As my eyes fluttered open, I groaned, moving my hand to rub the pain torturing the backside of my skull. I tried to lift my previously motionless body from the floor but my legs protested by releasing a piercing ache in response. Why were my legs aching? Every recent memory began rushing in as my eyes instantly became aware of my surroundings. I brushed the tender part of my head again. The last thing I recalled staring at three seats made out of clothes before I passed out.

   Wait...more like knocked out!

"Hey, Arch-nemesis."

   Why did that greeting sound so familiar?

   I scrambled to my feet despite the agony that shot through them and spun to stare at a defensively poised duo.

   A duo I recognized all too well.

"Aarav? Camila?" My hand returned to my head to calm the unsettling confusion dulling my mind, before I asked. "Hold on... how is this possible?"

   They stayed silent when they realised the question was mainly rhetorical. Instinct drove me to examine their eyes. I didn't know whether to be relieved or even more distraught that the pairs, though widened, were not dilated like the others.

"Wait..." My gaze found the stick in Camila's hand. "Did you knock me out? With that?"

"I swear it was a-an ac-cident," she stuttered, still gripping the wooden, tree-branch sized stick like her life depended on it. "It was Rav's fault."

"Oh please! You were going to do it anyway." Aarav said, scoffing at her accusing finger pointed his way. "I was the one who tried to pry it from your grip when it slipped to hit Beth."

"Thanks for that, Rav, really," Camila replied, anything but gratitude showing in her rolled eyes.

"You don't really think I'm like the others do you?" I asked her.

"We can't be sure. You could be wearing contacts for all we know." The suspicion in her squinted eyes that kept growing was beginning to piss me off.

"Well, I can assure you, I'm not." I glared at the stick she still had a tight grasp on. "So do you mind putting it away? I really don't think my brain can handle another concussion."

"As long as you stay where you are." She raised her shoulders into a mini-shrug. "You have nothing to worry about."

   The only thing that stick could be good for was hitting that stupid smirk right off your stupid face. I withheld the scream of frustration tickling my throat. Just my luck to be stuck with Viola's best friend.

"Why are you just standing there?" I turned to Rav saying, "You were the one who brought me here, without me asking or begging you might I add. Talk some sense into your crazy friend!"

"Hey! She's not crazy, okay?" Rav replied, holding out a defensive arm.

"Thank you Aarav!" She cast a victorious snarl toward me.

"Just insanely paranoid—Ow!" He cast an annoyed glance at Camila as he rubbed the spot on his torso she punched.

"You know I thought this would eventually end if I didn't intervene. I guess I was wrong." A sudden inclusion of a new voice behind the three of us startled me into a jump.

   I looked over my shoulder to discover that the gruff voice belonged to a male figure leaning against an area of the wall close to the curtain that led to this room. He was dressed in black from head to toe. I inhaled a sharp breath when I looked into the same mask he had saved me from, still over his face.

"Just take off your mask." Camila told the mysterious figure I traced to one of the far corners of the room.

   I swallowed as my heart and head throbbed in anticipation of the identity of the boy who actually saved me as he did.

   ...Until it didn't. As he took off his mask and black jacket, I gawked at the face he unveiled in surprise. I couldn't believe I hadn't recognized his voice all this time.

"You're welcome by the way." Dorian said and gave a stiff nod in my direction while he walked over to one of the three clothes seats.

I resisted the urge to facepalm when the ungrateful words I had yelled to Rav while I had believed he was the masked rescuer flashed through my mind.

"As I was trying to explain before someone walked in unannounced," Dorian scowled at me like it was my fault, "and someone else overreacted, she's harmless."

"Even if I wasn't, how could I have possibly escaped in that state?" I asked, trying not to shudder as I remembered Minji's face.

"She's right," Aarav's expression distorted as he mumbled. "Everyone else can't leave."

"Not unless they were deliberately let out to be an insider," Camila snapped at me.

   This time, everyone ignored her.

"Just one last thing," Dorian said, rising from his seat on the floor.

  An inexplicable chill wrapped across my torso as he walked my way. I was instantly aware of the missing bottom half of my shirt that had been ripped by a tree branch in the woods. I tugged at its ends, trying not to reveal how self-conscious I felt as Dorian's six foot frame glanced down at me, face and tone ever so indifferent.

"Why exactly are you here?" He inquired. "Anyone else would be insane to come back to Zavlon Academia without the authorities."

"I got it. The message." I hated how loud my gulp sounded.

"Message?" He echoed, quirking an eyebrow.

   I sighed at the blank look he still had on.

"Mr. Sacury's message." I replied with a clearer voice this time, my head held high. I was not going to let his stare down win.

   Seconds passed as we maintained eye contact, neither of us willing to back down. I held back the relieved breath that threatened to release itself when his eyes and stance finally softened.

"There's your proof Cami," He whirled to her saying, "Happy now? Or do you have any other theories as to how any one who wasn't mind controlled was able to get the message."

"Not today." She glowered at us both but said nothing more.

   I followed her with my eyes as Camila walked over to a section of the wall covered with a thick curtain-like cloth and pulled it down. My focus shifted to the small, foldable teaching board against the wall that the cloth had unveiled. It was covered with countless papers and pictures. They were taped to the board, having various colours of pen ink and markers that had been drawn into arrows all around the papers and pictures of Zavlon Academia itself, its facilities and some students and teachers. Everything seemed like a complicated puzzle.

"Wow. You guys work fast," I said, stepping toward the—as much as I hated to admit it—kind of masterpiece that was splayed over the board. "Wait, how did you even find this bunker in the first place?"

"Not really," Aarav replied, referring to the board I had bent over to get a better look. "We don't really have much to follow up on. You're looking at a cold case. And this bunker has been here for ages. After some seniors discovered it years ago, it's been the hangout area for some students during lunch or right after school is over."

"That's...news. But what do you mean by 'cold case'?" I questioned. What this board had was more than anything I could've ever conjured.

"Are you sure you got the message?" Camila shot me a sceptical look. "Apart from clarity on what exactly was going on, everything else just had no leads whatsoever. We don't know who we're up against, where his lab is—"

"Hold on." I took deep breaths first before proceeding. "You're telling me there were problems with your messages too?"

"Wait, too?" Dorian's voice rose a couple of octaves higher as he asked me. "I was dreading this."

   I guess my screwed up Virtuo glasses hadn't been that screwed up after all. At least not because of me like I'd been thinking. "What exactly do you even have on the board then?" With no leads..." I trailed off as I took a second glance at papers and pictures plastered into it.

   There was a printed out picture of Mr Sacury, a cut out magazine image of Zavlon Academia and some Zavolonians, a hand drawn map of the school, rough sketches of those beasts and question marks placed on certain specific parts

   My eyebrows found each other downwards when I glanced at the picture of the Virtuo glasses and Mr Sacury marked red with more question marks than the rest.

"I don't understand." I remarked, looking over my shoulder to where Rav, Camila and Dorian were standing. "Why is there still so much emphasis on the glasses and Mr Sacury? We already know its purpose."

"Not entirely," Camila replied, walking up from behind to stand next to me. "I haven't figured it out yet, but there has to be some form of link between Mr. Sacury and the glasses. Why did he choose it specifically as a medium to send the message?"

"That's what we're going to figure it out," The self-consciousness with my shirt reawakened when Dorian's penetrating gaze on me didn't stir as he said, "right now."

A/N: I would really appreciate it if I could get a few thoughts on my work🙂 It'll be nice to know if  you genuinely enjoy what you've been reading so far.

Follow me on instagram : @zwrites._ I follow back!

Published: 28th September, 2021.