Adam locked the door to his apartment. He lived alone in this opulent space a fact he knew from Eric's memories. The click of the lock sounded definitive. He turned and walked away leaving the sterile safety of his temporary home behind. A short time later he stood before the massive wrought-iron gates of U-Academy.
Students streamed past him one by one disappearing into the prestigious campus grounds. Their faces were a mix of excitement and nervousness. Adam just watched them his own face an unreadable mask. He took a slow deep breath the cool morning air filling his lungs. Then he joined the flow of bodies and walked inside.
He found his assigned classroom without any trouble. Eric's perfect memory guided him through the unfamiliar hallways. He paused at the entrance his hand resting on the doorframe. As he stepped inside his eyes immediately found her.
She was sitting near the front of the class bathed in the sunlight pouring through the large windows. It was Sophia. The heroine. The woman this body's previous owner had manipulated destroyed and eventually killed in the original timeline. The same woman whose death drove the hero Bryan to rip a hole in time itself.
Seeing her in person was a strange experience. She was just a girl. She was innocent and unaware of the dark fate he had written for her. A cold thought surfaced in his mind a thought born from Eric's calculating nature. If she ever found out what he was destined to do to her if she ever learned the truth about the future man she would marry his new life would become infinitely more difficult.
Sophia must have felt his stare. She turned her head as if sensing a new presence in the room. Her gaze met his across the classroom. She saw him standing in the doorway looking at her with an intensity that she could not possibly understand. A flicker of surprise crossed her face. She did not know him. They had never met before today. Yet instead of looking away she offered him a small warm smile. It was a simple polite gesture but it hit Adam with the force of a physical blow.
He was stunned. He had created her to be kind but he never expected that kindness to be directed at him the villain. He quickly broke eye contact his gaze dropping to the floor. He moved away from the door and found an empty desk near the back of the room. He sank into the chair his mind reeling. A few other girls immediately clustered around Sophia's desk their cheerful chatter filling the space. Adam did not listen. He could not.
He found his eyes drawn back to her. Sophia. Her hair was the color of spun gold. Her eyes were the same shade a warm liquid amber. She wore the standard school uniform but on her it looked elegant. She was beautiful. He had designed her character of course. He had written the descriptions and approved the initial character sketches. But he never truly realized it until now. He never understood the living breathing beauty he had brought to life on a digital page.
A strange feeling swelled in his chest. It was pride. He a struggling artist had created something this perfect this radiant. A faint smile touched his own lips as he watched her laugh with her friends. He was just admiring his own creation.
His smile must have been too obvious. Sophia glanced over at him again. She saw him looking at her smiling. A subtle blush crept onto her cheeks. Her smile became a little more uncertain a little more questioning. It was clear she was confused. She felt a strange sense of familiarity when she looked at him as if they had met somewhere before but she could not place the memory.
Just then a new figure appeared in the classroom doorway. It was Bryan.
The moment Bryan stepped into the room his eyes scanned the students and immediately locked onto Sophia. A look of pure joy and profound relief washed over his face. He saw her. She was safe. She was real. He started walking towards her his path direct his intention clear. He was going to her.
But then he stopped. He noticed she was not looking at him. Her attention was focused elsewhere. Bryan followed the direction of her gaze. His eyes tracked across the room until they landed on the student sitting in the back. A student with black hair and a calm unsettling smile.
His gaze landed on Adam.
The moment Bryan saw Sophia looking at Adam a storm of fear and anger erupted within him. The air in the room seemed to grow cold. The cheerful classroom faded away. In his mind's eye he saw a different scene. He saw a dark future a bloody room. He saw Eric standing over two bodies his own and Sophia's. He saw the life drain from her eyes because of the man sitting right there.
He tore his gaze away from Sophia. He looked at Adam. His eyes were no longer those of a high school student. They were the eyes of a battle-hardened man filled with a murderous rage.
Adam saw Sophia looking at him and felt a sudden pang of self-consciousness. He was just feeling proud of his creation. That was all. But he knew he could not interact with her. Not if he wanted to survive. His plan was simple. Avoid the main characters. Avoid the plot. If he stayed away from Sophia he could stay away from Bryan. He needed to be invisible. He quickly looked away feigning interest in the grain of his wooden desk.
But it was too late. He glanced up just in time to see Bryan enter the room. He saw the hero's gaze lock onto him. He saw the undisguised fury.
"Oh no" Adam whispered to himself cursing his own momentary lapse. He looked directly at Bryan. He could feel the waves of hatred rolling off him from across the room. The one thing I wasn't supposed to do just happened.
Sophia thankfully turned back to her friends her moment of curiosity over. Bryan gave her one last soft longing look. Then he began to walk. He was not walking towards Sophia anymore. He was walking towards Adam.
Adam let out a silent breath. He forced the Eric-like calm to settle back over him. He smoothed his expression into one of bored indifference. He started scanning the other students in the class pretending to be completely oblivious.
A shadow fell over his desk. Bryan had stopped right next to him. Without a word he slid into the empty seat beside Adam. He did not look at the front of the class. He did not look anywhere else. He just sat there staring at Adam. The silence was thick with unspoken threats.
Adam did not look back at him. He kept his gaze fixed forward.
I know what happens now.