Chapter 25: The First and Last Dating

Rakiza ran inside the living room of the dorm, then into their room, which was also empty. Even though it was already eleven o'clock at night, the majority of the dorm inhabitants were attracted to the carnival. There would be celebrations twice a year in the area. As a result, everyone looked forward to the year's most anticipated events.
She closed the door to their room, enraged by what had happened during the carnival. She had ice cream stains on her chest. "What a crazy girl," she muttered as she turned on the lamp.
"There were a lot of things that happened in this world that you wouldn't expect to happen," Theo said from the corner of the room." Rakiza nearly collapsed from great surprise.
"What the heck are you doing here?" She shouted, "How did you get in here?"
"It's not difficult to get in here. That window allows whoever wants to break in, and the building administration should be concerned about it before anything awful happens. Precautionary measures are more important before than after.
"I don't care what the building administration says; what I want to know is why you're here uninvited."
"I was merely worried about your emotional tolerability after Teri dropped her ice cream cone on your chest."
"You were there?" Rakiza inquired.
"Yes, I was there, at a distance, giving you a chance to pursue your idiotic idea of dating Alex Moran, which, in terms of your security, was a horrible choice, and still you pursue." He rose to his feet and said, "Your actions reveal your carelessness by not using your ability to think safely."
"Now you're telling me I'm an idiot for dating Alex Moran."
"That's how I looked at it," Theo said.
Rakiza yelled, "Don't judge me, Mr. Monsanto!"
As Theo stated bluntly, "You must explain to me why you dated Alex Moran." Are you in a serious relationship with him? " He frowned.
"It's none of your business; I have no blood link to you."
"It's my business to know because I'm your guardian," he stated calmly.
You're announcing yourself as my guardian, and I'm calling it quits right now. You’re fired! "
"Not until you are truly safe from harm," Theo said firmly, "and one last thing, be wary of the people you will trust." Sometimes a monster will disguise himself as an angel to deceive you. And back to my first question: why did you date Alex? I want the truth. "
Rakiza retorted, "I hate you."
"Do you have any feelings for him?"
"I'm paying my dumb debt to him! And it's done! " She yelled.
"How much do you owe him?" Theo asked sharply.
"I owed him a date at the carnival at your address!" Rakiza was furious, but she couldn't keep lying to Theo for long.
Theo obviously wasn't expecting to hear such a debt. He just stared at Rakiza with wide-eyed wonder.
"He won't disclose your address to me if I don't agree to his dumb dating scheme." Rakiza mumbled, "Oh, shit."
"You traded a date for my house address." Theo said sharply, "What a foolish idea? You can ask our teacher, but not Alex. "
"Yes, that was the craziest thing I've ever done in my life, and it will never happen again," Rakiza said. She opened the door for Theo to leave.
"Get out now."
Theo approached her, towering over her, and murmured quietly, "There's one more thing."
"Say that and leave," Rakiza hissed.
"Don't be friends with Nikolas Augustus," Theo warned.
It was an unexpected instruction for Theo to caution her not to be friends with Nikolas Augustus. Rakiza resisted the concept, saying, "You can't control who I'm going to befriend and who I'm not; now, leave!"
"I'll depart from where I came in," Theo grumbled, leaping out the window and disappearing into the darkness of the woods.
Rakiza stood motionless, staring out the open window into the dark woods. She couldn't believe Theo's warning about Nikolas Augustus.

The room became noisier as she took steps from behind. Her agitated pals had several questions for her to respond to.
"Rakiza, we heard about your awful meeting with Teri, the omen. What happened? " Muriel's voice was high-pitched as her three friends stepped into the room.
"Oh my God, what happened to my blouse? Is that Teri's chocolate ice cream? " Chin said.
"So, it's true, Teri and her crew bombed you with their ice cream," Susan stated.
Rakiza, on the other hand, blamed herself for what transpired, saying, "It's my entire fault; if I hadn't dated Alex, this wouldn't have happened." She then went to the restroom. The thought of Theo in her room, on the other hand, haunted her. Theo clung to her like a leech that couldn't be shaken. He was adamant in his decision for her, and he could control her without doubt. But the thought of Theo keeping an eye on her from afar made her feel naked but safe. And why did she feel safe?
Rakiza dozed off and had a dream after a few hours of struggling to sleep. In her dream, she was walking through the desert, dressed in heavy armor for battle. She was a warrior, Queen Maruja, dragging her long sword, the point of which made a line in the sand as she walked. And then she heard a roaring havoc at her back, and when she turned around, she saw a swarm of wolves on her left side screaming for death, and a swarm of black-suited vampires on her right side parading, ready for a fight. The two groups then clashed in a fight. They fought until they died. Werewolves slashed vampires' bodies, mutilating them to death, and vampires bit the wolves' necks until they turned white from blood draining.
And she awoke, gasping, with the screaming alarm clock at her side of the bed.
The day was Saturday, and Rakiza had an errand to run at the Grace mall.

After a few minutes, she had filled the cart with everything she needed to buy and was slowly pushing it to the counter to pay when Theo emerged from her side.
"Morning," Theo said solemnly. His face was gloomy, a reflection of something bad that had happened that morning.
Rakiza admitted bluntly, "Well, seeing you now is more annoying than feeling good."
"I guarded you, simply wanting to keep you safe, and for that you should be grateful a little; I was simply ensuring your safety."
"That's absurd. You treated me like a wild child."
"As I previously stated, your safety is my primary concern," Theo stated again.
"Don't give me that nonsense, Theo. I'm sure you're up to something. Why don't you tell me right now so you can leave me alone? "
"All right, I'll keep my distance. But I'll be looking at you from afar. " He then left Rakiza.
Rakiza went home, not feeling alone, knowing that Theo was following her from afar, looking after her, and religiously guarding her. "But why?"
As she was approaching the dorm, people were outside busy conversing about something worrisome. Rakiza's heart was racing hard. "What happened?"
"Something bad happened to Alex, Raki," Muriel replied to her question.
"What? Oh no, I can't stand pranks any longer, Muriel. " Rakiza dismissed Muriel.
Then a cop emerged from the back of the dorm, from the veranda. "Are you Rakiza Zanier?"
"Yes, I am. Why? "
"Please come with us; we have some questions for you."
"But why? Have I done something wrong? Rakiza turned to Muriel and said, "What happened, Muriel?"
"Alex is dead, Rakiza!" exclaimed Muriel.
"What?"
"Oh no, that's not true; it can't be true; we have a..."
One of the cops revealed the truth to Rakiza. "Alex Moran's body was discovered early this morning in the woods, a few meters away, at a small abandoned square."
"What?" Rakiza was shocked. As the news began to sink in, she began to tremble, "Please tell me the entire story." Oh God, no! "
The cop continued, "His body had been mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable. At the morgue, his mother recognized him. Teri, a girl, told me you were the last person with him last night. "
Rakiza told them, trembling in terror, "He drove me home and then left." She cried harder, "Oh, God, please believe me, I didn't do harm to Alex."
"Let's put everything into process. Come with us for more questions. "
"Rakiza, don't be scared," Theo walked in, adding, "I'm coming with you."
"And who are you?" The cop asked Theo.
"I’m her boyfriend," Theo replied. "Don’t worry, sweetheart, we'll solve your problem together," Theo promised her.