"What are you doing here?" she asked, before scolding herself. He was the very person she'd been looking for so if she could be there, why couldn't he?
Though she thought her question was too dumb and private to ask, he answered anyway, surprising her.
"thought you'd need somewhere to talk"
"Talk about what?" she asked as her heart pounded loudly. Her nerves jittered, and she wasn't nearly brave enough to confront him properly.
"I'm sure you have something you want to say," he replied calmly.
She glanced around, realizing it was just the two of them. Everyone else was either inside the dining hall or back at the dorms.
"I wanted to ask you something," she said, waiting for him to go-ahead. But all she got was silence, which she took as permission to continue.
"I may be wrong with what I'm about to ask, but just know I only want to clear my min—"
"Get to the point," he cut in, sounding bored of her hesitation.
She drew a deep breath and continued. "It's about Derek…"
She paused, gauging his reaction. But his face stayed calm, unreadable.
"It was reported that he went missing Thursday afternoon. But I saw the both of you together Thursday night. You were having a conversation."
"So why are you telling me this?" he asked, without even a hint of concern.
The coldness in his tone shocked her this wasn't part of the scenarios she had played over and over in her head.
"I'm telling you this because… I just wanted to clear any misunderstandings that might have been."
"What misunderstandings?" he pressed.
"Like… just in case I was wrong," she answered weakly.
"Wrong about what?" he asked again.
Was this guy trying to make her faint? She was already trembling inside, and his relentless questioning only made it worse.
"You know he's missing… I just wanted to make sure—" she stammered, her words breaking apart. "Just in case I was wrong about thinking your actions had something to do with his sudden disappearance."
"Elaine Randolph" he called her by her full name making her tense, is that the only reason you think I had something to do with it?"
She froze.
"I also don't think you and Derek were never on good terms"
"What makes you think otherwise? Was it your time in the locker room?"
His lips curled into a faint smile, one that unsettled her even more, As if he was enjoying this.
"Yes… I saw you fighting with him," she replied quickly.
"Well, then I must say, you're not very smart." His smile widened, sending a shiver racing down her spine.
"Why?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Let's just say I had something to do with Derek's sudden disappearance, do you really think I'd let you go now?"
Her chest tightened. "I don't understand…" she whispered, stepping back as he moved closer.
"Because you know too much," he said simply.
His voice dropped as he bent to meet her eyes. "Don't ever come to confront me like this again. If you have something to say, report it to the admin."
The smile vanished completely, replaced with an unsettling seriousness that pressed down on her chest. He turned to leave—
"Wait…" she blurted, grabbing his arm. "I'm sor—"
But her words died in her throat. The voices… they were back. Only this time, they weren't echoing in her head. They were around him.
"Wait, don't run!" a voice cried.
"Don't go there… just leave him…"
"He shouldn't go inside. I don't want those filthy things near him…"
Her grip loosened, her eyes wide. The voices cut off abruptly. She looked up, Alan was gone.
Her heart skipped. "What was that?" she whispered to herself, realizing she hadn't even noticed him slip away.
It felt like she had been pulled into a memory, or maybe a trance, the moment she touched him.
Weird.
She stared off into the empty direction he had vanished.