After the meal, Storm and I returned to Keimusho Academy. As I entered my room in the dorm, a heavy silence enveloped me, inviting a longing to be in his presence once again. I found myself tangled in a web of emotions, unable to make sense of the deep feelings stirring within me. Simultaneously, news of Cassandra merging with her demon lingered in my thoughts, leaving me puzzled. How was it possible for such a transformation to occur without the red hour? Concern for her welled up inside me, yet an unexplained sense of hurt also gnawed at my heart. Unable to untangle these conflicting emotions, I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind, and climbed into bed, leaving the unanswered questions and unresolved emotions behind, untouched for the time being.
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Morning arrived like a fleeting moment, and I awoke with a heavy head, having had a restless night's sleep. Determined to shake off the lingering heaviness, I rose from bed and made my way to the shower, hoping the water would wash away my troubled thoughts. After the refreshing shower, I dressed in my uniform, for I have classes this day, and stepped outside my room. As I approached the common area, I noticed that the elite members were already present, dressed in their uniforms, and they beckoned me to join them for breakfast.
"Didn't know you guys still remembered how to wake up early, huh?" I playfully teased, expecting a light-hearted response. However, their expressions held a mix of curiosity and something indescribable, which immediately caught my attention.
"What?" I asked, my tone turning serious as I took a seat at the dining table. The elites began to encircle me, their eyes filled with question marks, and a sense of anticipation hung in the air.
"Are you and Storm in a secret relationship, aside from being his blood supplier?" Jen inquired, her voice carrying a blend of curiosity and intrigue.
"Come on, spill it out, girl. You can't just avoid our questions like that," Loremae chimed in, her tone encouraging yet insistent.
"Where did you go with him last night?" Lucille asked, her eyes glinting with curiosity.
"Did you perhaps have a wonderful date?" Diane added, her voice laced with a hint of excitement.
"Or maybe something more... you know?" Junave questioned, suspicion evident in her tone.
"What?! You did something together?" Denise exclaimed, her eyes scanning me intently, observing my every reaction with the keenness of a detective.
The sudden bombardment of questions left me taken aback, a whirlwind of emotions swirling within me as I tried to process their inquiries.
"Wait, wait, calm down, girls. Storm and I don't have any special relationship like you guys were suggesting. We're just... just..." I stopped midway, struggling to find the right words to describe Storm and me. "Hmm... maybe we're... friends?" I added in confusion, as I wasn't sure myself.
"Friends? Do friends do those things? Like staying up late together at night?" Loremae questioned, still doubtful.
"Yeah, but look at us, we're staying in this dorm together," I pointed out.
"No, this is completely different from Storm and you, and besides, we're all girls," she countered.
"Why? Does 'having a special relationship' only apply to opposite genders?" I argued, and she rolled her eyes in a sign of giving up, settling down to dine.
"There's no point in this, let's just eat." The girls seemed disappointed, and I chuckled to myself.
After breakfast, we went our separate ways as we had different classes. When I arrived at my class, Storm and I were supposed to be classmates, but he wasn't there. Perhaps he was with Cassandra. I wondered how she was doing. I couldn't even imagine myself merging with Emerald and going berserk. But I hoped she would be fine soon.
The classes started as usual, but I wasn't in the mood to listen. My thoughts consumed me. I wonder if there is a future for us cursed? And if there is, what kind of future might it be? Is it wonderful? Or... is it purely destruction?
"Miss Eveline, stand up and answer this question," the lecturer shouted, which startled me, causing me to quickly rise from my seat.
"Yeah, what is it?" I asked, trying to act cool.
"Your closest friend got possessed. What are you going to do?" He asked with a serious expression. This lecturer really hates me, I guess.
"Uhm... first, I have to lock her up, and I have to do everything I can to help her," I replied. The lecturer smirked at my answer.
"That's not possible. There's no cure for possession. Even if you try to travel the world looking for a cure, you won't find one," he informed the class. "Alright, settle down now and listen to my lecture."
I took my seat again and pretended to listen. I don't know, but I really don't want to kill anybody, especially if it's someone I'm close to. But I wonder how I could have killed my parents if I was really the person who killed them?
"So possession is quite common for us cursed. We can get possessed if we work too much, don't have a pact, or during the red hour. If a cursed individual gets possessed and you don't kill them, it will bring destruction not only here in Keimusho but also to the whole world. If you lock them up and try to find solutions to cure them, after three days, they will eventually die due to not consuming any souls."
I got up accidentally upon hearing it from him. "What is it now, Eveline? I told you to sit down already," he scolded.
"I'm so sorry, but I need to go somewhere," I replied hastily. Grabbing my bag, I ran towards the door while the lecturer continued to shout at me to return to his class. However, I didn't bother looking back.
I hurriedly ran through the halls with a specific destination in mind. The silence of the hallway enveloped me as the rooms I passed faded into the distance. My heart was beating fast, and my breaths were heavy. I tried to focus on positive thoughts as negative ones threatened to distract me. Just as I was about to turn left, I collided with someone. The impact was so strong that I was pushed down and ended up on the cold floor.
"Hey, miss, are you okay?" a familiar voice asked. He extended his hand to help me up, but I was too embarrassed to even look at him. I kept my gaze down and tried to cover my face with my hair.
"Miss?" he called out, and I simply nodded, silently taking his hand and getting back on my feet. I slowly looked up at him, and when I saw his face, I was astonished. I was speechless and unable to react.
