Author's Notes: This is another petty attempt at making something original. I was inspired again, unfortunately, to create a story with a school setting. No, I don't think this is even worth calling a novel. It suits to be called a script of some sort or perhaps a television drama. I'll try my hardest so you'll enjoy it though. Somehow, I think that I should thank God for the provision of blessed inspiration. And yet, I feel sad since I'll have a hard time writing this and continuing my other story both at the same time. I just have a problem with finishing stories. Like Aya**** Haya** from Haya** No Goto** said, it takes passion to strive hard and complete a manga. This isn't a manga, but the same concept still applies. Maybe I don't have the passion that it takes to be a writer. Sigh. Anyway, I now introduce to you another product of my imagination. This one is titled, ...uh. No permanent title yet. Untitled. :D Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Setting aside the fact that God owns everything, I don't own this yet. If it turns out well, who knows? I might even file for a copyright and eventually publish it. From what I can deduce, that's not gonna happen. Who am I fooling? I guess all I can do is dream. Dreaming is free, right?
Other Tidbits: I apologize in advance if the names don't sound so Korean. As a challenge and a hunger for exploration, I wanted to write a story that took place in Korea, but I think it would be difficult for me and my target audience if I used Korean names like...uh...Se*** Hui Kye. They'll just be confused and all. Just imagine that some of the names here are the 'translation' of their Korean names, like how actors similarly have.
Episode 1
Oh No!
Monday, March 1, 7:00 AM
"Goooood morning!"
"Just five more minutes."
"Rise and shine!"
"Five more minutes. Please."
"It's seven o'clock and it's time again for our-"
The sixteen year-old's eyes shot open. She quickly glanced at the clock on top of the bedside table.
"Oh no." It was seven o'clock.
The babbling of a television show host woke her up. She grabbed the remote and closed the television, posting a mental note-to-self to remind her mother to remember to turn it off before leaving. Still groggy from waking up, she grabbed her uniform from the dresser and dashed to the bathroom, knocking down a chair on the way there. In less than three minutes, she was already running downstairs for breakfast, finished taking a shower.
The girl, named Natalie, snatched a loaf of bread from the table as she technically sprinted to the door. She slipped on her black school shoes and ran out into the busy streets of Seoul, her walnut locks still dripping wet. Carefully, she closed the door behind her.
Natalie rummaged through her pocket for the house keys. Empty.
"Ugh," she muttered in irritation.
She went in again and ran upstairs to get them. She hurried back down the stairs and tripped, scratching her knee. Keys now at possession, she blasted through the door and locked it.
"It's mom's fault for not waking me up."
Natalie swallowed the loaf, sneaking through the small gaps between bustling clusters of people. It was another typical Monday. The sidewalks were crammed with businessmen, office workers and teenagers. It was the dreaded first day of school and she couldn't risk being late. Natalie maneuvered through twists and sharp turns, knowing several shortcuts.
She glanced at her pink watch. "Ten minutes left." The lack of time pushed her legs to move faster. Natalie moved forward against the crowd of people and entered another shortcut in the form of a dark alleyway.
The alleyway was dim and dirty. Litter was spread randomly across the floor and shadows of the buildings serving as the walls of the narrow path shrouded everything in obscurity. The light seemed to decrease increasingly as she dug deeper into the tunnel. Glancing at her watch again, Natalie sighed. Five minutes left. She continued to walk blindly down the deserted alleyway. As she reached the end of the alleyway, she realized something. She had made a mistake. This was the wrong alleyway, and it was a dead end.
Suddenly, she heard light footsteps behind her. She whirled.
A filthy man was there, blocking her path back to the entrance. He was evidently under the influence of an overdose of drugs, striking raw fear into the young female. He flashed his rotting teeth at her in a grin.
"What a pretty girl," the man commented, scrutinizing her from top to bottom.
Questions drove her mind into panic. In a second, she was cornered in a wall.
The wall pushed her forward as the man continued his advance toward her. The man pranced at her, clutching both her wrists.
"L-Let go of me!"
"Come here babe, let's have some fun."
Panicking, Natalie kicked with her free leg. The man let go of one hand. She ran towards the opposite direction. She scampered into an abandoned apartment through a back door.
