Chap 17: Start of a new Journey

Two years later...

Aiden was scared out of his wits. His heart was thumping loudly, fearing the arrival of his biggest nightmare. He wanted to hide, but that would make the situation from bad to worse.

Finally, his room door burst open, and Dylan stood at the door glaring daggers at Aiden. Dylan was in front of Aiden the next second, and he pushed him to the wall holding his neck. The hold Dylan had on Aiden's neck got tighter, and Aiden was struggling hard to breathe.

" Ahhh..." Aiden gasped and woke up on his bed, his hands around his neck trying to get rid of the suffocating feeling. He signed in relief when he realized it was only a dream.

Two years had passed since Aiden had last seen Dylan, but he still tormented him in his dreams. He wondered whether he could ever get rid of Dylan. Even when he was not around, he made his presence known in the form of his nightmares. His nightmares were not limited to Dylan alone. Sometimes he would even dream of the time his parents used to beat him up in their drug-infused state. He wondered where his parents were now and if he would ever meet them again. Does he even want to meet them?

Aiden shook his head, got up from the bed, and drank water to quench his thirst. He looked around the small room of the cheap motel he had been staying in for the past few days. He would be shifting to his University campus dorm tomorrow, so he got ready to go out shopping for a few clothes and college supplies.

Aiden was graduated from school and had to leave the school dorm after his term ended. Now that he was 18, his expenses were no longer funded by the Hunt Family. They didn't even bother to contact him for the past two years. In any case, he didn't expect it from Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, but he was surprised that Dylan never followed up. Whatever it was, Aiden felt relieved that Dylan had moved on from his weird obsession of controlling him.

It has been quite an eventful two years. Aiden has been working very hard. After finishing his classes, he would go to the special school for two hours to train the students. Initially, he had a hard time coping, but slowly he got the hang of it, and after a few days, he even started liking it. Nobody bullied him here, nor did they judge him or pity him. They were just pure souls in need of some special attention, and Aiden was willing to give them that.

His hard work had paid off, and he had successfully managed to get a scholarship for his engineering course. Being antisocial, he was not cut out for jobs requiring talking and meeting people, so he decided to pursue computer engineering; staying at the back of a computer away from the people was more his scene. In the past two years, Aiden had also saved around $70k from his part-time jobs.

His only concern was moving back to the city, but he would make sure he would be away from the Hunt Mansion and the Hunt Family altogether. So as soon as he completed his graduation, he moved back to the city and rented a room at a cheap motel.

The first thing he did was buy a laptop and a phone. He applied for various jobs online and even enrolled in a web design crash course so that he could take web development jobs in the future. Luckily, he had landed a part-time job as a teaching assistant and also a few data entry jobs.

The next morning, Aiden checked out of the motel and hailed a taxi to his University. He got down the car and stared at the elaborate iron gates with a big Logo of his University at the center. He entered the gate and stopped for a minute to admire the vast campus with multiple buildings for various departments and felt proud that he had the privilege of attending such a good college.

The campus was crowded, with many students moving and running about looking for their department buildings. Aiden thought it would be challenging to look for his dorm building on this vast campus. He tried talking to a few guys but couldn't muster up the courage. Finally, he signed and decided to look around himself. After a walk of 15 minutes, he found the dorm building and entered. Many of the students were cramped up near the reception with their luggage, and Aiden waited at the corner for them to finish.

While Aiden was waiting, he noticed the lady at the reception talk cheerfully to a handsome guy who was all smiles. " Have you decided to stay in the dorms this year?"

" No, pretty lady, I like to stay with my family," he chirped." But you don't have to worry; I will come here often to see your beautiful face."

The receptionist blushed and said, " You are as charming as ever, Noah."

Noah smiled at her and handed her a few documents. " Mr. Loius asked me to give you this."

"Thank you, Dear!!" the receptionist said with a wide smile.

" See you then," Noah said, waving at her and sprinting out of the building with two other guys.

Aiden couldn't help but stare at the handsome guy who walked out. His smile could light up an entire building. How Aiden wished he could be like that.

His train of thoughts is interrupted when the lady at the reception calls for him. " Hey, Cutie," the lady said and gave him a huge smile.

Aiden was flustered, and his cheeks were red, but luckily he was the only student there. Not knowing what to do, he just gave the form he had in his hand to the receptionist.

The lady glanced at the form and asked, " You are from the engineering department?"

"Y-Yes," Aiden stuttered.

" You are in room no 205. It's on the second floor," the lady said with a warm smile.

Aiden managed to give a small smile of his own as the lady seemed very polite and cheerful. " Thank you, " he whispered, taking back the form and the dorm keys.

" You are so cute, " the lady said again. " Any problem you have, you can always come to me."

"O-Okay." Aiden was surprised yet again as he was not used to such friendliness. He wanted to question her whether it was a single room occupancy, but he decided against it.

" This way," the lady pointed out, and Aiden nodded and left with his luggage.

Aiden stared at the door with the number 205 written in the middle in black. He twisted the doorknob, and it opened as it was not locked. Aiden stared at the room's interior; it looked spacious and clean, but his biggest concern was there was not one but two beds placed at each corner of the room. He would not be alone; he would have to share this room with someone.

The bed near the window at the right already seemed occupied. The bags and a few other things were thrown haphazardly on the bed and the study table. Aiden took a deep breath and moved towards his side of the bed, which was empty. He put down his bag and started working on setting up the room. He put on a light blue color sheet on the bed and arranged his clothes and books on the shelf provided.

Once he was done, he stood and looked around the room. His side of the room looked clean, but his roommate's things were just lying around here and there. Being the cleanliness freak that he was, Aiden wanted to arrange his roommate's items too, but it was bad manners to touch others' belongings, so he left it at that.

Suddenly, the room door burst open, and in came a guy who was dressed like a rapper. He was wearing a loose black t-shirt with graphic prints and baggy pants. Aiden realized he had seen this guy earlier with that handsome guy Noah.

The moment he saw Aiden, he brightened up. " So you are my new roomie?"

Aiden nodded, and the guy approached him. " I'm Jay, and you?"

"Aiden," he said softly.

" I haven't seen you around. Are you a fresher?"

"Yes," Aiden replied softly.

" I am a second-year Art student. Which department are you from?"

"Engineering."

" Woahh!!! That's cool, dude," Jay remarked and continued talking about the college.

Aiden stared at Jay, who was continuously talking. He talked about college, his family, friends, and hobbies. Even though he was a senior, he seemed quite friendly and talked a lot. This worked fine with Aiden. He prefers to listen to others rather than talk. Maybe this would work out in his favor.