Man, I'm terrible at updating this story. I'm really sorry about that. I started working, so I've been busy with that and finishing school. I'm about to graduate and I just got my hours cut, so I'm going to attempt to put more attention into this story.
Part 1 Cont.
I fell backwards, my phone landing to my side. I scrambled backwards. The door behind me opened and hit my back. Odd looked down at me and said, "What're you doing on the floor." I couldn't respond. I saw the worry on his face. He walked down the stairs. I heard a thud that figured was him collapsing to the floor. He then started yelling and screaming. The door on the lower level opened and I heard a groggy voice say something. It was Jim. He then asked, "Della Robbia, what the hell are you doing?" His voice trailed off as the sentence went, so I'm guessing he noticed Kiwi's body. Jim had grown fond of Kiwi during our time here. Almost everyone knew about him. Even Mr. Delmas knew and actually had no problem with it. He had become somewhat of a mascot of the school. Odd even tried to make that happen once. I could hear them whispering so I walked down the stairs. As I got closer, the smell got stronger. I saw Jim's face and it looked almost heartbroken. He quietly said, "Hey, Stern."
"Jim, what could've done this?"
"I'm not sure. Probably a wild animal. Another dog, maybe."
He looked back at Kiwi's body. It barely even looked like the same dog. There were gashes all over his body. Jim turned to us and said, "You two get back to bed. I'll get this cleaned up. We'll think of something to do for Kiwi in the morning."
"Thank you, Jim," I replied. Odd didn't respond. He just stared at Kiwi's body.
"I'm so sorry, Odd. I know how much he meant to you."
I grabbed Odd's arm and helped him up the stairs. We got back to our dorm and Odd just laid down on his bed and faced away from me. He still hadn't said a word. I said, "Do you want to talk or something?"
"I don't know."
"I'm here if you need me, you know that."
"Actually, can I ask you for something?"
"What's that?"
"I get if you're uncomfortable with this, but could I lie down next to you?"
"Yeah, sure."
He got out of his bed and laid next to me. He started to cry and shake. I sat there for a few seconds, unsure what to do. I finally positioned myself behind him and wrapped my arm around him. I could feel the surprise, but it did help him stop shaking. I kept my arm there until he stopped crying. He wiped his eyes and whispered, "You didn't have to do that."
"I know, but it helped you."
"Thank you. If you'd like, I could go back to my bed."
"No, it's fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
I removed my arm and turned away from him. It didn't take him very long to fall asleep. I stared at the ceiling for a decent amount of time. I didn't really keep track of how long, but I eventually also fell asleep. I woke up with him still there. He was also awake, but he was on his phone. He noticed I woke up and was said, "Oh, hey."
"Hey." I could tell that he was upset, which was understandable. "You okay?"
"Not really. I woke up and hoped that it had all been a dream."
He put his phone down and wouldn't look towards me. After a couple of minutes, he stood up and started getting clothes around. He said, "I'm gonna take a shower and go see Jim." He walked out of the room. I grabbed my phone. I had to let the rest of the group in. I figured I'd start with Yumi. I called her, but got her voicemail. I then called Jeremie. It stopped ringing and I suddenly heard a loud noise, followed by Jeremie faintly cursing. After some fumbling around, Jeremie said, "I dropped my phone."
"I could tell."
"Ulrich, it is five in the morning. What do you want?"
Was it really that early? Thought it was later than that. I cleared my throat. Telling him was going to be painful. I said, "Um… Kiwi's dead."
"What?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, no. How did it happen?"
"He was attacked. By something. Jim thinks it might've been a wild animal."
"I know what you're thinking, Ulrich. It isn't XANA."
"Jeremie, this is getting fucking weird. Something's wrong with Yumi, I'm having constant nightmares, and now Kiwi's dead? That isn't normal."
"No, it's just very coincidental. Listen, I'm going to get around and I'll let Aelita know. You sound like you're about three seconds from breaking down, so I won't make you go through it again."
"Thanks, Jeremie."
I hung up and pulled my sheets close to my face. I wanted to just escape the world. I lost track of time and eventually Odd came back in the room. He walked over to my bed and collapsed next to me. He grabbed me and started crying into my sleeve. I turned my body so my chest faced him and pulled him closer. I wrapped my arms around him. I felt myself crying a little. He must have noticed because he loosened his grip on me. His breathing calmed down and I removed my arms. There was a few seconds in which nothing happened, and before I knew, his lips were on mine. I was stunned. There was a look of fear on his face, like he just realized what he had done. He quickly stood up and ran out of the room. I wanted to stop him and just talk, but he was already gone. I wanted to feel disgusted, but he was my friend and I knew he wasn't thinking very clearly. I sat up and just stared at the floor. I didn't know what to do. My phone went off. It was a text from Odd. It read, "Sorry man. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't get a chance to tell you before but Jim wanted to see you. He's with Delmas."
I quickly got dressed and made my way to Mr. Delmas' office. I had no idea what was going on, but I needed to find out. I slowed down upon reaching his office and calmed myself. I didn't want to go bursting in like a mad man. I knocked and heard Mr. Delmas say, "Come in." I opened the door to find something surprising. I saw Mr. Delmas at his desk with Jim standing next to him and in front of them, sitting in one of the two chairs, was Mr. Caine. Mr. Delmas said, "Ah, welcome, Ulrich. Mr. Caine here has needs to speak with you." Mr. Caine stood up and said, "I apologize for how early it is, Mr. Stern. I understand you've been having a tough night. I'm sorry about what happened and please send my condolences to your friend."
"Thank you, sir. And it's fine. I was already awake. Can I ask what this is about?"
"I've run into a predicament with Ms. Ishiyama. I need to speak with her, learn more about what's going on so I can help her. She doesn't want to speak to me. She only wants to speak to you."
"What?"
"I had her family to try to get her to talk, but it she refuses to answer the questions. She finally asked for you yesterday. She'll answer them if it's you. She said you're the only one that will understand."
Mr. Delmas cleared his throat and said, "Now, Ulrich, if you are uncomfortable with this at all, you don't have to help." I quickly responded, "I want to help." Mr. Caine smiled and said, "Alright, well, I'll have to let Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama know that you will be helping. They requested to observe your conversation with her if you agreed to it. I'll pick you up when we're ready. Good day, Mr. Stern."
"You too, Mr. Caine."
I left his office and slowly walked back to my room. My mind was racing again. I was thrilled that Yumi wanted to speak to me, but I was also terrified by that fact. Something told me that it was getting worse.
