GLENNVILLE, 10AM*
Only the sound of the groaning taxi engines filled the silent road as it drove through under the mild morning sun.
It's as if the taxi is the only one on the road, and it's understandable since the town is not very populous.
The middle-aged driver drove in the front with all his squared attention while his passenger sat at the backseat, covering her face with the novel she's reading.
At the back of the novel, Xena was written decoratively in beautiful small letters.
Soft sighs were escaping her nostrils from time to time like she was payed to do the exercise, and at the third one, she dropped the book, revealing her unique eyes.
She's wearing a short flower-print ruffled dress that has just one shoulder.
A single-strand pearl choker necklace sat pretty on her neck, the bracelet on her wrist, and the earrings on her ears.
She released another sigh, taking the novel again. She opened to a particular page and brought out her admission letter.
She received it last week, and she decided immediately that she was gonna come without minding the oddness surrounding the whole thing.
She never applied for admission to the University. She stayed homeschooled with her father all her life, so how the letter came for her is still a mystery she's not ready to solve.
She just wants to get to the school and experience another phase of life different from before. She wants to make friends, meet new people, especially the guy from her dreams.
That thought made a thin smile appear on her lips, and the driver grinned from the front when he saw her smile.
"Finally a reaction from you." He voiced, sliding the car into a bend.
"What do you mean?" Xena's voice came meekly, but firmly.
"I mean... You didn't talk or cough since you entered my taxi. Your face stayed hidden behind your novel" the man replied jovially.
"I'm just not used to talking to people" Xena simply said, rubbing her clean fingernails that are paint-free.
"I understand. Only freaks go to University of Glennville, and you're the third new student I'd be driving there this month" the driver talked further.
"Freaks?" Xena shifted uncomfortably on her seat.
"Who else goes to a school where a student go missing every month if not freaks?" The man shrugged.
"The rumor about a student going missing every month is actually true?" Xena asked without blinking her long lashes.
"I dunno the details, but if it's not true, then the school should have said something about it. They've been keeping quiet and the rumors are starting to look true. Anyways, stay safe young girl" the man said, concentrating back on the road.
Xena returned the letter back in-between the book, biting her lip slowly. It's an habit whenever she's anxious or impatient.
Is it crazy that the truer the rumours look, the more eager she is to get to the school?
Maybe she's insane.
Nope. Cancel the maybe. She's actually insane.
_Stay calm, Xena_ a voice said in the air, and she drew recognized it immediately.
It's the voice that soothes her everytime.
She calmed down and fished her phone out of the small bag.
By now, the driver is driving up the low hill, and the city streets disappeared behind them already.
She dialled her father's line, but the network is so bad that it's hanging on its own. There's no signal at all.
She bit her lip again as the driver brought the taxi to a stop in front a long imposing black gate.
They're up on the hill right now, and the driver is surely a professional cos she felt no stir.
"We're here" he told her.
She kept her phone and hung her bag on her arm before stepping out of the taxi, facing the gate.
The gate commanded attention and inspired awe, as if guarding the secrets and mysteries that lay within the university compound.
Adorned with strange symbols and glyphs, the gate was guarded by two stone statues, and the surroundings of the fence are all on the edge of sharp cliffs, so no one can break in without falling to their demise.
The tight defense made Xena's stomach roll, and she brushed her hair to the back of her ear.
The driver cleared his throat behind, a cue for her to get back in the car so he can drive her into the compound, but then another taxi drove up the hill, pulling up behind the first taxi.
Xena's eyes widened when her father, Jude came down from the taxi, wearing black shades.
"Papa? You followed me?" She said surprisingly, and immediately the old man removed his shades, the taxi driver gasped.
Jude's eyes are all white. He has no eyeballs at all, but he sees clearly.
"I just wanted to see my daughter again before you'd enter that evil gate" he said frankly, and Xena smiled big as he gathered her in a warm fatherly hug.
*