image [https://i.imgur.com/5MBc3po.png]
After a long day of classes, Bridgette entered her dorm room with a heavy sigh. She set her belongings down and looked towards the other side of the room to see Cassidy sitting in a pose of meditation.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” She asked with slight concern, noticing the tight, criss cross manner of her legs. Cassidy slowly opened her eyes and smiled, causing the slits on her neck to slightly flex.
“Not at all, in fact it’s quite serene. You should try it sometime, I bet it’d do wonders for your stress.” Cassidy replied with a chuckle as she got to her feet.
“No thanks. I’m not nearly as flexible as you.”
Bridgette took a seat on her bed and sighed again. Cassidy looked over and immediately knew something was wrong with her roommate. She approached Bridgette’s bed and sat next to her.
“Let me guess, more Dahlia trouble?” Cassidy asked with a soft tone.
Bridgette shook her head and briefly contemplated her thoughts before entertaining a response.
“No, I’ve just been missing my sister a lot lately…” Bridgette replied, her voice growing more shaky and somber.
“She’s still in a coma right? How long until she wakes up?”
“Yeah and honestly, probably never. They say that Zalthia Belouis never uses her Manifest because of that very reason, but once the war started I guess all of her morals went out the window. She knew how dangerous her weapon was and yet she still used it on my sister. That bitch…”
The room went quiet as Bridgette leaned back and laid down on the bed. Her long blonde hair spread across the sheets in every direction while she blankly stared at the ceiling.
“My Father even tried to use his close connections with the Belouis Family to see if they had any way to reverse Zalthia of One’s ability, hoping to bring her back. Since Vandal Industries had done so much for them over the years, surely they’d be willing to lend a hand. Right? Pfft, you know what they told him?” Bridgette asked.
Cassidy shrugged and anticipated the answer.
“Sorry, we have no intention of providing assistance to a Vesta who willingly attacked our nation. As far as we are concerned, Claudia Vandal is an enemy of Volaire and we refuse to associate ourselves with those that are hostile towards us. We hope you understand…”
Bridgette paused for a moment as she raised her hand upwards, matching her palm with the designs on their ceiling.
“They definitely know of some way to help, but they refuse to do anything. And instead of my Father putting his foot down, demanding that they do something, he bowed his head and did everything he could to keep the Belouis Family happy as a client. Spineless bastard…” She added.
“That’s so terrible. Ugh, why does everything always have to get so political?” Cassidy replied, shaking her head in disbelief.
“It’s so annoying, but the fact remains that If she never fought that day, Claudia would still be here.”
Bridgette rose from her lying position and stretched her back, causing it to pop and crackle with each rotation. Cassidy sat there in silence, having no rebuttal to give against Bridgette’s rather somber statement. If anything, she felt incredibly sad for her roommate. After a few brief moments passed, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
Eager to escape the heavy tension, Cassidy immediately got off the bed and raced towards the door, opening it without a second thought. Bridgette leaned over to see who it was, however the moment she saw their face, her eyes went incredibly wide.
“Rivell, you made it!” Cassidy said with a smile. “Thanks again for agreeing to help me study. Come in!”
Cassidy grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the room, swiftly shutting the door in the process. Once Rivell got further into the room, he glanced to the left and his eyes met with Bridgette’s.
“Ah! Miss Bridgette!! What are you doing here!?” Rivell exclaimed while bowing his head deeply.
Cassidy’s eyebrow furrowed as she saw Rivell showing such an extreme display of respect.
“Uhh, do you two know each other?” She asked with a confused tone.
“Hardly, he just happened to help me a while back.” Bridgette replied, crossing her arms with great annoyance. “And I told you to stop bowing to me. It’s weird.”
“Ahh, right! Sorry, I was just caught off guard. I didn’t know she was your roommate, Cassidy.” Rivell awkwardly laughed as he raised his head and adjusted his glasses.
