Outside the school building, there was a police car and a few policemen standing beside Atlas.

"You guys stay here," Atlas instructed his colleagues. "I will take Geo with me, but there's still a possibility Mars will come here."

"Understood, sir," they replied simultaneously.

I noticed that one of the three policemen was the same guy from before, the one with a scar on his face. Though I still didn't know his name.

"Alright, follow me," Atlas said to me and Luna, and then started walking, leaving the school grounds.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just follow me," he said. "The most important thing is that you don't go to your usual places, like school or your home."

"Okay," I said.

"And don't worry about your father," Atlas reassured me. "I've already sent some police to your home and your father's office, just in case Mars shows up there."

"Thank you," I said. "But how does Mars know about me? I thought you were keeping me a secret."

"I was," Atlas replied. "But that doesn't mean I can keep everyone silent forever. I can't keep an eye on them all the time."

"Okay, but how did you figure out that Mars was targeting me?" I asked.

"I found out because before Mars escaped from prison," Atlas said, "he asked one of the prison guards if it was true that someone named Geo had made him get captured. From that question alone, it was obvious that he had heard about you from someone."

I nodded.

"I agree," I said. "And I guess their relationship wasn't close enough for Mars to just believe what this someone said. That's why he needed to confirm it by asking the prison guard."

"Right," Atlas said. "Luckily, that prison guard didn't know anything about you, so he didn't give away any unnecessary information."

I nodded, and we continued walking.

"Actually," Atlas continued, "we have a lead on who might be telling Mars about you."

"Really? Who?" I asked.

"For the past few weeks, there's been someone visiting Mars daily," Atlas said. "He's the only one visiting him, which is already suspicious, even without what happened now. It's highly possible that he's the one giving Mars information. The problem is, we don't know who he is. That glasses guy was using a fake identity. It's such a humiliation, right? He had the guts to use a fake identity right under our noses. It really pisses me off."

"Glasses guy?" I couldn't help but think of my classmate, the smartest guy in our class who I also called 'glasses guy'. But there was no way it could be the same person, right? I mean, a lot of people wear glasses.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Anyway, I keep calling him 'glasses guy' in my mind. I kind of forgot what his name was.

Was it Ariel or something? Ha, he was a mermaid princess.

I shook my head. That's not what I should be thinking about right now.

"I guess this is what happened," Atlas said. "There are five other policemen who know about you. One of them was telling the 'glasses guy' about you, and then the 'glasses guy' told Mars about it. It's hard to tell who did it because he didn't talk to Mars directly, and obviously nobody admits they did it. Nobody wants to be blamed for helping a criminal, after all."

Although I knew my classmate couldn't be the 'glasses guy' Atlas was talking about, I needed to make sure.

"Say," I said, "when does this 'glasses guy' usually meet with Mars?"

"Hmm... if I remember correctly," Atlas said, "he does it randomly. There's no fixed time, unfortunately. But the last time he visited was on Tuesday around 10 AM."

Of course, I thought. At that time and day, Ariel was in class with me and Luna. So he really had nothing to do with this.

That's great. I'm not sure if we're friends or not, but I don't want to be enemies with him. It probably reminded me of... Pluto. I didn't want to make another enemy like that.

"I'll check on this more later," Atlas said, looking at me. "For now, let's focus on making sure you're safe."

I nodded.

And then we arrived at the supposed safe place. I looked up at the building.

"Let me make sure of one thing," I said. "When you say safe place, you mean your home?"

"Yes," Atlas said. "Let's go inside."

"What do you mean 'yes'?" I said. "I've already been here a few times!"

"I know," Atlas said, walking to the living room. "But still, I think this is the safest place I can think of. It's somewhere close to me."

"Okay, but--"

"I can't really trust others with this, can I?" Atlas said. "They'll need an explanation as to why Mars is targeting you. Not to mention we're lacking people to do this anyway. Besides your school, your father's office, we've sent some police to Mars' house in case he asks for help from his family. We've also sent some police to where he usually hangs out, to his friends, and more. Not to mention this isn't exactly the only case we're dealing with--"

"Fine, I get it!" I said, sighing.

Great," Atlas said. "And we have this room over here."

He walked over to the door beside the living room. He opened it and revealed a room filled with boxes, stacks of papers, and other items. "Right now, it's being used as storage, but we can clean it up quickly."

I took a quick glance around the room.

"This is the only door it has," Atlas said. "And the windows are small. Not even a little kid can come in using that. At night, I'll stand guard outside the door. Unless he takes me down, Mars won't get his hands on you. At least, that's what I can promise you."

Atlas stared at me with strong confidence as he spoke.

"Of course, if you don't like it," Atlas said, "we can look for another place--"

"Fine, I will stay here," I said. "But you said you lack manpower. Does that mean you alone will protect me?"

"What? You think I'll lose?" he said, offended.

"I'm just asking," I said.

"Oh, really? Want to give it a try?" he challenged me.

"No, thank you," I said.

"Wait!" Luna suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Atlas asked. "You don't believe me either, Lu? I can handle one or two criminals easily! Don't underestimate your brother!"

"That's not it!" Luna replied. "Doesn't that mean Geo will have to stay here all day?"

Atlas nodded. "And Night too. That's the most dangerous moment."

Luna blushed. "I... I mean..."

Atlas blinked. "Oh, right. We need to do something about the bathroom. Probably buy new soap and all so Geo won't peek into your memories."

Luna blushed even harder. "That's not what I mean, you stupid brother!" Luna threw her bag at him and ran to her room.

"What's with her?" Atlas said, picking up the bag.

I looked at him annoyed. "It's fine to take precautions," I said. "But I don't appreciate you assuming I'll definitely be peeking."

"What? But you're a guy, right?" he asked.

"I have principles!" I said.

"Fine," Atlas sighed. "I'm sorry. Why don't you help me clean this room? Luna doesn't seem like she's going to come down soon."

"Do it yourself," I said as I sat on the sofa instead.

"Hey!" Atlas protested.

"This was your idea," I reminded him.

He sighed. "So I have to do everything myself?" He looked inside the spare room, defeated.

I pulled out my phone and started playing games, ignoring him.

***

Night came, and Atlas was cooking in the kitchen after he had done a big cleaning on his spare room. It turned out that he was really good at house chores and could even cook.

I sat on the sofa, feeling uncomfortable staying so long inside someone else's home. I couldn't even distract myself because my phone had run out of battery, so I was charging it now.

I looked at the console game near the TV, wondering if I should ask Atlas to let me play or something since I had nothing else to do. But then the door opened, and Luna entered the room.

She was still wearing her uniform, and her hair was a mess, indicating that she might have just woken up from a nap. When she saw me, she froze in place, blushing.

"Why are you here?" she asked, immediately hiding behind the door.

I smiled. "Have you forgotten already?" I said. "Or are you still half asleep?"

"Oh, right," Luna said, seeming to remember our previous conversation. "Wait a second!"

She went back to her room and returned around five minutes later, dressed in more casual clothes, with her hair no longer messy. She nervously stood at the door.

"So, is that how you usually are at home?" I grinned.

"Forget about it!" Luna said, flustered."

She sat across from me, but neither of us said anything after that. For some reason, I couldn't think of anything to say at the moment. As I took a glance at her, she looked even cuter with more casual clothes. No, that's not what I should have been thinking.

It was silent for some time until Atlas came from the kitchen.

"Alright, dinner's ready," he said, entering the room. "Come, let's eat."

***