I didn't go to the funeral. Even if I had wanted to, Jesta's family didn't allow any visitors. So, I spent that week going around like the living dead.
Home. School. Club. Home.
I did think about calling the police, even after days have passed, but it seemed as though the case was closed. The round of gunshots supposedly heard from Serenity Mall was just a car's machine gone haywire. So, keep calm, they said, and the poor, traumatized shoppers can get an apology voucher right after. Come back and shop again!
And, in the farthest corner of a back page in the newspaper, was the brief story of yet another teenage suicide by a certain Jesta Quisling, student of the MU. So tragic.
Worse than that was Tanner. We never talked again after what happened, but he kept appearing where I could just see him. He always seemed to be hovering just near enough for me to notice him, but far enough a distance so I couldn't call out to him.
I haven't even spoken a word about what happened to Jesta, but he still kept an eye on me. Anyway, what would I even say if I were to report it? 'It was actually the police who shot at a college girl, killing said girl in the process?' And there were still those things I heard the police say before they shot her. Was Jesta really a member of the Vigilantes, and how did the police even know that?
Knowing Jesta, I didn't find it that hard to believe. I could easily imagine her in a dark one-piece suit, a mask on her face, and a can of spray paint in her hand, ready to wreak havoc on the ignorant rich. She had both motive and drive to be a Vigilante. But why would she die for something like that? Was it really that important for her?
Even though we didn't talk as much after the accident by the road, I'd like to think that I knew her well. But now, it seemed as though my best friend might have been hiding a good part of her life from me just as Tanner had.
I heard a light ping from my laptop.
I realized I was spacing out in the middle of writing something. I had long finished the feature assignment for the Literature Club. I just ignored Tanner and just finished it on my own. Right now, I was sitting under one of the old, humongous trees around the campus field, a laptop placed on my lap. My website was on the screen, now turning darker after having not used for a while. I moved the arrow a bit so it wouldn't completely turn black.
Not gaining any motivation to write, I decided to scan through the comments from my last post. I would lie if I said I only had a few followers. My blog has been a popular go-to site for almost anything. Food, book reviews, random recommendations. Over years of nonchalant writing, I had gained more viewers than what I originally expected to have.
Finding the topmost, most-liked comment, I clicked on it to read the whole thing.
'Another well-written article! But, I do have to comment here how I've noticed something that has been bothering me for the past few days. It almost feels as though your recent posts have been darker. It might just be for a change of pace, but I do get worried. I have a daughter who…'
I skimmed through the rest where she goes on to talk about her daughter suffering from depression.
'… What I'm saying is, if it's nothing, then don't mind this comment. But if there's anything troubling you, you do know we're here for you, right?'
A thread of comments under that showed varying responses. Most agreed with her opinion. Some even gave contact information to help centers and psychiatrists.
'Was I too obvious?' I wondered.
I have always been told that my writing was like a reflection of my own feelings. I really couldn't help it. In fact, this may have been the main reason why I easily came into fame. But now, it worked a little too well, and now I've worried my readers…
"Are you still thinking about burning things up?" a voice suddenly asked from beside me.
I jumped, almost dropping the laptop from my lap. I didn't even hear him come near me, and here he was, sitting leisurely beside me on the grass, his back against the tree trunk.
"Zero," I called him.
His brows went up. He seemed shocked that I knew his name. "Oliver, actually. Only my friends back at the Alpha Club call me that."
My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He then placed his head on his hand, gazing towards me, observing me almost lazily.
"But I'll allow you that honor," he said with a smirk.
I blushed even more. Normally, I wouldn't care if even the most handsome guy in school flirted with me, but there was something about Zero, or Oliver, that made me flustered and uneasy. Maybe it's because I still believed that he was the one who had saved me back then, even if everyone had said that he wasn't even near the accident.
"So you read her blog too, huh?" Zero leaned over me, staring at my laptop screen. Seeing it was on edit mode, I hurriedly closed the laptop in case he noticed.
I flicked my head to look at him, searching his face for a sign that he saw. He only smiled his usual lazy smile. I looked at him suspiciously.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"Nothing…" I muttered in reply, thinking that he probably didn't see it. I continued, "So, you read LHT too?"
His smile grew wider, a hint of mischievousness in his eyes. He spoke with a certain elegance that I can't help but be drawn to. "Of course. I particularly liked the one with the terrorism talk."
I flinched. That was the article I wrote right after seeing Jesta being murdered. I felt awful about being forced to be silent, and I had to at least get it out of my system. I mentioned nothing about Jesta, the police, nor the Vigilantes, but writing that article really made me feel slightly better. In retrospect, it wasn't the best piece, and unlike the types of topics I usually wrote about, it had an unpopular opinion: terrorism can be a good means for change.
