The morning after was gloomy. The weather forecast indicated a snow storm and the sky seemed ready to deliver on that promise. Meanwhile, the seven of them were quieter than they’d ever been when in a room together, staring out the window of an unused classroom. They were all too lost in their thoughts to notice it was the literal calm before the storm.
“We should have stayed there. We should have made sure nothing would happen. Now we have no idea where the ghost and Enrique are, and neither Kyle nor Tyler will say a thing. And it’s all because of me,” Nik finally spoke into the silent room.
“We had to get out of there. They would have noticed you.”
“I know, Svea, but maybe some of us could’ve…”
“Stop blaming yourself, Nik. We all chose to leave because you were our priority. Whatever Kyle and the ghost did, we can still make sure it doesn’t escalate. But we will have to move fast.”
They all looked at Iv. Nik could tell by her words that she was silently moving the pieces of a chessboard no one but her could see.
“What are you thinking?” Hendrick asked her.
“How far are you willing to go?”
“If it’s to save a life…”
Nik could see Jacy frown at what Jabari said.
“Even at the cost of another?” asked Iv.
“Hold on a second, no one is losing a life!” protested Jacy. “Why do we even have to go that far? We can tell someone from the outside about this, call the police if it gets serious…”
“And you think they’d believe in a ghost story?” Hendrick replied.
“I don’t know if any of you has figured it out yet,” spoke Shiro at last, “but I can see glimpses of the near future. Of course, the future is not a definite path. It can be changed. But as it stands, soon it will come down to this: an eye for an eye, a life for a life.”
“Why?” Svea’s voice was frail as she asked this. Nik wished he could comfort her, but if he was being honest, he, too, needed comforting.
“Because the game was set up so that everyone would lose.”
***
After their morning meeting, they decided to wait before taking any immediate action. It’s Kyle’s move, said Iv, and we need to do is come up with a counterattack. In the meantime, a snow storm started to rage in true earnest, which was quite unusual for that part of the globe and the time of the year. Fortunately or not, that meant that the teachers who didn’t live on campus couldn’t make it to class, so all lessons were cancelled, leaving the students isolated and unsupervised. Jabari didn’t have a good feeling about this.
As soon as the news came in, he decided to go back to his room and catch up on sleep. The past night in particular was spent tossing and turning: were all his friends non-human? He didn’t know yet what that could mean for him. But ever since they discovered the truth about Svea, sleep came less often to him, because his brain was riddled with questions and possibilities.
Walking through the quiet corridors of the living quarters, he could feel someone walking behind him, hopefully someone human. He stopped, and so did the figure.
“Jabari?” asked Dianne. “Can I trust you?”
She looked scared. Jabari nodded, then silently followed her to her room. He was surprised to find out she used to share it with Gwen. Usually, students were paired by class, and the ones in the student body had a room for themselves, but due to a mishap, Gwen had to share with a first year. How had Jabari never realized that had been Dianne when he saw both of them at the Belorgey ball?
He was more surprised, however, when he noticed Enrique, probably still under Sean’s influence, on Gwen’s empty bed, looking spaced out and all bruised and scathed. He didn’t even acknowledge the new presence in the room.
“Kyle and Tyler brought him here in the middle of the night. They knew I was rooming alone, so I suppose that’s why. He hasn’t really said a word since, but I kept an eye on him and tried to treat his wounds as best as I could.”
“What did they tell you when they left him here?”
“Nothing. Just to keep him here for the night and not tell anyone. I didn’t want to do it, but Tyler begged me. Ty’s my friend, so I trust him. I did it for him. I promised I’d keep the secret.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
“Enrique wasn’t the only one bruised. Kyle was too. I assume there was a fight, but I was too scared to ask.”
“Are you sure Kyle didn’t say anything about what happened?”
“I’m sure.”
So she probably didn’t know that a ghost was controlling Enrique’s motionless body.
“I know I promised, but I’m scared and don’t know what to do. I didn’t know who else to go to.”
Jabari was shocked that he had been Dianne’s choice, he couldn’t quite understand why. Was it because other than Tyler and maybe Svea she didn’t really have anyone else she was close to? He thought he managed to look calm enough on the outside, but inside he was in a huge dilemma, even more so when Dianne begged him to keep it between the two of them.
“You cannot tell your friends. Kyle would know then.”
She was right, but Jabari wasn’t sure what else he should do.
