"And that's it for today's lesson."
With a final stroke of his chalk on the chalkboard, the teacher announced as he laid the less than an inch chalk on the small ledge below the board. Then, turning around, he packed the rest of his things into his bag and faced the class.
"Class is dismissed early for today."
Watching him walk out of the classroom, everyone was stunned for a couple seconds as his words sank in before people started streaming out of the room. Dumping everything into my bag, I stood up and left the classroom with Frank and Linel.
Following our usual route towards the cemetery, once we were far enough away from school, we slowed our steps and huddled together to talk.
"It's unusual for that teacher to end the lesson early. Doesn't he like to keep us right until the bell rings?"
Whispering, Frank exclaimed quietly as he hugged his bag straps.
"It's probably because of the Public meeting happening this afternoon. I heard from my father about it yesterday. He said that they were planning on announcing it late this morning. Like this, the newspapers wouldn't have enough time to publish it. So, the only ones attending are those keeping a very close eye on the government's actions."
Lowering his voice to an almost inaudible whisper, Linel's eyes glinted with anger as he spoke.
"It's perfect for drawing out most of the protesters. Especially since they're supposed to be laying low and avoiding contact with each other. All they have to do is keep an eye on some of the more well-known protesters and monitor who they talk to. And then monitor who those people talk to. Like this, it'll be easy for them to dig up who is part of the faction and catch them."
As I listened to Linel's words, I could feel my eyes widen and my heart drop.
"In other word's, the meeting is..."
"A trap."
Falling into a frozen silence, the three of us slowed to a stop as we shuddered at the devious plans of those in the government. Frank and I exchanged terrified glances, and I couldn't help but feel slightly panicked.
"Or at least, that's what I think."
Linel added that line at the back and took a step forward. Following him, we continued making our way towards the cemetery.
"But if I noticed it, I'm pretty sure most people in the faction should realize this too. However, how they are going to gather information without getting caught is the biggest question."
Giving a sigh, Linel shook his head as he spoke.
"The announcement for the meeting was truly too late. Because of the reforms occurring yesterday, and with most people trying their best to lay low in the research center, it would be incredibly difficult to communicate with each other to minimize the number of people caught. And the more people from the research center went, the easier it would be to connect the dots between who is a protester and who is not."
Which means that it would only be a matter of time before those in the MDVA research team are caught.
Although no one said it out loud, everyone thought the same thing.
The goal for this trap was definitely to catch those from the research team. And once those people were caught, that was it. Their loss would be the biggest blow to the faction.
Drenched in silence, the three of us continued walking. Nobody had the heart to speak as red and black thoughts bounced around in our minds, settling as a heavy tension around us as our legs automatically brought us to our destination.
Arriving at the cemetery, the three of us were only a couple meters away from the large building when Linel paused in his steps and whipped his head in a certain direction.
"Oliver's here."
Stooping in our tracks, Frank and I looked in the direction Linel was facing and spotted Oliver. Standing in the small alleyway we had used for our previous meetings with Richard, Oliver was leaning on the wall with a notebook open in front of him. Smiling as he noticed we had seen him, he used one hand to wave before writing something into his notebook. Then, closing the notebook, he backed into the alleyway and out of our sights.
Looking at each other, the three of us then headed over to where he was.
"Oliver?"
Ducking into the alleyway, we saw Oliver nonchalantly standing next to a pair of familiar faces.
"Dan?"
Turning her head my way, Joel smiled as she saw our faces.
"What are the two of you doing here?"
Beside her, Jade was passing several papers over to Oliver with a cold face. Then, turning to face us, he gave us a short nod before taking his place beside Joel.
"We just saw Oliver from near the cemetery, so we came here."
Stepping forward, I explained before introducing both Frank and Linel. And as she nodded her head to show she was listening, her eyes immediately locked onto Linel. Grinning at us, she greeted the two of them before straightening her back and whispering to Jade.
The two of them were engrossed in their conversation, ignoring us, and the three of us exchanged raised eyebrows and gazes at this scene. However, breaking the heavy silence between us was Oliver's voice.
"Frank."
Oliver walked up to us with a stack of research papers in his hands. His eyes were glued to the papers as he blindly stepped forward and stopped in front of me. Lifting his head, he turned the paper back to it's front page before extending it towards Frank.
