We spent the rest of the day in the karaoke room. Singing, partying, and just doing our best to forget what would come this night, even if just for a moment.
Harmony was standing at the side of the karaoke machine, away from us who were all seating at the sofa. She was singing to Taylor Swift's Jump Then Fall, hitting all the notes with ease. The girls were singing along. The speakers were cranked up to the max. I can feel every bass beat thumping in my chest. The glass table was filled with bottles of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. Everyone was holding either a plastic cup or a bag of junk food, except Cana, who was holding a pinkish beverage in her tall, drinking glass with a straw.
"What's that?" I asked her.
"Oh, it's strawberry milkshake," Cana said. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her hand on her forehead as if in pain.
"Brain freeze?"
"Yup," She held out her drink to me, her free hand massaging her temple. "Want a taste?"
I took a sip. "Wow, this is good," I said. Where'd you get this?"
"Made it myself," Cana straightened up. Looks like the pain subsided. "Can I have it back?"
"Sure," I took one last, long sip before giving it back to here. "It's really good."
Cana inspected the glass, which is about half empty now. "Yeah, no kidding."
"So," Cana said, finishing her milkshake. "What do you think Major Coleman is planning?"
"I don't know..." I said, which is a hundred percent true. I don't know what the military protocol is when something like this happens. "But it is obvious that they're gonna test things out."
"Based on what you said, right?" Leo said, flipping through the pages of the song book. He looks more interested in choosing another song to impress the girls with.
"Right..." I said, almost in a whisper.
Eris stopped clapping to the beat. "You know, after seeing those eyes..." she said. "You just can't help but wonder what else is new.
"Put it another way," Cato said. "You start thinking if the Shade Rules still applies."
That made Leo looked up from the song book. I turned my attention to Harmony. She probably doesn't hear us because she looks like she's having fun.
"Sure it does," Demi said. If he was just being positive, his voice doesn't show it. I think he truly believes what he just said. "The U.V. lights still worked, right? Otherwise, the Shade would have just run straight towards us."
Just then, the cook, siblings Darius and Scarlet, along with Caprice came in with plates of fries, chicken nuggets (the frozen, pre-cooked kind.) and different kinds of dips. Ever since the trio volunteered to cook our breakfast, Major Coleman made them our official cooks. And I'm not complaining. What they've prepared for lunch earlier—buttered chicken and breaded pork chops—was simply amazing. Caprice even baked brownies!
We scooted over so they could sit. Eris took a chicken nugget and clinked it to her plastic cup. Of course that didn't make any sound so she knocked on the table instead to get our attention. "Hey everyone, how about a round of applause for our volunteer cooks here," she said. "For real, we can't thank you enough."
"Yeah, thanks man," I said. "I would have offered to help you guys but all I can do is boil eggs."
A faint smile appeared on Darius' face. "I want to say that I'm just doing my part or that I love cooking, which I do, don't get me wrong," Daruis said."But to be honest, I'm doing this because it keeps me busy enough not to think about tonight."
Well, that ruined the mood. Not that I blame him, though. Especially it's their group, Group B, on duty tonight.
"You should try baking," Caprice said, after a few seconds of silence. "It's a good distraction, and the smell of bread baking makes me feel like I'm back at home."
This time, Darius smiled a warm, genuine one. "Your brownies were amazing, by the way," he said. "What else do they teach you at Peregrine?"
"Well, let me show you," Caprice stood up, holding her hand out to Darius. "We should be starting now if we wanted to make it by dinner."
We watched the two of them go out, leaving Scarlet behind.
"That was easy," she said. Then she got up and followed the two.
"What was?" I asked.
"That was." Leo said.
I looked at Cana for answers but she didn't give me any so I just dropped it.
Harmony rejoined us at the sofa. "Your turn," she said, passing me the microphone. I looked at the machine and saw that there are no more songs in the queue. "I haven't decided yet."
"Come on, you're the only one who hasn't sing yet," Harmony complained.
"Hey," Eris said with a soft voice. "It's okay if you suck. It's just us here."
"Hey!" I protested.
"What?" She said innocently. "Are you saying you're good?"
As I open my mouth, I realized that she's not wrong and I don't have any clever comeback, so I decided to keep my mouth shut. They started to chant my name to get me to sing.
"All right, fine. Don't say I didn't warn you," They let out a triumphant whooping.
After last night, I feel like screwing around. And I just know the perfect song for it. Good thing the song book has it. The machine beeps for every number I punched in the microphone, followed by a robotic voice repeating the number.
zankoku na tenshi no you ni
shounen yo shinwa ni nare
The anime intro started. I heard groaning, some of them were laughing, and a few kind souls shushing those who were laughing, even though they were barely holding it in.
"Aoi kaze ga imamune no DOA wo tataite mo—"I sang, my hand gripped the microphone tighter because I'm cringing hard.
They must have realized what they have done because they started calling me "Weeb!" in an attempt to make it stop but they are too late. I cannot be stopped. I am unleashed.
So the time passed with us singing and snacking. Two, empty plates later, we cleaned up and unplugged everything in the karaoke room since it was almost 5:30. We were on our way to the dining area, carrying empty plates and a trash bag when the roaring engines outside stopped us on our tracks.
