After the holiday yesterday, my whole body felt sluggish since I just spent the whole day yesterday slacking in my bedroom.
I was dreading for the bell to ring, so I could go back to sleep. But then I remembered that I had detention with Mrs. Cruz after class.
Dylan and I were dragged in this mess after we tried stopping Yuno and Deena from ripping their heads off each other.
I went to Mrs. Cruz's room and found that there were already people inside.
Dylan and Yuno were murmuring at each other. It seemed like they had a serious conversation going on. Behind them was Deena, she was rolling her eyes at the two while checking her manicured fingernails. I also spotted Tay scrolling on his phone and looking bored.
At the back, surprisingly was Rina. As I recalled, she was not the type of person to have detention, but then again, Dylan was here - the rank 1 student of eleventh grade.
I stepped foot inside and that was when I noticed that Mrs. Cruz was not at her table yet.
I slid beside Tay which he nodded at me in return.
The door banged open and came Mrs.Cruz. She scanned us head to head then slid to her seat.
"No cellphone during the duration of your detention," she barked.
All of us tucked our cellphones back into our pockets and just stared aimlessly inside the classroom. I pulled out my book from my bag so I could start working on my homework. I looked at the clock above Mrs. Cruz, and the hands were pointed at 4 o'clock. It was going to be long one-hour detention.
Mrs. Cruz paid no attention to us as she opened her laptop and started tapping on it.
*****
Fifteen had passed, and Mrs. Cruz rose from her seat and gave us a look.
"The principal just called me. I'll be back. Rina, you will be in charge. Let me know if one of them will try to escape," she pulled open the door and stormed her way to the principal's room.
As soon as she was gone from our sight, everyone fished out their phones even Rina.
Dylan and Yuno resumed their murmuring. I heard Monica's name-dropped in their conversation. She had been the talk of academy right now. After Raymond who'd gone missing, another student of the academy was abducted.
Yuno pulled out something from her bag, but I couldn't distinguish the item from my distance. All I knew it looked like a black paper.
Looking at Deena, she was also intrigued by what they were talking about. She rose from her seat and invaded the space between Dylan and Yuno. Then, she grabbed the black paper. Surprisingly, another black paper fell off on the floor when Deena grabbed it from Yuno's grasp.
Deena read the content of the paper and looked incredulously at the two.
"What the hell is this creepy thing?" she raised the hand which held the paper.
Both Tay and I rose from our seats also. I guessed we were both curious about what was written on the paper.
IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE TO YOU THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS AN OFFERING FOR A GREATER CAUSE.
Those were the words written on that paper. The texts were not handwritten. It was straight printed from a computer. I examined the texts, and I had a sense of familiarity that I couldn't just point out what was it.
"Deena give it back to Yuno. We're doing some stuff," Dylan stood while offering his hand to Deena to return the paper.
"I hear bits of your conversation, Dylan. You've mentioned the name of Monica repeatedly," I asked.
"Heard it too. Don't tell me those letters..." she wagged the black paper and pointed at the other paper lying on the floor. "...had something to do with Monica's disappearance? Are you two involved with it?"
Dylan and Yuno looked at each other. There was a pregnant pause before they made an agreement before turning their eyes to us.
"First of all, we are not involve in this case," Yuno stood up and faced us with a cold expression. "Second, that paper you stole from me had something to do with Monica's disappearance. And lastly, both, Dylan and I, were trying to find Monica actually. I think Raymond's case and Monica's somewhat link," Yuno bent her body, picking up the black paper on the floor.
"What do you mean link?" My brows were creased from the revelation of my stepsister. I didn't know she was digging the missing students' case.
Yuno grabbed the black paper from Deena's hand and showed it to us together with the paper she picked up. Both had identical messages.
"Both of them received this black paper before they went missing," Yuno revealed.
"Are they going to be offered in some cult summoning? Those words are strange," Tay looked like he was going to throw up.
"That's what we want to know also," Yuno took a deep breath and looked into our eyes. "So far, from what we've gathered, Raymond and Monica received this black paper, and both claimed that there were a group of boys lurking around them before their disappearance also."
"How do you know that?" Deena threw her hands in the air.
Dylan cleared his throat, getting our attention. "I had the chance to talk with Raymond's parents. They thought that their son was hanging with a gang. But they never had the chance to get a better look. While for Monica's case, she told herself to Yuno through email."
"Though we still yet to confirm if the other two missing teens have the same encounter or if they also received a black letter," Yuno supplemented.
"Wait. Wait! There are more missing teens?" Deena wore a bewildered expression.
I was also surprised to hear there were two more. What was the police doing?
Yuno pursed her lips before answering Deena. She wore this stoic expression while recounting these tales. I didn't know how could she manage to remain calm before us.
"Unfortunately, yes. There's Jane Manobo from L.O.M.S. who went missing earlier, same year with us. Then Chad Abad. He no longer goes to school. He used to work at the commercial center. But I have to confirm yet some details from another source."
"Source?" I pointed out.
My stepsister nodded her head at me. "Earlier, we only knew about Raymond and Jane cases. But then Monica forwarded me a link to a blog site. I don't know if you're familiar with Out of Order?"
Tay and I shook our heads. Both of us never heard of that site.
"Oh for Christ's sake," Deena exclaimed. Her tone sounded exasperated. "I have heard of that blog before. But the site is just full of crap. Full of conspiracy theories of so many things even how the town was founded from dealing with the nature spirits."
Yuno glanced at Dylan, raising her brow at him. " I didn't know that. Anyway, I still have to confirm to the owner of that blog. It seems like she or he is on to something. I want to know if Chad's case has any similarities with Raymond, Jane, and Monica."
Then her phone chimed, startling her. She swiped her phone, and her eyes almost bulge out from its sockets.
"Hey, Yuno. What is it?" I moved closer to check if she was okay.
She averted her eyes from the phone while her brow arched. "Weirdly, the owner of Out of Order just emailed me. And it seems like she can hear us."
"Why does it say?"
"Well, here's the reply - Yes, there's one similarity with Chad's case and with other missing teens."
Yuno was right. It seemed like the owner of the blog site could hear us. I looked around the room. There were Dylan, Yuno, Deena and Tay, all wearing confused looks. While at the far corner, I forgot to notice that there Rina was still in the room. We barely felt her presence. And coincidentally her hands were busily tapping on her phone.
"Yuno asked the owner what is the similarity," I ordered to her while my eyes remained on Rina. Before Yuno could tap the send button, she received another email from the same sender. I let my stepsister read the message as I walked over towards Rina.
She saw me walking towards her and quickly lowered her phone on the desk.
"W-What?" she asked.
"Are you by any chance the owner of Out of Order?" I squinted my eyes on her while she cowered on her seat.
"H-huh? I don't even read that kind of site!" she interjected.
"Oh well," I pretended to lose my interest on the topic while I crossed my arms on my chest. "Then I guess what Deena said is true. The site is just a full of crap right?"
I saw her curling her fingers around her phone while shooting me daggers with her glare.
"The site is a work of passion and dedication in uncovering the truths!" she blurted out. Then her mouth gaped realizing that she revealed herself to us.
"Oh, I thought you've never read that 'kind of site?'" I teased.
"Fine! You got me! I'm Out of Order!"
Then Deena whistled behind me.