Logan stared at his reflection in the washroom mirror, his frown tight. The sound of the running water was the only sound that could be heard, yet the washroom felt heavy.
A lot was going on in his life currently. His mind was a jumbled mess.
Fake dating Harper, Harper's blackmail, and worst of all—that message.
That wasn't just a message, it was a call.
A call from the past.
One he had been running away from.
"Rapture needs you."
The message replayed itself in his memory.
Angrily, Logan Hayes washed his face with the running water once more, and a harsh breath escaped from his lips. He stared at his reflection once more.
He was losing his mind.
Could it be that someone else was just playing mind tricks on him?
Did someone just find out about his terrifying past and decide to play silly games with him a bit?
But who?
He thought. He had already dug a grave and had buried all the past in it.
He had vowed not to look back. To start a brand new life that wouldn't match the devil he is... or was.
One thing Logan could guarantee was that the individuals involved in his past life wouldn't want anything to do with him.
And if Rapture really needed him, he would have asked years ago. Not now... right?
He would have asked—not after making Logan Hayes feel like he was no longer the devil he used to be.
Logan frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets and bringing his phone out. He then opened the text.
The text stared at him. His fingers trembled slightly, unsure of the reason why that text just terrified him. Was it anxiety or fear... perhaps both. That text made both anxiety and fear take control.
Logan hadn't replied and didn't want to.
Did he really have to? He didn't think he wanted to.
But he needed to know who was behind everything. Who was out there playing games with him.
Logan wanted to know. He really did.
Message: "Rapture needs you."
His quivering fingers hovered over the keyboard. Exhaling sharply, he typed in his reply.
Logan: "Tell Rapture I'm not interested... Who the hell is this?!"
He switched his phone off.
This had something to do with his past. The name "Rapture" said it all... that monster he learned from.
But if it was his past calling out to him, he wasn't ready to answer. He was done with that perilous life.
No turning back.
****
Tyla entered Harper's class and spotted her in a corner, math textbooks spread across her table, and she was busily solving some mathematics questions.
Tyla smiled warmly, admiring her cute friend before walking toward her.
"Hey girlfriend," she greeted with a smile, but Harper didn't return that smile. She frowned.
"Hey Tyla, welcome!" she deadpanned. Sarcasm dripped from her tone.
"Why are you angry?" Tyla asked, taking a seat on an empty chair before Harper. "Is this about Hazel's tantrum?"
Harper scoffed at the question. That was part of it, but not the main problem.
"I mean, Logan defended you, right?" Tyla pressed.
"Why don't you tell me why you decided to watch me oversleep, huh?!" Harper demanded, unable to take Tyla's nonsense anymore.
"Oh, so this is about that, huh?" Tyla said in reply, a smile gracing her lips. "Don't act new to this, Harper. You already know I'm a woman of my word," she teased.
Harper rolled her eyes. "Please don't repeat that again. I have to be on campus as early as possible," Harper said, her words polite but her tone sarcastic.
"Okay... fingers crossed," Tyla said, and Harper nodded in acknowledgment.
"Come on, Harp, let's talk about something more enthralling... like what happened in the girls' dorm today," Tyla teased. A girl from the dorm had told Tyla about it, and she decided to joke around a bit since she had nothing doing.
A faint blush crept to Harper's cheeks, and she hit Tyla playfully.
"Nothing happened."
Tyla giggled delightfully. She didn't know why, but she had this weird feeling that they'd last—that Harper and Logan were meant to be. And that enlightened her. I mean, her favorite good girl x bad boy trope would be happening in reality.
"So how's it going?" she asked.
That question shifted Harper's mind to something.
She was blackmailing Logan Hayes, but she didn't really know what the whole thing was. The way he also reacted made Harper know that it was more than what she was thinking it could be—more than just drugs. What happened that Tuesday could be more than what she had thought.
Something a troublemaker, like himself, would do.
She couldn't help but think she was fooling him by making him think she knew everything, while in reality, she didn't.
What would he do when he found out?
Snap—
Tyla snapped her fingers at Harper.
"What are you thinking about?" Tyla asked curiously.
"I feel like the blackmail... there's more to what I saw last Tuesday than I thought," Harper blurted.
"Why do you say so, Harp?" Tyla asked, her cheerful expression becoming serious.
"Ty, it's the way he reacts to the mere mention of that Tuesday," Harper explained.
Tyla went quiet.
The main question was—what do they do?
"And if he finds out you lied...?" Tyla said, but it was more of a question than a statement.
And Harper couldn't answer.
She knew he was dangerous. But she didn't know him that well. Would he be angry at her—or what?
A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed hard.
"I don't know," she admitted, her voice trailing off.