Free Minds

Chapter 11.

   I had spent barely eight hours in Zavlon Academia but was already eager to get the hell out. I should've taken Tali seriously when she proposed that plan to sneak me out of here and spend the rest of the week in her home.

   Also, how many documentaries were we going to watch before we were allowed to retire to the Quarters? Or were we going to call it a day at the normal school time of closure?

   I let out a sigh as I scanned the dim classroom we had returned to after lunch for the hundredth time. I didn't allow my eyes to remain on Minji for long though. If she wanted to take Viola's side and ignore me afterwards, that was her problem.

   That only meant I could be with my thoughts for a second so the joke was on her.

   For the first time since I got here this morning, I felt like I could relax. After what happened with Mr. Sacury, I was really doubtful the school would still be concerned with some mere malfunction. It's not like they had asked for the virtual gear back anyway. This made me comfortable enough to rest my head on the desk before me. Mr. Walsh could glare at me for all I cared.

   And to think I'd lost sleep over this...

***

   My vision was blurry when my eyes opened to see bright light. How long had I been asleep? Looking through the window near me, not for long. Okay, I was fine...? My sight had regained clarity.

   But long enough for everyone to have left the class for the Quarters. Oh God.

   With a loud screech of my shoved desk, I rushed through the empty classroom and headed to the closed doors. How on earth was I going to find the Quarters all by myself? There had to be a teacher still around though.

   I was met with a cluster of students when I entered the hallway. In utter disbelief at my luck, I blended right in and was immediately on the lookout for Minji. Even if she and I weren't on the best terms, we had had a deal to at least try to get the same room. I wasn't going to risk getting stuck with some weirdo for a roommate over a minor spat.

"Minji!" I called out her name the moment I got a glimpse of a familiar blue head of hair. "Minji, wait!"

   I didn't require much effort to push through the dormant crowd ahead to get to her.

"I know you're still mad at me for some reason." I slowed down into a walk behind her, sighing as her moving back continued to face me. "But you promised we'd be roommates, remember?"

"And," I proceeded even though she kept walking straight ahead. "I know I said I wasn't going to, but I'll even read one of your 'Damian', 'Javier', 'Ace' books. But only if I get to read two mangas beforehand. Deal?"

   Not a word came from her. She did not stray from the crowd of students to turn to me. Okay, so now I was basically non-existent.

"Come on Minji, if you have a problem with me, the least you could do," I said, failing to mask my frustration and whirled her to face me, "is to look me in the ey—"

   The quick, shallow breaths I released was what made me realise the horrified gasp had previously come from me. Even as Minji slipped from my loosened grasp to join the rest, the image of her abnormally dilated pupils was already an indelible imprint on my memory.

   I frowned as my thoughts were cut short by a bump to my left side. Then another. As I turned to face the culprits, the same gasp tickled my throat as we made eye contact. Different eyes with the same dilated stare.

   My gape from the beginning to the visible ends of the hallway confirmed my worst fears. The dilated eyes of every Zavlonian moving through this hallway was going to give me nightmares this evening. Wait...

   This was a dream. Of course! What else could explain this bizarre happening? It had to be.

"Hey," I tapped one student that was passing by me. "We're going to the Quarters right?"

   The queasy feeling in my gut was triggered yet again as he ignored my question to stay in sync with the crowd. Each step, each expression, each behaviour was in perfect harmony.  Everyone and thing was in unison.

"Okay, this is definitely a dream," I nodded with energy to no one in particular for emphasis. "A really, really strange one."

   Which I really, really needed to get out of. I bumped into students more than once as I pushed toward the opposite direction of the hall. The annoying interruptions weren't going to stop my escape from this nightmare through one of Zavlon's exits.

"STOP IT! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!"

   But that was.

   The blood curdling screams suddenly erupted out of nowhere but could probably be heard everywhere in the school. It wasn't difficult to trace it to the slightly opened door of the last classroom at the end of the hallway that was in full view.

   A student I couldn't recognize kept struggling in the arms of... of... what the hell was I looking at?

   The backside, arms and every other body part (from the angle where I had frozen) of the two giant creatures appeared covered with thick black and white fur swaying every time they tried to pin the unrelenting girl to one of the desks. They had to be at least seven to eight feet tall and I didn't want to imagine the extent of their strength as they pushed the fighting student back into the desk. It wasn't possible to identify the silver colored device each monster held in the hand which was suppressing the girl despite her cries of protest.

"Please let me go! Please..." her words were reduced to a whisper before a loud click filled the room.

   My breathing became heavier as I gaped at her motionless frame. The... animals?!..had not moved. Neither had their grips on the device— I had recognized it as having gun-like features with an elongated syringe at the very end— which had just been used on her head.

   The girl's now robotic frame arose. Those knowing eyes had become all too familiar now. She was one of them. This was the very moment my mouth did not think it appropriate to keep itself shut and let out the worst 'eek'.

   Up until that moment, I could have sworn I had never made that sound in all my life.

   As the creatures turned to me, it was hard to decipher whether the weight of knowing dread was what kept my feet glued to the ground...

   Or the unbreakable eye contact currently established with the exact yellow pair of eyes from the Tunnel I had barely escaped.

A/N:
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  Published: 22nd September, 2021.

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