" Such a nice evening and you're still writing your notes ... At least take a look outside the sky is beautiful. Tessa ? Are you even listening? ", Rishe said with a grumpy expression.
" Yeah , yeah listening. How can I ignore you..." Tessa looked at the sky from the glass of the public cafe. " Yes, it's beautiful. I haven't seen such a good colour mixture for ages."
" My coffee is almost over . Let's call it a day . I'm bored and more than that , my brain stopped working. Who the heck said college life is fun ! I'm gonna sue that person." Rishe's disappointed face was clearly showing the anger she was reciprocating .
" Huh...True . I agree with you . It's disgusting somehow but our hands are tied. I hope some miracle happens and the whole education system get vanished. We are basically shallowing knowledge like food to vomit it in exam rather than absorbing it ...*yawn*... My brain is also at its limit ." Tessa stood up from the chair . " Let's go. "
Both of them started walking towards their university dorm. The road is bustling with crowd , noises of traffic and the air is heavy with the atmosphere. " I hate crowd." Tessa murmured with disgust as she made her way in the footpath.
" Oho , I suddenly remember. Today the dorm kitchen is closed due to repairing works....tsk... I almost forgot about it . We need to buy food.", Rishe said while coughing.
" Looks like you're still not fully recovered from the cold . I told you to wear more clothes. Don't worry, you head back ... I will buy something and return."
" You know Tessa , in times like this a hot rice porridge made by mom works the best but nothing to do . Thanks buddy . Gimme your bag then ." They stop in an intersection. " Are you sure you can carry ? " Tessa said with an concern.
" Do I look like a fragile feather? You are already doing enough. Now gimme and go."
" Fine . Go safely. I will be right back ." They parted their ways and Tessa kept going. "Ummm.... Let's see what to eat." She passed shops and stopped in a food stall.
" Auntie , 2 regular sandwich please." She looked at the sky while humming a music .
" Here is the payment... Auntie can you tell me a good Chinese shop or restaurant where I can get rice porridge." The stall-keeper looked at her and thought for a moment. " I know a small shop of my friend but it's quite far from here . Go straight and turn left after the 3rd signal, you will see a park . Cross that and walk for 5 mins on the right side of the huge clothing factory you will see the shop. Take a taxi , that will save time. "
" Thank you so much ." Tessa grabbed the sandwich and started walking. " I will walk the distance... it'll be a good excercise." Tessa kept walking. After almost 40 minutes, she saw the Chinese shop and bought rice porridge. " Rishe will be happy... Hehe. Now let's head back ." The number of people was comparatively less there so Tessa walked slowly while enjoying the atmosphere.
" Aha so this is the park . My legs are sore. " She sat on an empty bench while looking at the dimmed sky . She was listening music while imagining the cloud shapes as animal.
Light breeze was flowing through Tessa's face. She closed her eyes.
" This is what I call relaxation...*yawn* ... I hope mom is doing well.. after the semester ends, I will surely take an long break until the next one starts. Huuh..life .... Is it what I expected it to be ? Maybe not . Someday, I seriously want to transmigrate into my favourite novel and never gonna come back into this boring world. " Tessa's thoughts suddenly ended as her phone buzzed. She saw Rishe calling .
"Hel..."
" Are you kidding me Tessa Malven ? Where the f*ck are you? It's almost 3 hours .... Are you farming the ingredients? "
" I'm on my way. Coming back in 10 minutes, don't worry. I just have a surprise for you, hihi. Im sure you gonna love it ."
" If you don't come back with that time , I'm going to surprise you by kicking your ass off . " The call cut . " Shit ! I haven't seen the time. Gather up Tessa ... But somehow it was a good recharge . I will come here often. Thanks auntie for telling me about this hidden gem. I knew the sandwichs gonna pay off someday 🤧" , she stood up and started walking. The roads were empty and almost silent. She headed towards the main road. She took a bus on the way back .
"10 more minutes and finally I'll be in my bed." Tessa said with sigh of joy and relief as she walked towards her dorm. Suddenly she saw a staggering man coming towards her . "Drunk people this days ..... That's why I hate drinking. " She passed the man and kept going until she suddenly realised that the man was following her .
"Wtf..is he a stalker? Killer? I can't show him my dorm .." Tessa took a turn and thought of an alternative route while increasing her speed. She almost started running but the man also suddenly did the same . Tessa again took a different turn thinking at some point she will trick him but the staggering man's speed was of no joke . The roads are empty and the distance between them was shortening with time .
" Ughh .. why there is no one here when I needed atleast one . " Tessa looked back and saw an glistening knife like object in the man's hand . The most surprising thing is some 2 - 3 person she crossed did nothing to save her .
" Wth... Why no one is helping me ? Are they
Afraid of a single staggering man ? ... I can't fight him alone ." She saw a couple and yelled , " please help me " but they looked weirdly towards Tessa and kept going on their way .
" I can't kept going like this . I don't know how far I came like that ...please something help me .. " she tripped on the road and food spilled everywhere. She somehow managed to grab her phone but the man already got her . He attacked with the knife and his eyes were filled with desperation. Tessa dodged the first swing and somehow blocked the second one with her hands. She was about to get stabbed when suddenly a hooded man kicked the attacker aside. She saw the masked face gave her a look and fought back the attacker. He wailed a sword and with a slash the attacker's job was done .
Tessa was huffing heavily and her hand was bleeding, she didn't know how much time she ran in desparation. The hooded masked man put back his sword and came to Tessa. He asked ," Are you ok? You hand is ble..." Tessa felt darkness in front of her vision and the last thing she remembered before fainting was his eyes.