“Alrighty then. Anyways, did you bring that Alchemical Processes book from the library?” Cassidy wondered with an excited tone.
“Yup!”
Rivell reached into the front pocket of his leather satchel and pulled out the thick textbook, plopping it down onto the table at the center of their room. Once he closed his bag, Cassidy noticed something dangling from the strap.
“What is that?” She asked, gently taking hold of the little silver, red, and green trinket.
“Oh this thing? After the war, Carmen gave it to me on the day I went back to Siestro. It’s kind of like a friendship locket, see.”
He took it from her hand and clicked open the pendant portion, revealing an etching of three names. Rivell, Sarah, & Carmen.
“Aww, that’s so cute. Who’s Sarah though?”
“Sarah’s another close friend of ours! We went on our Manifest journey together, traveled all over, lived at Castle de Belouis, and we even fought in the war together! Carmen and Sarah are just the best!”
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Rivell’s face lit up as he raved about his friends, happily showing the great levels of admiration he had for them. However, this moment was incredibly short lived as Bridgette shot an icy glare in his direction.
“Will you shut up about Carmen already? Hearing that girl’s name makes me sick to my stomach.”
Bridgette began exerting her Core Energy to new heights, prompting her Manifest to conjure up a terrifying swirl of sand on the ground. Rivell gulped and immediately stopped talking as he slowly backed away. The sand continued to rise and intensify with each passing second, growing more violent while Bridgette’s fit of rage surged.
“If you were smart, you’d stop associating yourself with the Belouis Family. They’re not as kind as they make themselves out to be. Don’t be shocked if Carmen throws you away like the trash that you are.” Bridgette sharply barked, still reeling from her earlier discussion.
Suddenly, Cassidy stepped in front of Rivell with her arm stretched out, blocking him from any danger that may befall him.
“That’s enough, Bridgette! Don’t take your anger out on him, he did nothing wrong.” She calmly said, not flinching an inch at Bridgette’s overwhelming power.
The two stared each other down for a few, tense seconds until Bridgette’s Core Energy ceased.
“Whatever…”
The sand receded as Bridgette stood from her bed. She swiftly grabbed her uniform jacket and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Rivell and Cassidy looked at each other with wide eyes before breathing a sigh of relief.
“Don’t mind her, she’s just having a pretty rough day.” Cassidy said with a nervous chuckle.
“Oh, it’s no biggie! I’m just surprised she had such a strong hate towards Carmen. I had no idea.”
Rivell took a seat and wiped the sweat from his brow, collecting himself after such a terrifying moment.
“Yeahhh, it’s not so much Carmen, as it is the entire Belouis Family. She’s got quite a bit of bad history with them.”
“That’s a bummer. They’re some of the nicest people I know. If only Bridgette could just sit down and spend some time with them, she would see what I see.” Rivell replied with a hopeful tone.
“Good luck with that.”
Cassidy couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Bridgette being reasonable enough to have a discussion with her sworn enemies.
“C’mon, let’s get to studying!”
Cassidy pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Rivell. He agreed and opened up their textbook, beginning a long study session that lasted into the night time hours.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
The cold winter air blew through the open window of Carmen’s dorm room. The chilling breeze trickled down her spine, causing her to awaken from an incredibly deep sleep. The room was dark with only the light of the moon peeking through. Without realizing it, Carmen had slept for the entire day and missed all of her classes.
She looked around the room with her greasy hair stuck to her face and drool dripping from her mouth. She slowly sat up while rubbing her abdomen, surprised to no longer feel the pain from her previously broken ribs. The scars along her chest had healed as well, showing just how effective Murdoc’s ability was.
“What time is it?” She whispered to herself, looking over at the clock hanging above Elise’s bed.
It showed twenty minutes past two. Carmen sighed and got out of bed, silently tiptoeing to the washroom so she didn’t wake up Elise, who was sound asleep. Carmen carefully closed the door and looked in the mirror.