The abandoned apartment was even darker and the wooden planks serving as flooring were in bad condition. They creaked noisily under the weight of her steps. She was afraid that it would give way and break, pitting her into the basement, if the apartment had one.
The door slammed open.
A wave of panic crashed over her, her instincts screaming at her legs to move. Natalie disappeared into the darkness as the man tried in vain to locate her.
"Come out!" The man's ragged voice echoed in the maze of rooms.
She tried to breathe steady, soundlessly. Her adrenaline was pumping against her chest and all she could do was run. She dashed blindly from room to room. Escape was within her grasp.
"Come out!" The voice was nearer than she had expected.
Faster. She had to run faster. Her injured knee was yelling in protest but she didn't care.
Faster. She had to find the exit faster.
"There you are!"
The door behind her crashed open. She told herself not to look behind her back. Fear made her go against her own thought. She looked back and paid the consequences.
Natalie tripped and crashed on the aged wooden planks.
Panic prevailed over pain. Knees scathed, she heaved herself from the floor as quick as she could and took note of what had caused her fall over the duration of a split second. A small chest was on the floor, forced open by the strength of her panicked footsteps. A silver necklace was stuck halfway through the lid's opening.
Two strong arms pulled her feet. Afraid, Natalie gazed deep into her captor's eyes. Her heart stopped. All she could see was lust. A deep, carnal lust. The grip tightened as the man brought her under him.
He laughed as he took off her blazer, exposing her white laced blouse.
She flailed.
"Help!"
The man held her legs down this time, preventing her from kicking him there again.
"You're mine now," he managed to say through Natalie's struggling, chuckling to himself.
She thrashed about, fighting for control over the man. She took a deep breath and did the unexpected.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhcckk-PTOOO!"
She spat right in his eye.
Natalie crawled to her feet and ran for her life as the man recoiled. Going past the same trail, she skidded through toppled tables and chairs and found what she was looking for in one of the bedrooms. A door. Her escape route.
"Finally," she thought, mentally and physically drained. She stopped, grabbed the doorknob and threw it open.
Freedom.
Too much freedom.
It was a balcony. Four floors above pavement.
There was no escape.
She could either jump for her life or stay and let doom take hold of her. She knew she'd die either way. Any remaining hope was destroyed. It was too late for her to go back and retrace her steps.
Natalie held the railings with both hands and prepared for the jump, thinking that she'd rather commit suicide than let that man ruin her.
She stood on her toes and pushed herself forward.
"Just jump."
Her hands blanched against the railings.
"Do it before he comes."
She couldn't do it.
"It'll be over in a second."
She closed her eyes and finally gave up to her fate. Her feet took off and her upper body lunged forward. Then backward, abruptly stealing all the breath in her lungs.
The man grabbed her waist from behind. He threw her to the bed without even giving her time to turn around. "Let me have a taste," the man slurred, licking his lips.
The man leaped on her. She fidgeted wildly, trying to break free from his grasp. But, the man was too strong. He straddled her, holding her down, his eyes stained with malice.
She screamed as loud as she could. "Help! Anyone!"
"Help!" she screamed again before her mouth was covered by the man's hand.
All was in vain. No one could hear her.
"Help!" her muffled voice bounced off of the man's palm. Tears came running down. Her arms and legs felt weak. "Help, please!"
Powerless, she closed her eyes as the man started to lift her skirt. It was over. She had no chance against him.
The only thing that she could do was close her eyes and pretend it wasn't happening. But then, her mind went completely blank. Two hungry hands went for the buttons of her white blouse.
She felt paralyzed, completely helpless.
She couldn't protect herself. It was the end. She choked, crying, as her lungs refused to breath. Inside, slowly, she was being crushed bit by bit, until she was destroyed and rendered useless. Not anymore a human being, but an object of pleasure. A toy.
Suddenly, she heard the door burst open.
"Get away from her!"
A chair flew overhead. A loud crash. The man was forcefully knocked off of her.
Natalie opened her eyes slowly, squinting, and saw a boy standing in front of the door. The boy quickly helped her up and secured her behind him as the potential rapist stood up.
"Stand behind me." He held her hand as tight as he could.
Natalie stole a glance at the boy's coat pocket where a pen was inserted. A black-lettered 'Leonhart' was engraved on the gold surface. "Leon." his name echoed in her mind.
