Whatever shred of appetite Khamene had felt in his dorm room and on the way to the cafeteria had dissolved now, dissipated like popped bubbles.
The tray he carried as he and Ron searched for a table grew heavier in his hands. His mind still betrayed him by presenting him images of the dark figure in the pool of blood.
Ron was leading the way to a table at the far side of the cafeteria, Khamene's legs merely on autopilot and following Ron.
It was especially the eyes. Those eyes. . . Khamene could not wipe the image of the figure's red eyes out of his mind. He was so sure that whoever that strange human (humanoid? creature?) was had been staring at him, as if it could see straight into his soul.
What would he see? Khamene asked to himself. Perhaps if he were to look within him himself, he would see an emptiness, a hollowness where no life was present.
That was how he normally felt, anyway.
"Kham? Kham!"
Khamene blinked, then blinked again. Ron was standing directly in front of him, one hand on his shoulder. Ron's brown doe eyes were laced with concern, twinkling under the overhead lights. Khamene had always admired his best friend's large eyes, perfect circles that were completely brown, because Ron was half-deer, of course. The lower half of his body was completely that of a deer's. The only indication on his upper body that he was half an animal was the pair of antlers that protruded from the sides of his head, each about four inches long.
Now he looked down at Ron's hooves, as if studying it, as if seeing for the first time that Ron was a hybrid.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Ron asked.
"Huh?" Khamene looked up at him. "Oh, yeah. Just a little distracted, that's all."
Ron's eyebrows raised a little. "You really need sleep, Kham. C'mon, let's eat so you can go back to bed."
Ron didn't wait for him to reply and sat down on the chair beside him. Khamene, sensing something, not quite knowing what, looked around the cafeteria.
It was a grand cafeteria for sure. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of marble, beige with vines of reddish brown and peach. Thick marble pillars were situated on the four quadrants of the square room.
Conversations and indiscernible chatter from other students bounced to and from the walls. Everywhere he looked was a student, a human like him here, a half-tiger half-human hybrid freshman there.
Why would anybody possibly pay any attention to him? He was plainly unremarkable. Everyone knew Khamene because he was the king's son, but its only perk was that no bullying ever came his way. Other than that, he wasn't treated any more special than the average student at Witcher Price University.
Still, that sensation of eyes on him.
"Dude," Ron called out.
Khamene turned to him. He placed his tray on the table across Ron and sat down. Looking down at his food, he realized that all he'd gotten was a small bowl of miso soup and a small piece of mystery meat patty drenched in brown gravy.
Across from him, Ron's tray was full: a plate with a stack of freshly baked blueberry muffins, a bowl of rice and teriyaki chicken, and another plate filled with green jelly that Khamene had never liked.
"Why do you even like that green stuff?" he asked, not realizing that he was thinking out loud.
"It's nutritious," Ron said without looking at him, instead focusing on his muffins. "We deers should have our daily dose of vitamins, you know."
"But what is it?"
Ron shrugged, picking up a muffin and taking a bite that was half the baked treat. A purple splotch of blueberry bloomed on one side of his mouth. "I think it's best if we never know, just that it kind of tastes like toothpaste and a hint of carrots and garlic."
Khamene could only stop himself from gagging. He shook his head and picked up his fork, determined to eat at least a quarter of the patty and seven or eight spoonfuls of the soup.
"By the way, I don't think I can play with you tonight," Ron said, breaking the silence. They had been eating for two minutes now. "Professor Jibb returned my essay with feedback. Says that I can further improve it and resubmit it."
"Okay" was all Khamene had to say. Right now, he really didn't care that they wouldn't be able to play their favorite video game tonight. He was still preoccupied with the images of the figure in his head, and the feeling that he was being watched.
He had taken three bites of his patty (it was actually flavorful, the gravy thick and savory), but now he just pushed the piece of meat around his plate with his fork.
"Aren't you going to finish that?" Ron pointed at the patty with his fork.
Khamene opened his mouth, about to tell him that yes, he was going to finish it, just give him time, then he opted for the truth. "I don't think I can."
"I can have it if you want," Ron said.
Khamene pushed his tray closer to Ron. "I really don't understand how you don't gain any weight with how much you eat."
Ron picked the patty up with his fork and shoved it all in his mouth. "Genetics."
Khamene ignored him, rolling his eyes. His sight landed on one of the windows, where he saw a tall humanoid shape, scrawny with sharp edges and protruding bones.
His body fully turned in that direction now, but the figure had disappeared. He stood up and walked closer to the window, but only saw thick shrubbery on the other side. For a few beats Khamene just stood there, anticipating seeing the humanoid reappear, but there was nothing.
"Kham?"
He looked over his shoulder at a curious Ron, a drop of gravy dotted on his chin. Swallowing, Khamene returned to their table.
"Just admiring the view," Khamene said, sitting back down.
Ron scoffed. "Yeah, right. Tell me what's going on."
Khamene shook his head. "It's nothing."
"Nothing my furry ass. You seem. . . jumpy."
"Just a bad dream."
Ron was about to say something in response, but he was cut off by the sound of a high-pitched scream from outside.
Immediately, all sounds and voices in the cafeteria died down. The silence that had fallen was quick and thick, so suffocating that even a single strand of hair falling to the floor could be heard. All heads turned to the direction of the scream.
There was a moment where nobody moved, nobody dared to move. It was like time had stopped inside the cafeteria at Witcher Hall. Seconds ticked by slowly, then finally, students, professors, and two campus security members were running outside, to the direction of the scream.
Everyone in the cafeteria moved to the windows, some leaving and standing outside to see what the disturbance that broke the morning's peace was.
Naturally, Khamene and Ron followed the flock of students. As Khamene trailed behind Ron, he felt eyes watching once more, boring into his back. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that something was wrong.
Something was about to happen, he knew. And as he and Ron squeezed through the crowd that had formed in front of the windows, the first thing he saw was red, sprayed red blood against the green grass like spilled milk.