Tahlia woke up to the ever blinding rays of the sun raining down on her willowy form.

She rose up, still heavy-eyed as she glanced at the watch, sighing quietly on realizing she'd already missed two of her morning classes.

It didn't bother her much though; It was the longest, the most peaceful sleep she'd had in the last 5 days.

Five days.

It'd been five exact days since the ground under her feet had slipped away with the force of silent hurricanes.

Five entire days since Logan Hunt had vanished into thin air like nothing but lapsing mist.

Tahlia brought her hands to her temples, pinching each side in exasperation, before getting up and hoping to make it through another insipid day.

The rest of the morning went by a blur.

Mindless chatter impregnated the entirety of the campus.

Tahlia walked past all the people quietly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear mindlessly. She felt a pang of envy for all the people bursting with charismatic energy, smiling and laughing, so blissfully unaware of the doom that had only started to begun.

Both Tahlia and Jace had been called down to the station for investigation, the very next day after Logan's escape.

Jace was let go within fifteen minutes, while Tahlia had been questioned for well over half an hour.

Albeit on the positive side, it was nothing-out-of-the-ordinary, routine questions only, considering she'd been close to Hunt for over a month.

At least she wasn't a person of interest in the matter.

Not to mention, both Tahlia and Jace had been strictly instructed to not a breathe a word about this to anyone.

It was being kept under the covers for now, to prevent panic amongst the public apparently.

Unlike Tahlia, these people could sleep at night peacefully, never once expecting a deranged murdered to knock down their doors.

They needn't look behind every few minutes, just to be sure that they are not being followed by a lunatic.

Ignorance sure was bliss.

A bliss that Tahlia had been robbed away of, the day she had opened that damned blue file.

Her mind went to Jace. He didn't even show up to any of the classes today, but that was typical of him.

Jace was holding up much better than the wreck Tahlia was slowly becoming, her hollow eyes and her micro naps the evidence.

But truth to be told, he had imperceptibly become quieter, his chirpiness seeming a little forced. Tahlia could tell from the two times they'd talked after the incident, that he was pretending to be unaffected for her sake, but on the inside, Jace too was petrified.

He didn't let it show for even a minute though.

Both of them were well aware of the true colors of the illusion they were all dabbling in, but only one of them wasn't letting it get to 'em.

The other one, however, was falling apart like a blow to a house of fragile cards.

Well, one of them did kiss Logan Hunt and was now reaping the consequences.

The kiss.

Tahlia couldn't decide which was worse, the fact that a raging killer was on the loose or that she had kissed said killer with certain expectations.

She felt a form of twisted agony every time she found herself thinking about the kiss. About every moment they'd spent together.

Did it mean anything at all?

She shook her head at the diabolical thought.

"Tahlia." A hand was placed on her shoulder.

She nearly jumped, her heart almost popping out of her rib cage vigorously.

She let out a startled yell as she turned around, meeting the plain blue irises of her friend. The people looked at her weird.

"Jesus, Jace!" She let out a frantic sigh, catching her breath.

"Tahlia." He said again, his face stern and his breath shaky.

He wasn't even making an attempt to not look stupefied.

"What happened?" She merely asked, her own voice breathy.

He looked into her eyes solemnly.

"A body was found."

Tahlia sucked in a sharp breath.

With a whispered tone, he continued.

"It's a woman. They're saying she's been stabbed to death and.." He paused, closing his eyes for a second, seemingly regulating his breathing.

"Her vocal cords had been cut out."

With that, Tahlia's brain went into a haze. She almost didn't comprehend what he said next.

"It's him."

And it was merely just the beginning.

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