"She's here!" shouted Melanie when she noticed the abandoned establishment meters away from them. Axel and Ace tried to stop her by calling her name, but Melanie did not listen and rushed into the building where she recalled Adi quivering in pain. She was so fixated on the idea of seeing the vice president's condition in her own eyes that she forgot the reason why Adi sacrificed herself to create a chance for her to escape.

Melanie then slowly stopped in her tracks and quietly gasped when she saw Adi lying on the ground, unconscious, and with a dark figure hovering above her. She then covered her mouth as she carefully took a step back, trembling and being engulfed by fear.

"What should I do?" thought Melanie. "Should I wait for Axel and Ace to arrive? But what if they're too late?"

Melanie looked at her ring when it suddenly glimmered amidst the dark. She placed it across her lips and whispered on it, "Alice...please, help me."

The emerald at the ring glowed magnificently in green and blue hues and a curtain of light fell over Melanie. The sight caught the dark figure's attention and its non-existent head consisted of smokes and beads turned to her, but Melanie did not pay it any attention because something sapped her energy and turned her knees into jelly, leaving her light-headed and weak.

Melanie smiled when she noticed the little girl standing in front of her. "Alice..."

Her familiar looked at her with cold crimson eyes, "Master," she mumbled. "Do you know the pain that I've been through because I was not aware that you cannot summon me from that ring?!"

"I'm sorry..." muttered Melanie and pointed in Adi's direction. "Just please, save Adi for me."

"No." Melanie's eyes widened when she heard her familiar's response. "I think you must save her yourself."

"B-but I don't have—"

"Yes, you do. And that's what I'm going to teach you now." Alice placed her two fingers on Melanie's forehead. "This is gonna hurt like hell but endure it."

"What—"

Melanie could not even finish her sentence when electric currents drowned her thoughts. Her vision blurred and turned red as her body shook with intense vibrations. Her eyes went up and her head felt like holes were being drilled all over her skull. She gasped for air and images started to appear inside her head.

It was a figure of a woman in white dress, hands folded across her chest, and head bowed, gathering her mental energy to manifest her powers in real time. She then lifted her gaze and focused on her opponent, a monster covered with dark miasma, as light gathered between her folded hands. She turned her palms towards the monster who was already in the air ready to attack and muttered incomprehensible words.

During the chant, Melanie found herself being warped inside the woman's consciousness where she felt the familiar heat and energy pulsating inside her veins and released the spell through her own mouth.

Melanie woke up from the trance and her eyes landed on Alice who was sitting beside her all that time, watching her every move intently. Melanie then rose up and looked at both of her hands then balled them into fists. She sprung to her feet and returned her gaze to Adi, who was still in the same situation as before.

Melanie then wiped the sweat out of her forehead and slowly approached the scene, her heart thumping endlessly inside her. She folded her hands across her chest and envisioned that similar light she saw from the dream; a silver light filled with gold and dust. She felt the same heat and energy surging inside her and it successfully ignited between her palms. She concentrated on the dark figure and gathered her courage.

She gritted her teeth and put power on her words.

"Purification!"

The dark smoke screamed as it quickly disintegrated in the air, leaving nothing but sparkling ashes. Melanie ran to Adi's side and lifted her head towards her lap. She gently cupped her cheek, "Adi? Wake up!"

Adi slowly opened her dull jet-black eyes and looked at Melanie. She tried to open her mouth but only moans came out.

Melanie hugged her tightly and cried, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Adi gently squeezed her arm as if trying to tell her that everything was alright. Their reunion did not even last that long when Axel and Ace finally found them. Alice explained the situation in a breeze.

"When we arrive at the University, let Alice and I take care of the crystals," pleaded Melanie.

Axel nodded. "Got it. And then?"

"Bring Adi to the infirmary."

"Okay."

"And," Melanie gestured to Adi. "Will you carry her?"

Axel hissed then frowned, her face vividly showed her protest. Melanie only blinked at her a couple of times and did not stop the eye contact. Axel noticed that and carried Adi in her arms like a bride as a form of surrender.

