Chapter 10

The days went by. Alex, Xavier, and Illya were still haunting me with their presence, but in different ways. Alex no longer followed me at a distance. Instead, he chose to sit in the corner of the library I frequented. He did nothing at all. He merely stood guard there, looking like a grim bodyguard. One time, some clueless guy tried to talk to me. All it took was for Alex to glare at him and scare him off. Still, I couldn't even be bothered to look up. Xavier never stopped sending letters. Pages of repentance had turned into stories about his mundane life. "We've got good weather today. I hope you're happy." Aside from that, Xavier would send me some overwrought poems he had copied. I shoved the box of letters under my bed. Illya sent me another email, but did not bring up the project this time. He only asked whether I needed any help with revising my academic papers. I simply deleted his email. Was it really hatred? It didn't feel as intense as before. Whatever anger I had on