OriFic Lucentorium

Halo semua! Saya mencoba untuk menulis sebuah cerita fiksi nih, isinya tentang slice life dengan kekuatan supernatural gitu. Saya senang sekali jika orang-orang membaca cerita yang saya buat dan memberikan komentar. Ehmm mungkin tidak usah terlalu lama untuk pembukaannya berikut cerita yang telah saya buat.


Summary :

“Have you ever having a peaceful lunch on a fine day with your best friends, and suddenly tables and chairs start to float around? Plus, your body begins to move on its own and everyone is running away from you, and there is nothing you could do to stop yourself. You wish you were dreaming, but you are not, and you are forced to witness your body doing something that you absolutely despise.”

This is a story about an ordinary school life turns into an inevitable horrifying tragedies.

LUCENTORIUM

Spoiler: Verdict 1 : Sudden Downpour

It is daybreak. It is still too early for somebody to start their day, but that is not the case for a certain boy. Wearing a casual short pants and his favorite t-shirt, a boy with messy brown hair walks through the dorm’s hallways. The morning cold breeze does not seem to faze him at all. He washes his face with cold water to make sure he is awake and brushes his teeth. Done doing his morning routine, he returns to his room and takes his uniform from his closet. At the top of the closet’s door, a name is engraved. “Loki Queittlake” it says.

While wearing his uniform, he gazes his roommates that are still fast asleep. Done, he walks toward one of his friend that is still asleep. That boy seems to forget to take off his glasses before he went to sleep. The other boy who is awake takes a bottle of water from the nearest table, opens his friend shirt a little, and pours the cold water on top of his friend’s body.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” says the skinny boy surprised.

“No, nothing” answers Loki indifferently.

“Don’t you think this is still a little too early for a joke?” says the skinny boy. Yet he does not seem to be angry toward his friend.

“I am going ahead. Don’t you forget to wake up the others” says Loki while wearing his glasses.

He takes a peek toward his mirror and shuffles his hair. Satisfied with his appearance, he walks out his room, walks down the dorm’s main staircase towards the main entrance. He takes a glance at his watch which shows 6 AM. It is too early to go to school, yet he does not seem to be bothered by that fact. In the meantime, the skinny boy is now fully awake and starts to wash himself. He almost finishes to get himself ready when he realizes, despite all the noise he made, his two other friend are still sleeping like a log.

“Hey, wake up guys!” shouts him. Yet his friends give no responds at all.

“Wake up Elm! It is half past six; you are going to be late!”

“For real?” asks the one with short curly hair. Still half asleep, he reaches his phone, checks the clock, and his eyes suddenly wide open. “OH God! You are right!”

“Well, sorry, but I will be the one who will be late if I am waiting for you to get ready” says the skinny boy while rushing to the door.

“Pharrel” says the curly boy stopping his friend’s footstep, “Loki went on his own, didn’t he?”

“Well, duh. Make sure you wake Mark up, Elm!” shouts Pharrel from the outside.

Elmo hurriedly dresses up and combs his hair. He is quite tall even for his age. He takes his glasses from his desk and he is about to get out when he catches a glimpse of the one last person that is still on top of the bed, sleeping soundly with his stomach exposes. It is Mark.

“How in the hell do I wake up this sleeping beauty?”

He takes Mark’s phone, chooses some loud music from it, set the volume to max, hits the play button and throws the phone right beside Mark’s ear.

“This should be enough” says him, and without a word he runs out of the room. In a split second, loud noises bust the room and the next second a scream can be heard from the very same room.

“Damn! This is too damn loud! And right next to my ear too!” shouts Mark as he awakes. He grumbles to himself as he gets up, reaches his phone to shut those loud music down, and once again, his scream is clearly audible.

“Good lord, it’s ten to seven o’clock?!”

As shocked as he is, he dresses up like a madman, carelessly combs his short black hair, picks his bag up, puts on his glasses, and runs outside. Good for him, he does not forget to lock his room before he runs towards the main campus building. He clearly knows that if he does not run, he will not make it in time. Even so, he chooses to walks fast enough rather than running, as he does not want to be out of breath. He walks through the main road which connects the male dorm and main campus building.

Right out the main campus entrance, stands a very stern man. He looks so intimidating, as he is quite tall, short-cut with some gray hair, and bushy moustache. As Mark approaches that man, he casts a guilty smile while bowing down.

“I am so very sorry, sir. I am late.”

“One day off and you think you could dilly dally on the next day, eh? Did you sleep past the curfew again, Mark?”

“Err, no Sir! I…I…I totally forgot when I sleep last night, sir”

The old man sighs heavily and shook his head.

“Oh well, it is not that your grade is poor, but you need to fix your habit as a late comer! I will let you go for this one. Don’t ever dare to come late again. We got reputation to be kept!”

“Oh, yes Sir! Thank you, Sir!” says Mark as he runs pass the old man.

Phyrienlux School is one of the national most prestigious schools. It is located just outside of Greenlight City, to make sure the school’s atmosphere is always conducive to learn. This school was built on a spacious landscape, consists of two main campus buildings which are connected by a skywalk, complete sport facilities from swimming pool to multipurpose gymnasium which are located near the main buildings, and two dormitories for both female and male students. The school has a long history behind it, yet the buildings do not seem too worn out as they are nicely maintained. There is also a big stone main gate of the school complex located quite far from the busy section of the school. On top of the main gate, a big curvy stone was engraved with the school name, Phyrienlux Boarding School. Of course, to be rewarded by these fancy facilities, the applicants either have to be both quite smart and wealthy or amazingly gifted to win the school’s scholarships. It is no doubt that the students of this school are the elitists among the elitists.

Mark still walks as fast as he could through the school hallway. Hunger tempts him to stop by and grabs something from the cafeteria even though it has nothing to offer during these hours. He takes the stairs until he reaches the fourth floor and runs toward the left alley with “12-2” written on the tiny board just outside the room. He opens the door and as if his classmates are waiting for something, they readily look at the doorway. He walks in while tries to ignore those stares, straight toward three boys at the corner of room.

“Whew, that was close!” says Mark as he puts his bag on his designated desk.

“Good for you, seems like your luck is still on your side” teases Elmo.

“How could you guys? How could you not wake me up?” says Mark with a puppy face.

“Well, I’ve told Elm to wake you up!” defends Pharrel.

“Hey Mark, have you seen today’s morning news?” interrupts Loki.

“Of course I haven’t! Wait, when did you get here?”

“Six fifteen”

“You, of all people, let me overslept while you could have just woke me up a moment before you left?”

“You are the one who said ‘don’t you wake me up unless it’s urgently necessary” says Elmo mimicking Mark’s voice, and they all burst into laughter.

“Oh, what was the news you were talking about?” asks Mark to Loki

He shows his phone to Mark. The phone displays an article with a big photo of ruins close to neighboring city. It is no surprise, as it is believed by most people as ruins of a chapel of some sort. Those ruins are popular even among the outsiders as a tourism site. The surprising thing is, the photo shows about two third of the ruins is completely gone, even the ground where the ruins stood is gone as if it was scooped out with a humongous spoon.

“Wait, is this even real? Not some Photoshop’s stuffs?” ask Mark disbelieving.

“I bet it is. The source is quite big and trustworthy, there is no way they would make up some second-rated story just to attract the masses” says Loki.

“I wonder what happened. Would you like to share your thought with us, Mr. Queittlake?” asks Mark, plays a broadcaster.

“It must be the aliens” says Loki as him nod with confidence.

“What about you, Mr. Draves?”

“I believe it has to be human. You know, the attention seekers kind of sort. But don’t ask me how they did that, hehe” says Elmo.

“Lastly, any thought, Mr. Weathin?”

“Well, I will go with what Loki said.”

As they discuss the strange phenomenon, a boy approaches the group and suddenly circles his arm around Loki’s shoulder. He is quite muscular with a buzz cut hair, and taller compared to the other four. His smile is so wide as if he is grinning all the time. Despite that, his face is rather friendly. He is Reinton Gwynfang.

“YO! You guys must be talking about the Regluslake Chapel’s phenomenon, don’t you?” asks Reinton. Meanwhile, Loki is struggling to get Reinton’s hand off his shoulder.