"Hey... is there something wrong with my face?" he asked, but I couldn't say anything. No words came out of my mouth, and instead, tears streamed down my cheeks.
"Hey, miss, why are you crying?" he began to panic, unsure whether to wipe away my tears or do nothing.
"Eveline?" It was Kyle who was walking towards us, and when he saw me crying, he immediately rushed over and wiped away my tears. "Why are you crying?" he asked.
"Uhm... I think it was my fault. I collided with her earlier, and the impact was strong. Maybe she's feeling pain. Can we take her to the medic room?"
"Come on, let's take you to Belle," Kyle said without looking at the person who was talking to him.
"No, not yet... I have so many things to say to him." Finally, I managed to say this.
"Him? Who?" Kyle asked, confused.
"Renz," I mumbled, my eyes still fixed on Renz, the guy I bumped into. He was staring at me with a confused look.
He pointed at himself as I mentioned his name, and his confusion became more evident. "Uhmm, I'm sorry, but my name's not Renz."
"No, I know it's you, Renz. Renz..." I blurted out with fresh tears, moving closer to him. But just as I was about to hug him, Kyle took my arm and gently pulled me towards him.
"Who the hell are you talking to?" It was a serious question, but with a hint of worry.
"I was talking to Renz. He's here, he's alive, Kyle!" I told him, but he furrowed his forehead.
"Renz is already dead. He will never be alive, and there's nobody here," he said, which froze me in place.
"Can't you see him? He's standing right behind you!" I pointed at Renz.
"Miss... I don't know anyone named Renz, but seeing you like this makes me sad for some reason. Anyway, he cannot see me. I'm also wondering how come you were able to see me, but I have somewhere I need to be. Let's see each other next time. Bye, and it was a pleasure to meet you," he said before walking away. I tried to chase him, but Kyle wouldn't let go of my arm.
"Kyle, I have to follow Renz! Let me go!" I pleaded, but to no avail.
"Please, Eveline, don't be like this. You're sounding like a crazy person. Please, let me take you to Belle so she can check up on you," Kyle said, and I had no other choice but to give up on following Renz as Kyle started to drag me towards the medic room.
When I entered, all of the council members were inside, crying.
"Kyle! Where the hell have you been?" Ysabel scolded him.
"Why? Is something the matter?" Kyle asked, noticing that Ysabel and the rest of the council were crying.
"Kyle..." Ysabel started and sighed deeply before continuing. "Cassandra's... Cassandra's dead..."
"What?!" Kyle blurted out and hastily opened the covered space for a bed, where Cassandra had been lying earlier. It was now empty.
"What the hell?! I was just talking to her earlier! She even told me to bring her a book to read, which I did." Kyle showed the book he had inserted into the chest pocket of his uniform.
"Damn, what happened?" It was obvious that he was pissed off, and Dylan and Klenn shared his anger.
"We don't know for sure. She seemed healthy earlier, as you told us, but when we got back from our classes, she was struggling to breathe and turned to ashes," Ysabel said while still crying.
"Wait, where's Storm?" I interrupted, and Ysabel also looked around, only to find that Storm was not in the room.
"He was just here," she said, confused.
"Damn!" I cursed aloud and ran out of the medic room. I kept running through the halls, unaware that Kyle was chasing me and shouting. I ran as fast as I could until I heard a loud noise from somewhere and instinctively went there, only to see Storm being dragged by an invisible creature, which kept throwing him from every corner of the room.
"Storm!" I shouted his name, and he struggled to look at me with an angry expression.
"Take her out of here! Immediately!" Storm shouted at someone, and when I checked who was behind me, it was Kyle.
"Hurry up, Kyle! Get your asses out of here NOW!" he ordered Kyle, who obeyed with confusion.
"No, let go of me, Kyle! Can't you see he's in danger?!"
"But he told us to get away from here. Come on, let's just listen to him, Eveline. Nothing good ever comes from disobeying him," Kyle said, gently dragging me away from the scene. "Calm down, he'll be fine. His father wouldn't dare to kill him anyway."
"What are you saying?"
"The invisible creature who was hurting Storm was his own father, Shadow. He was called Shadow for a reason, as cursed people cannot see him except for Storm. And trust me, no father, no matter how devilish, would ever kill his own son," Kyle explained, still dragging me towards the dormitory.
"Nothing is certain, Kyle. So Storm is still in danger," I told him, and he stopped walking, facing me.
"Okay, just go back to your room, and I'll make sure Storm is safe. I'll check up on him," Kyle said, holding both of my arms.
"Let me go with you," I insisted, but he shook his head.
"Please, just listen. Maybe you were so stressed that you were even hallucinating earlier, so please rest."
"I wasn't hallucinating, Kyle. I swear I saw Renz, and he was even talking to me!" I shouted in annoyance as he kept insisting that it was all in my mind when I was fully aware that it wasn't. Even the impact of our collision was still fresh in my mind, and I could still feel a hint of pain in my butt.
"Alright, alright. Please calm down, Eveline. Just... please listen to me this time. Take this chance to rest first. I'll come to you later," Kyle told me with pleading eyes. So, not wanting to make anything worse, I nodded in response.
"Thank goodness. See you later," he bid me goodbye, and I took a deep sigh as I watched his figure slowly fade into the distance.