.

"Are you drunk?" I asked.

An exaggerated gasp was all I got as a reply from the other line. I ignored it and took my ear buds instead and connected them to the device.

"How vile of you miss valedictorian. William is never drunk."

I rolled my eyes in no one in particular upon hearing his statement and at the flick of my wrist; the engine roared to life.

"Yeah, you're not drunk you foul genius, you're wasted beyond repair."

"Liam is not broken, so he doesn't need repairing."

"You know what—?"

"Liam! There you are! Who are you talking to? We're going home!" I was cut off by a familiar voice—probably one of his cousins—from the other line and also Liam, abruptly forgetting all about my existence because of the sudden distraction.

"Bryan!"

And just like that, the phone was discarded into nothingness because before I knew it, there was a loud thud immediately followed by a click of the line indicating that the call just ended.

I sighed and drove out of the University premises. The itinerary of the day is finally over.

---

I was currently at the hot dog place where I stopped to call the airhead for directions earlier, deciding to take a bite before leaving, realizing how hungry I already was.

Unluckily, I was caught up in a traffic earlier. I took a wrong turn to the path I originally took when I drove from here to Northwestern and I ended up in a traffic caused by a road accident.

It was a good thing I still found my way back and still passed through this place—thankfully—so I could situate my hunger in the meantime.

It's already past 8. The traffic was a one hell of a heavy one, so it took a relative amount of my time, patience, and energy. I updated my mom about my situation and also Liam. Even though he won't be replying anytime soon, I still texted him.

And now, as I am currently shoving a hotdog bun in my mouth, an annoying airhead is also rambling some stuff I didn't even bother to intently listen to as I ate.

He called while I was ordering, and I answered begrudgingly.

"—and so that's how I finished the tree house."

"Did you know? I just heard you. I never actually listened or understood anything."

"Do you want me to say it all again? Or further elaborate?"

"Don't you know how to recognize non-verbal speech? My nonchalance says it all!" I puffed out a breath as a gulped the whole glass of water before taking another bite of the hotdog bun.

"Sure, sure. Anyway, you done eating?"

I took a sip of my soda and shoved another handful of cheese sticks inside my mouth.

"No. I am not." I said in a muffled tone, not even bothering if he understood me.

"Good, let's eat together then. I'm just about to eat."

Swallowing the food in my mouth, I took another sip of the soda before replying.

"Weren't you cooking earlier? Why haven't you eaten yet?"

"I still had to finish my masterpiece."

"It's not like it has a deadline, you airhead."

"I set them myself, I'm responsible that way."

I let out a snort before ramming the last bite of the hotdog bun inside my mouth, grabbing the left over soda, and standing up to finally leave the place.

"What? It's true, I do this so I'm able to finish as many tasks as I want."

I just chuckled in reply and strode out to where my car was parked, opening the door and plopping down on the driver's seat.

"Sure, if that's what you tell yourself to make yourself believe, who am I to judge?"

"Hey!"

I chuckled in response as I placed my wallet on the other seat beside me and secured the soda on the drink holder beside the steering wheel.

"You're already leaving?" I heard him ask.

"Yeah, what else am I supposed to do here?"

I heard him let out a breathy laugh, and we were left to yet another comfortable silence I have grown accustomed to whenever we call.

It's been a few weeks since we started talking, and before I knew it, an unscheduled and unspoken routine emerged between the two of us.

As strangely as may it seems, I didn't nullify this routine, nor was I planning to do so. It felt foreign, but a good kind of foreign feeling.

It was like finally tasting the food you have long avoided because you didn't want to eat it in anticipation that it would taste horrible, only to realize how delicious it actually was and questioned yourself why you hadn't tried it sooner. It felt like that, in a weird and peculiar way.

By this time, the road and sky were already pitch black and the only source of light was coming from the streetlights and my headlights.

"It not that late, but it's already pretty dark." I said alongside with the familiar sound of ceramic resonating from the phone.