“Oh, good timing Rein. Let’s see what you have to say about this!”

“Alien, no doubt! At least, that is what Loki will says, right pal?” says Reinton while grinning at Loki. “By the way, didn’t one of you guys visit those ruins last week?”

“None of us did. Why do you ask, Rein?” says Pharrel.

“Oh, it’s just; I recalled that you guys seem to be talking about Regluslake Chapel sometimes around last week”

“Are you sure it was us? Maybe you misheard someone, Rein” says Elmo.

“No, no. I am pretty sure it was you”

A second later, a girl shows up and stands just at the classroom’s doorway and shouts while smiling at Reinton.

“Reinn!”

“Well, seems your wife is here, Rein” teases Mark.

“You mean future wife? Haha, bye 4G!” says him as he walks out the classroom.

They continue discussing the curious phenomenon with their own wild hypothesis about what or who causes such a feat. None of them realize that it is just a tiny gear that moves bigger set chains of motions. As the school bell rings, bright sky which copes Phyrienlux slowly turns to dark, as if it serves as an omen of what to come. From this moment on, this school ordinary life will turns into a stage of horrifying tragedies.

The morning classes are being held in an orderly fashion even though the town is still asleep, as to be expected from an elite school. Yet on 12-2, the lecture’s atmosphere is rather passive. Instead of paying his attention to the lecture, Loki doodles something on his notebook while Elmo who sits right behind him tries his best not to laugh as he takes a peek on Loki’s doodling. Pharrel who does well on studying put all his might into listening to what lecturer has to say and neatly notes all important stuff on his book. Mark intently looks at the board, but no one really knows either he indeed paying attention or drifts away far inside his own thought. Despite their poor attitudes during lectures, they do really well on exams.

“Man! It feels like an eternity! Let’s go grab something to eat” shouts Mark as he stretches his body right after the bell which marks the morning period is over.

“An eternity, eh, Mr. Sylkids?” says a tall skinny middle-aged woman as she smiles.

Mark cannot help but feeling guilty and smiles back at his morning lecturer. She takes a deep glance at Mark, and decides to let it go and gets out of the room.

“What are you, a fool? She could easily double your assignment or gives you some kind of detentions!” says Pharrel as he turns to Mark.

“Well, but she didn’t, did she? Besides, you do know Ms. Hilda is kind enough to not do that. Not to me, at least” says Mark confidently.

“Anyway!” cuts Elmo before his friends starting to argue, “Let’s go buy some food. I am starving since I missed my breakfast! Come on, Loki!”

They put their books away and hurriedly walk down the hallway all the way to the cafeteria. As they reach the first floor, right from his blind spot, Pharrel is tackled down by as they reach the first floor, right from his blind spot; Pharrel is tackled down by someone. His skinny body does not stand a chance against those well-trained muscles. That boy by no means is bigger or taller compared to the other four, it is just his posture makes him looks big. He wears sporty jacket with The Hornets, Phyrienlux’s Football Club, embroidered on its back.

“You are going to canteen, aren’t you? Let’s go!” says that boy while helping Pharrel up on his feet.

“Gosh! Azmon! You could have turned all of his bones into dusts, you know? Teases Elmo.

“Yeah, just imagine a wimpy skeleton is charged by a monstrous raging bull” chimes Loki in.

“Geez, sorry Pharrel. But it was not that I really meant to tackle you down. You see, I didn’t even use my strength, like at all.”

“Now that you mention it, he could have been flying to God’s know where if you meant it” says Mark chuckling.

“Now, now, will you guys just let it slide and go eat, please? It will get crowded real soon.”

The school cafeteria is always crowded during recesses between lectures. Most of the student tends to choose skipping their breakfast to make sure they get to their morning classes on time. Even so, the cafeteria area is quite vast. No matter how crowded it gets, you can always get yourself a table. Buffet styled dishes, which are all-you-can-eat is provided by the school on the right wing, while simpler dishes such as pancake are sold either on kiosks or vending machines at the very same room. The left wing is used as a dining room with some sinks and toilets.

With no hesitation, Azmon runs straight to the buffet table, takes as much food as he possibly can, while Mark and the others decide to buy some fried chicken from one of the kiosks. As they queue to be served at the fried chicken’s kiosk, Mark remembers something and decides to get out of the queue line.

“Hey, where are you going, Mark?” asks Elmo.

“I just remember that I have something to do” says Mark as he buys some bread and milk from the vending machine. “I will be going ahead” he says, and then he leaves.

Although he is interested about what Mark’s business is, Elmo cannot deny the fact that his stomach growls so loud which gives him no options other than eating. Done buying their fried chicken, they scouted the area to find an empty table and spot Azmon waving his hand in the process.

“Hey, right here!” shouts Azmon.

“At least, you are good in this kind of thing” teases Elmo as he approaches Azmon’s table.

“Indeed I am! What took you guys so long? And why do people tend to choose buying those? These foods are much more fulfilling” says Azmon as he gobbles his food.

“Because it is rather cheap and tastes really good!” says Elmo with his thumbs up.

“Hmm, let’s see if you are actually saying the truth” says Azmon as he takes Pharrel’s fried chicken and devours it like a madman. “Hey, it does taste good!”

“HEY! Why don’t you take his?” says Pharrel while pointing out his finger at Elmo’s chicken. He tends to be fooled around by his peers, probably because he is gullible and quite naïve. Just like what Loki and Azmon used to do to him.

“Az, it is rare for you to not eating you lunch with Ashley” says Pharrel, ignoring the fact that his fried chicken is taken away yet again by Azmon.

“Oh, she caught cold so she is resting at the nurse office. I am planning to check on her when my class is done. How about you? Why don’t you eat with Natasha for once in a while?

“Nah, I am too embarrassed to ask her out” says Pharrel as his face turns red. “Besides, it is not like we are seeing each other or anything close to it.”

“Get yourself together and confess to her! You are a good guy, there is no way she would reject you!” says Azmon confidently. “What about you, Loki? Where is Lucy?”

“She is eating with her friend at her club room” says Loki indifferently while chugging his coke.

“By the way, I wonder where Mark goes” says Elmo

“Probably he is chilling at rooftop.”

“Eh? Why would he go there?”

“I don’t know, I just said what my gut tells me.”

“Why don’t you just text him? Ask where he is” says Pharrel with mouthful of food. Elmo takes out his phone and does as Pharrel suggests and a minute is yet to past, he gets his reply.

“Whoa, bull’s eye Loki!” says Elmo as he lightly punches Loki’s shoulder. “Well, I am going to the rooftop then. I wonder what he does up there.”

Elmo picks up his food tray, puts it on the designated place and proceeds to rooftop. Right before he reaches rooftop, someone rushes down the stairs and fails to notice Elmo is going the opposite direction from his, and a crash cannot be avoided. He bumped into a small boy with a pale white skin. He does not seem to be from around this town.

“Hey, are you okay?” asks Elmo to the pale skinned boy.

The pale skinned boy seems to be bewildered, but not for long since he jumps back onto his feet as if he is struck by lighting and bowing his head a few times before he runs pass Elmo. Elmo cannot help but wonder what happens or who that boy is as he continues walk up the stairs. A moment later, he arrives in front of a heavy metal door with a small window made from glass. He pushes the door and as he passes through the door, he sees vast clear blue sky with some white clouds. There is nothing on the rooftop; just wire fences surround the edge of the building as a safety measure. Some students tend to hang out on the rooftop from time to time, but today, there is no one but a boy sitting down by the fence while holding the milk he just bought. Elmo approaches him and as he gets closer he notices that Mark is crying.

“Don’t tell me you are here just to watch that overly dramatic movie?” asks Elmo bluntly.

“Whoa, you are here, Elm” says Mark as he wipes his tear.

“I wondered what you are doing, and yet…Anyway, it is not that I am surprised to see you crying. Remember the last time we watched a horror movie and you cried?”

“Well, even though it is a horror movie, the story is quite touching. You know me, I am easily touched.”

“So, why did you cry just now?”

“I have a feeling that I’ll delight by coming here, but somehow I feel the exact opposite from what I assumed for” says Mark leaving Elmo’s question hanging.