Curious, we all went out, pulled by the unfamiliar scene. Darius, his sister Scarlet, and Caprice were already out here. We greeted them as they came over and watched the two military trucks pulling over. When they parked in front of the dorm, armed men in camouflage came spilling out the back of both trucks, army boots stomping the grassy field flat. I count at least a dozen of them.
Some soldiers stopped in front of the dorm and faced the trees, with equal distance from each other. Some soldiers marched around the building. I have no idea of what's happening so I looked for Major Coleman among the commotion, and spotted him just as he was getting out of one of the trucks.
We ran over to him. "Major, hey, what's going on?" I asked.
"We're setting up a perimeter," Major Coleman explained. "If this thing really does possess a physical body, then we can assume that bullets can now hurt it. Maybe even kill it if we're lucky."
"And if we're unlucky?" Cato said.
"My men are equipped with U.V. searchlights so they're not completely defenseless," Major Coleman explained. Then the raised his hand. "Now about our meeting this morning..."
He then confirmed that the wood that killed Kent did come from the fallen tree. He also told us that Mr. Donovan's body was cut in half diagonally, from the left abdomen to the right should. It was a clean cut through the muscles, organs and, bones. The angle of the cut was consistent with that of the tree. Our testimonies that suggested it was made with one swift, silent, stroke made forensics admitted of lacking the proper explanation.
"As such, there's been a change of plan," Major Coleman continued. "We had been granted permission to use whatever we have at our disposal to test the validity of Vergil's theory here." The U.V. lights turned on but it didn't get any reaction from us since we were too occupied with what Major Coleman was saying. "So eat up, and I'll be expecting Group B out here at exactly six." He then left us and started barking orders at his men to move the tree.
We all filed silently back to the dorm, and into the dining area. The cooks had already set the table. Everybody took their seats. The trio outdid themselves this time. Roasted, whole chicken that smelled of garlic and other spices. Two, huge bowls, of golden, fried rice with green peas and diced carrots. And a large pot of pork adobo. They even made dessert—creamy, fruit salad served in a glass bowl.
But even these weren't enough to lighten the mood. We ate in silence. Group B, which included the cooks—Darius, Scarlet, Caprice—and homeschooled girl, Indigo finished fast and went out.
The rest of us took our time. There were small talks here and there but it was very unlike the fun ambience we've had during breakfast. Just like how I've thought it would be. We waited till all had finished, cleaned up and went out too.
In the visitor's lounge, I can't help but linger, staring at the glass, sliding door.
Leo came up on my side. "You can't leave it alone, can you?"
"The whole thing's based on my idea, so."
"I don't think Major Coleman would mind," Cana suggested.
Eris started pushing us. "Let's go, then!"
As we stepped out of the dorm, we saw Major Coleman and his men stood at rest, assault rifles strapped to their shoulders. It was a cloudless night. The moon glows brightly in the sky. U.V lights of the dorm and of the lamps across are in full effect, giving the night that eerie, bluish-violet hint. The trees were silent, not a single leaf rustles in the somewhat darker and colder night.
Major Coleman saw us came out, gave us a quick nod and turns his attention back to the trees. Clearly not interested in any of us so we went ahead and sat down the railing below the kitchen window where Group B was. Even though we aren't required out here, there were also no rules restricting us from joining other group's duty. And since we aren't expected to do Group B's job for them, only they had their handbooks with them.
Still, no sign of the Shade. Wherever it is, I hope it stays there. Though I know there was never a night where the Shade didn't appear. It's exactly six so daylight is a good eleven hours away. This is going to be a long night.
Eris sat next to me. "I so want you to be wrong."
My lips curled upwards a bit. "That makes two of us."
Our heads turned to the glass door when it slid open. "Hey," Leo called out to Cato. He nodded back and walked over to us. We waited, chatted with Group B, and waited some more. The hours went by, painfully slow.
"What time is it?" I asked Eris.
She checked her wristwatch. "Exactly midnight."
I thought of giving it a couple of minutes or so before going inside and off to bed when a drop of rain fell on my hand. It turned into a downpour. I watched as the ground darkened as the rain continued to pour. That's when I caught something moving on the ground.
"Did you see that?" I said.
"See what?" Darius said. I pushed myself up from the stone railing, moving a bit closer to the spot where I've seen it till the roof run out. My hair and shirt was drenched in the cold rain in no time, chilling my entire body.
"Vergil?" Cana said. I ignored her and stared hard at the ground, determined not to miss whatever it was this time. Then, a moment later, there it was again, the black streaks on the ground began moving. It was the shadows. The shadows of the trees started coming together, swirling up in a black vortex till a floating shadow of a man formed.
"Finally," Major Coleman said. He raised his hand and gave out the command: "Fire at will!" The barrage that followed was deafening. We were on our feet, our hands covering our ears. The place lit up in flashes of lights. Bullets sprayed down the direction of the Shade. I was expecting my dorm mates who went to their rooms first to come out running, but the entrance never slid open. It is impossible to think that they didn't hear any of that. I'm sure they just decided to stay put where it's safe, locked up in their rooms.
"Ceasefire!" Major Coleman commanded. "Kids, do not come in any closer, understand?" We didn't argue. Lowering their smoking rifles, the soldiers switch on their flashlights, assessing the damage done. The bright lights showed us the trunks full of bullet holes and the missing branches of the trees. But I didn't see what I was looking for. What we were all looking for.
The Shade was nowhere in sight.