My Past Life Haunts Me!

Murder!

         Ashlyn walked up the steps of the University quietly with her bag over her shoulder. It had been two days since she was last in school. She stopped and looked up at the school and then down, smiling as she bit her lower lip. Dean had spent the past two days caring for her and helping her get better.

She returned to reality when she felt an arm snake around her shoulder. Team smiled at her happily. "Your back," he chirped.

"We were worried about you," Pharm said softly.

Ashlyn smiled at them both. "I'm sorry I worried you both, and I thank you for taking me to the hospital," she says, smiling at them.

Dean was waiting for Ashlyn outside of her classroom. He smiled brightly when he saw her approaching.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, giving her a quick hug.

"I'm feeling much better, thanks to you," Ashlyn replied, returning the hug.

Dean chuckled. "Just doing my job as your nurse," he grins.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes playfully. "Well, I appreciate it."

Dean walked with Ashlyn to her classroom but stopped outside when they reached the door.

"I'll wait for you here when class ends," he said.

Ashlyn smiled. "Thanks, but you don't have to."

"I want to," Dean said firmly. "I want to make sure you're okay."

Ashlyn smiled softly and said, "Dean, I'm fine, I promise. Team and Pharm are with me. If something happens, I'll have them call you.'

Dean looked at her reluctantly and then nodded. "Fine," he says.

Ashlyn could see Dean was still worried about her, but she knew she needed to reassure him that she was okay. "I'll text you throughout the day to let you know how I'm doing," she added, hoping it would ease his concerns.

Dean nodded, "Okay, that works for me. Just take care of yourself, okay?"

         Ashlyn smiled and gave him a quick hug before turning to leave. She walked towards her classroom, feeling grateful for the support of her friends and especially for Dean's concern. She knew she had to focus on returning to her routine and school work, but some couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Dean wouldn't be with her throughout the day.

Ashlyn sat her backpack down on her desk and smiled softly.

"Oh, Ashlyn," Pharm said softly.

Ashlyn turned to Pharm, "Yeah?"

         Pharm looked at her. "My cooking club wants to do international foods one day, and I suggested you from a part of America with special dishes. Do you think you could help me come up with a list of those," he asked her.

Ashlyn looked, thinking. "Sure," she says, "I can help you if you want me to. I'm a good cook."

Pharm smiled big. "Really? That would be better. I'll ask the club president and see if that will work," he says to her.

Ashlyn looked. "But it's a little tricky to get American ingredients.

Team turned lightly in his seat. "There's an American-type store a few blocks from the University. Maybe they could have something," he said.

Ashlyn looked at Team. "Where I have been dying to cook some dishes from home," she says, smiling.

Team nodded. "I can take you after school," he says, smiling.

"Sure," she says, smiling.

Ashlyn was walking along the walking path. She stopped and looked around, a confused look on her face. She then looked at a bench.

Marie sat quietly in the courtyard of the University, reading a book. She then walked closer and stopped as Korn sat down next to her. Marie lowered the book softly and smiled as Korn smiled back at her.

"What would you like me to cook for you tonight," Marie said to Korn as she softly brushed some of his bangs to the side.

"How about something simple...mmmm...," Korn said happily, "Oh, how about omelet over rice."

Marie thought for a moment and then nodded. "Sure, I can do that," she says softly to him.

Ashlyn looked at them and then looked to the side at a pillar. A man stood there watching, an angry look on his face. He then briskly walked over to Marie and Korn.

         Korn stood up, looking at the man as Marie stood up, placing an arm on Korn's upper arm. The man and Korn stared at each other for a bit. "You do realize you are only a temporary figure. Once the semester is over, she returns to America with me and her family," the man said to Korn.

Korn looked back to Marie lightly, then to the man. "I think I will take my chances," he says to the man.

The man turned and walked away, stopping in front of Ashlyn with a clenched fist.

Ashlyn looked around as the figures disappeared. She looked back to the bench seeing that Marie and Korn had disappeared. Ashlyn took a deep breath as she wiped a tear from her face.

She then looked up at the buildings noticing the faculty building. "They should have a record," she says, walking to the building with determination.

Ashlyn walked down to a barely lit hallway keeping an eye on her surroundings. She stopped at the door and knocked to see if anyone was around. She then quietly went into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Good job Ashlyn. Now what," Ashlyn said to herself, looking around. "I don't even know where to look."

Ashlyn turned on a light and looked at the cabinets full of student files.

She sighed and walked around quietly."I don't know where to look," she says.

         As Ashlyn was about to give up, she noticed a folder labeled "Confidential" on a shelf. She hesitated for a moment but then decided to take a look. As she opened the folder, she realized it was filled with information about a student expelled from the University the previous year.

         Ashlyn's curiosity got the best of her, and she read through the file. As she read, she became increasingly disturbed by what she was seeing. The student had been expelled for violent behavior and had a history of mental illness. The file also contained a report from a counselor at the University who had expressed concern about the student's behavior.

         Ashlyn realized that this could be important information for the safety of the students at the University. She quickly took pictures of the file with her phone and returned to the folder where she had found it. She left the room and headed to the University's security office to report what she had seen.

As she walked, Ashlyn couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. She had done something good, and she hoped that her actions would help prevent potential harm to the students at the University. But she also couldn't help but wonder what other secrets the University might be hiding.

She looked as if there was another file on top with a newspaper article in it. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"Young couple found murdered in University courtyard," she says. Ashlyn heard the sound of the door knob turning and quickly put the folder and newspaper article in her bag. She ran to turn off the light and ran to hide in the back corner of the room.

         The door opened, and Ashlyn held her breath as she saw the figure of a man walk in. He walked over to the cabinets and opened one, pulling out a file. Ashlyn recognized him as one of the university administrators. She watched as he flipped through the file, a look of satisfaction on his face.

Ashlyn's heart pounded in her chest as she tried to remain hidden. She couldn't let him catch her, or he might retaliate against her. She waited until the administrator left the room before creeping out of her hiding spot and leaving the room herself.

Once she was out of the building, Ashlyn took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She knew she had to be careful from now on. The administrator was dangerous and would stop at nothing to protect the secrets of the University.

Ashlyn decided to research the University and the couple who had been murdered. She felt there was more to the story than what had been reported in the newspaper.

Ashlyn walked into the library and looked around. She then looked to the table where Dean sat with Team and Pharm. She walked over and sat down. "Sorry, I'm late. I got distracted," Ashlyn said, trying to sound casual.

Dean looked up from his notes and greeted her with a smile. "No problem, we were just going over the notes for English," he said, gesturing to the open textbooks in front of them.

         Ashlyn nodded and opened her notebook, trying to focus on the material before her. She couldn't shake off the guilt for snooping around the student records earlier, but she knew she had to keep it to herself. She hoped that none of her friends would sense anything off about her behavior.

Ashlyn looked and then looked down at her book. "I get some of it, but I don't like how everyone asks me for help. My slang is different than what they teach," she says, shaking her head and looking at them.

Team and Pharm looked at each other and then at her with a smile. "Win and Dean need to hear it. It's good," Team says to them.

Ashlyn looked up at them and then at Dean.

Team sat there smiling. "Her accent changes," he says to them.

Ashlyn looked at them again. "We can go over my different words on a day we're not in the library," she says to them.

Win tapped Teams book. "Focus, or I'm doubling your deposit fee today," he says to him. Ashlyn looked, trying to hide a laugh.

"Hia," Team said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Ashlyn looked at Team. "What's the deposit," She says, nudging Team.

He made a tsk sound with his tongue. "Nevermind you," Team says to her.

Ashlyn laughed softly as Dean and Pharm did as well. "Seems like you two are getting close," Ashlyn said, smiling.

Team looked at her hitting her lightly on her arm. "Can we get back to studying, please," he told her.

Pharm looked to Win, who was smiling coiley. "I heard something went down at the welcome meet," Pharm said, smiling at Team.

Team looked to Pharm as Win put an arm to his mouth, hiding a laugh.

Ashlyn looked to Win, then Team. "And you've been worrying about my love life," she says, teasing.

Team sighed. "If you're going to make fun of me, I'm going home," he says to them.

Ashlyn stopped. "Okay, okay, okay," she says," We won't no more. Just happy for you."

Team put his face in his hands as the rest returned to studying.

         As they continued studying, Ashlyn couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment. She was grateful for her friends and their support, and she felt like she was finally starting to settle into university life. However, her thoughts were interrupted as she received a text message from an unknown number.

Ashlyn furrowed her brow as she read the message. "I know what you did," it read. She felt a chill run down her spine, and she quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching her.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, noticing her sudden change in demeanor.

Ashlyn looked up at Dean. "Oh, it's just my mom. My dad was trying to change something in the water heater, and water got all over the floor," she says, trying to lie.

Dean looked at her skeptically but didn't push the matter. "Okay, just let me know if you need any help with anything," he said.

Ashlyn nodded, grateful for his understanding. She couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching her, and she made a mental note to be more cautious in the future.

"Hey, I need to go look for a book. I'll be right back," Ashlyn said, standing up. She set her phone on the table and walked off to the book shelving.

         Dean watched her softly as she walked off, then grabbed her phone and read the text. He exited the messages and stared softly, noticing the picture she had taken of him sleeping was her phone's background picture. Dean smiled softly and turned off the phone, setting it back down.

         Ashlyn walked down the aisle in the library, looking for a book. She looked down at another row as she stepped out, looking left and right. She stopped as she noticed a row of class photos and slowly walked toward them. Her lips parted as she saw a picture of Korn in the row of classmates. She looked more at the students trying to see if she could find Marie among the students.

         As Ashlyn scanned the photos, she noticed that the students seemed to be arranged alphabetically. She carefully examined each image, studying the faces and trying to match them to the names listed below. After several minutes of searching, she finally found a photo of a girl with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. The name listed underneath the image read "Marie Nguyen."

Ashlyn's heart skipped a beat as she realized this was the same Marie she had been searching for. She looked at the photo more closely, taking in every detail of Marie's face. She couldn't help but feel sad as she thought of Marie and her dreams.

         As she continued to stare at the photo, Ashlyn suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming down the aisle. She quickly looked around, trying to find a hiding place, but it was too late. A figure appeared at the end of the row, and Ashlyn recognized him as one of the University's security guards.

"What are you doing here?" he asked sternly.

Ashlyn quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "I was just looking for a book," she said, holding the book in her hand.

The security guard looked at her suspiciously. "You shouldn't be in this section," he said. "This is off-limits to students."

"I'm sorry," Ashlyn said, trying to sound contrite. "I didn't know."

The security guard stared at her momentarily before finally turning and walking away. Ashlyn breathed a sigh of relief, glad she hadn't been caught. She quickly returned the book to the shelf and returned to the table.

"I thought you were going to get a book," Pharm told Ashlyn.

Ashlyn looked down at her hands. "Uh, I couldn't find it," she says softly. She looked to Dean, who was watching her closely, and then looked down at her book.

~Riley