Chapter Two: Tension Rising

The bell rings for lunchtime, Scarlet runs over to Lilac’s desk and grabs her by the hand, passing by Bianca and grabbing her hand as well, dragging both in a rush through the school, Cian goes after them, passing by the front of a classroom another girl glances over them and starts running as well.
” Morning everybody! ” With an energetic and happy voice.

” Morning Glas! ” Scarlet replies. Glas is a girl as tall as Lilac is, her hair is cut up to her neck, she wears a small earning with an emerald and is the owner of a charming and invigorating smile, Glas wears her uniform with the blazer open, she says its too warm and makes she feel sweaty. Her eyes are pure and deep green.

“Have you seen Rumena this morning? ” Lilac asks as they run through the corridor, Lilac is already out of breath, and is trying to stop Scarlet.

” Not yet, i believe she skipped school. ” Glas answers Lilac with a smile.

” Thats not right, Rumena almost never skips school, is everything alright Glas? You live nearby, have you noticed anything weird? ” Asks Bianca, wish a worried face. Bianca, from all the girls is the one who worries the most about everyone else, she takes care of her friends as if they were her sisters and daughters, even thought she is the smallest of all.

” If i am not mistaken, nothing weird has happened, that part of the town is the same since i can remember, this week we got a couple new faces down to Rumena’s Street but nothing out of ordinary. ” Glas said, pondering if this was the weird thing Bianca was looking for.

” Hey, Lilac, you didnt lifted a brown, usually you freak out over new neighbors, got no feelings? ” Says Scarled with a disappointment in her face. Stopping on her tracks, then they all begin to walk normaly.

” Im thinking, leave me alone. ” Lilac replies. ” i dont see anything weird in a new couple moving to near her home, this kind of stuff happens. Getting all worked up over every moving person in this town wont do me any good, i am also very tired to be sincere. ”

” Stayed up all night Lilac? ” Glas asks her, with a wry smile.

” Nah, its just stress from school i guess, last year, last months and we have to bear with it still, its kinda killing me. ” She says while covering her mouth, then Cian speaks to everyone in a soft tune:

” But, sure there is a lot of movement going on, plenty new people moving in our town and, most of them are new people. ” Cian puts her hands around her chin as someone giving deeper thought.

” And why should it be of any importance Cian? ” Asks Lilac looking with her usual sleepy face.

” I dont know Lilac, you from all people, was the one who said, ” we should be full aware of new people, specially for our own safety. “, wasnt this line yours? ” Cian keeps up with her hand around her chin as she says so, but looking to the floor.

” Hmm, lets head to the backyard then, looks like we got a line of thinking, is everyone alright with it? ” Lilac asks wavering her hand in the air.

” Should i Bring miss Sienna too? ”

” Please do Bianca, Miss Sienna would help us out a whole lot. ” Answers Lilac in a calm tune. ” I think we should do just fine if we all use the Doppel plan. ”

” More than fine, so, lets head there? same spot as always? ” Scarlet asks.

” Same Spot. ” Lilac answers fast and confident.

The girls then start to move towards the backyard of the school, the school had a huge area, but the backyard was just a dump for old broken chairs and desks, remains of old blackboards a huge shack were more of this stuff was stored, nobody used the backyard area of the school, students avoided that area, because of the stories of that place, it was a very scary place given the stories that were passed down by the students through the years, ghosts, monsters, sometimes stories about creepers from outside the school who somehow managed to break in and hide inside. The backyard of the school retained many memories, many stories, and now, its also home for a silent world.

” First things first, did everyone made a Doppelganger to replace yourselves during the rest of the day in class? ” Lilac asks, her eyes are now sharp, she doesnt looks like the lazy sleepyhead anymore, she looks a lot different somehow threatening. Her presence grows in a frightening way, as if there was another person using her body right now.

” Arg, Lilac, you’re scary, do you know this? ” Glas says hugging herself.

” Im trying to be serious, this is a whole lot more serious than you think, do you remember Viola? I bet you do, because she died in front of our eyes, and nobody remembers her anymore, not even a glimpse of her existence was left behind, all erased by those monsters. ” Lilac says it with anger in her voice, and suddenly Cian, Glas and Scarlet drop their mood.

” Viola was a friend of us, and shared the same fate, blood, curse and blessing, she just steeped out of the line a little bit and then, on the same week, a family of four move to her apartment. She invites me to spend the night there and, the rest of the story is known by everybody, Right? ” Lilac tightens her fist, ” I had to kill four persons, a total of eight deaths, in exchange for one single life. Is it any fair? No it isnt, specially because i did my best to protect Viola and her family, we all did, but Viola was not as skilled with Weaving as i am, and her parents were all normal. No power at all. ”

Silence still reigns. Lilac’s words bear a weight that smashes any life, as if a truck passed right through all of the girls. She then points nowhere and declares: ” Thats why i have problems with people moving. We know we are hunted, we know they are around watching our every steep, our every move, just lurking to jump at our necks and what can we do? But kill to not be killed. No one of you girls had to spill blood yet, even if its for defense, spilling someone’s blood out like that  is not something thats easily done. ”

Bianca then arrives the shack together with miss Sienna, Sienna was blond, and taller than all the girls, her eyes were gold colored and she was stunningly beautiful, Sienna was also way older than all girls, she was a teacher from the school. Upon arriving and seeing the scene, Bianca suddenly realizes what Lilac was talking about, she then, takes a deep breath and says:

” Ok girls, calm down now, mourning over Viola wont make us any good. Also, after that event you sure have become a paranoid Lilac, cant you stop worrying so much? We all are going to be alright, Maybe Viola just tried something too big and they went after her. ” Bianca was trying to be rational, but against Lilac it wouldnt work, wouldnt because Lilac was mad over that, she thirsted for revenge.