I don't really truly agree with it now that I had calmed down a bit, but back then, I completely sided with the ideals of the Vigilantes. After all, if even the enforcers of peace and order were willing to commit the very crimes they were mandated to prevent, then I suppose the common man should have the right to fight back with violence as well.
I sighed. "I didn't really like that one."
Zero looked surprised. "Really? I would think that the author would like every piece that she wrote…"
I stared at him with my jaw dropped. He only smiled, showing his perfect teeth.
He did see it…
Before I could refute him or make excuses, he was already standing up, dusting his behind with a few flicks.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," he told me as he started walking away. Already far away, he shouted out a question, "You'll come, right?"
Confused, I started to get up to ask him what he meant, but at that moment, I glimpsed a slip of paper falling from the top of my closed laptop. I picked it up and read it. It contained an address and a time, in neat handwriting.
I glanced back up at Zero. I could still see his wide, lazy smile even from where I stood. I didn't even notice him place it there…
He waved at me and laughed heartily before disappearing from my view behind some buildings.
Packing my stuff up, I carefully slipped the piece of paper in between a book. All the while, I wondered what kind of secrets Zero had.
~~
I suppose you can say that curiosity killed the cat, but here I am. I'm the cat, and I'm ready to be killed. I stood in front of the decapitated building mentioned in the paper. I checked my watch. I was early. So why was no one here? Was I given the wrong address? Or did Zero just honestly make some stupid prank on a gullible first year?
Going around the building that looked more like an abandoned factory, I can hardly believe I hadn't seen it inside the campus before. To be fair, MU was huge, and an even more humongous area of forests and mountains surrounded most of it. It was one of the things that made MU different from most universities. MU was still a city school, but only barely. We were situated on the borders of Central City and one of the few surviving national parks.
Well, this building was obviously closer to the forests than the city.
The ground around the building was littered with empty liquor bottles and ankle-high weeds, the surroundings were covered with thick foliage of small, leafy trees, and the building itself had vines and moss running on its walls and roof. I really didn't think this was the correct address, even if the paper contained exact coordinates. I was only still standing here because the place intrigued me.
When I had enough of the view, and when I had finally swallowed down the disappointment from being played by Zero, I heard a sound. Human sounds, laughing and cursing. They were coming towards me, their loud footsteps accentuated by the plants they had to go through.
A girl appeared from the thick foliage. I caught her eye while she was in mid-laughter. Her eyes grew wide, and her full lips opened and closed like a fish's. I almost laughed, but I was too anxious to do so.
Then, the rest of the party arrived at the scene. Silence ensued. A group of boys and girls, probably not much older than me, was staring at me like I was a ghost.
"W-What're you…" one of the boys managed.
I pitied him, so I answered the incomplete question. "Hey. I'm Yassi Anne. Under Biology."
They just continued to stare at me.
"What are you people doing standing around for?" I heard a familiar voice behind them, just arriving at the scene. When he saw me and the expressions of his group, he did something unexpected. He laughed so hard, barely keeping his balance as he bent over, shaking and heaving in merriment.
"… Zero?" I called out to him, annoyed and a little bit worried. The others looked even more scared after seeing his incongruous reaction.
"You know her, Zero?" a guy asked the still laughing boy.
"You should've seen your faces," Zero muttered in between laughs, brushing away a tear from his eye. Then, composing himself, he approached me, which made me step back. I had enough of his crazies. But he caught me in his arms so fast I didn't even see it happen. He had a firm arm around my shoulders when he announced with a brighter-than-usual smile, "This is Yassi Anne. She's a new recruit."
After a moment of shocked silence, they all suddenly erupted into a chorus of complaints.
"What do you mean, recruit?"
"Jenna never told me about this. We don't even have time for this!"
"Who even recruited her? I thought nobody else should know about this-"
Zero raised a hand up. I expected them to just ignore it, but they simultaneously stopped speaking. I raised a brow. I didn't think Zero would be such a respectable member of this group.
"Alright, quiet down." Zero slowly stared at each of them. Then, he spoke slowly, carefully enunciating his next words. "I recruited her. Now, let's all go in first before we call in the cops with all this noise."
They all still seemed shocked but we managed to get inside the decapitated building. I almost dropped my jaw on the floor upon entering the previously chained up, rusting door.
It looked like a secret superhero headquarters.
