Rodwood Academy

Chapter 12: Generous Offer

Alone in the singular hallway surrounded by nothing but orange lights from the lanterns on the walls, Lain could feel her throat beating as she turned to look at the woman both much younger and smaller than herself.

Faye stood with her back against the wall and her hands held tightly in front of her waist. With her head hung down and directed away from Lain, she refused to make eye contact with her.

The tense air between the two of them was thick enough that it was almost too hard to breathe. To make the situation more uncomfortable, the awkward silence between the two of them was unbearable.

Clearing her throat as she fixed the collar on her shirt, Lain was unsure how to address the girl who she could feel nothing but fear from. Listening closely to the rhythm of her heartbeat, Lain heard her heart moving so fast that it was almost as if it were trying to overload itself.

"Faye?" She said as kindly and gently as she could. "Can you look at me please?"

As Lain stepped closer so the large gap between them was smaller, Faye was shaking in place.

Feeling a light touch upon her chin guide her face upwards, the small girl was forced to looked into the yellow eyes before her. But as she did so, she witnessed them change. It was as if someone had put a droplet of brown dye into the tan woman's eyes as their yellow hue dissolved away and their color was changed back to normal.

With her fangs hidden and soft smile in its place, Lain internally cried at the feeling of the girl cringing in her grasp. She could sense that Faye wanted to retract her face and get as far away as possible, but considering the wall was directly behind her, there was nowhere to go.

She was trapped.

She was alone and afraid in the empty hallway with Lain.

She couldn't even fathom what the woman wanted with her. Of all the people in her small class, she cursed the fact that she had been called out alone.

'Is she here to tell me that I don't get a second chance?'

'Is this the place where I'm going to die?! Here where nobody can see it happen! I don't wanna die and be forgotten!'

"Hey." The constant scream echoing in Faye's head was put to a stop as Lain eased her hand down the girls arms before bringing them back to her shoulders. Repeating this process as she rubbed her arms, the woman couldn't help but feel her heart get struck by a needle at the sight of the girl.

Her fear was contagious and Lain could feel every bit of it.

"Why don't you calm down now, I'm not going to hurt you." Lain promised as Faye's eyes shot back down to the ground. She couldn't bare to look ahead at the woman in front of her.

"You're not?" She stuttered softly under her breathe.

"No, I'm not. You don't have to be afraid. I just wanted to talk."

"S-so you're n-not gonna kill me..." her eyes slowly traced up the woman's body until they reached the warm eyes looking down at her.

Shaking her head assuringly, Lain let go of Faye's shoulders as her arms dropped to her sides.

"D-did I do something wrong?" Faye raised a curious brow. Now she was even more confused than before. She couldn't think of any reason why this woman would single her out.

But again Lain shook her head. "No the reason I brought you out here was to talk to you about the class."

"Oh." The girl said surprisingly unimpressed. "What about it?"