"I have two aces, spades and heart. How about you?" Dean asked.
"Nope, mine is shit." Andre put two double seven on the table.
"Alright, Dean's winning." Orion had folded his card form the get-go.
A card game was one of the ways to spend time for them, besides playing games in computer or doing target practice in the shooting range aka parking lot with reinforced concrete. You only could do it in the middle of the day, though, and that was with very strict regulations.
"How's Aveline? I heard she had bad shits," Orion asked.
"I don't know, nor I am concerned about that," Dean answered as he shuffled the cards.
Andre didn't respond, but he blanked out again. Why Andre was very worried about it? To think that he hadn't slept for this past few days. He usually just sat down quietly on the study table while looking at the white wall of the dorm room. It was not the third time, nor the sixth time, it had happened for a week.
Usually, Dean wouldn't bother someone being a sad boy since most of them were at the age of being depressed and all of that giggles. However, since this was Andre, it might be a good idea to ask him what was the matter with him.
"Andre, since when you become a sad boy like this?" Dean asked.
"…"
Andre put his cards on the table and he got out of the room without any reason whatsoever. He opened the door and the cold breeze of autumn entered the room. He immediately closed the door. Orion didn't have any idea on what was going on, but it might be important.
The mood was ruined. Nobody wanted to play anymore. Dean also headed outside for fresh air. Outside, it was cold, he should have grabbed his jacket or something. Still, the fresh air was a welcomed change.
'Hey, Myra. You there?'
'Yes, I'm here.' Myra walked towards Dean. She was not wearing academy's uniform nor any military uniform, she just wore a pajama of her own, a white pajama to be exact. Dean wasn't sure how to react to that.
'What do you think?'
'Of what?'
'Of Andre, why he is so sad?' Dean asked.
'Perhaps, it's because of Aveline, what do you think?' Myra asked.
'I don't know. People indeed avoided her, but I don't know more about it. Still, I'm only concerned about the testimony that she would give later in court. After that, then we can think about the next thing I should do.'
'Good idea, leaving a weak girl like that after you literally throw away her social value. Then again, are you sure you'll get your testimony?' Myra added.
'You really sound like you're blaming me, Myra,' Dean retaliated.
'I'm not exactly blaming you. However, you should be aware that the moment Aveline's news is spread, you can expect her to be damaged mentally. I don't think she will be treated kindly either,' Myra added.
'What do you mean by that, Myra?' Dean asked.
'Well, besides being bullied and all, you can expect her to be assaulted, both sexually and non-sexually.'
Dean stared into the black dark sky as he heard that statement. There was a limit on how much he could stomach, but rape wasn't one of them. However, it was quite a wild guest, considering that Dean didn't have any idea on who would do that.
'Myra, that's sick as fuck, who would fucking do that? 120th wouldn't be that deranged, Myra.'
'You have been killed, your friend is almost assaulted, and Aveline? Thank lord if she survived this onslaught,' Myra commented.
'Onslaught? World is scary, but not that scary.'
Myra sighed, both impressed and disappointed. 'For someone who had his family slaughtered in front of his eyes, killed many people only God knows how many, and hunting someone with an unimaginable level of bloodthirst , you surprisingly still have your humanity intact.'
'I do enjoy killing, but with a reason.'
'True enough. You always find your reason.'
Dean shrugged, 'I'm just lucky. For one to survive too many things at once is a miracle. People say I'm skillful, but truthfully, even in the bottom of my heart, I'm only lucky,' Dean commented.
'120 confirmed kills, and you are saying that you're lucky?' Myra added.
'Yeah, what else would it be? There are only so many stray bullets that a person can take until it eventually hit something that I can't fix,' Dean referred to himself.
'You got shot a lot, right?' Myra reconfirmed Dean's memory.
'I have no comment on that, and I'm being honest about it."
'Back to the main topic, about Aveline, Dean, do you think she won't kill herself?' Myra suddenly threw the assumption. 'What if Andre is the only one who knows, hmmm?' She then mumbled.
'Andre knows what?'
'You didn't notice that Andre and Aveline are quite close?' Myra added.
'Do I look like a person that meddle in that sector?' Dean asked back.
'Nope, but it's a food for thought, isn't it?' Myra said.
'In that case, I can agree with that.'
'Keep an eye on her, alright.'
[I Have My Eyes on You]
Keep an eye on Aveline. Sounds simple, right? You want your witness, right? Listen, I'm worried about her mental health. Keep an eye on her, alright?
[Watch Over Aveline] [216:00:00 Left]
Reward: [+10,000 XP] [+5 Skill Points]
'You want me to stalk her? Well, if you say so, I'm in,' Dean nodded.
'Yeah, let's make sure you get your testimony. Right now, we're not sure about her current status. I can make a bet that your witness is mentally unstable right now, and I'm not confident enough that she'll be alive when you want her testimony,' Myra added.
'Got that.'
Myra disappeared again into thin air. Dean held his head with his hand. This was not good. If the situation was direr than what he previously expected, he really needed to do the exact opposite of what he would do. He needed to protect Aveline for 9 days.