All the windows were barred out and no light could go inside, but the electronic lights perfectly made the interior look bright as day. The whirls of fans turned on together with the lights. The ceiling looked higher from the inside, and the open space around me made the whole place look bigger. Long tables stretched out along the floor, filled with metal tools and what looked like some mean-looking toys. Scattered almost carelessly on some tables were a handful of laptops and computers, already running some kind of program with their blue screens. A corner had compartments of cans and bottles stacked up together. On the other side, there were white, costume masks piled up, and a full row of black, shiny jackets held up on hangers.
I gulped. 'Where was I?' I thought, both with a bit of wonder and apprehension.
The others had already grabbed seats and sat around the room, as though they were already used to the process. I noticed they were just sitting, though, cautiously exchanging gazes from time to time. I realized belatedly that it was because there was an invader in the room: Me.
I searched for Zero and found him coming out of a door I hadn't noticed before. It seemed like he had gone into the room without me knowing while I was still glancing around the building. He walked into the center of the room, although there wasn't really a stage or anything, and beckoned me forward.
Feeling an unusual timidity, I walked carefully and stood beside him. Once again, I was the object of everyone's stares. Finally getting a good look at the people in front of me, I realized some of them looked familiar. Upperclassmen, I realized. I believe I even had a class together with one of the girls, noticing her hair styled in a short bob.
Zero cleared his throat. "Alright, I know this is sudden, and Jenna's not even here, but I just found the solution to the problem we've been having for the past few weeks."
The girl I had a class with glared at Zero. "That's fine and all, Viridion, but might we address the elephant in the room?" She then looked straight at me.
Zero only laughed easily. "I am, chiquita. You see, Yassi Anne is the solution."
He waited eagerly for a reaction, gesturing towards me like I was a prized animal. I wanted to hide.
"… Fuck. This isn't the time for your mind games, Zero. Get to the point," the biggest boy of the bunch growled, his short, buzzed red hair catching my attention.
"I'm getting there, Roy." Zero only smiled lazily. "Yassi Anne here, after all, is the Lady Talk herself."
Gasps filled the room. I whipped my head to glare furiously at the boy beside me.
'He told me he'd keep it a secret!' I thought in anger and despair.
Seeing my face, he held up a hand in apology. I continued to glare at him as voices filled the building.
"Really? The author of Let Her Talk?"
"That's the popular blog right?"
"I thought she'd be older…"
Although I was flattered by their response, it didn't ease the anxiety inside me. Not one soul knew about my other identity, not even Jesta. Back when she was still alive, I mean.
"See? Imagine what we could do if she could write on behalf of us?" Zero spoke up, his eyes lit up with energy and excitement. "We can finally turn the tide around with the masses."
The upperclassmen around me grew excited too. Some were even laughing. I only grew colder as my nerves went haywire.
'What's happening? What are they talking about?' I thought, my mind working wildly. '... Turn the tides?'
The big one, Roy, suddenly furrowed his brows and presented a question, "But is she even willing to help?"
There was a moment of silence as they turned their gazes towards me. I stared back at them blankly. Then, seeing my unresponsive expression, they turned from me to Zero.
He only shrugged. "I haven't told her yet."
They shouted in surprise. "What do you mean? You brought her here... in our hideout... with the possibility of her telling on us?"
"Yes." Zero only nodded, his dark hair bouncing.
There was a sudden change in the stares of the upperclassmen. When before they only looked at me with suspicion, now they looked at me like I was a treacherous spy.
The girl with the short hair quickly got up and locked the only exit I knew. If that didn't alarm me, nothing will.
"What's happening?" I asked frantically. "What are you doing?"
I was about to run towards the door when Zero grabbed me by my shoulders.
"Yassi. Calm down. I know you'll join us." Zero spoke to me.
I simply let his words get in one ear and float out through the other. I tried to escape from his grasp.
'Oh god, what the hell is happening?' I cried in my mind.
"Yassi, listen to me. I knew you'd join us, right after I read your piece on terrorism. Right after..." he continued, then his expression turned dark. "... Right after Jesta died."
My eyes grew wide, and after he mentioned my best friend's name, I gasped out loud. Of course. Of course... Quickly, the dots connected in my brain.
A hideout. Cans of paint. White masks. Black jackets. Jesta.
"Vigilantes," I murmured, staring at them all. "You're the Vigilantes."
I was greeted with silence, but it was the only confirmation I needed.
"I... I can't believe it." I took a step back, barely keeping my balance. The Vigilantes who have been causing great havoc in national news was right in front of me. Students. Nothing but college students.
Zero gave a tentative smile. "Yup."
"Unbelievable," I murmured.
Then, as though to make things worse, the door Zero had gone through earlier suddenly opened. It revealed a small, timid face.
My eyes bulged out. "What are you doing here?"
Standing in front of me was the boy I never wanted to see.
"Yassi Anne?" Tanner asked, his eyes round in shock.