"I think you should read this."
Tilting his head slightly to the side, Frank showed a face of confusion as he reached his hand out to accept the paper. Leaning forward, Linel and I stared over his shoulder as the three of us read the title of the paper.
'Daily records of the pair of brothers, Raven and Will, transcipted from several eyewitness from Bottom street.'
Staring at the paper, Frank's eyes suddenly widened, and he hurriedly flipped the paper. The first page was a list of positions, such as Neighbor 1 or Passerby 1, showing the witnesses' connection to the brothers in question as well as allowing the reader to keep track of who stated what without giving away their anonymity.
Turning to the second page, the first chapter started from the viewpoint of Neighbor 1 of the brothers.
"I first met the two brothers in Middle Bottom street a couple of years ago. At that time, the two of them were scrawny and dirty little things. They seemed to be living in one of the abandoned rooms upstairs, so I pretended I didn't know them. The landlord didn't want to pay to repair those rooms, so they remained empty for years. Having two brats as neighbors wasn't such a bad thing anyway. They didn't smoke or make too much noise. Although, in the end, they still got caught by the landlord and chased away from the building."
Following the first paragraph, there were several more 'neighbors' of the brothers who reported similar things. Frank's eyes glistened slightly as he continued reading the paper. Wiping away the small beads of water that had gathered on the side of his eyes, he flipped to the next page, hands gripping tightly onto the paper.
I tore my gaze away from the paper, feeling that the rest was none of my business, and in the direction of Oliver. After passing Frank the paper, he had taken another paper out of the stack and was currently reading it. His speed at flipping the pages was significantly faster than Frank, and before long, he had even reached the last page of that paper. Once finished, he would turn the paper upside down and place it at the back of the stack.
Taking out a thin paper from the stack, Oliver turned the first page, intending to read the paper, when he paused at what was probably the title page. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly scanned the contents of the paper before leaning forward to slide it behind the paper Frank was currently reading.
"Here's another one for you."
After passing the paper to Frank, Oliver reached his hand into the stack to take out another paper when Joel's voice called out to us from behind him.
"Well, now that everyone's here, we should get going. I take it that Oliver didn't tell anyone of you anything, right?"
Grinning from ear to ear, Joel gestured for us to follow her as she led the group back from the way the three of us came from and further 'down'. Passing by the cemetery, Frank didn't have the mind to glance at it as he did last time. Instead, his head was buried in the papers as I guided him forward by his arm.
We followed Joel as she led us past the road leading from the cemetery to the crosswalk, past the road that would lead us to my apartment, and finally past the long and dirty road that separated Top Bottom street from Bottom Middle street.
Stepping foot into Top Bottom street, the six of us kept left as we walked past the dirty buildings of Top Bottom street. Their walls were grimy, covered with many years worth of dirt. However, the residents here were still alive. Many people bustled around, their eyes weary and their backs bent, but at least they had light in their eyes as they gritted their teeth in hopes of striking it lucky and earning enough money to move out of Top Bottom street and into Middle street.
"So, there's a good reason for us to visit Bottom street. Specifically, there's someone important we need to meet in Bottom Bottom street."
Passing the old buildings, as we proceeded nearer and nearer to Middle Bottom street, the surrounding landscape changed to one that seemed highly similar to Bottom High street. The buildings changed from worn down apartment buildings to man-made structures that could barely be called houses. These so called 'houses' were ruins of what used to be apartment buildings that deteriorated beyond repair. However, even these piles of rubble were homes to many.
These two spectrums of Bottom street seemed to be separated by one invisible line. This line was the divide between those who lived in Top Bottom street, also known as a slightly inferior version of Bottom Middle street, and the true Bottom street. The two streets where the government had barely any say, and it was gang leaders that called the shots.
"We're heading to someplace quite dangerous, so please don't leave my side."
Slipping a hand into mine and Frank's, Joel warned us as we prepared to take our first step into Middle Bottom street. In the corner of my eye, I saw Jade do the same for Oliver and Linel. The two boys, who were wise beyond their age, didn't seem phased by the heavy tension that suddenly befell our small group.
Shifting my gaze to Joel, she gave me a reassuring smile before we took one step forward and crossed that line.