That evening was one of the worst in Kori's life. His head was pounding with the thoughts and feelings of the day just gone, and he found it near impossible to do anything but lay still on his bed and stare at the ceiling. It was evident something was going on with the new students, but Kori didn't want to believe it. Nobody did.
The next day would be a Saturday, giving Kori and the rest of his group ample time to figure out a plan going forward from the arrival of the new students… Final's week was coming up, and so was prom, which put the entire group's patience and stability on a knife's edge. But considering the whole situation with Dani, Miana, Darpana, the others, it seemed ridiculously impossible to find some calm in the midst of this-
Kori's thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of his phone. He picked it up, wincing at the brightness of his phone screen. On the lockscreen, there was a lone notification; it was a message from Adara. He opened the message, but was quickly taken aback by the contents.
Adara:
'Those new students you and the group are mentioning seem awfully similar to the Cardinal Sins.'
08:17 pm
Adara wasn't usually this paranoid, or ominous. Kori sighed, this was certainly not good if Adara was texting something like this, especially not at nearly 20 minutes past 8 in the evening.
Kori:
'Adara, what do you mean? Just because there are 7 of them doesn't mean they're the Cardinals.'
08:19 pm
Kori got a reply almost instantly, his phone buzzing as soon as he closed the app. He sighed, anticipating the kind of message he was going to get now he'd started to deny Adara's claim.
Adara:
'Come on, even you have to admit the circumstances are strange. Arriving a couple of days before the beginning of April? Having forgotten all about the fact that final's week is around the corner? They give me an uneasy feeling.'
08:20 pm
Kori:
'Yes, it's strange, but not impossible. Maybe you're still on edge from the following evening.'
08:23 pm
Adara:
'I'm messaging the rest of the group to see what they think. I can't be the only one.'
08:23 pm
Adara:
'They want me to let it go and focus on being nice! Are you kidding me?!'
08:42 pm
It was clear that Adara was distressed with the situation, but this was beyond what Kori had seen from her before. The frustration in her tone of text shone through, giving him an idea of the vexation she was feeling.
Kori:
'I know you don't want to hear this right now, but perhaps they're right.'
08:43 pm
After that message, Adara left Kori on read.
Kori shut off his phone, dropping it carelessly on the mattress before letting out a heavy sigh. Before he could register Adara's annoyance at the group, his bedroom door was opened, and Kori's little sister poked her head in.
"Emmi, what do you want?" he huffed, addressing the 16-year-old.
"Mom wanted me to check on you. She said you had a pounding headache earlier."
"I'm fine."
Emmi wasn't convinced by his defiant tone, and came into the room.
"You're not fine, dumbass. What's on your mind?"
Kori huffed again, slowly raising himself to sit up. He could barely see her in the dim light of the bedroom.
"Just some kid at school-"
"You're not being bullied again, are you? I won't keep fighting these people, I can't afford to face another suspension."
"No, I'm not being bullied! In fact, it's the opposite."
At this, Emmi's face lit up with a mix of surprise and mischief. She gave a wide, cheeky grin.
"Oh, somebody's getting flirty with you?"
"Shut up, dipshit. It's not flirting, I would've known if it was."
"Mhm, sure. What's her name?"
"His name. His name is Dani."
"Is he hot?"
Kori's face burst into a bright blush at Emmi's question. He struggled to speak for a second, his mouth agape as he gathered his thoughts.
"N-No-"
"Bullshit! You like him!" Emmi laughed, crossing her arms.
"Shut up! I don't want mom or dad to know!"
Emmi gave a chuckle at Kori's desperation, lowering her voice respectfully.
"Ok, ok. But you're… 17, right?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna be 18 in a few days, though… What does that mean to the conversation?"
"I mean that if this were to go further with this 'Dani' boy, then I'd hope you'd be following local laws."
"You're really bringing the age of consent into this?"
"Obviously. If Dani is going to start chatting you up, and you like him, then it's only natural for… gay teen boys to go down the route of illegal sex."
"You're a fucking weirdo, Emmi. It sounds like you're about to give me 'the talk'."
"Okay!... Oh, and be sure to use a condom-"
"Shut up! Get out!"
Emmi raised her hands in feigned surrender, giving Kori a look of innocence as he backed out of the room. Once the door was shut, Kori let out a groan of annoyance. The conversation made him feel a whole lot worse, but he couldn't deny the truth behind it.
Across the neighborhood, Leanne was out doing late-night chores for her mom, consisting of collecting the groceries before the corner shop down the road closed for the night. Leanne had emerged victorious with a plastic bag stuffed to the brim with foods and drinks from her list, and she was taking her time in walking back with the heavy load of groceries. However, as Leanne walked past the town noticeboard, a particular poster caught her eye. It was a band poster from one from students of Huriuna high school, and they were looking for a bass guitarist.
Leanne's eyes lit up, and she briefly loosened her grip on the plastic bag in her right hand.
This was just the opportunity she needed to escape her past with the school, to form the connections and experience needed to make a new life for herself.
She was briefly knocked out of her thoughts by somebody coming up to her. She had olive skin; a head of long, dark, curly hair; modest yet modern clothing; and wore a bindi on the lower half of her forehead. Her accent was notably thick as she spoke.
"I see you saw my poster, yeah?"
She pointed to the band poster. Leanne's eyes lit up further, a small smile present on her face as she responded.
"Yeah, I did…"
"Do you play bass?"
"I-I do, yes."
Leanne's words were only a partial lie. She owned a bass, but she figured it was different than knowing how to play - and knowing how to play good enough to be in a band.
"Amazing! Would you want to join our band?"
"Y-Yes! Count me in!"
The girl's face broke out into a wide smile.
"Okay! My name is Inaaya, by the way. I play lead guitar"
"Inaaya…" Leanne repeated, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Leanne."
The two of them exchanged contact information, and within a few minutes, Imaaya left again, heading off to the opposite side of the neighborhood. Leanne looked back at her as she left, a bright smile on her face, before she began to walk to her house.
The time was now 9:00 pm.
Charlie, after having texted both Adara and Kai about the new students, went downstairs into his small kitchen, his mind set on grabbing a drink to numb his slightly sore throat. The kitchen was cold from the chilled spring night air, giving Charlie a slight shiver as he made his way to the cabinets. He opened the cabinet of glassware, picking out a simple glass cup before filling it with freezing cold water from a jug in the fridge. But, before he could take a sip from his water, some sort of strange image appeared in the corner of his eye. The image shone a deep purple, and bore a familiar symbol at its heart. At this unusual image, Charlie dropped his glass, his body frozen in place. Before he could even look in the direction of the image, he began bolting up to his room. He slammed the door behind him, heading straight to his bookshelf and opening his local folklore journal, desperately hoping for some sort of clearance on whatever the image was.
But, as his eyes scanned the pages, skimming between words and titles, he felt himself becoming drowsier and more disorientated. He needed to sleep, no matter how fearful he was.
Without another thought, he fell asleep abruptly on top of the journal, his mind blank in deep sleep.
The time was now 9:30 pm.