The evening sunlight bathed the campus in a warm, golden glow. Students were scattered across the grounds, some headed to their dorms to rest, others spending time on campus with friends.

Mark sat on a bench in front of the campus library, waiting impatiently. Ray had said they would all meet there, but he couldn't help thinking Ray might have given him the wrong location to make it seem like he had backed out. It wouldn't be the first time.

Before they split in the hallways Ray explained what kind of hunt this would be. He said there've been incidents where students who went into the platinum garden were found passed out and left in a vegetative state for 2 days. By the time they regained consciousness, they couldn’t recall what happened to them in the garden.

Rumors started to spread around campus that there was a plant type monster that snuck into the garden. You would think the school would send a trained soldier or templar to deal with it, but according to Ray, the campus Monarch sector restricted the area for anyone that's not an employee of the Monarch building.

Was this the thing that left Mark's uncle in that state this morning? This situation with the Monarchs was starting to make him feel uneasy.

Just as his thoughts were beginning to spiral, a friendly voice came from his right.

"Mark!" Avey called out as she approached, Ray was a step behind her.

“Finally,” Mark said, standing up, “I was beginning to think you guys wouldn’t show.”

“Says the guy who usually wusses out.” Ray shot back.

“Enough you two. Sorry for keeping you Mark, let's head down to the garden now guys.”

The trio began their walk to the garden. Avey had a bounce in her step, keeping a bright expression on her face. Ray led the group, kept one hand in his pocket as he walked with confidence. Mark kept to the back.

He could feel his hands get sweatier with every passing minute and his heart was starting to beat faster. Was this nervousness or excitement, he couldn’t tell. He put on a stoic front earlier, but his nerves were starting to get the best of him.

“Keep your cool,” he thought to himself, “This is also another opportunity to stay in the school. If I can show them what I did last night, I might be able to get them to testify for me as witnesses…Well at least Avey, I don’t know about Ray.”

Suddenly, he felt a light bump against his shoulder. He looked to his side and saw Avey, who was now at his side. She looked at him softly and reassuringly.

“You ok?” she asked, “I figured you would be the one leading, considering you suggested we do this now.”

Mark grinned slightly. “Yea im fine, just been letting my mind run too much and besides, you think that walking crashout would want to walk behind me.”

Avey let out a small chuckle at Mark's dig at Ray, Mark tried not to, but he ended up joining her.

“What's so funny?” Ray snapped, cutting into their moment.

“It’s nothing Ray.” Said Avey trying to hold the rest of her laughter in.

Ray shot a glare at Mark before turning back around. He ends up leading them down an Ally behind the gym of the campus.

“Now are you sure this place is out of the eyes of the cameras?” Mark asked. Eyeing their surroundings.

“Unlike you, I know how to plan out a hunt, so just shut up and follow me.” Ray snapped, sounding irritated.

Mark's fist balled up, a surge of annoyance and frustration pulsing through him. His gaze landed on a nearby brick, just ahead of them, and for a moment, he considered picking it up and tossing it at Ray's head. He held himself back...barely though.

They turned another corner and stopped in front of a towering hedge wall, the dense greenery almost forming a barrier. They finally made it to the Platinum Garden.

“Here we are ladies. No turning back now.” Ray announced with a smug tone.

Mark’s instinct was to shoot back and call out Ray for his comment, but he bit his tongue, keeping the retort locked behind his gritted teeth.

Ray turned to his left and began walking along the hedges, “Follow me,” he called over his shoulder, his voice low. “There’s a weak spot in the hedges we can slip through to get in.”

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

They walked along the hedges for what felt like hours, keeping quiet the whole time just in case there happened to be a security guard around or worse the…the monster. The pressure was unnecessarily heavy but the trio never wavered.

After another few minutes of walking Ray finally stopped. He pointed at the hedge there in front of, they both nodded in acknowledgement.

Ray took the first step into the hedge, his leg slid in easily, the rest of him followed. After a few seconds, Avey followed behind him. Mark was the last one, he took one last look behind him to make sure they weren’t followed. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and then followed the other two.

Passing through the hedge was easier than Mark anticipated, he was able to easily pass through the sticks and leaves with no problem. But when he finally emerged on the other side, he froze.

Ray and Avey were already motionless, their eyes fixed ahead. It didn’t take Mark long to notice the source of their attention. Someone else was already in the garden with their back turned toward the trio.

Ray stood frozen, he thought he was the only one who knew about this place. He slowly glanced to his side and saw Avey staring at him, silently pleading at him to figure this out.

His gaze flicked to Mark, only to find him staring right back, with an unreadable face. Ray quickly turned his attention back to the stranger. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but the sound of his nervous gulp rang out louder than he intended.

The man’s head twitched at the noise. His body slowly started to turn around to see what caused the noise. When he finally turned around, Mark's eyes widened. He recognized who it was. It was the boy from the forest last night.

“You!” Mark blurted out, pointing at the boy.