She rolled her eyes and pouted at Melanie. "This is disgusting."

****

Melanie sat down inside the classroom while biting her nails. The professor was not there yet but being alone in the room with strangers almost made her choke inside. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh, imagining everyone naked and ghost quiet.

For a moment, she felt alone but that was the most comfortable moment of her life. She almost smiled. The solace of being in solitude with only her thoughts and memories she acquired from her once good life embraced her fragile soul. She remembered the smell of pancakes her mother used to make for her, the chocolate syrup and the butter at the top that melted in her mouth, and the stories they shared together over a cup of coffee.

She opened her eyes and reality slapped her again. She did not know what was more painful at that moment. Being alone in the sea of strangers or being a stranger to the people she loved unconditionally. Her heart ached. What could be the good result upon reminiscing about those lovely old memories?

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Nothing.

Because nothing would change at all no matter how many times she dwelled upon it.

"Hey,"

Melanie turned her head when somebody suddenly spoke. Her lilac eyes widened as someone poked her cheek. She then lifted her gaze and saw Axel smirking widely at her reaction.

"Miss me?" mumbled Axel. "Bet you do."

Melanie blinked and simply removed the finger pressing on her cheek. "How's Adi?"

Axel pursed her lips then leaned on her chair. She ran her fingers through her dark curly hair before replying, "She's fine and she already woke up. She just needed to rest because of the mental attack she suffered from."

"Mental attack?"

She suddenly remembered Adi's powers and how she attempted to control that dark figure's consciousness then ultimately paid the price. Melanie felt a pit in her stomach and her heart seemed to pulsate in her throat. She bit her lower lip.

If only she was not that weak....

"Yes," answered Axel. "Those dark figures we saw hovering above her were called Deprivers. They're shadow monsters born out of negative emotions, and they strip one's mental energy. Outskirts have a lot of them since this place is technically a slum."

Slums.

Melanie's discomfort intensified as she recalled the children she saw; lost innocence and driven by survival, and then their elders who seemed to witness layering despairs and exhaustion as time passed by—those images broke her. They shattered everything she knew about her existence—about the world's existence to the fact she did not know what to believe anymore.

She was raised to comply and absorb the set of truth and morals Sanctified laid out for her, then engraved them inside her head. The instant that she used to see that place as a threatening kingdom outside of their City's walls left nothing, but a bitter taste in her mouth.

"What the heck are you thinking? Are you that worried about Adi?"

Axel's annoyed voice brought Melanie back to reality. She quickly shook her head.

"It's just that..." She sighed. "I just cannot believe that this place is a slum. I cannot wrap my brain around it. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Axel raised her eyebrow. "I see. What a crisis, " he deadpanned.

Melanie unconsciously brushed her fingers against her arm and a phantom feeling lingered inside her chest. She felt the bracelet that was once hugging her wrist before and instantly envisioned those green eyes, ginger hair, and adorable smiles of her best friend.

"Luce was still there," thought Melanie. "What will happen if he knows the things I know right now? What will he do?"

"Don't feel so bad about it," muttered Axel then yawned. She placed her hand over Melanie's desk and rested her chin above her hand. She f lashed her smile. "I think it's normal for a person who grew up with those good wannabe asses to feel like that. I mean, they literally shove you a lot of pretty lies and truths that basically made up your entire existence."

Melanie nodded and said, "You're right."

"You know what," said Axel. "This class will help you a lot to sort that confused brain of yours."

"In what way?"

"Man," uttered Axel with a hiss. "This is history class, remember? Though it sounded boring to me, this might be hot news to you."

Before Melanie could even reply, the sound of clicking heels on the floor made the entire class attentive. Melanie gazed at the professor and almost covered her eyes.

"Is that the teacher? Why is she wearing lingerie?!" she thought.

Axel leaned back on her chair and smirked. "Hot damn."

"Good morning, everyone," the professor muttered and sat on the table with her legs crossed, revealing her creamy thighs. She twirled the ends of her midnight black hair while she looked at the pages of the book she brought with her.