“Yeah, whatever you say, crybaby” teases Elmo. Suddenly a loud noise coming from Mark’s pocket breaks the silence on the rooftop.

“Gosh! I must have forgotten to set the volume back to normal! Hey, Loki’s calling.”

“MARK! Get your *** down here! Something is happening!” shouts Loki from the other side of the phone.

“What? Does an alien show up at the canteen?” replies Mark half-jokingly.

“Save your jokes for later and come here ASAP!” shouts another voice which belongs to Pharrel.

“Wait, what is hap–?”

Does not have a chance to finish his sentence, Mark hears a deafening noise from his phone and the call is cut for an unknown reason. Confused, Mark looks at Elmo hoping he can get some explanation about what is happening down at the cafeteria. A moment later, he receives a message from Loki and without further ado they run as fast as they can. The message contains only a single photo with no explanation. It is a photo of their once tidy cafeteria turns into disarray, as if it has just been hit by a big storm.

“Did someone fight down there? It is unbelievable!”

“You…Elm…slow…down…a…bit…” says Mark trying to catch both Elmo and his breath.

“You must be joking! That’s why you should exercise at least once in a while! Come on, Mark!” says Elmo as he grabs Mark’s hand and drags his friend.

Terrifying screams echo through the ground floor hallways where the cafeteria is at. Uneasiness is hanging in the air. It is no surprise that they catch that uneasiness as they reach ground floor, more so after seeing a pack of students run off from cafeteria direction. Elmo grabs a student, asking what is happening at the cafeteria.

“I…I don’t know! We were eating when the tables started to move by itself! Now, get off me!”

“No, it cannot be, for such a thing to happen” thoughts Mark.

They take too long trying to assess the situation. No one is coming out of the cafeteria’s door anymore. The fact that the stormy hallway is now as quiet as a graveyard suddenly hits them.

“Hey, should we really need to go in there?”

Elmo leaves the question hanging and decides to approach the door carefully; Mark carefully follows. By the door, they take a peek and a gruesome scene plastered before their very eyes. It was true, the photo sent by Loki minutes ago. The room is even more dreadful compared to the photo they have got. Tables and chairs that once were neatly placed are now lying on the ground, and some of them are floating in the air. Moreover, there are some students lying on the ground unconsciously! Loki and Pharrel seems to be just fine, they are hiding behind a short partition near rubles of once kiosks. Despite relieved that his friends are unharmed; this is just too much for Mark. Just before he takes his eyes of the scene, Mark catches something. There is one girl standing in the middle of this mess. He cannot clearly identify who that is, as the girl standing with her backs on him with her silky long black hair falls loose. Somehow, Mark catches a glimpse of hope by seeing that girl and he enters the room without hesitation. As he gets in the room, the girl seems to notice his presence. She waves her hand and suddenly big dining table that once was on the air accelerated towards a group of woman and hits a wall not too far from them, creating an echoing fearful sound. That, and a scream from a girl who sits helplessly at the corner of the room makes Mark realizes, the only standing girl is not a survivor, she is the one who caused all of this!

“WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?!”

Mark jumps a little, startled by that echoing sound which seems comes from his back. The source of the voice is from a buff adult wearing training suit with a whistle hanging on his neck. Elmo does not let this chance slipped; he pulls Mark away from the entrance and sneaks their way in toward their friends. As they get close to Loki and co, Mark glimpses back at the girl who now slowly turns her body. She is sickly pale. Her gaze stings as if it could pierce through anything. Her straight face implies indifference, or rather, annoyance toward everything she sees.

“You…Ms. Tiffany, are you not? What is this all about?” asks the big man as he approaches the long haired girl.

She stares the big man deeply with her piercing gaze, as if she is trying to measure his worth, and a moment later she moves her fingertips and more chairs are lifted and floats around her.

“Goodness gracious! How come—“

“Mr. Stones! Watch out!”

It is too late. The chairs which seem to be commanded by the long haired girl are now rushing toward Mr. Stones with ground breaking speed. His reflex makes him puts his arm in the air to defend himself, but his action is all for naught. Despite his big build, those chairs hit him so hard that he is flung away a few meters away. He gets back up almost immediately with one of his hand still hanging in the air, while the other one’s bone seems to be broken.

“It’s okay. This is just me. What happen to you, child?” asks Mr. Stones.

She once again let her teacher’s question slips and along with her hand’s movement, some tables start to levitate themselves around her.

“NO, don’t you—“

He does not even have a chance to get himself ready. Those tables fly faster and hit harder than the chairs did. The impact is proven too much to handle even for that sturdy body. He slammed to a wall behind him, hitting his head in the process, and falls like a ragged doll. As the long haired girl turns her attention to the students watching from the cafeteria entrance window, the tables fall on top of Mr. Stones’ helpless body, burying him beneath.

She now stares at the students outside indifferently. Decides that those people are not worth her time, she waves her hand and some tables flung away toward cafeteria entrance. Extremely terrified and realize they will end up like their teacher, they run away in fear. Some of them even let out sharp screams. Fortunately, the thrown tables do not manage to break the entrance door and leave the students outside unharmed. But that is not the case for those inside. Those tables now block the only way to get out of the room. They are trapped inside with this lunatic who can easily animate any object.

“Loki, what is happening here?” whispers Mark.

“I am just as dumbfounded as you are. But seems like she could animate stuff at will”

“She is May Tiffany, isn’t she?”

“Do you know her, Elm?”

“She was on our class during our first year, remember?” says Elmo, does not realize he raises his voice.

“SSSHHH! Not so loud!”

“Oh, dear most gracious God, I don’t want to die. Please help me” whimpers Pharrel with his hands covering his face, does not realize that his friends are looking at him reproachfully.

“Wait, is it June, the one who sits at the corner? SHE IS! Then, those girls are May’s friend!” says Elmo disbelieving. “She was attacking her own friends!”

Triggered by Elmo’s words, Mark scans through the whole room and manages to find four girls sit helplessly on the other corner of the room. Their body trembles out of fear like a leaf blown by a storm.

“Mm-mm-May, th-this is n-not l-l-like y-you a-at all…W-w-who are y-you?” says a girl with blonde hair who sited at the end of the line of those girls, her voice hoarse because of fear.

May turns her head slowly, coldly gazes the blonde haired girl. A minute passed, a deafening silence blankets the whole room. Suddenly May starts to giggle. She keeps staring at the blonde haired girl with her blank eyes and as she leans toward her friend, she casts a sinister smile.

“Who am I? This IS me. Have you forgotten about me, dear June?” whisper May. She says all those words as if nothing was happening between them. Then she starts to giggle again while looking at each of those girls.

Mark senses something is off from May. He nimbly takes out his phone and types something franticly. Seeing Mark, Elmo is agitated as he thought that Mark lacks of common sense.

“Do you really absolutely need to check your phone now?” asks Elmo agitated.

“There is must be something that we can do! Just, give me a second here! “

On the other corner of the room, May is now leaning toward June, still staring with a blank gaze and her sinister smile, stroking June’s face with the back of her cold hand.

“No! T-this is n-not you, May! I-I know you w-well, y-you are m-my b-b-best f-friend. P-please, I b-beg of you, May!” wails June as she holds May’s hand tightly.

“Why would I lower myself to associate with lowly being such as you?” says May with calmingly soft voice. She still smiles at June and lets June hold her hand. But instead of relieved, June’s pupil dilates and her body shakes even more, disbelieving that this is the same May whom she knows really well since the first grade.

“I-I don’t believe you! D-do you realize who I am, May?”

“Of course I do, dear June. Bitch who always wags its tail whenever she sees me and loudly barks with its annoying voice, am I right dear June? Oh, oh, I remember, it also gave me this rotten bone as present” says May with her soft voice as she takes a necklace away from her pocket and throws it right at June’s face. “Maybe I should have done a better job to teach it, that rotten bone is not appropriate to be given as a present.”

June cannot help but cry. She does not want to believe that this is really happening. Every single sweet memory they share together is shattered deep within her. All she sees now is a witch who readily hurts an innocent.

