How to Survive Your 19th Life [BL]

Chapter 89: Frenemy

Sylvia led me to her dorms once she recovered outside. Other than a few bruises already forming, nothing seemed to be broken so we made a run for it. Never in all my lives did I think I would be escaping Emiel with Sylvia Fulton. Her pigtails swung in the air as she ran. She held my hand tight, not letting me go until we made it to the front of Founders Hall. 

We made up the stairs. Founder Hall had five stories as it was a narrow building of studio apartments for female upperclassmen.  We cleared floor after floor before then climbing up a ladder to the roof. I didn't question Sylvia's judgement on this. I had no idea which apartment was hers anyway. 

The chilly air made me grateful I'd pulled on my coat before I left Emiel's place. Sylvia, on the other hand, was freezing. She only had on the thin jacket she came with. I took off my jacket and put it over her shoulders.

She pulled me down behind the parapet and peaked over the top. 

Emiel was running to the building now. He had put on a coat and hat, so maybe he wasn't as furious as I thought. His long-legged strides carried him to the front door.

"He doesn't have a key right?" I whispered.

Sylvia gave me a guilty smile.

Emiel opened the front door of the building, and I heard him barreling up the stairs. A few seconds later, he was banging on a door a few floors down.  Then nothing. Emiel was likely inside now, looking for us.

"The first place he'd check is my apartment," Sylvia whispered to me. "We can go down after he's left. Get my keys and drive somewhere safe."

"Your car probably has a tracker on it," I told her.

She shook her head and looked at me with watery eyes. "That's just your car, Solomon. He doesn't care about me enough to do that. I should know... I planted the tracker on yours. And I bugged your laptop. Sorry."

I had no idea what to say to her in response to that, so I just kept my mouth shut. I didn't realize that being a computer engineering major made her a hacker. Sylvia had all kinds of different personas. We waited in silence for several minutes. The vibration of Sylvia's phone startled us. She removed her phone and there was a text from Emiel.

Emiel: You are still sharing your location with me, doll.

Sylvia looked at me in terror. "I forgot to turn it off."

The door to the roof swung open and Emiel emerged. He walked halfway to us and stopped, breathing heavily. From how his hands were shaking, it was clear he was beyond enraged.

"You can't have me, so you hurt me instead, babydoll?" Emiel asked. 

We stood. I glanced over the edge of the parapet and found the height dizzying, especially with the wind gently pushing at my cold bare arms.

"I just want things to return to normal between us," she said back, taking a step forward. "When he protected me... I thought about you, how you used to be. I would do anything for you, Em. He reminds me of how you were when we first met. Then you got mean and that was okay. But then... he came around and you tossed me aside."

"I fell in love with him, babydoll. You were a placeholder for the teddy bears I never got to keep. Yeah I cared for you at first. Most kids like their toys in the beginning. But you got boring, and I wanted to see how rough I could play with you before you broke."

"And him?"

Emiel met my gaze. His hazel eyes twinkled. "He's the real thing. I don't want to break him. I want to break with him. I love him, truly. I never loved you. I found you more entertaining than your mom though."

"You don't mean..."

"Of course I fucked your mom, Syl! Know what she told me? You lied about your dad. She told you to say he touched you because she caught him cheating."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't make a sound. She looked back at me. I wouldn't meet her gaze. She'd had me fooled from the start.

Emiel continued, "And guess what else? She told me this before I took care of him for you." He laughed.  "I knew all along, but I found it so amusing that you put on such a scared little girl act. Like you were so abused... That's why I told you to do all those disgusting things, Syl. And you liked it didn't you? Maybe you just wanted daddy to touch you."

She flinched at his words.

"Sylvia the victim. Sylvia the genius. Sylvia the psycho. You have thoroughly amused me but I'm over it now. I don't want to see you again."

She then started walking towards Emiel, murmuring, "You don't mean that, right? You can't mean that... All the things I did for you... I was hurt and you saved me. You protected me."

"Stay away from him!" I shouted at her, though I didn't move an inch to stop her.

Sylvia stopped, considering my words, but Emiel raised his arms towards her, and she melted. She ran to him, right into the gates of hell. Emiel snapped her neck. It was not a clean process like in the movies. It took considerable effort, and I watched, mouth agape in horror.  He twisted and twisted while she clawed at him, pushing her head beyond its natural border until it crunched.

He dropped her and looked at me. Before he could make a move, I closed my eyes and launched myself off the roof of Founders Hall. 

My skull exploded on the steps below.