Page 4 of Shattered Sinner
"I look like I went a couple of rounds with a garbage truck and lost," I mumbled as I splashed cold water on my face. That didn’t do much to stop the nausea or the pounding in my head.
The next stop was the shower. I turned on the showerhead, and after waiting for the water to heat up, I hopped in. I wasn’t sure if it was the aspirin kicking in, the shower, or a combo of the two, but the pain in my head lessened a bit and I was grateful. I felt more human, but I still wasn’t a hundred percent.
Once I was dressed, I grabbed a cup of coffee and found some leftovers from the food I’d apparently drunk ordered yesterday. I pulled out my phone to call Iris. I’d grown to expect the outcome because it was the same one I got every time I called Iris.
The phone didn’t even ring before it went to voicemail.
"Great," I sighed as I hung up. “Just fucking great." I stared at my phone, wondering what the hell I was going to do next. I missed my best friend, and this wasn’t normal for her. For something like this, I would usually go to my brother and ask for his advice, but I was still pissed at him for the deal with Easton. My dad was an asshole, and while my mother hadn’t been in the room when my father told me about my new “fiancé,” I knew she more than likely agreed with him.
I needed to face this alone.
I did a double take as an idea appeared in my mind.
I was going to find Iris myself if it was the last thing I did.
3
BIANCA
Ishivered as I set my sights on my destination. I got the creeps every time I thought about Westwick University, let alone stepped foot on campus, but I would do anything for Iris.
Even I had to admit that my half-baked attempt at trying to find Iris was foolish, but that wasn’t going to stop me from doing it. Luckily for me, the drive to Westwick University was short, not giving me enough time to talk myself out of it. After I parked my car at Payne Hall, the first problem I needed to solve was how the hell I was going to get into the building.
Since I didn’t attend Westwick, I didn’t have an ID for the college that would potentially give me access to the building. Based on what I’d heard Iris say, not many people chose to stay at Payne Hall, and based on what I could see from the outside, I didn’t blame them one bit.
The black iron gate standing near the entrance of the building had some rust on it and green moss covered parts of the building’s gray brick walls. This dormitory gave off haunted vibes. No, the whole campus did.
I still didn’t understand why Iris willingly chose to live here or go to Westwick when she could have easily applied somewhere else, including Brentson.
It seemed as if today might be my lucky day, because as I was walking up to the front door of the dorm, it opened, and someone held the door for me as I walked inside. Getting in had been easier than I planned, and maybe I would be able to call this whole search off pretty quickly.
I quickly found the stairs that would lead me to Iris’s floor. I took them two at a time and soon found myself standing in front of her door. Without another thought, I turned the doorknob.
"Locked," I sighed, leaning my forehead against the cool wood of the door. "Of course it is."
I knocked hard on the door, and my anxiety grew as I waited for a moment to see if anyone would respond, or if I heard any noise coming from the room. When neither option panned out the way I hoped, I knocked again, louder this time, and received the same result. Nothing.
My heart began to pound in my chest, and it wasn’t from the million stairs I had to climb to get to her room. The panic that I’d done my best to tame this morning began to surge. Where was Iris?
Desperately, I pulled out my phone to call Iris’s number once again. “Come on, pick up,” I said, wishing that was the password that would give way to me hearing Iris’s voice.
“Are you looking for Iris?”
The voice came from behind me, making me spin around quickly because I hadn’t been expecting it. The person asking was around my age, with deep brown eyes, long curly brown hair, and golden-brown skin.
I cleared my throat and asked, “I am. And who are you?”
“My name is Aria, and Iris and I hang out quite a bit. What’s up?” Her smile lit up her entire face.
I did my best to control the urge to raise an eyebrow at her because I didn’t remember Iris mentioning anyone named Aria, but I wasn’t in the position to argue. “Have you seen her around?”
Aria paused for a moment before she shook her head. “I think the last time I saw her had to be over a week ago. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” I shrugged, hoping to appear as calm as possible. “But if you see her, could you tell her to contact Bianca?”
“I can do that. I need to head to the library, but is there anything else I could do for you?”
I shook my head and said, “Thanks, I’ll be right behind you.”