“Have you come to your senses, oh, my Foolish June?” says May as she waves her hand, animates most of stuffs nearby. “You should have been grateful. I will help you erase those useless memory if yours. Now, sleep, my dear friend.” Barrage of tables and chairs strikes those weak trembling bodies mercilessly. Horrifying screams echo through the cafeteria walls. After seconds of torture, June’s body is covered in scars and bruises, her foot suppressed by fallen tables, while the other three have passed out since earlier.

“I got it! Lend me your ears, I have got a plan!” says Mark confidently, staring at his friend with eye full of hope. They carefully hear Mark’s plan out.

“No! That is totally nuts!” says Pharrel. “It is not going to work!”

“Look, those girls are desperately in need of help from a knight in a shining armor. Be their knight in a shining armor, and Natasha will be all over you!”

“Oh, okay then.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Doubt is a luxury we don’t have right now, Loki. It is going to work. No, rather, we have to make it works!” says Mark. Even though Mark successfully convinces him, Loki cannot help but notice his buddy’s knees are trembling. But he knows it for sure, they have no other option. “Okay, let’s do it then!”

As he hears Loki’s consent, Mark sneaks his way to the blocked entrance. He crawls carefully until he is close enough to where Mr. Stones passed put. Then he forces himself to stand firm, takes a deep breath and shouts with all his might.

“HEY WITCH! IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT? WHY DON’T YOU TRY TO TAKE ON SOMEONE YOUR SIZE?!”

His thunderous shout successfully draws May’s attention to him. He can feel her cold stare is trying to pierce him through, but he does not falter. Then she giggles.

“Take on someone my size, eh? Are you even my size, boy?” Her voice is suddenly changes from sweetly soft voice into a deep raucous one. She leaves the helpless June to her fate, and now slowly makes her way toward Mark. Forks and knives are suddenly lifted as she passed them by, pointing itself at Mark.

“I am not afraid of you, you cowardly witch!”

“Now that is where you are wrong, boy. You should have!”

Those forks and knives fly toward Mark, but he is well prepared. He turns a table nearby as a shield and covers himself from the barrage of forks and knives. While May’s attention is fully spent on Mark, Elmo and co sneaks around the room trying to help the girls on the other side of the room. Their plan seems to be working; they can easily reach the other side without any trouble.

“Hey, can you move? We will get you out of here” says Elmo to June, while Loki and Pharrel trying to unearth the other three. June cannot stop crying, which makes thing worse since she has no energy even to lift her own body.

“P-please get my friends out. Please” says June between her weeping.

Loki and Pharrel successfully unearth the other girls, and they seem to be alive. Without further ado, they carry those girls behind their backs and move them to a safer place. It has to be done, they know it for sure. But moving three bodies and making sure they are not detected are just a little too much to ask.

Mark catches from the corner of his eyes that it seems like his friends need more time. He decides to push his table-make-shield towards May and charges forward will all his strenght. He knows, deep down, that such actions will not hurt May in any way. He just hoped it would borrow his friends some time. The moment she tries to retaliate, Mark is right in front of her. He tackles her down, locks her hand with his own, and with his right hand faced towards May’s face, he shouts.

“O thee unholy being whoever thee belong, I command thee to release thyself from this maiden body and return to thy creator!”

Loki and co cannot help but stare at Mark with a questioning gaze.

“You got to be kidding me!” says Elmo.

Everyone on the room freezes as if winter comes early. Maybe some of them are hoping to see if Mark’s makeshift rite has any effect on May. Mark looks at Loki and shakes his head. That moment, Loki realizes that what Mark just did is all a façade, just to buy them some time. Suddenly May lets out an eerie laugh.

“Are you trying to play around with me, boy?”

Out of his blind side, the very same table he used as a cover now flying towards him. He does not have a chance to dodge it in time, resulting on the table hitting his right shoulder blade. He is forced to move away from May, and without Mark on top of her, she can freely move again.

“Now allow me to play around with you.”

Mark realizes he is not it a good position to fight, tries to crawl with his left hand. But it is no good. May makes a chair fly a few meters above him, and hit him repeatedly.

“Mark! Loki, we got to help him!” shouts Elmo. He is about to run toward Mark, but he cannot. Someone pulls his collar; make him loses his balance. It was Loki.

“Get off me!” says Elmo as he struggles to get loose. But Loki is not yielding.

“I said get off me! Are we supposed to just stand and do nothing when our friend is tortured right in front–?!” he does not have a chance to finish his words. Something hits his face really hard. Loki punches Elmo, with his eyes implies he is dead seriously meant that punch.

“Keep your heads together, Elm! We need to make sure these girls are in a good shape, or Mark’s sacrifice will all be for naught!”

“Loki…how could you?” says Elmo as he clenches his fist.

“Holy ****!” says someone behind those two.

“AZMON! Where the hell were you?” says Elmo furiously.

“I was in the toilet. I cannot help it, I ate too much. I wondered what happen since it so noisy outside was. Care to give some explanation?”

“No, not now buddy!” says Loki. “But first, we need to get that girl here no matter how!” adds him while pointing at June. This is his first time to see Loki as serious as he is. It hits Azmon, he realizes that saving that girl has to be his top priority. He then nods toward Loki, and starts sneaking toward June.

On the other side of the room, May still hits Mark repeatedly with a chair. June who finally be able to regain her senses, once again shocked by the fact that her friend May tortures someone.

“NOOO! STOP IT, MAY!” screams June. Once again, May turns to June.

“June, June, oh my dear June, seems like I wasn’t helping enough? Let me help you one last time” says her with an eerie voice. In a split second, a porcelain vase flies toward June.

Azmon is only half way through; he knows he will not make it in time. Instinctively, Azmon stands and starts to sprint toward June. Despite his big build, Azmon is quite nimble. Right before he reaches June, he raises his hand as if he were on football field, trying to intercept an incoming pass with all his might. His instinct does not let him down; he blocks the incoming vase with his big hand, broking the vase in the process. He seems to be fine, despite the fact that his arm is punctured by the broken vase’s shards and heavily bleeds. Looking at Azmon’s arm, June can no longer bare all of this and collapse. Azmon ignores the throbbing pain from his arm and carries June.

“My my, trying to play hero, are we?” says May. She then waves both of her arms. Two chairs flying towards both Azmon and Mark.

Mark tries with to dodge with the remains of his strength, but he barely makes it since the chair hits one of his legs. Azmon knows there is no way he could dodge the speeding chair while carrying someone on his arm. So he decides to take the risk and covers June with his back. Although, it is proven to be too much for him, as he falls on his knees trying to endure the pain. He puts June on the ground, turns himself towards May and faces her. He is furious.

Suddenly, right behind Mark, the blocked entrances is busted open and someone steps in. He is quite tall, with a short straight hair, wearing a jacket with silver badge on his right collar engraved with words “Student Council”. He cannot believe his own eyes. Cafeteria in disarray, his fellow students are lying unconsciously and some are badly hurts. But the one struck him the most is the fact that May is in the middle of everything, gives him a stone cold gazes.

“Luther” says Mark calling for the figure who just arrived.

“Mark, what happened here? Why are you covered in wounds?” asks Luther.

He then hurriedly helps Mark back on his feet. He lets Mark lean on his shoulder to support his weight and helps him walk towards Elmo. Curiously; May seems to be freezes since Luther came in the room. She just stands right where she was, staring intently at Luther.

Luther passes Mark to Elmo who then supports him to stand. Mark’s leg is in a very bad shape. Despite has no fractures; deep wounds cover his leg, Luther then trots toward Azmon and sees unconscious June lies behind Azmon.

“Are you alright, Mr. Reeds?” asks Luther as he sees red fresh blood dripping from Azmon’s arm. He does not heed Luther’s question, still facing May with anger written all over his face.

“Mr. Reeds!” presses Luther. Azmon seems to be able to regain his senses and now looking right at Luther, inaudibly meant he is listening.

“Would you mind move June over there?” asks him as he points at Mark. “And once you are done, please take those wounded students right to infirmary. Please be haste.” Luther orders Azmon politely, trying to remain calm in this chaos. As he sees Azmon nods and does his biddings, Luther turns and approaches May slowly.