Avey shot a quick glance at Mark, “You know this guy Mark.”.

It took a minute for the boy to understand what was going on. After a few seconds of staring at the trio, he recognized Mark.

“Oh, if it isn't the boy savior.” His voice had a hint of mockery to it but he showed a welcoming smile.

“Boy savior? How the hell do you know this guy?” Ray asked Mark, but before he could answer, the boy cut him off.

“He saved my life last night. A giant wolf was chasing after me in the forest, it would've been over for me if it wasn’t for him.” He gave Mark a subtle wink in his direction.

Mark didn’t show it but he understood what the boy was doing. Even though they both were looking like scared rabbits last night he’s making it seem like Mark came in like he was a superhero.

This confirmation should be enough to silence any doubt the other two had about Mark's story.

“Well whatever, forget about that.” Said Ray, waving off Mark's “heroism”, “Who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you on campus before.”

Mark wanted to step in to help out the boy but he also didn’t truly know who he was. He never even got a name when they met last night. He held back, awaiting the boy's answer.

“I’m someone who has the same mission as you guys.” He answered

Ray looked at him with confusion, “Same mission as us?”

“You guys here looking for the ‘monster’ in here aint ya?”

Ray’s gaze snapped to Mark, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Mark! Did you slip this guy a text or something? How the hell does he know about that?”

“Hey, I didn’t tell him shit, I don’t even know if he has a phone. I'm as lost as you.” Mark shot back, defending himself.

“Both of you calm down.” The boy blurted, breaking the two's oncoming argument, “It aint really a trade secret that something’s going on in this garden. I heard about it in the town and I wanted to check it out for myself.”

The trio stared at him for a few seconds, the air still thick with uncertainty. Then, without a word, Ray and Avey turned to look at Mark.

Mark glanced between the two, confusingly, he couldn’t tell what they wanted.

Avey broke the silence first, “Mark, you trust what this guy is saying?”

Mark shot a glance at the boy. He was torn, he wanted to say yes because of how he helped him out last night with the wolf, but he couldn’t help his growing suspension. He only met the boy last night through tense circumstances, and he can’t really say he was buddy-buddy with the guy.

Instead of thinking too much about this, he simply walked up to the boy and stood face to face with him.

“I wanna say I believe you, but I still don’t even know who you are.” Mark said coldly. The boy looked back at mark with a serious expression

“...So, can you at least give us your name?” Mark asked, his words feeling heavy.

An eyebrow raised on the boy’s face, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he kept his focus locked on Mark, neither of them moving an inch. Ray and Avey stood in silence, unintentionally caught in the stillness, waiting for the answer.

“...Vincent.” The boy answered, his voice calm but unwavering.

The name hung in the air for a minute. Nobody said anything else, but Mark kept his gaze on Vincent. As he answered Mark noticed his eyes never moved, his pupils didn’t even twitch. Mark thought it was strange but didn’t think much of it.

He turned back to the others and nodded “It’s ok guys, he’s cool.”

The two looked at each other and then back to Mark. Their bodies began to relax a bit and the tense atmosphere was starting to let up.

Vincent smirked looking at the trio, he couldn’t help but to be tickled by these guys' uptight attitude, but he decided to keep it to himself.

“Now that you guys are done playing good cop, bad cop, may I suggest something?”

The trio turned back to Vincent, his smirk still lingering.

“Since it seems like we’re all on the same path, how about we team up to find this thing together?”

Mark frowned, his confusion evident. “Are you some kind of monster hunter or something?”

Vincent shrugged nonchalantly. “Kinda, but that’s not important right now. So, what do you say?”

Ray’s patience was wearing thin, his frustration bubbling to the surface. “Hey, just because this little shrimp said you’re cool doesn’t mean we’re all friends now,” he snapped. “In fact, I should report you for trespassing.”

Vincent shot Ray a grin, “You sure you wanna do that? I mean you’re doing the same thing as me, aren’t you? Doubt the boys and girls club would like you being in here as well.”

Ray couldn’t bring himself to say anything, because Vincent was right. The second he calls anyone, they’re all busted.

“Ray,” Avey interrupted, her tone calm but firm, “Let’s just bring him along. We could use the extra help, and if he causes any problems, we can handle him. Look at him.”

Avey was right to think that way. Looking at Vincent, he looked as if he hadn't eaten anything for weeks, he was a mess and his clothes were way over his size.

Ray thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a frustrated sigh, “Fine, you can come with us, but Mark,” he shot a look at Mark, “You’re keeping an eye on him since yall so acquainted with each other.”

Mark didn’t want the job but he knew he was the only one who could do it, considering he did vouch for him.

Vincent placed his hand on Mark's shoulder and gave him a smile, “I'll be in your care, savior.”

Mark stared at him blankly, resisting the urge to groan. The headache brewing behind his eyes made itself known and he already started regretting his decision.

“This is gonna be annoying.” he muttered under his breath.

Vincent’s grin widened as if he’d heard him, only adding to Mark’s irritation.