There were more than five hundred students enrolled in St. Vanhill Academy.

Each of them were required to wear the school's plain uniform: a white dress shirt, topped with a navy blue cardigan and gray pants or skirts. Each of them were required to follow the school’s code of etiquette. Each of them was unique in their own way, had their own lives to deal with, and had their own stories to tell.

And from what I could swear on, each of them, whether they were crushing on her or not, knew that Rhea Malakai was the most gorgeous individual that had ever breathed in the dull gray walls of the school. Therefore, there was absolutely no way I was going crazy or that she had never encountered anybody else within this building.

After Caroline's stunning statement, I dashed down the hallway, with only one goal in mind: prove Caroline wrong. Was it possible that the rude woman had been mistaken? Were there cameras hidden all over the perimeters of the building, a crew waiting to jump from the sidelines and announce I’ve just been pranked on live television?

“Hey!” I cried frantically to a group of girls, standing near some orange lockers, “Have you seen the nurse?”

The girls shot me dirty looks.

“You sprinted away from her about five seconds ago,” one of them answered.

“I'm talking about Miss Rhea! The real nurse. The pretty one!”

By now, most of the people in the hallway were staring at me as if I were some kind of first-class moron. No, scratch that. Judging by the looks on their faces, I appeared to be even less than an insect.

“Are you for real?” the same girl answered, disgust written all over her face. “The school nurse is named is Caroline. And she is pretty. Scary, but definitely beautiful.”

“B-but, you don’t understand!” I sputtered, “She’s not the real nurse! Rhea was! No, wait. Rhea is!” I knew I wasn’t making any sense, but I felt so lost and afraid, I couldn’t even think straight.

The girls walked away, exchanging hurtful words about me to each other. I turned to a scrawny boy standing near the water fountain.

“Have you seen Rhea Malakai? The nurse?”

He quickly sauntered away.

“Hey!” I cried, as the kids around me dispersed, moving away from me as if I were highly contagious. “Hey! Please! Can anyone help me?”

The bell rang, announcing second period. It took less than three seconds for the entire corridor to empty itself. For a place who was constantly creating a racket, the sudden silence that transcended was quite eerie.

And it was only then, right there, that I realized the horrifying truth.

I was now truly alone.

                                                              * * *

By the time lunchtime rolled, things had not improved in the slightest. As troubled as I was for Rhea’s sudden disappearance, I felt more concerned by the fact that I appeared to be the only one who remembered her. Even Nicolas, the one who used to have the biggest crush on her, looked at me as if I had two heads when I brought up the subject matter to him and Tony, earlier.

“Dude, you look terrible,” Tony said. He unwrapped his baloney sandwich and offered half to the greedy Nicolas, who was busy playing on Tony’s phone. “Is everything okay?”

I was way too agitated to answer. Instead, I forced myself to calm down. It didn’t work. Tony must have known something was wrong because next thing I knew, he was sitting right next to me, an affectionate arm around my shoulder.

“Woah, Damian. Breathe! Calm down. You’re going to have another panic attack if this keeps up.” Tony patted my back and to my relief, his actions eased off a little bit of my tension.

“Thanks,” I answered. Tony glanced at Nicolas, who was still lost in the dumb game he was playing.

“What the hell, dude?” Tony snapped, “Damian nearly had a panic attack and you’re still playing that stupid game?”

“Oh, yeah!” Nicolas said excitedly, Tony's words completely bouncing over his head, “Double combo.” His fingers continued to fly all over the screen.

Tony leaned over the table and snatched his phone out of Nicolas’ hand.

“Hey!” Nicolas cried, his eyes wide open in disbelief, “I didn’t save the level!”

The two of them started bickering, but I was in no mood to hear them argue. My head was spinning and it took all of my self-control to keep from screaming.

Where in the world was Rhea? What happened to her? Why was I the only one who seemed to remember her?

The answer crept into my head.

Jude.

He’d probably gotten mad about my rejection. Hence, his spell on clearing the memories out of all the students and staff of the school. Alternating everyone’s train of thoughts.

Everyone that is, except for mine.

He was a tricky one to deal with, that I will admit. If there was one thing I knew about Jude, it was that there was literally nothing he found more exciting than cornering his prey. Rendering them useless. Surrounding them from all sides. Blocking their escapes. Ever so leisurely destroying their mentalities, while he stood on the side.

Watching. Grinning. Then finally, his favorite part: pouncing.

Well, this time, I would not let that vicious demon get away with it. It was one thing to pester me, but to involve himself in the disappearance of his sister, the only person I could genuinely count on, was something else entirely.

I was going to stop him. Thwart his plans. Overcome him if it was the last thing I ever did.

It was risky. Petrifying even. Just thinking about it was sending shivers down my spine. Goosebumps flaring all over my arms. However, I knew what needed to be done.

I was going to pay a visit to my sadistic ex-boyfriend.