***
“If you called me to talk about what happened yesterday, then you have to know that while I don’t regret what I did, I realize it wasn’t right. You and Shiro may not be together, but…”
“That’s not why I called you,” said Iv as she stopped walking, turning to face Hendrick.
They were walking towards one of the school’s back entrances. She just asked him to follow her; he didn’t ask any questions, which suited her just fine, but he seemed to have the wrong impression. Feelings were something they should eventually talk about, but other matters took precedence. That and the fact that Iv didn’t quite want to admit that kissing Hendrick was a thoughtless thing to do.
“Then?”
A knock was heard, so they hurried to the door. Whether Hendrick used magic or his natural strength to open the chained door Iv couldn’t quite tell, but it was impressive nonetheless. On the other side, in full snow storm, was her trusted butler, John, who was accompanying Gwen. She was dressed to kill in a leather coat with matching leather gloves – definitely not her usual style, but Iv understood the intent.
“I’ve missed you so much!”
“I doubt that.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” said Gwen handing Iv her coat as she stared fondly at a stunned Hendrick. She rolled her eyes for good measure, then once John managed to close the door against the strong wind, Iv led the guests to one of the many empty classrooms.
“Can someone illuminate me as to how and why Gwen is here? And sorry, but who are you?” Hendrick finally broke his silence once they took a seat.
“This is John, my butler. For security reasons, he has been staying in the nearest village from here, where it just so happened that Gwen showed up last night, planning to pay us a little visit if I’m not mistaken. Nothing flies past John, of course, so he kindly let me know I should expect her. And just in case Gwen was thinking of postponing her visit because of the terrible weather, I insisted that John found a way to bring her here.”
“What she said. I admit, I wasn’t going to risk it in this weather, but I was swayed when this gentleman right here showed up with an impressive Land Rover and a personal invitation from Iv.”
“My people are nothing if not effective.” And she meant that.
“Ok, but why? You basically had a hand in her father’s decision to take her out of here.”
“True, but our own differences aside, we have a common enemy.”
“Kyle Hannagam,” revealed Gwen with venom in her voice. “I don’t care much about returning to this school, I mean you don’t love me anyway, so what is the point,” she gave Hendrick a pitiful look, “but if me and my reputation are going down, so must Kyle.”
“And since I find revenge so delightful, I’m willing to help you out. But first: how do you feel about blood?”
***
Having nothing to do, Shiro was strolling through the hallways of the empty building. Most students had chosen to party in the common room or catch up on their sleep, so the wing where the classrooms were located was devoid of any soul except his. Or so he thought, because right outside one of the back doors he could distinctly hear two voices. He went to a window nearby where he could observe two of his classmates, Keith and Jacob if he could recall correctly, braving the now partially tamed storm for a quick smoke break. Apparently Hendrick wasn’t the only one with a bad habit, although since he had figured out a more permanent solution to keep his human face Shiro hadn’t seen him use those potion-filled cigarettes anymore.
“You told me you’ve did it before, why are you coughing up now?”
“I lied. You wouldn’t have given me one otherwise.”
“Pathetic.”
“You know what’s pathetic?”
It’s about to get interesting, thought Shiro, watching as Keith turned on his companion.
“You thinking you had any chance to be a part of the debate team for the green-liners. As if you had enough brain for that.”
“At least I wasn’t close to failing like you, so you’d better watch what you’re saying.”
A light bulb turned on just then in Shiro’s mind. Back when Kyle came up with the idea of a competition pre-reevaluation based on extra-curricular activities – tennis and debate, respectively – the tensions where high throughout the school. Kyle had created a divide: those close to failing and those on top. And history would tell you than any divide, especially a hierarchical one, could often lead to chaos. The fact that nothing had happened yet only meant that enough time had passed for that initial conflict to either brew or dilute completely, and if Shiro played his cards right, then Kyle could finally see his vision come true. A vision which Shiro would embellish with a spark of violence, just for good measure.
He opened the window to let the chilly winds come in, and made himself known to the two boys who immediately sought to hide what they had been doing.
“Keith and Jacob, right?”
The two nodded.
“Now which one of you is stronger?”
“What?”
Both options were terrible, really, but if he had to choose, the best bet would be Jacob due to his bigger build. Logistically, it would make more sense if Keith was to attack, but Shiro was sure the end result would be the same anyway.
“Nothing, just keep doing whatever it was you were doing.”
He got away from the window just so that he’d be out of sight, then, once in Jacob’s body, clenched his fist and aimed straight for Keith’s unsuspecting nose.
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