"For those who didn't know me, I'm professor Razia Eka Acharya." She put down the book and then looked at the class. "I'll be taking your history class."

Melanie gulped. She swore inside her head that the longer she lived in the Damned, new things would always be foreign and extremely weird to her.

"I know some of you as children knew the reality of the world in a very different way. So, to make this class short, I'll be just reviewing you, okay?"

"Wait!" blurted out Axel after raising up her hand. The professor's eyebrows twitched but gestured to Axel to proceed anyway. "We have a student from the sanctified race over here!"

Melanie turned a deaf ear after she heard Axel's statement. Every motion and sound came to halt in a blur as her eyes perceived her classmates giving her menacing looks.

"This can't be. Ace warned me not to tell anyone that I'm from the Sanctified race. Now, everyone knows!" Melanie fretted in her mind.

The professor gazed at Melanie that made the latter shiver and avert her eyes. The professor noticed her reaction and said, "There's nothing to be ashamed of, little girl. You're lucky that you're in this class, to be honest."

Melanie lifted her gaze and gave the professor a puzzled look. The professor then gestured to the empty seat in front of her, "This class has Adi. If your classmates wanted to come after you for the mere fact that you're from that race, they would also be going against the vice president. She's from the Sanctified race, after all."

"Also," the professor added and gestured her whip to the person beside Melanie. "Axel seemed to have taken an interest in you."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" rebutted Melanie inside her head.

"Anyway, thank you for raising your concerns. I'll be approaching this class in a different manner then," said the professor then skimmed through the pages of the book again. "My power is Theatre. Basically, I can materialize any work of art into a film," she informed them.

She chose a page and brushed her fingertips to the writing. The writings floated in the air, and they suddenly morphed into images like a floating hologram. She flicked her fingers once more and the images had sounds.

"It was the year 2020 when a plague spread to all countries around the globe and drained our economies in a blink of an eye. Human lives were already declining, and every piece of salvation was crumbling to pieces. There was no cure for the plague. Nothing stopped it from penetrating one's body, modifying human's thoughts, and making them a grotesque and terrifying creature called lemures. They had the flesh of a human body, but they craved the same flesh they were in. They feasted on their relatives and proceeded to eat others too.

No one knew the cause of all these series of unfortunate events. However, this plague brought a different kind of infection amidst the crisis. They were known as the cursed ones. The term emerged from the population that these infections became visible. They are the people who are deemed different from the society—LGBT community, disabled persons, and people with mental health problems. Everything that was subjected to stigmatization supported the claim that these people are vulnerable to the disease, so the government made a way to separate them from the pure.

They exiled them and built walls to—"

"Wait!" Melanie could not contain her thoughts anymore and sprung to her feet. "This must be a mistake!"

"This diary..." The professor raised the book in front of the class, "is owned by a survivor. It's the only thing that's left from the old civilization after your previous race kicked the shit out of us and hid every piece of evidence."

"No...w-we are oppressed, and we made a way to fight back. These...these are all..."Melanie trembled and became conscious of the penetrating gazes of the people inside the classroom. The roaring emotions inside her chest were hammering her entire consciousness into a pulp. Images of her recent experience outside the University came flashing in front of her eyes and she envisioned her entire existence shattering once again.

She gasped and tears fell from her eyes. "Everything was a lie..." she mumbled as all her sense of hope faded away into smoke.

"Melanie!" Axel gently touched her shoulders and tried to call her. "Calm down. I know these are like bombs shoved in your mouth but—'

"I don't understand!" Melanie pushed her away. "Why did the government lie to us? Why did they make us believe that you are the bad guys when after all this time, you are the victims?! I...I..." She clutched her chest and pools of tears rolled down her cheeks. Her lips trembled and her knees buckled. Axel caught her before she collapsed on the ground.

She cried once more.

Not because reality slapped her with an ugly truth, but because she was frightened of the idea running inside her head that moment.

Fear is a place and it used to be her home.