The school was closed for quite a while. Markus, Kayla, and I were always together. Markus was slowly becoming one of us. We couldn't wait to someday let him and Byul meet. Whenever Byul is found that is...
There was a huge investigation and at that time, everyone was interrogated. Once it was my time to be questioned, I sat in a small dimly-lit room. The air in the room was eerie, just as the man staring straight at me. I stayed serious as to not act suspicious.
"Where were you in the afternoon of the "event?" The man asked me, leaning toward me a slight bit. I remained honest and told him that I was just with Kayla and Markus. We had been roaming around hanging out. The interrogator was sitting back now, his serious look remained as he rubbed his shaved head.
"Alright. That matches with their stories. Did you know the student? His name was Carson Powell." I sat in my seat, tightly gripping the sides, hoping that I wasn't somehow found guilty for something I hadn't done... or did I?
Did one of my finger bullets go astray and kill someone? Was I a murderer?! My attention was taken away from my own thoughts when the man slammed his fist onto the table in front of me.
"Hey! Wake up!" He yelled, settling back down into his seat and looking straight at me. I quickly replied to his earlier question with the truth. "No sir. I did not know anyone named Carson. How did he die?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't say anything about where I was or what I did.
"That is classified information currently. Until we find the perpetrator, it will stay that way. You are free to go, for now if requested by the president, you must come back here."
With his last sentence, I nervously stood up and left. I found Kayla and Markus out in the waiting area. They had waited for me and Markus helped me sit down.
"You're sweating a lot dude." He said, pulling out a small towel and letting me wipe my forehead. I thanked him and we all left. Kayla was chatting on about having no school and how it would affect her, while Markus interrupted by talking about how someone died at the school. I was uninterested, mainly focusing on my watch. Why had it told me there was a Pathogen nearby? How does it know? Why does the public not have access to it yet? Not even the government?
***
Later that day I arrived at the store to buy some groceries with the money Markus had given me when I encountered Principal Mars, who was holding a pack of beer. He began greeting me before finally spotting my watch. He tapped it gently and the display illuminated the area around it.
"What's this? New technology? Where did you manage to get this?" He asked, looking at it brightly, he began swiping through the interface, looking at the options while I stood there awkwardly. I was wondering how he didn't have one yet, he is quite wealthy and hasn't done much to prove otherwise.
"I got it from Markus as a gift sir. I didn't know you didn't own one yet." He looked quite surprised and mentioned the brand. "That company... doesn't Markus' father work there, it's a tech company. Maybe I should ask him for one as well. I don't want to wait for them to appear online, since shipping is quite slow now." Principal Mars smiled and left.
I was quite surprised by his reaction. It wasn't out yet? I would just ask Markus about it later I guess.
***
On my way home I encountered Markus. He came out of an alleyway at just the right time to bump into me. I stopped walking and he apologized. I found it a little weird, but he followed me home, chatting quite loudly along the way.
Once at my house, he pretty much begged to be let in. Almost like a stray dog.
Down the street, an old man could be heard yelling at a cat, who was perched on top of his roof. No matter how much he yelled, the cat did not move, it did not care.
***
In my house I just began on my homework, to which Markus also did, sometimes he would copy my answers, but most times he worked on the backside while I worked on the front side of the paper, we then shared our answers.
Until he changed the subject, interrupting me as I read to him my answers.
"Did you ever find the people who killed your parents? The Acolytes?" I replied with a shake of my head, but I finally realized something. I never told him that Acolytes, in fact... nobody knew about the Acolytes but me, the public was never told, therefore no matter how rich you were, you couldn't find out about the Acolytes.
"Markus. How do you know of the Acolytes?" I asked, feeling my heart sink into my stomach.
He froze in his spot, realizing the mistake he had just made before reaching for his backpack and standing up, walking toward the door with a quick excuse.
"I've got to go. My parents are probably eating right about now."
I grabbed his wrist in anger, pulling him back as he attempted to pull his arm away from me and reach for the door. Our struggles caused his sleeve to be pulled up.
On his wrist was the mark of an Acolyte Trainee.