"How dark is it already?" He said in a muffled tone, audibly showing he was eating.

"It's pitch black out here, I can barely see a thing."

A faint gulp.

"You sure you're going home tonight? It said in the forecast it would also rain. It's too dangerous, stay at a hotel or air bnb or something."

"I'll be fine. It's just normal rain, not a damn storm. And I'm sure the main road to Indiana would have brighter street lights. Don't worry, I've done this before."

The familiar groan of wood scraping the floor and thuds of ceramic and silverware echoed from the other line.

"You've driven on a pitch black road in a rain before?"

"To be more precise, in a storm."

"What?!"

I grinned at his reaction and was about to tease him, when a small gray and white figure caught my eye that was sitting on the side of the road.

I squinted my eyes to properly see what it was, but I couldn't make out what the figure was exactly.

The airhead must have noticed my prolonged silence, so he broke it and asked away.

"Leigh? Is there something wrong?"

"I think there's something on the side of the road."

"Really? Where are you now anyway?"

"Only a few miles away from the hotdog place."

I was almost on the small gray and white figure, but I still couldn't make out what it was, so I pulled the car up on the roadside, took my phone for a flashlight, and stepped out of my car.

"I pulled up the car. I'm going to look at what this figure is."

The line resonated a momentary silence, when the airhead finally replied in a hushed and weird tone.

"Leigh, did you know? That street has an urban legend where in white ladies roam around at night."

"It's like two feet tall." I said in a deadpan tone, "Plus it has a hint of gray on it, it's not pure white."

Slowly, I approached the said figure.

"What?" He asked, genuinely confused.

I ignored him and turned my flashlight on as I approached the figure.

When I finally had a relative amount of distance from the figure, enough so I could make out what the thing was. I halted and was bewildered upon seeing what it really was.

"Is that a car seat for babies and toddlers?" I asked to no one in particular.

"A car seat?"

I was about to go to the car seat and check what was inside out of genuine curiosity when a drop of wet substance reached my arm, halting me to a stop. Another drop reached my skin, this time landing on my right cheek.

After realizing that it was now raining, I contemplated for a split second on whether should I go and check the figure or not and unintentionally verbalizing my thoughts.

"Should I go approach it?"

As if on cue, the airhead answered my thoughts, but this time he acted out of ordinary, worry and urgency dripping from his voice.

"Leigh! Get out of there right now! Get back to the car!"

There were clanks of materials dropping on to the floor and he seems to be hastily moving like he was in panic.

Before I could realize and register what kind of odd turn of events was playing out in front of me, it was already too late the moment I decided stepped out of the car earlier.

The drops of the rain were simultaneously quicker by now. I was about to reply and ask the airhead what was all the fuss was about and why was he acting so weird.

But then, an ice cold hand reached the back of my neck, another gripping my arm that sent multiple shivers down my spine upon its contact.

I didn't even know a hand could be that cold.

"Caught you darling." The voice. The voice couldn't even compare to the coldness of his palms. His breath was warm but his voice was razor sharp, deep and cold that had the power to glue me frozen to the ground.

My eyes were as wide as saucers by now, and I don't know if I was shivering from the cold or from the feeling this man is making me experience.

"Leigh?! Who was that?! Hey! Answer me!"

My throat closed up, and my breathing was already labored for a while now. Or did it just start? I couldn't comprehend anything right anymore.

A single tear escaped my eyes before I miraculously let out a faint voice I didn't know I still had.

"Heliodor, please."

At that, an all too familiar sharp pain radiated from my head that caused me to drop my phone, my body limping almost immediately after the action.

My vision dimmed, and the world toppled sideways, my cheeks coming into contact with something hard and cold.

'𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥.'

As the drops of water became relatively quicker and hitting my skin in an ice cold shiver, Helio's voice became further and further away like an echo.

"𝘓𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩?! 𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?! 𝘓𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦! 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦!"

'𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯?'

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