Willow was fuming as she walked into Ezrik's room, the door sliding shut behind her. She was glad that the building was so quiet.
At first she had felt guilty for wanting to take the vial from him but after what he just did, she couldn't even wait to deal him a blow in her own way.
"Cocky bastard," she muttered underneath her breath.
She rushed straight into the bedroom and began searching the drawers, under the pillows, and even under the bed, but she still couldn't find what she was looking for.
Her neck was itching, but she didn't want to scratch it. The burn dots were small, and applying an ointment would definitely stop the itching and any further swelling. But that could wait.
She grunted in frustration and looked around the room. "Where the hell is it?"
Her eyes settled on the large shelf of books and antic vases. She rushed to it and began searching, then stepped behind it and froze. A small, sleek, black suitcase was leaning against the back of the shelf.
"Is it..." Her heart skipped. She snatched it up and flipped it open immediately. Inside was a single vial of pale, shiny green liquid.
"I found it!" Relief burst out of her in a light disbelieving laugh.
Snapping the suitcase shut, she left the room without hesitation. She knew coming back to Ezrik's room without a clear plan was reckless but she was going to clean everything up as soon as she got back to her room.
When she finally returned to her dorm, she was relieved to find her roommates absent.
"And it keeps getting better." Willow smiled as she placed the suitcase on the bed, also setting the school laptop bag aside.
Willow packed up her hair into a messy bun. She ruffled through her bag, and pulled out a small box. Opening it, she removed a bigger vial of red liquid with a big grin on her face.
Removing the other vial of liquid green, she opened it and poured it into the red liquid, watching as it turned into a colorless liquid.
Getting the exact reaction she predicted, her heart tightened in her chest and she kept staring at the vial for a while.
"I finally did it. I created my Nex 9."
She tossed the box back into her bag, and just as she was about to grab the suitcase, she heard a small squeak from the window opening and almost screamed when she saw that curly blonde Ascendant she'd seen earlier at the Ascendants building.
Willow rose up from her bed, pointing at him. "What... What are you doing here? Who are you?!"
She was starting to get traumatized by Ascendants at this point. They were all insane!
He stared at her with those bright blue eyes, but there was no smile on his face. He said nothing as he walked towards her.
Before Willow could say a word, he had snatched the vial from her then he grabbed the suitcase in the same second.
Willow's eyes widened because in the next second, the suitcase disintegrated in his grip, leaving behind nothing.
Before Willow could even process that, he hurried away, jumping out of the window with the speed of light.
Willow rushed to the window, but he was nowhere to be found. It was like he had just vanished into thin air. Her eyes narrowed. "What the hell is going on?!"
She thought the universe had finally decided to pity her, but things were only getting worse. She clearly remembered that guy. He looked so good and charming, but turns out he was just another crazy rascal. "What the hell is wrong with these Ascendants?"
Determined to find him, Willow turned around but the moment she turned, the door slammed open, and an angry-looking Ezrik stormed inside.
"Where is it?" he growled, glaring at her.
Willow's heart skipped a beat, and she tried not to look anywhere else.
"What are you talking about?" she asked Ezrik sternly.
"You know what I'm talking about. I have a tracker pointed to you." Ezrik took a step toward her, but she stepped back, and he stopped, his frown deepening.
It took her only seconds to figure out what was happening, Oh shit! There was a tracker! Her eyes darted toward the window. That Ascendant really did save her.
Knowing that she was safe, a smile bloomed on Willow's face, "Ah, I see…" she drawled aloud.
"See what?" Ezrik hissed, shoving his clenched fist into his pocket.
Willow looked back at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can see that you've lost your mind."
Ezrik's face contorted into an even deeper frown, his deep voice flowing out with disbelief. "What?"
Willow dropped her arms, eyeing him. "Yes. You must have lost your mind to come to me and tell me you put a tracker on me. You are invading my privacy. Do you think you can do that because you are an Ascendant?"
"What?" Ezrik blinked surprised and completely caught off guard. But he quickly composed himself. "Why would I put a tracker on you, Dreg? You seem to have lost your mind, too."
Willow rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively. "Okay then, we've both lost our minds. Let's go back to when we were sane. Why are you here?"
Ezrik frowned. "You know why I'm here. Do you need me to get the video to prove you're a thief?"
"You think I took something from you?" Willow pressed a hand to her chest, gasping as though he'd accused her of the worst possible crime. She really hoped there was no video. Then again… she hadn't exactly cleaned up the footage.
"You know you took something from me." Ezrik's voice dropped, and he stepped forward. She stepped back again.
"And you're tracking it?" she blinked at him innocently.
Ezrik gritted his teeth. "Yes, and it brought me here."
Willow sighed. She was so tired of getting into this kind of trouble. "Okay, great. Show me the tracker proving it's actually here."
Ezrik pulled his phone out of his pocket, but when he stared at the screen, his eyes widened in surprise. "It's not there anymore? How is this possible?"
"Huh?" Willow blinked, equally curious and surprised. She stepped toward him and tried to snatch the phone from his hand, but he yanked it back and pointed at her angrily.
"It's one thing for it to move away from your room but to completely vanish?" His voice was sharp with rage.
Willow was starting to feel lucky again. He had definitely hidden the tracker in the suitcase, but that rascal Ascendant disintegrated it with a touch.
That was such a cool ability.
"Why are you doing this to me?" she shot back in frustration.
Ezrik glared, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "I know what I saw. Don't play games with me. You know who I am, and you know what I can do to you. I can destroy you without a reason."
Willow suppressed the smile tugging at her lips and shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, yes, I know you can destroy me, but I don't have anything of yours. You left me, what, a few minutes ago? I just got back here. I wanted to shower and change my clothes. Why are you here accusing me of something I didn't do?"
"Are you calling me a liar, Dreg?" Ezrik let out a chuckle, but his green eyes had darkened.
Willow's body went cold. Maybe provoking him wasn't the best idea. "No?" Her voice came out raspier than she intended.
He stepped toward her, and when she backed away again, he seized her wrist in a tight grip. "We're going to get the video footage and when we do, you will wish you never touched what belongs to me."