Then, the man regained footing and ran towards them. He waived his knife at both of the teens. Leon pushed Natalie away and avoided the attack. The man pursued on attacking Leon. Leon evaded another stab to the chest as he strived to get out of a corner.
"Leave him alone!" Natalie screamed all the hatred out her throat. She took off one shoe and threw it at the man. Leon ducked. The shoe hit the man face-first. Immediately, he turned around, fuming with anger, before raising the knife at her. "How dare-"
Leon took the advantage and grabbed the man by the neck. Natalie stood there and stared, unable to control tears from flowing down.
"Go!" the boy yelled at her. "Just go!"
She didn't move. Her feet were frozen. Her mind was not working properly. She had nearly been a victim of a rapist and the psychological stress was already making its way deep inside her inner core.
The man managed to flip his knife around. Leon lost his grip on the man. The knife disappeared into Leon's shirt.
Natalie gasped.
The knife was retracted in a quick, savage motion. Red liquid gushed out in heavy amounts from his abdomen, the surrounding tissues damaged.
Natalie's perfect eyesight allowed her to see the red droplets that dripped to the floor.
Leon fell on one knee, clutching the side of his stomach. The droplets formed into a small puddle on the wooden flooring.
Blood.
The deep shade of red quickly spread on his white shirt. He looked at his crimson-stained hand as his vision became blurry.
The man pushed Leon away and turned to Natalie. She saw the reflection of her frightened image on the blood-stained knife. Taking her shoe, she ran out the door as the man chased her. She stormed around the maze of connected rooms and found a telephone.
She picked it up. A dial tone.
She dialed the emergency hot-line, her fingers still trembling. Frantic, she pushed too many buttons.
"Darn it."
She dialed again. Panic interfered with her control over her hands.
"Come back here!" The man's gruff voice echoed from one of the adjacent rooms.
It signaled Natalie to drop the phone and run. It didn't matter anymore if she dialed correct. She headed for the door across the small kitchen.
She grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open.
The man was at the other end of the door, scaring the daylight out of her. "Gotcha!"
She screamed, turning to flee. The man caught her arm and slammed her into the wall. She felt the man's bloody hand run across her left thigh. He grinned, pleased with what she had to offer.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhcckk-"
A hand covered her mouth. She tasted blood. Leon's blood. "You ain't doing that agai-"
"I said get away from her!"
Running feet. Natalie turned her head.
Leon ran into the man, throwing him into the table with a thundering crash. Splinters stabbed into the man's bare arms.
Leon got up and turned to Natalie. "Are you alright?"
"B-Behind you!"
A knife passed Leon's cheek as he turned around and fell to his knees. The man pointed the knife at him, provoking him.
"I'll kill you!"
The man lunged for him. The knife almost scraped Leon's eye out. Natalie ran behind Leon as he scurried to his feet and staggered to the left.
"Get out of here," Leon whispered into Natalie's ear. She clutched his sleeve with shaking hands.
The knife was swung. Leon stumbled. A narrow miss, avoided only by backing into the wall. Natalie was pushed aside, leaving her wide open for an attack.
The man went for it. Leon interfered. He grabbed the knife and fought over control.
"Le'go!" the man shouted, trying to tear Leon's hands from the weapon.
Their joined hands moved to the right. Then to the left. Leon made use of their position; he kicked with his foot and pulled with his hands.
The man recoiled back, the knife reclaimed, though it wasn't in his hands.
As horrifying as it could be, Leon stared in shock.
The knife was in his eye.
"GRAAAH!" the man screamed in agony, his hands trying to grasp the handle of the blade.
Natalie tried not to look as blood spurted from the man's eye. It flowed down the man's face then to the dull floor. She gasped. The man wrenched the knife out of the socket of his skull.
"Y-You!" he pointed at Leon with the knife.
Instinct screaming, Leon's body pushed to the left. It was too late.
The man lashed the knife at him.
The air trapped in his lungs, Leon couldn't move. His muscles stiffened like stone. He expected his vision to turn black, but it didn't. He didn't feel any pain either.
Leon looked behind him and found where the knife was, right there where he didn't expect it to be.
The knife was wedged into Natalie's chest.