"It's not like you to be so generous, y'know." Kemu said, still chewing on the corn dog Alora had bought them. "It's not natural."
Uruake, being shorter, looked up at Alora. "Why don't you treat us more often?" She asked.
Alora snickered. "I'm not willing to go broke on you two's account. Besides, it's not everyday we get a 5 day semester break."
Kemu shrugged. "Fair enough."
They started talking about the vacation that was nearing. It was April 9 now, and their finals were on May 12 - not very faraway now.
"Hey, what are you guys gonna do for semester break?" Alora said suddenly.
"Huh? Oh, right. I don't know, probably stay at home again." Kemu answered, stretching his arms above his head.
"I'm going to our hometown." Uruake said quietly.
"Isn't your hometown in Japan?" Alora asked.
"Mhmm. In Osaka." Uruake replied, biting her nails.
"But-"
Alora stopped midway through her sentence, the words dying in her throat. Both Kemu and Uruake turned to find the reason of her silence, and both froze as they saw the glinting metal of a dart embedded into her neck, a bluish liquid inside it and slowly emptying into her body.
"..." Alora said, wide-eyed before falling to the ground like a stone.
"Alora!" Uruake screamed, catching her before her head hit the ground.
"What. The. Hell." Kemu said, backing away, panic visible in his eyes.
"Kemu!" Uruake yelled, but it had already happened. A second later another dart buried itself in Kemu's neck, this one filled with a bright red substance. And like Alora, he fell to the ground as well.
Heart racing, Uruake looked around. She had always been the most timid in their group, and realizing that someone out there could very well kill them at that exact moment was enough to make her hysterical.
She didn't have to be so anxious for long, as yet another dart shot out of the darkness and hit her in the throat. She only had time to figure out that the liquid inside it was a pale blue before she passed out.
Almost moments later a woman with sandy brown hair and warm brown skin stepped out of the shadows, her brows furrowed in concern. She took out her phone and dialed someone. Her words were hushed. "They're subdued…get over as quick as possible." Then with a glance at the 3 teenagers, she sighed and her golden eyes began emitting a peculiar yellow glow.
Suddenly, all 3 of them were shot into the air like something, someone was carrying them, something the human eye was unable to see.
"Let's go. Arthur will be waiting!" The woman said quietly before turning around and silently rushing away, the floating figures of Alora, Kemu and Uruake sailing behind her.
Some distance away, someone was watching the woman, who now lowered his binoculars. His face was covered with a black mask, but his dark eyes were narrowed.
He turned around to look at the raven who had been resting peacefully on a box a few feet away. "Yue," He snapped, impatiently pushing his dark violet hair out his face. "Send this to the Vice Admiral. And do it now."
The raven woke up with a squeak and with a reproachful glare at him, took the piece of paper in her mouth and flew away.
The young man watched as it flew away, eyes narrowed before looking back at the place the woman and the 3 teenagers had been.
"Your days are numbered, Rikono." He hissed before departing from the rooftops.
//////////////////
Meanwhile, Alora was starting to come to herself. She suspected she was in a car, and judging from how she couldn't see and move an inch, blindfolded and tied up. However, she was not gagged.
"What the hell..?" She said groggily.
"Alora! Thank the gods... Are you okay?" Uruake's voice said to her right.
"Uruake?" Alora asked. "What are you-" She was cut off by a sudden violent turn, causing her to collide with someone else on her left.
"Hey! Watch it, this bag was Gucci!" Kemu's voice snapped.
"Кеmu?"
"Alora?"
"Yeah, it's me." Alora sighed, glad that at least her friends were with her and they were all safe... For now.
"You three are noisier than I would've preferred..." A female voice with a thick african accent said.
All three of them froze, startled. "What the... Who..?" Kemu said faintly.
"All your questions will be answered when we arrive at our destination. For now, I suggest you keep quiet, as we are being followed." The woman said again.
"Followed?!" Alora exclaimed, alarmed. "Can we at least see?"
"But of course." The woman answered. A strange feeling like the whipping wind made itself present before their blindfolds fell into their laps. Alora blinked a few times to adjust to dark interior of the car.
"Where are we going?" Kemu asked, shaking his head to clear the dust in it.
"Somewhere not many people can reach." The woman replied, lighting a cigarette.
For the remainder of the journey they were silent, occasionally throwing one another uneasy looks until the brakes screeched to a halt.
"We've arrived."
End of chapter 2: