"I can't die! I'm too young!" The boy's voice trembled as he began to unravel into hysterics. He pounded his fist against the floor in wild frustration, his face flushed from tears, and his sniffling became more pronounced. "Why did I fall for that..."
I knew him well. Red hair, cropped short, and eyes of a distrustful green hue. Only Gilbert, the former captain of the football team, sported such distinctive features. His confrontations with me near my desk and at the school entrance were etched in my memory.
"She was just kidding, right?" another of Foris's cronies inquired fearfully.
"The Mafia doesn't kid around with this kind of thing," Charlie responded, his sister regarding the remorseful boy sympathetically.
"This has escalated far too much," Karen declared with concern.
"You should've thought twice when you tormented Julian!" Josephine interjected with palpable anger, catching everyone off guard. "Didn't you hear? Mafiozi is siding with him. She's altering our 'game'."
"Exactly, this is all because of him!" Luke shouted, jabbing his finger at me. He lunged in my direction, only to be intercepted by Charlie.
"Can't you grasp it? Lay off Carner! It's going to come back to bite you. Especially now that Mafiozi is backing him!" he exclaimed, firmly pushing Foris back. "You want to end up in the same situation? Do you even think before you act? What if she's close by, waiting for you to target Carner? Just leave Julian alone."
Internally, I repeated my last name several times. It grated on me when they referred to me as "Carner" instead of "Cartner." They deliberately removed letters from my surname. Although, truthfully, I had grown accustomed to it. Everyone called me that: teachers, classmates, shopkeepers.
I wanted to counter the blonde guy's assertions, but Charlie's stern look was enough to make my words falter. Mafiozi hadn't attended any other classes. Doubts began to creep in regarding whether she was even here to study at all. The classroom atmosphere felt odd, an unsettling hush blanketed the room as sidelong glances were cast in my direction. I exited the school premises unscathed, a surprising outcome in itself.
However, a new predicament emerged — my sleep. Slumber eluded me due to recurring dreams of the brunette's gaze. A gaze marked by cruelty, brown eyes tinged with crimson hues, and afterward, something inexplicable would occur. I would awaken, my body drenched in sweat, struggling to close my eyes again.
"Are you all right?" Daya's voice cut through the darkness as I stepped out to fetch a glass of water to quench my thirst and break the cycle of wakefulness. "Did something happen? You look quite pale."
If it had been any other time, I might have assured her that everything was fine and encouraged her to return to sleep. But today, I laid bare the entire sequence of events. When my narration concluded, she responded with astonishment.
"Wow, that's incredible! You've got the real Mafia on your side! Can I share this with Black Cat?" "It's not certain that she's on my side," I replied with doubt.