The young man had this almost precognitive level of prediction and intuition. It was as if he knew what the future had entailed. In only the past couple months he was able to turn his company from a multi million dollar business to a multi billion dollar enterprise that was slowly encroaching onto the ranks of the Fortune 500.
With one word of his, he could not only influence the stock market, but also create large waves in the world. He was truly a man with influence.
So whether or not his words were true, they still chose to put their faith in him.
Facing the eight, the young man looked at each one of them . His discerning eyes saw through their emotions.
"Prepare yourselves. Whether you believe me or not, it will not matter. What you feel, what you think, will not matter. It is a heartless fact that you will be forced to accept."
Each of his words was deliberate. Each sentence resonated with their soul, their very being. Invigorating them. It made their blood boil.
"You will see carnage and death. The atrocities of this world will lay to bear the true depravity of humanity. You will bleed. You will cry. You will suffer. But the only thing that matters is what we do. Overcome it."
He paused.
"Do not fail me…"
…
…
…
New York City (2:57 PM EST)
Kai and Sia were the first to arrive at their meeting place. They quietly waited, chatting and joking around, until a group of 6 walked up to them.
"Seems like you guys enjoyed your little date. Give me an update."
A cheerful voice resounded in their ears. Snapping out of their little world, they turned to see a tall red haired young woman. Wearing a lacy black tank top and white jeans, the young woman smiled at them, radiating her enchanting beauty.
Kai couldn't help but roll his eyes, smiling as well. While Sia shook her head, returned the smile and spoke up.
"Sammi, isn't this the 5th time you asked?"
The redhead was Samantha Pierce, one of Sia's closest friends and Kai's artistic rival, the current president of the National Arts Honors Society (NAHS). Samantha, or rather Sammi had a bubbly personality and was cheerfully charming to a fault, which shone through in her art.
As such her reputation as an Artist was on the same level if not higher than even Kai's within their school and city. Together they were called the Twin Star Visionaries. A pretentious title that they both hated, but just stuck since their whole year wanted to tease and piss them off a little.
Still their fame was not unwarranted, their pieces littered the school halls and classrooms, essentially turning the whole campus into their own art exhibit. It wasn't an exaggeration. From paintings to sculptures to photographs to murals.
The school eventually became their art piece, especially after they helped design the landscaping and renovations.
With such exposure, the two inspired droves and droves of students to pursue art. Sia being one of them. Although she had admired artists since she was young, she had no confidence in becoming one herself, until she saw Sammi painting one of her exquisite pieces after volleyball practice.
Since then the two girls became fast friends and over the years grew close as they shared their passion for art.
"Since when was I asking?"
"Right now."
"Oh?..."
Seeing how the two girls were about to engage in some serious girl talk, Kai decided to slip away and go talk to the only other boy in the class. Sammi gave a small smirk when she noticed, fully intent on getting some material to tease her rival with.
"Alright, spill it. What happened?"
Sammi was excited to hear what happened during their date.
"There's nothing much to say, we just walked for a while then sat on the bench and talked for a bit."
"Tsk. Stop acting coy…"
Sammi eyed her friend, hinting at something, before continuing to pester Sia.
"C'mon, tell me all the juicy details."
"We really didn't do anything else. You know we've only been dating for less than a month. We haven't even held hands yet, much less anything else."
"Oh yeah. Sorry I keep forgetting… You guys just had those couple vibes since the start of the year."
The tall girl had an expression of realization.
"Really?"
Sia had a slightly doubtful look on her face, thinking that Sammi was joking with her. On the other hand Sammi held her chin with her hand and put on a pondering expression. Seemingly trying to recall something.
"Yeah. Ever since I've known Kai, I've never seen him go out of his way to help someone, when it came to art at least. Usually he would've just focused on his art piece and finished it fast so he could go back to sleep or get on his phone."
She shifted her eyes to meet Sia's, letting out a small smile.
"But since you joined, he has been really open in helping others in art."
She put a slight emphasis on "you" while eying Sia with a knowing look. Catching onto this, Sia began to speak again.
"Since then, huh?"
"No, maybe even longer. He seemed to be uninterested in art classes since sophomore year, but it's not my place to look into other people's business."
Giving Sia a wink, her smile grew wide and bright.
Sia blushed, knowing what the tall redhead was implying. She turned away to look at Kai and completely missed how Sammi's smile turned a bit melancholic. A faint light of longing lingered in her eyes as she too turned to look at Kai.
As the two girls spoke, Kai started a conversation with the other boy, Jack Mitchel, who wore a pair of slim black jeans, a simple white t-shirt, and a silver chain necklace with a ring on it. Along his chest hung a Nikon DSLR camera, while he held a one-legged camera stand on his left hand.