” Lilac, could you sit down and breath a bit? I want to grasp the situation now. ” Says Sienna, ” what is exactly going on this time, girls? ”

” Its Rumena, Miss Sienna. She didnt attended school this morning, i dont have any news of her, and this week a couple moved to her street. ” Said Glas, Glas was starting to show woe, holding her chest as if in pain, some tears were starting to form on her face. ” im starting to worry now, after Lilac telling Viola’s story again, im starting to worry. ”

” Rumena is alright Glas, she called the office this morning, she is not attending today because of medical issues, she is performing a checkup. ” Miss Sienna smiles back to Glas, who looks a lot more relieved now. Scarlet lets out a soft sigh of relief as well and Bianca is now looking angrily at Lilac who says:

” Why are you looking at me like that? I told you i wasnt worried about her, it was just a couple. Nothing to worry about, Rumena, her mother and auntie are all capable of defending themselves. If instead of a couple they were a quartet of people or something like that then i would start panicking, but they are not. Right? ” Bianca sighs after that.

” So, is it all settled? ” Miss Sienna asks.

” Not Yet, there are other things i want to say. And, prepare yourselves because its going to be that old and boring ” Its April Again. ” talk. ” Lilac says as she closes her eyes and drawns a long breath, as she does, all the others sigh and sit, accommodating in the chairs all around the shack.

” April is a special month, everyone here knows perfectly why, right? ” she asks, and everyone else shake the head in a affirmative way. ” OK, thats good, now moving on, i have a letter from my auntie Amethyst. ”

” Whoa! ” Scarlet shouts in surprise. ” Is Amethyst coming to the town? ”

” Yes she is, she said in her letter that we should take care and be aware, since ours is a small town, the Paladins can take over it in seconds, as we all dont want Viola’s story to repeat, we should listen and prepare. In the letter my auntie just says that their main forces are moving to our country and they tend to base inside small towns and villages, such as ours, as its easier to clean, and easier to take over. ” Says Lilac taking the letter out from her bag. ” I also have a question for Miss Sienna, since in both our classes we didnt had any transferred students, how about the others, and the junior years? Since we are in the last year i really thought there wouldnt have much movement. ”

Sienna’s face closes and she is now making a serious face
” Indeed Lilac, with the sudden burst of moving ins, there were about seven new transferred students around. ”

” Seven!? ” says Glas ” Thats a hell of a coincidence. ”

” There are no coincidences in April, Glas, no coincidences at all. ” Says Lilac, ” All i want to say now is for us to stay alert, Rumena is Alright she is just visiting the medic, but i’ll give her a call and tell her to keep you informed, if anything happens, Glas, run there to give Rumena the proper aid, and call us. ”

” Count on me Lila! ” says her puffing her chest and showing a strong smile.

” Now, now girls, shall we go back to the class? ” Says miss Sienna, as she stands up.

All of the girls stand up and leave the shack together, they swiftly pass through the corridor and go upstairs to their respective classrooms, Sienna goes back to the office. Upon arriving the classroom, Lilac Snaps her fingers as well as Bianca does. Time seems to halt for that instant, the clock movement slows down until it stops moving, but its not only with the clock, everyone else in the class stops their movement. Bianca, Lilac, Cian and Scarlet pass throught the door slowly sliding it open and then closing it calmly.
No, Time didnt stopped, its just that they are the ones who are moving too fast to be seen. In their desks, a perfect matching image of them is sitting, as if they were there during all the time.
This way, they wouldnt ever be missed.

” Doppelganger, Dismissed! ” Says Lilac while waving her hand in front of her copy, she then, sits calmly in her desk assuming an similar posture to the one her image was, and Bianca and the other two do just as Lilac did, then they all snap their fingers in their own fashion.
The clock starts to move slowly again, until it reaches its normal movement speed.

Lilac Sighs
” Somehow… i dont like the way Rumena couldnt come to the school today, we all know, deep inside, that something creepy is going to happen. And its not going to be any merry cake party. ” she sighs again, now laying her bed over her books. She snaps her fingers and her books are now as comfortable as pillows. ” School only makes it harder and tiring. ”

The last bell rings, its time to go home, the four girls stand up and meet at the corridor, they talk a bit smiling lively as they always do, but this time, Lilac feels a a hand tapping her back, she suddenly looks around but among the sea of students she couldnt identify the person who did so. Scarlet notices and then she asks

” Whats up Lila? ”

” Someone bumped on me… i guess. ” Lilac Answers still trying to look out for the one who tapped her back.

” Ah Lila, theres something in your hair, let me… ” Says Bianca taking a paper out of Lilac’s hair ” Looks like a piece of paper, and it has a scribbling. ”

” Its a letter then, Shall i read it to us all? ” Lilac says as she holds the paper in front of her.

” No Lilac, you shouldnt read if here. ” Cian is looking around ” I got a real bad feeling… you should hurry home. ”

Lilac looks up, she is pale as paper, Cian looks down to her face, and opens a worried face. Scarlet feels exactly the same way as Cian and it goes down to Bianca, from far, Glas who was passing by also sees it and soon, the five girls are now panicking together. Lilac loses no time she then starts running, through the crowd, opening her way as the other four follow her to the outside of the school. They keep on running, without speaking a word.