The moment Azmon approaches Mark, something happens right behind his back. Suddenly blinding light bursts from the middle of the room, right where Luther and May are at. The light seems to come beneath their feet and envelopes them. Mark and co are stunned. They cannot see nor hear anything clearly. But as if allured by strange force, Mark tries to stand with his wounded leg and reaches his hand towards the light. And then he feels an arm grabs him firmly. He can faintly hear someone shouts at him, asking him what he is doing and stating the fact that he is badly hurts. All of a sudden, his regains his senses as if woken up from a daydream.

“Mark! What are you doing? We do as Luther have said, not to mention you also need to have your wound tended!” scolds Elmo. “Come on, we need to get the out of here!”

He knows Elmo is right. He forces his body to stand on its own, so Elmo can bring one of the wounded students on his back and bring her out of the room. As they come near the entrance, the light which envelops Luther and May is slowly fading. Once the light fades away, the long haired girl is the only one standing with no traces of Luther. She then slowly falls on her knees and passes out.

No one really knows what happened. May turned into a freak that could animate objects at will and intentionally hurt her friends badly. Luther is vanished without traces, veiled by the blinding light. As Mark glimpses at May, his tears fall.

“What in the world we just ran into?” whisper Loki breaking the deafening silence.

Spoiler: Verdict 2 : Hearth

“Luther!” shouts a girl, lying on top of bed covered with white sheet.

She is startled by her own voice and wakes up. Dizziness and nausea suddenly hits her. It is not because of her sudden awakening, rather, the images of her nightmare. She saw herself hurting her friends, destroyed the cafeteria, and lost the very one she hold dear within her heart. Her eyes get teary. She then takes a deep breath and buried her face within her trembling hands.

“Silly me, you know it is just a dream” whispers her to herself. She starts to calm down. She takes her hands off from her face, and those uneasy feelings start to fill her up, even faster than before.

This is not her room. This all white room is definitely not hers. Fear surrounds her as she begins to wonder where she is. She hugs her shivering body with her hands, but it does not help. Suddenly she hears sound of footsteps approaching, and the next minute someone enters that room. She is an old lady. Her hair is all grey and her face wrinkles. She looks straight to May, and cast a smile.

“Thank goodness, you’ve came to” says the old lady.

As if she is petrified, May just stares at the old lady. The old lady then approaches the bed on which May was slept and sits beside it.

“Can you hear me, girl?” says the old lady. Within her confusion, she nods toward the old lady.

“W…Where am I?” asks May. Her voice is unexpectedly raucous, maybe because her lips and throat are so sore.

The old lady stands up and walks slowly toward a tiny table with some glasses and water jar on top of it. She then pours water into the one of the glass and offers it to May as she walk back toward her.

“Here, drink this” says her as she thrust the glass to May.

May, still confused, takes the glass offered by the old lady. She drinks the water slowly, as if trying not to hurt her throat any further. After a few sips, she begins to relax.

“Umm, where am I, Ma’am?” asks May carefully.

“I am Laura, Ms Tiffany. In case you failed to notice, this is Greenlight Central Hospital’s Emergency Ward.”

It confuses May even further. Her mind drifts away. “Was I sick in my sleep that someone run me to infirmary?” asks her to herself. “It very well could be, since I felt so sick when I woke up. I even had a horrible nightmare.”

“Ms Tiffany?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am?”

“Considering your state, I know, there is so much to think about” says the old lady carefully.

“Do you know what happen to me when I slept, ma’am?”

Sadness is clearly depicted on Madam Laura’s face. Deafening silence shrouds the room. This is a very delicate situation; she has to choose her words carefully. She tries to smile to lighten up the mood, but thing does not go the way she wanted to. She takes a deep breath, looks May in the eye and begins to speak.

“It is not what happens during your sleep, dear. Don’t you remember anything about what happened at cafeteria?”

As if she was struck by lightning, she is frozen stiff. She begins to recall every single memory about what just happen. About her friends, hurt by her own hands. About the shattered cafeteria, ruined by something she does not even know. She does not want to believe the words Madam Laura said. But the way she expressed those words, she could not be lying. Her body shakes violently out of fear; cold creeps back around her. Then, she feels warmth envelops her cold hand.

“I realize how hard this is for a girl your age. This will always be hard, even for an old lady like me. You might feel that it would be much better to leave everything behind and run away, but don’t you ever do that. Have faith, that you will have someone who will be by your side no matter what happens.”

She lets her words sink in for a few moments. May barely catches any of those words. Fear has numbed her senses. Yet, the voice which deliver those words is somehow soothes. Subconsciously, May nods. The old lady then smiles at May and let her hand go. Without a pause she stands up and walks toward the room’s door and leave, leaving May who falls silent alone with her thoughts.

“Ouch!”

“Hey, be still! I really need to clean up those wounds, Mark! Not to mention you got bruises all over your body.”

At one room of school’s infirmary ward, Mark gets his wounds tended by a girl with a short hair. She wears a nurse cap and rubber glove aside from her school uniform. At the other side of the room, Loki leans on the wall, watching the girl tends Mark’s wounds by applying disinfectant.

“Heh, thanks Lucy” says Mark as he grins out of pain.

“How is he?” ask Loki to the girl.

“As you can see, I’m completely fine” interrupts Mark.

“Well, aside from bruises and light cuts here and there, I don’t think there is any internal damage and fracture” says Lucy while she packs up her first aid kit. “Mark, try to move around.”

He then takes his glasses from nearby table and wears it, and proceeds to do as Lucy asked him. He moves his arm carefully and walks around.

“Seems it will do for now, but please refrain from doing any heavy physical activities and as preventive action, I’ll note you for your next physical check up” says Lucy as she write something on Mark’s medical record.

“Err, okay. So it is okay for me to leave, right?” He walks out of the room before Lucy could even reply.

“Geez, Mark!” sigh Lucy as Mark walks away. She waits until Mark completely leaves the room and says, “Loki, I cannot believe about what just happened.”

“There are so many unexplainable things in this world. That would be one.”

“I was so scared. So many people got hurt. Those girls who were attacked by May still haven’t come to.”

“Lucy, it is not wise to conclude that Ms Tiffany was intentionally assaulted them, given the fact that we still have no clue about what happened.”

“Yeah, sorry, you are right.” She then leans toward Loki and hold his hand tightly. “Still, I’m relieved that you are unharmed.” A moment later, they notice the door is actually half open, and there is someone peeking. It is Mark, with a big grin on his face.

“Mark! I thought you were going somewhere” says Lucy while she hastily let Loki’s arm go, trying to hide her obvious embarrassment.

“Err, I was looking for Azmon, but then I realized I don’t know where he is” says Mark, still with a big grin.

“He’s at the furthest room” replies Lucy quickly.

“Oh, okay. Thanks again, Lucy.”

“Wait, I’m going with you Mark” says Loki right before Mark leaving him behind. He then looks at Lucy who smiles at him as if told him to just go with Mark. Right after, Loki finds Mark standing on the hallway, still with a very big grin and teasing stare.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you hit you head?” ask Loki sulky.

“Nah, don’t mind me. I wonder how Azmon is.”

“I heard his wounds are quite deep.” Azmon did have quite amount of stabs on his arm when he tried to protect June from a flying vase during the commotion. A minute walk and they arrive at the room which was mentioned by Lucy. The room is quite lively, as if it is just another student dorm room rather than an infirmary ward. Mark proceeds to knock the door and opens it.

“Hey Mark! Aren’t you well!” shouts Azmon from his bed. His arm appears to be casted. He is attended by a girl who sits right beside his bed. She is about Azmon’s height, with bangs and braces.

“Whoops are we interrupting something?” teases Mark.

“No, don’t worry. Right, Ash?”

“Uh huh. In fact, we were just talking about you guys. How do you feel?” asks Ashley.

“As you can see, I’m fine” says Mark, waving his arm indicating he is okay. “How is your arm?”

“Actually, I’m feeling just fine, but I was forced to have my arm casted. It is not my arm is broken or something” says Azmon, flailing his casted arm around.

“Maybe, he is protected by his ‘iron skin’” says Ashley as she pinches Azmon’s waist.

“Bull’s skins! Get it?” says Loki.

His cheesy joke unexpectedly success to lighten up the room’s mood. They chat around for a bit, and Mark and Loki decide to let Azmon rest. As they walk out the room, Mark takes a quick peek at a clock on the other side of the hallway. It is eight pm.

