NUNNE

CHAPTER 1

"Is that seat taken?"

It took Salem a short while to think about whether or not ask the pretty girl seated beside the window, which was kinda stupid since that was the only empty seat left in the bus.

The girl had long, jet-black hair playfully mixing in with strokes of her chestnut-coloured highlights. When she turned to look at him, he noticed how deep and black the colour of her eyes were.

"No, it's all yours." The girl answered with a curt smile then continued to look outside the window.

Salem was hoping to get a conversation out of her, but seeing that it wasn't gonna happen, he settled in the leathery seat and held his backpack close to him. The bus then started to move signalling the beginning of his three-hour journey to a small yet busy town of Ashview, and towards his final summer destination before he had to start school in a couple of weeks.

The drive was long and unnecessarily loud thanks to the wailing baby behind them. Up front, one of the passengers was trying to talk to someone on his phone but was kept being blocked off from the baby's crying.

The other passengers looked annoyed because of the noise coming from the two. Oddly enough, they looked like they were testing out which was louder. The girl beside him didn't seem to care, seeing that she got her earphones on and the volume was on high.

As luck would have it, the noise died down after a while and he managed to take a nap. When he woke up, he turned to his side and saw the girl still staring out the window with music blaring from her earphones.

They passed by a sign that read "WELCOME TO ASHVIEW" and it made him wonder how long he had fallen asleep for.

He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and then landed his gaze on the passing scenery. Just a few miles west from where they were headed, reared a tall bell tower painted beige.

"That must be the place." He whispered to no one in particular.

As if on cue, a picture of an old, abandoned church situated on top of a hill where the bell tower was, appeared his mind. The vivid details weirded him out, like how the paint was starting to get worn out and peel off because of the age. The wooden walls of the place were rotting too and the scorch marks from a fire were still evident on the sides of the pillars holding up the roof of the porch which also looks like it might give in any second.

He closed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath.

For a moment there, Salem actually felt like he was standing in front of the very same bell tower –the idea of it was enough to give him the chills.

When he opened his eyes, he looked around to find something that may distract him from these kind of visions. That's when he remembered that the bell tower was part of the university's grounds and an idea hit him.

He gingerly took out his copy of the student's handbook and scanned a couple of pages before settling to the part where it shows a part of the campus.

It showed the quad its paved pathways, lush-green grass trimmed to perfection and a few patches of periwinkle and bougainvillea along the grounds. Of course, the buildings were freshly coated with maroon, white and black paint –just to set the right vibe for a photo op.

"You transferring there for college?"

Salem turned to the girl and was surprised she recognized the handbook. This was practically the first time she talked to him since the beginning of the trip.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm attending the uhm program for prospect students; you know, for this summer. I'm planning to go there for college though." He answered, sitting a bit more upright than before.

He wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea of leaving home to go to summer school, but he's been dreaming of attending Saint Barbara's University for a long time now, so he might as well go for the sake of it.

"Cool, same here. That means you're some kind of genius, huh?" the girl stated with a slight smirk forming on her lips.

"Well, I'm not sure about that." Salem let out a nervous laugh, "Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was part of the roster for this year's College Prep Program of the school. Like, the mail came with the handbook, how to enrol online, course catalog and everything!"

"Talk about lucky. I had to wait for weeks before my application was approved. Fortunately, I somehow managed to get in."

Salem didn't hear the last part very well, and was about to ask her to repeat it when he heard the girl clear her throat a little, "So, you're from Copperbrooke?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Nah, 'from Rimfield. It's a couple of miles east of Copperbrooke so it's pretty far from here."

Before Salem could think of anything else to say, the bus suddenly stopped in front of a traffic lane of other busses, BMWs and taxis hoping to get close to the school's main entrance. The driver let out a colourful array of words before telling them that this is was as far as the bus can go.

In no time at all, Salem and the girl were hauling their stuff towards the designated sentry station that checked in the new prospect students for the summer. He was about to fall in line like the other students were, but then he noticed the girl standing idly by with her phone out.

Now that they were off the bus, Salem can see her a bit clearly.

He noticed that she was shorter than him by a bit and had high and fairly prominent cheekbones with a slightly tanned complexion. She was dressed casually –a white, v-neck shirt with the words "THIS IS A PEN!" written on it next to a picture of a sword and a pair of jeans which surprisingly made her look rather refreshing.

"Aren't you gonna line up?" Salem inquired as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulders.

She shook her head and smiled a little, "Maybe in a bit, I have to wait for someone."

"Oh, alright." He felt a bit disappointed parting with her like this, he was kinda hoping he'd get to know her a little better. Even so, he started to walk away.

"Hey, wait!"

He recognized the girl's voice and turned back to look at her.

"I never got your name." she said.

"It's Salem. Salem Vicari."

"Salem, huh?" she gave him another smirk, "Sounds straight out of a novel." With that she turned away once more and disappeared into the sea of people.

He smiled to himself and fell in line behind some guy who looked like he was big enough to take down a football team. Absentmindedly, his gaze fell on a familiar looking bell tower once again and a cold feeling immediately crawled up his spine.

He shut his eyes for a bit and sighed.

Relax, Salem. Nothing will go wrong.