milkbath | Suds 2

milkbath, Suds 2 | Episode 11

{Last time on Suds, Darien promised not to lie to Leilah. Would have been sweeter if he didn't already have a lie in his back pocket. Terrance caught a feeling or two for Lalique. Lalique got Mira's permission to shoot her shot with Sylus while nursing her own little fib about not getting any new hate mail from her stalker. And Shantel bumped into a stranger. Danger?}

• Thursday •

SHANTEL continued on her way, thinking about the stranger until she pushed through the revolving doors and out into the warm August day.

She sketched a mental picture of the man. Mocha skin like hers. A few inches taller. He seemed young. Maybe a first-year student. Possibly. It's still the first week of school, she reasoned.

She kept walking to the rock wall and leaned against it like a high chair. Something about the guy still chewed on her nerves. Why did he seem like he was mocking me?

She replayed the scene again. He had a smug way about him. Did he bump into me on purpose? A thief?

She yanked open her purse and stilled. A sheet of lined paper stared at her, shouting her name in dark, scribbled letters. She pulled out the note and read.

Pretty Shantel.
Stay out of it or I'll cum in
building C, room 1511 with you.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she fought to keep her composure. Stay out of what? She gasped, swallowing fear. Is he the same man from before?

Her eyes flit to the spot where she first saw the strange guy waiting for Lalique. He wasn't there now. She tried to remember his face, but it was hidden under a hat. Could it be? She read the warning again.

Stay out of it...

~~

LALIQUE watched the wanton witch melt into a puddle. She chuckled. Maybe Sylus broke up with her. She rolled her eyes. I hate weak girls. I should date Terrance and Sylus just to mess with her head. Laqueek.

She rolled her eyes and pushed through the revolving doors, stealing one last glance at her distraught enemy. Lalique stumbled and trained her eyes on Shantel's shaking hand. Her nails dug into a notebook paper with familiar scratched markings. Lalique's eyes widened.
"No," she gasped.

She ran over and snatched the note from Shantel's trembling hand. Lalique skimmed the vile words. She shook her head and a circus of curses summersaulted from her pink glossed lips.

"It's him." Her face twisted in anger. "Where did you get this?" She shook the paper in Shantel's face. "Have you seen him? Where is he? What does he look like?" She scanned the note again. "Did he say his name? Who is he?"

Shantel ran jittery fingers through her silken hair. "I don't know." She rustled through her thoughts, collecting herself.

Sylus snatched the note from Lalique's hand and braced Shantel's shaking body against his with a one-armed hug. He read the note. His face hardened, but his creamy voice came out even. "You found this in your bag?"

Lalique stared at Sylus. Fire flickered in his angry glare. She rolled her lips together, wishing he would notice her.

Shantel's eyes darted around. "It wasn't there before." She ran shimmering red nails through her hair. "Unless—"

Sylus stuffed the note in his pocket, meeting her frazzled gaze. "Unless what?"
"A guy bumped into me in the Student Center." She rambled. "I almost fell, but he caught me. Then he was gone."
"Black, White, Hispanic—"
"Black, Low fade. Wearing all black. A little taller than me."
"How long ago?"
"Five minutes, maybe."
"Stay here."