“Hey” says Mark, breaking the silence.

“Hmm?”

“They are still being interviewed, aren’t they?”

Mark collapsed during the cafeteria incident. He was run to infirmary, along with May, Mr. Stones and the other injured students, by Loki and co as soon as they could. Those with light injuries were given first aid and allowed to rest at their own dorm. Azmon, May, Mr. Stones, and Mark were tended at separate room, since their injuries are quite serious. On the other hand, June and her friends, who were badly injured, were given intensive care by Madam Laura to make sure their conditions were stable. Needless to say, the school’s medical staffs are exceptionally capable, and after two hours of intensive care, they were moved to Greenlight Central Hospital to be given further treatments. Elmo and Pharrel, who were unscathed, were dragged by school’s board for an interview.

“Relax. It has just about an hour since. Besides, I’m more concern about Pharrel’s statements.”

“Oh well, I guess Elmo would be the one who handled the interview. Still, even though we could give as much information as the board wanted to about what happened, we still know nothing about the cause.”

Both of them are speechless. Was it because of alien’s influence just like what Loki used to say? Was May possessed by some sort of evil spirit? Or maybe, is May actually an esper? But even so, what could cause her to be flipped upside down and willingly hurt the people close to her?

“Mark!” shouts Elmo from the other side of hallway. He seems quite exhausted, same goes for Pharrel who walks behind him, bringing a big plastic bag.

“Hey Elm, how was it?”

“Forget that, how ARE you?” says Elmo as he checks Mark’s wounds.

“See, I’m fine” says Mark smiling. Suddenly Elmo hits Mark’s head with his fist.

“Aww! What was that for?!”

“To make sure you remember well how reckless you were!”

“Did you expect me to just let those girls to their fate?”

“Oh yeah, I thought so! We are not even that close with them anyway, why should we care?!”

“Calm down, Elm. It was just like Mark don’t you thing? Playing hero and such?” says Pharrel trying to fuse the tension. “But, there are no broken bones or anything fatal, right Mark?”

“Yeah, fortunately so” says Mark, still glaring his eyes at Elmo.

“Alright, enough, both of you” says Loki as he walks between Mark and Elmo. “Why don’t we continue our cherry discussion at our room?”

“Oh, yeah, let’s do that. We were given some treats by school staff” says Pharrel as he lifts up the big bag he is carried this whole time.

“Okay then, give me a moment.” Loki then walks back toward the room which Mark’s wounds were tended.

Awkward silence fills the hallway while those three boys wait for Loki to return. Pharrel tries to break the ice, but he fails miserably and makes the situation even more awkward. Fortunately, Loki finishes what his business quickly, and they proceed to go to dorm. They walk in silence, until, when they are half way through their way, Loki raises his voice.

“Elm how was it?”

“Hah” Elmo sighs. “As expected, they were having a hard time to believe what I said. Not that I blame them, I wouldn’t believe it either if I were they. But the principal contained them well and decided to believe it anyway.”

“What did you tell them?” asks Loki further.

“I told them every single detail since I got to cafeteria. You should look their faces when I told them those stuffs.”

“How could they believe a person is able move inanimate objects without even touching them?” adds Pharrel.

“Anyway, as soon as we finished testifying, we were dismissed. We were asked to stop by at Mr. Woods’s office, and we were given those” finishes Elmo as he points at the bag Pharrel carries.

As words by words are told, they arrive at their dormitory. The dormitory lobby, which functioned both as a lobby and a lounge, is unexpectedly quite. The room is usually packed with students during these hours, either doing their assignments or just having fun with each other. But tonight is different, there is no one there. Could the school’s board instruct them to do so, or is it just they are scared and decide to hole up in their own room?

Mark and co decide to ignore the unusualness and walks straight up to their room. Once they get there, Elmo sets up the treats on a carpet in the middle of their room, while Pharrel franticly locks the door and windows. Mark, who completely missed his lunch, starts to eat as if it would be his last meal.

“By the way” says Mark with a mouthful of food, “What about tomorrow? Did they say anything about giving us a school break?”

“Unfortunately, there would be no break, they said. But hey, maybe you could use those wounds as an excuse!” says Pharrel.

“Oh right! Now that you mentioned it, my body is totally in pain” says Mark as he tries his best to be in pain.

“Oh come on! You were just fine!” says Elmo annoyed.

Done with dinner, they decide to take some rest. Elmo takes his sleeping suit and bathing props from his closet and hastily walks to bathroom. Shortly after, Loki does the same thing.

Several minutes have passed; Elmo walks out from one of the bathroom with his towel on top of his head. As he returns to his room, he sees Loki stands a window which close to their room. It seems that he finishes his bath way before Elmo does. He gazes at the school’s main building.

“What are you doing? Why don’t you get in?”

“Nah, I’m just…I just want to be alone for a while.”

“What, too scared to sleep after what was happening today?”

“It’s not that I can’t. I prefer not to. I’ve got so much on my mind.”

“Oh, suit yourself. As I’m not a mystery maniac such yourself, I prefer not to think about it. Night, Key” says Elmo as he walks into their room, leaves Loki behind.

Loki sighs as Elmo leaved him, and gaze at the sky. He tries his best to recall what happened today and makes connections as many as he could, but he just cannot find a solid conclusion. After a while, he realizes him just wasting his time with endless pondering and returns to his room. His friends are sounds asleep when he gets back. He gets on his bed, shuts his eyes, and the next minute he wanders into the realm of dreams.

The next morning, school is just as packed up as usual. Yesterday’s mysterious assault does not seem to have as much impact upon students will as the school’s boards predicted. At a certain side of the town, inside one of Greenlight Central Hospital’s recovery ward, an adult in his thirties with semi long blonde hair stares a teenage girl who happens to stands near a window in her room. He is quite tall and slim, wearing a neat suit and tie, with very stylish glasses. He folds his arm in front of his chest, and stats to speak.

“Let me ask you one more time, Ms Tiffany. Do you remember what happen yesterday?” asks him coldly.

“No sir, I don’t remember a thing. In fact, I’m still wondering why I’m here” answers May indifferently.

“Ms Tiffany, as I’ve told you for a dozen times before, many innocent students were hurt yesterday, and according to my trustworthy sources, some of them, are in fact your close friends. Indeed, they recuperate well and even able to attend their today’s classes. But, one of them is not that fortunate. Her arm is badly fractured; the doctor even said that it could cause some complications.”

“I will ask you one more time.” He slowly approaches the girl, “Do you or do you not remember anything about yesterday?”

“Mr. Woods, I have no idea what you’re talking about. For a record, I have never involved myself with the thing called as close friend. I’m deeply sorry about the accident, but I have no obligation to pay them a visit, or even, to cheer them up, have I?

“Accident, you said.” His lips are trembling out of anger. “Quite an accident then, wasn’t it? With all the evidences points toward you and dozens of witnesses prepared to testify against you, do you really think I could simply dismiss the case just because you said it was an accident?!”

“That is enough, Mr. Woods.”

The voice comes from the room’s door, from a stout big man with crutches, to be exact.

“You’ve been disturbing this peaceful morning, Mr. Woods. And don’t you feel ashamed yelling at a girl?”

“Oh, did you forget who did that to you? Should I remind you, Mr. Stones?”

“Maybe I should be the one to remind you that I’m the one who experienced it first hand?”

A moment passes in intent silence. Those two man stares at each other with piercing gazes. After a while, Mr. Woods redirects his gaze at May and let out a very sharp “Tsk”, and walks out of the room. Mr. Stones keeps his eyes on his colleague until the man leaves the room, and once Mr. Woods leaves, he faces his student. His expression softens, as if the slight tension in the room was never happen.

“Hey my dear student, how are you?”

“I…I’m fine. Thank you, Sir. And I’m sorry.”

“I don’t see any reason for you to say those words” says him with a big smile.

“Ms. Tiffany, I’ve been teaching for six years. With all those experiences, I could read any of my students like an open book, and if I may, you don’t seem like a bad person.”