She was an absolute mess with runny makeup and dried blood decorating her face. Her scars and bruises may have been gone, but it was still obvious that she had been part of a massive fight of sorts. She curiously lifted her arm and smelled herself, noticing just how pungent her odor was.
Carmen quickly got a hot bath going and hopped in, scrubbing every inch of her body multiple times over. Once finished, Carmen got dressed in something more comfortable and exited the bathroom feeling refreshed.
However, as Carmen walked to her bed, she heard a slight, whisper filled commotion going on outside of their door. Carmen went over and pressed her head against the cold oak, focusing her senses to listen to what was going on. Carmen could hear people talking softly and feet shuffling about, as though they were struggling with something.
“Damn, this is the third one this week. So annoying.” One of the voices whispered, clearly irritated by whatever they were doing.
Once the voices passed by, Carmen slightly cracked open the door and peeked her head out. She saw a couple of men wearing all black and carrying a seemingly heavy, long brown bag. They got to the end of the hall and eventually rounded the corner towards the back steps.
Being the nosy person that she was, Carmen grabbed her cloak and quickly followed them in secret. She put up her hood as she tiptoed through the halls and down the steps, heading out of the back door and tailing them the entire way.
After a few minutes of walking, they made it into the Core Science building on the eastern wing of campus. It was a smaller building that was fairly tucked away and unless you had classes here, you would probably miss it completely.
They entered inside and within a few swift turns, the men found themselves in front of a locked, wooden door. Carmen peered around the corner to see them open the lock and walk inside. Before the door could close all the way, Carmen skillfully used her gravity manipulation to freeze it in place.
She silently rushed over and pulled the door open just enough to fit through. Carmen slowly closed it behind her, making sure the latch didn’t make a sound before she turned around. Her eyes went wide once she noticed that this wasn’t a room, but instead a set of dimly lit steps that led downward.
Carmen walked down the surprisingly long staircase and ended up in a large room that was lit up by a blazing hot furnace on the opposite side. Being as quiet as she possibly could, Carmen dashed over towards some bookshelves that were bathed in darkness. Their height and width were just enough to completely hide her from sight.
After looking through an opening between a few books, Carmen saw the two men from before tending to the furnace. They were adding wood and stoking it, increasing the flames intensity. Once they were satisfied with the temperature, the men reached over and picked up the bag they came in with. However, they were suddenly interrupted by someone calling them from the steps.
“I need some help with another one. You guys come with me.” The deep voice said with an authoritative tone.
The others immediately dropped the bag on the table and nodded, quickly shuffling up the steps and closing the door behind them.
Carmen waited a few seconds before she stood from her position, prompting her to cautiously walk over to where the bag was. Carmen reached over and moved some of the loose wrapping, revealing a zipper. She slowly took hold of it and opened the bag. It only took a few inches worth of unzipping before the look of absolute horror and fear came over her face.
There laid Olivia, dead inside of the bag. Her face was incredibly pale and swollen while large black bags sat under her eyes. Upon her neck were thick, purple colored veins racing down towards her chest. Olivia’s blank, lifeless eyes also had a light purple hue to them as she stared at the ceiling above.
Carmen felt sick to her stomach as she stumbled back. Why was her friend dead and why did they bring her to such a place? These and many more questions ran through Carmen’s mind at a rapid pace.
As Carmen continued to back away, she accidentally bumped into a smaller table, knocking the sheet off and revealing another dead student. She quickly moved away from it and averted her gaze towards the back half of the table. To her shock, Carmen saw about thirty more poorly wrapped brown bags stacked up behind it. Some of them even had loose limbs exposed and dangling for all to see.
‘What is this!?! How are all of these students dead like this!?’
Carmen began to panic as her eyes continued to widen with fear. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Never in her seventeen years of life had she ever witnessed something as disturbing as this. However, despite her fear, Carmen knew that she needed to get to the bottom of this nightmare.