FIXated

Under Duress II

It was late in the afternoon, roughly a few hours before sundown. Most of the students in the Academy were busy in their respective club activities. Meanwhile, other students who were not involved in any remained in their dormitories, waiting for the time to pass before dinner service.

Sylvia had been lying comfortably on her bed at the top bunk— back against the warm sheets and head over the soft pillows. Her thumb had been flicking up on screen, scrolling through the Academy’s student forum website for some time while her Smotify playlist played in the background through a headset.

The songs muffled the background noise—curses, groans, and screams— as Emma challenged Tanya in a competitive video game.

“Fuck! Did you block that?” Emma exclaimed.

Tanya snorted. “You are too predictable.”

“Jiejie, Hold on! Stop dodging! Just lemme get a hit!”

“Hmph. If you can.”

Sylvia turned her head to the side and observed them from above. They had been playing the same game for the past hour, and Emma still could not land a score nor even a single hit over Tanya. Instead, she always got beaten up. That only boosted Tanya’s record of consecutive perfect scores and win streaks.

She never understood why Emma would still challenge her when the same outcome would occur regardless.

She sighed deeply before shaking her head dismissively as her attention returned to the phone in her hand, succumbing to doomscrolling once again.

Ding!

The music stopped for a second before resuming.

A private message request popped up from the notification bar, which caught Sylvia’s attention after being interrupted. She paused, pondering over the content for some time before finally tapping it.

New message from Mikey Godfriede.

Sylvia scoffed. “Quite unexpected.”

She pressed the accept button to view the message as the screen refreshed to load the content: a video attachment. She tilted her head to the side, feeling intrigued.

Is this what Raphael warned her about?

No other words, no context. Just this video.

With the tap of her thumb, the music paused once more, but this time, deliberately. Her fingers hovered over the video before pressing the play button.

It was static for a second, like a vintage recording, before the video glitched, switching to still images of the afternoon clear blue sky, the rough cobble pathway, tall trees and lush greenery, before stopping in front of a man sitting on a bench, tucked quietly in a familiar location.

The black fringes partially covered his face in a mess, with blood dripping down his lips; the signature Academy’s light blue dress shirt looked disheveled with buttons open, exposing his chest covered in wounds and bruises, moving along his shallow breaths. A thick rope wrapped around his arms, with his hands behind his back, tied tightly to the bench’s backrest

Slowly, the camera zoomed in. Behind the curtain of messy black fringes, a pair of strikingly red irises appeared unfocused and lost, glancing to the side, avoiding direct eye contact. Immediately, Sylvia’s eyes widened upon realizing who it was.

Raphael?

He looked visibly distressed.

“Sylvia…. Please….” He spoke up between breaths before looking up at the camera— his eyes on the verge of tears as his voice cracked. “I-I can’t do this anymore.”

“Save…me…please.” He begged.

What is he doing there? She wondered.

Whether it was one of the Predator’s genius ideas or out of sheer desperation, she never expected to see Raphael in this position.

So, that explained it. He knew this was coming and warned her during that time. She quietly concluded in her thoughts. Despite getting a heads-up, she was still completely caught by surprise.

The video kept playing when suddenly, the camera shifted to the side, panning away from Raphael’s face as two figures appeared: Mikey and Flipper, snickering with mischief behind their eyes and wide grins.

“Sylvia… Sylvia… Look who we got there.” Mikey began having the same confidence and charming tone. “Is he your favorite? A boyfriend perhaps? Sheesh.”

Flipper gasped. “No, fucking way, man.”

Sylvia rolled her eyes and scoffed. Unbelievable. To think they would use him for this reason.

“Listen. There is only one thing we need from you.” Mikey’s voice changed into a deeper tone, finally dropping the charming act. His eyes darkened, and his smile disappeared as he stared intently into the camera as if eyeing her. “You know what we want….”

There was a short pause before he continued. “A confession. Live on stream.”

“Or else… your boyfriend will be in fucking trouble on your behalf.” Flipper followed up with a threat before performing a gesture, dragging his thumb across his neck in a swift motion.

“Well, remember who’s on the line, Sylvia… and I am pretty sure you know this place. We’ll be waiting—”

The video was cut short as her fingers pressed the pause button, taking off her headset before tossing it over her bedside. That was enough, and she was done listening.

For a moment, she held her eyes shut before taking a long, deep breath as if in a calming ritual. Once her eyes shot open, she finally got up and climbed down the bed without further hesitation.

Meanwhile, the casual banter between the two and aggressive button smashes immediately ceased as Tanya and Emma turned their gazes towards her, with their heads tilted to the side, noticing her presence.

“Sylvia-jie, are you heading somewhere?” Emma struck her with a question first.

“Just got business to do,” Sylvia admitted as she prepared to leave, grabbing one of the long-sleeve shirts from the rack and wearing it off the shoulders over her laced cropped tank top and denim mini-skirt. Her feet slipped into a pair of black Conversed, tying the knot tight with her fingertips.

“Business? Oh-oh! Can I come?” She volunteered, raising her hand with a pout on her lip. “Puh-lease?”

“Some other time, Emma.”

“Fineee.” She replied in exaggeration.

“Nothing troublesome?” Tanya chimed in with her arms crossed.

She stopped and turned her head towards them, seeing the two mixed reactions on their faces: concern and displeasure.

She reassured them with a smile. “Of course. Just as usual.”

“Okay.” Tanya nodded and muttered under her breath. “…as always.”

Once Tanya looked away and returned her focus to the game, flicking the controller in her hand. The sound of distressed groans and punches caught Emma’s attention, only to see her character getting beaten up whilst off guard.

“Jiejie, that’s not fair!” she protested.

“You are distracted,” Tanya reminded her. “Never let your guard down and focus.”

“Nuh-uh, that was cheating!”

As the two resumed their game, arguing back and forth once again, Sylvia decided to take her leave, reaching out her hand towards the door to open and exiting the room. The door shut behind her softly.

Outside the chaotic mess in her room, the female dormitory wing was unusually tranquil, with little to no students hanging around the halls. The missing whispers and giggles behind closed doors added to the silence.

However, it did not matter to Sylvia. She stood there for a while, fiddling with her phone and tapping on the screen to dial. A ringing sound commenced as she brought the phone closer to her ear.

It took a few rings until the call was accepted. No voice spoke first, just the sound of breath heaving and muffled shuffling in the background.

She let out a deep sigh before speaking first into the phone. “Hey, it’s me. You know what to do.”

There was a moment of silence before a distorted voice masked by static replied from the other line. It was a short and direct response.

“Understood.”

She hung up the phone with a beep upon receiving his confirmation. A smile formed across her lips as she glided down the hall. With her every step echoing against the tiles, she headed out towards that place.

Just as instructed.