“You know, Ms. Tiffany, I don’t believe in ghosts, or demonic possessions, or any kind of supernatural stuffs. But I do believe that my student wouldn’t do something as ridiculous as yesterday’s stuff on purpose.”

“I know, deep inside, you are hurt more than anyone else. It’s the least visible kind of wound, yet it also the hardest one to heal. But do keep this in mind, you could always count on me, your beloved teacher!”

He finishes his speech with a big grin on his face which almost eerie. He then leaves the room, leaving May, which has been trembling and biting her lips for a while now, on her own. Her teacher shouted something right before he closed the door, but she couldn’t hear a word, as she was drowned in her own emotions.

“How could someone, who had been crying all night for her wounded friends, had heart to do those nasty things?” says Mr. Woods to himself.

The bell is rung.

“Finally, the school ends!” says Pharrel while packing his book.

“Loki!” A familiar sound calls Loki from the class’ door. Loki takes a peek toward the door, the sound comes from Reinton.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” says him again, while walks to Loki and co.

“Where have you been, Rein?”

“I spent my whole day with Tiara yesterday, Elm. She was assigned to survey the place of which the school trip will be held. I got permitted to accompany her, so I did. It was late at night when I was done, so I went straight into my room.”

“This morning, I saw the cafeteria was sealed, so I asked some of my classmates about what happened. They said you guys were in it. Is it true?”

“Yeah, we experienced it firsthand” says Elmo.

“Damn! Tell me what hap…Wait, where is Mark?”

“Still sleeping, probably” says Loki lightly.

“Was he hurt that bad?!”

“Nah, he just used it as an excuse to skip classes.”

“Oh…Oh, okay then!” says Reinton while dragging Loki with him.

“Are we going somewhere?” asks Pharrel excited.

“Why, to your room of course! I want to see Mark’s condition, and you guys owe me some details!”

“I’m not going” says Elmo while taking his bag with him. “The school’s boards summon me.” Without any further ado, he leaves the room.

“You know, Rein, since morning we have been asked to tell the story several times” says Pharrel while folding his arms and nods; he seems to be very proud of himself.

“Well well, how it feels to be famous all of a sudden?” teases Reinton. “Any way, let’s go!” while still dragging Loki with him.

“Alright, I get it! Just stop dragging me around!”

As they reach the main entrances of the building, they are rushed by at least twenty students asking about what happened at the cafeteria. Reinton manages to pull himself out of the crowds, taking Loki with him. Pharrel, on the other hand, lets himself to be spotlighted as he sees some of those crowds are actually quite pretty.

Reinton runs his way to the student dorm, just in case there is another crowd waiting to ambush them again. As he gets to student dorm main entrance, he realizes he lost Loki, or maybe the other way around. But then, he decides that visiting Mark is more important, so he runs again, climbing through the stairs to Mark’s room.

As he gets there, the door is left half closed. He approaches the room and when he opens the door, no one is in the room. He tries to call Mark’s phone, but to his surprise, he hears Mark’s phone rings from the bed right beside him. He gets even more worried.

“This is weird, where is he going? It’s not like him at all to leave his phone behind” mutters him.

Suddenly his nape turns cold. Not because of fear, but because of something really cold is put there on purpose by someone. He promptly turns himself around. It was Mark.

“Hehe, got you!” says Mark as he puts away his wet towel which he used to surprise Reinton.

“MARK! What are you doing?!” Reinton instinctively pinches Mark’s stomach.

“Aw! Not there, Rein!”

Reinton realizes that he must have pinched a wounded part of his friend, so he lets it go as soon as he hears Mark’s word. Mark then enters his room, followed by Reinton. He puts his bathing props inside his closet and sits on his bed.

“Whew, I never realize skipping school feels so good!” says Mark while stretching his body. “Oh yeah, what makes you come here, Rein?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I come to visit you, but it seems that you’re in a good shape.”

“Not really, but nothing serious either.”

“Now, tell me about what happened!”

“Eh? Where have you been, Rein?” asks Mark. His face shows disappointment.

Reinton then sits on the floor and tells his story, about how he was not at school by the time it was all happened. He heard so many rumors about it, but he insists to hear the details straight from the one involved. Mark tells him every detail about what happened, yet Reinton seems excited rather than cringe like most people did. His eyes glow passionately. Clearly, he is highly interested about things with unusual nature.

“Damn! I should’ve been there!”

“Hehe, you probably should spare less time with your girlfriend” teases Mark. “By the way, couple days ago I met Harmony.”

“Do you really have to change the subject into the one I’m most uncomfortable with? Oh well, did she say something?”

“Yeah, I guess she still likes you. She said she still wants to be your friend of some sort.”

“That’s impossible, Mark, to befriend you ex-lover. Besides, I don’t want to hurt Tiara.”

“Okay stop, I just deliver what she was saying to me. That is all” says Mark as he covers his ears with a pillow nearby. “Speaking of which, where the hell are Loki and co?”

“I was with Loki and Pharrel. Pharrel allowed himself to be questioned by some crowds, while Loki and I ran straight to the dorm. But then, I didn’t realize Loki wasn’t following me. Who knows where he went. Elmo said he was sum…”

“Hey hey, how’s the story going?”

It is Elmo, apparently he just shows up. He puts off his shoes by the door and get in the room with a big plastic bag with him.

“Speak of the devil, he’s here!” says Reinton while pointing his finger at Elmo.

“Where were you, Elm? Whoa, is that food you brought along?”

Mark suddenly lifts his body from his bed and takes the bag Elmo carried. He then puts the food on top of a small table in the middle of the room and begins to eat.

“Where did you buy those?” asks Reinton while reaching out his hand to take one of them, which then tipped by Elmo.

“I didn’t buy them, a school staff gave it to me. Just so you know, it was only meant for us four, not you, Rein” teases Elmo.

“Wait, so you were summoned just to be given these foods? Man, not only Mark was allowed to skip school, but you guys were given free foods!”

Elmo throws a sharp gaze at Reinton, disapproval emits from his eyes. But it seems that Reinton does not realize it, maybe because Elmo says nothing about it either.

On another part of the school, Loki is meeting Lucy. They both sit on a long bench, holding each other’s hands without words. Minutes pass, Loki suddenly jumps on his feet as he sees a car passed before him. Even if it was just a glimpse, he was so sure that the one he saw is the very same girl who stood before him yesterday, the one who caused yesterday’s terror.

Without hesitation, he runs to catch the car, leaving Lucy on the bench alone. Fortunately, the school has a strict speed limitation for any vehicles operate inside school’s perimeter to make sure those vehicles do not disrupt any activities. Loki still has not managed to catch the car when he sees the car stops at the girl dorm. Someone is seen to get out of the car, then the car proceeds. He keeps following the car which eventually stops at teachers and school’s staffs building. Just before he approaches the car, Mr. Stones with his crutches walks out of the car.

“Mr. Stones! Do you need any help?” asks Loki half shouting. Startled, Mr. Stones turns his head quickly, and he finds Loki who is running to him.

“Hey Loki my boy” says Mr. Stones smiling.

“Thank you, but I’m not so pathetic that I need someone to carry me around.”

“I heard, it was you and your friends who help those girls back then? Great work!”

“Actually, sir, it was Mark and Azmon who did it.”

“Oh yes, yes. Mark and Azmon, right? I should pay them a visit soon.”

“Sir” says Loki carefully, “How is Ms. Tiffany?”

Mr. Stones sighs, pats Loki on his shoulder, and says “Such a pitiful girl. What do you think the other students will do when they see her?”

He does not expect Loki to answer his question, and Loki says nothing either. But from Loki’s face, he certainly knows how these events will turn.

The more she walks the more attention she draws. She is not deaf, but she chooses to ignore all those whispers behind her back. Those people either turn away or stares her down in fright. She keeps walking to her room; open the door to her room which somehow unlocked; and finds her room is almost empty. The room, which once filled with warmth and laugh, turns cold as the only things left are hers. Maybe she was expecting these kinds of treatment. The coldness in her room still does not on par with the coldness emitted from her friends. She lets a little sigh out and goes out of the dorm to walk around the school. She tends to do that to put her mind at ease.

