The school seemed to have lost all its essence of being an educational place and had turned into a true prison. Upon entering, every student was thoroughly searched. Backpacks, pockets—everything went through an exhaustive inspection.
"Do you have anything suspicious?" the prefect asked before proceeding to search Kian.
"If I had something dangerous or suspicious, I wouldn't tell you, prefect," Kian replied, his tone clearly sarcastic.
Asher, who stood beside him, couldn't help but let out a small laugh, though he immediately felt uncomfortable when he noticed some teachers staring at him. The boy started to feel nervous, and a layer of cold sweat covered his forehead.
"Alright, go ahead, both of you," the prefect said, still watching the students closely, then moved on to inspect others.
"They've never checked us like this before. Are we criminals or what?" Asher asked, visibly uncomfortable, his hands trembling.
Kian, looking at his friend with a calm expression, replied confidently, "I told you, there's no need to be scared. Don't worry, everything will be fine."
The hours went by, and classes continued as if nothing strange had happened. It was a sunny day, though a few clouds wandered aimlessly across the sky. The wind blew gently, almost imperceptibly, as if nature itself were taking a breath.
During recess, Kian and Asher tried to relax from the school routine. They decided to walk down a different hallway than usual—one that seemed longer and stranger, with an eerie atmosphere.
"How did we get here?" Asher asked, swallowing hard, his voice trembling.
Kian, observing the place carefully, frowned and replied, "I don't know. I've never been to this part of the school. It's curious how you always find something new, right?"
Suddenly, Kian raised his voice in surprise. "Whoa! A scorpion with a glowing tail!"
Without thinking too much, the boy decided to follow the scorpion.
"Wait, Kian! Don't leave me here alone!" Asher shouted, determined not to be left behind.
The scorpion soon vanished from sight, but Kian heard voices coming from a nearby corner. He approached silently, and when he peeked behind a wall, he could make out two men talking.
"Alright, we've got the tools. What's missing?" asked one of them, his voice deep.
"Just make sure this doesn't get out of hand. We need to keep people calm. We can't afford for them to suspect what we're doing," replied the other, whose voice sounded younger.
"What we're doing?" Kian thought to himself, intrigued.
Asher, who also heard, noticed the men walking away as their footsteps faded down the hallway. Kian gave Asher a look to signal something, but he didn't understand what he meant. Deciding to act on his own, Kian approached the place where the men had stood. There, on a shelf, rested a strange triangular object with dots around it.
"Huh? What's this for?" Kian murmured, looking at the piece with curiosity. Asher, seeing the object, just shrugged, not understanding why it was there.
"Whatever it is, I'm taking it," Kian said with determination in his voice.
As they hurried down the hallway, trying to get back to a safe place, Asher began to feel uneasy. Though they were almost out, a strange sensation crept over him, as if something wasn't right. He looked around, his nervousness growing.
Suddenly, a fast-moving shadow crossed above them. Asher looked up and saw, in the distance, the figure of a hooded girl. Her reddish hair peeked out slightly, but what caught his attention the most was the symbol on her chest, which Kian couldn't quite make out.
"Shit! Who's that?" Kian said, eyes wide.
With impressive agility, the girl appeared in front of them before they could react.
"Sorry, but you can't take that," she said with a soft but firm voice.
Kian tried to push past her, but it was useless. The girl, with unexpected strength, easily blocked him. Asher, paralyzed with fear, couldn't move a muscle.
"You're strong... What's your name?" Kian asked, now in a defensive stance, ready for a possible fight.
The girl simply smiled but didn't answer. In a flash, she delivered a quick, precise blow to Kian's stomach, sending him flying several meters back, crashing into a wall.
"Kian! No!" Asher screamed, desperate.
Turning around, Asher saw the mysterious girl calmly and precisely take the artifact. Before he could react, she vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind Asher. A single blow was enough to knock him unconscious.
Kian and Asher woke up later in the school's infirmary. The prefect, a bald man with a friendly expression, watched them with a smile while sipping coffee.
"Well, finally awake," he commented casually. "You had us worried."
"Wait, how long were we unconscious?" Kian asked, trying to sit up.
"Let's just say... a while. We found you in a remote area of the school. Fortunately, no serious injuries—just a good scare," the prefect replied, settling into his chair, still holding his cup.
Kian frowned, but he didn't have time to ask more questions. None of it made sense. Who was the hooded girl? What were those men planning? And what the hell was that artifact? Every answer only seemed to open up an even deeper abyss of questions.