Pharrel is still boasting about his one-day-adventure to entertain the crowds. They give him undivided attention until suddenly some of them turn pale. A bit by a bit, they withdraw from him, ‘got something to do’ they said. He taken aback with their doings, but when he turns himself around, he knows what caused them to do so. They saw May walks straight to them, or maybe to him. Consumed by fear, Pharrel runs so fast like his life depends on it.

He runs as fast as he can to his dorm, and before he realizes, he is in front of his room. He roughly opens the door, startling Mark, Elmo and Reinton who are inside.

“Hey, relax! Did you see ghost somewhere?” tease Reinton while laughing at Pharrel.

“No! Even worse! I just saw May!”

Taken by Pharrel’s words, Mark and Reinton stops what they were doing and curiously look at Pharrel, while Elmo still laying on his bed, as if he is not interested at all.

“What, did she do anything strange again?” asks Elmo

“Err…I…I don’t think so.”

Mark and Reinton decide to search for her, after contacting Loki about what they know. She was just taken to hospital last night, and now she has been discharged? Done theorizing about where she might be, Mark and Reinton split their way, to increase the coverage of their search.

Mark runs without hesitation, he knows a place which is not too crowded at the eastern wing of the main building. It was just his hunch, but he bets on it anyway. As he getting close to where his guts told him to go, he sees a girl sitting alone on a grass-covered-field facing the eastern wall of the main building. He slows down his pace, and calls the girl out.

“Hey.”

May glances at Mark, but then she faces back to the building.

“May I sit here?”

“Hmm, when all people shudder from me, you want to sit beside me?”

“I’ll take it as a yes.”

He then proceeds to sit beside May without waiting for May’s approval. Minute passes, they just sit where they were.

“How’s your arm, Sylkidz?”

“You mean this?” says Mark while lifting his hand. “Don’t worry. It’s just some bruises and scratches. Just like if you fall from a bike, you know?”

Mark finishes his words with a smile, but May has turned her face away again.

“How about you, are you okay?”

“Do I look like I am hurt somewhere?”

“I guess so.”

“Ho, seems like you are all-knowing.”

Silences befall them once again.

“Hey Sylkidz” says May breaking the silence, “Do you remember a boy named Luther?”

“Luther?”

“Luther Reigh.”

The name triggers something within his mind. He sees a vaguely shadow resembles of a boy who he does not know. Then, the shadow speaks to him.

“Mark, what happened here? Why are you covered in wounds?”

And then it hit him. He jumps back to his feet. He remembers everything. From the moment Luther came into the room, stopping May just with his presence, until when unknown light surrounded him and May.

“OH! Luther! How could I not recall anything about him till now?!” shouts Mark.

For one second, May was startled. But then she stands up and gazes Mark intently.

“Do you remember him? Do you remember Luther?!”

“Of course, I’ve befriend him since eleventh grade!”

“Oh thank god” whispers May.

Her stone cold face turns gentle like a frail flower blown by wind. As her eyes get teary, she hugs herself. Mark never sees that kind of expression from May’s face. His gut tells him this is not the best time to ask questions

“Ms. Tiffany, it’s getting dark. We probably should head back to our dorm” suggests Mark, but May does not move even an inch. He realizes maybe she still need some times alone, so he leaves her. After a couple steps, Mark turns around and shouts.

“Hey, Ms. Tiffany, thank you for reminding me about Luther! And from now on, you just call me Mark, okay?!”

Those words hit her really hard, right at her heart. That boy, does not hold any grudges toward her, or even blames her for what happened. As the boy walks away from her, her tears fall.

He walks in silence. Something bothers him then he should be after his meeting with May.

“Seriously, how could I forget something that crucial until now? Why no one told me anything about him? And where the hell is he now?”

He keeps muttering to himself, absorbed by his thought. At the main entrance of his dorm, he is being forced back to the reality when he hears someone trying to catch his breath. It is Reinton’s, and it seems that he just gets back from his searching.

“Hehe, seems like everyone is into exercise today. Back then was Pharrel, now it’s you” says Mark.

“Huuh…Hey Mark…huuh…di-did you find her?”

“No” says Mark, concealing the truth. “How about you, did your marathon happen to be fruitful?”

“No…I was…Err…I need to take a leak!” says Reinton as he franticly running.

“Rein!” shouts Mark, “do you remember any Luther Reigh?”

“Who’s that? Is he studying here? I’ve never heard his name before!”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“If he is studying here, it’s impossible for me not to know him, isn’t it? Anyway! Toilet!” He then runs leaving Mark on his own.

Mark has a really hard time to believe what his friend just said. Luther was certainly not just nobody. He was one of the school’s student committee, and a famous one at that. It’s almost impossible for any student to no know him. Something is missing. How come he could remember Luther, while Reinton couldn’t?

He then walks up the stair, heading to his room. He gets in the room, and finds Pharrel furiously do his homework while keep muttering “shouldn’t waste my time telling story” to himself.

“Oh that one, it isn’t meant to be submitted, is it?” says Mark casually, as he looks up about what his friend is doing.

“It’s true, but what if we were asked to solve the problem one by one? What if I am asked to solve it but I can’t?”

“Well, just solve it when you are asked to. You know, on the spot. If you still can’t, just say sorry and you’ll be fine.”

“Damn you! I’m too nervous to do it on the spot, even if it is the subject I’m actually good at.”

“Haha, suits yourself” chuckles Mark. “By the way, do you remember any Luther Reigh?”

“Who is…”

Pharrel suddenly jumps from his chair while screaming “AAHH!!!” He falls on his back and startling Mark as a result. He gets up, and with his hand holding his back, he asks Mark.

“How could I forget it? It’s all make sense now. I always wonder how we survived, so I just made that up.”

“Do you remember him?”

“Yeah, he was the one who stops May from her madness.”

Mark’s mind races, he needs Loki and Elmo to test out his theory.

“Where’s Elmo?”

“Hmm, I think he said he was being summoned again?”

“What’s with me?” says Elmo just when he gets in. Maybe he heard some of their conversation from hallway.

“Did you just get summoned again?” asks Mark, and then his attention drawn towards another big plastic bag Elmo carried. “Were you given those?”

“Uh huh. Eh, there’s a leftover from today’s lunch. Who’s this?”

“Wait, Elm. This is the third time. Why we were given so much food?”

“It’s not just us, you know. Most of the students involved at yesterday’s happening were also being given. Maybe the school’s board decided to take care of them so they could recover themselves well? Who knows?”

The door is suddenly opened, it is Loki.

“Hey pal, where have you been? Did you skip you lunch?” asks Elmo as Loki entered the room.

“I was meeting some people” Loki then takes one of drinks from the plastic bag “mind if I drink this?”

“Sure, we got one per person.”

Without hesitation, Loki drinks from the can he just took, which appears to contain milk. Done with his milk, he turns his face to Mark.

“Did you meet her?”

“I did. And there’s something I need to talk to you guys.”

Mark then proceeds to ask Loki and Elmo about Luther, and the reactions are just as he expected. They seems to finally able to remember the whole picture of yesterday’s happening. Mark expresses his thought about what happen to their memory and why only some people could recall it.

“Mark, it seems that being in the scene doesn’t have anything to do with it” says Loki. “I met Mr. Stones just by the noon, and he didn’t mention a thing about Luther.”

“So, could it be there’s something that we missed?”

“Ah!” interrupts Pharrel, “why don’t you ask Azmon? He was there with us.”

Without further ado, Loki takes out his phone and call Azmon.

“Hey Loki, what’s up?” says Azmon from the other side of the phone.

“Where are you?” cuts Loki.

“I’m about the leave the infirmary. Why do…”

“Do you remember anything about Luther Reigh?” cuts Loki again.

Suddenly Azmon shouts, and before he can say anything, Loki asks him to ask the same question to anyone nearby. Azmon then asks Ashley the question. A moment later, he talks back to Loki.

“Guys, she doesn’t remember any Luther Reigh. How could this possible? Do you guys know something?”

“It’s hard to explain. Let’s meet tomorrow. And, swear to God, you won’t mention Luther Reigh to anyone, okay?”

“Err, sure. Tomorrow, morning break” repeats Azmon before he ends the call.

Four of them now are engulfed in silence. So yesterday’s happening was not only hurt them physically, but also their mind? What is happening?

 

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