Chapter 6: Realm

Shannon's POV

Days have passed since the sudden warning announcement from The Anonymous. What shocked and confused us was that not even one news outlet reported the havoc that happened during the protest. I imagined that the video clip from The Anonymous will become viral and will make everybody feral, but the media stayed silent like nothing happened.

The social media obviously blocked anything and everything that will relate to the unforeseen hap that the oppressed received. It makes my blood boil even more because even my illustrations are getting reported and deleted automatically.

"Hey, Rei, I need to go outside. Do you need anything?" Ciara, my dorm mate asks.

"Nah, I'm good. Take care, Ciara." Today is Saturday and my classes are already done, so I'm just hanging out in my dorm and drawing some sketches for my new update.

The girl's dormitories are located on the far left, at the end of long hallways outside the main buildings of the University, while the dorm buildings for the boys are on the right side of the school building.

You have two choices for the dorm. The first choice is to live in a twenty storey building, each floor has three duplex suites that can be occupied by four people. The suite is really big and is covered with marble tiles. It has a boffi kitchen, two luxurious bathrooms on the upper and lower floors, one bedroom on each floor and each bedroom consists of two queen size beds.

On the other hand, the second option is the arched cabins. The roof is high, triangular, and is painted blue. It is made with white pine wood that has sandstone decorations and small triangular windows with a fairly symmetrical pattern. The cabin is equipped with a small average kitchen, two bedrooms with a bathroom and a queen size bed each, and a small but pretty living room. A study room and library can be found on the second floor, with an overview of the skyline in the balcony.

As I said before, I prefer living in this small cozy house rather than in those skyscrapers. Our dorm is within the vicinity of the University, but still far enough from the school's buildings for me to still need to ride a bus when going to school.

The messiers are far away from each other, and building gigantic walls on every boundary isn't helping. My house can be found on M69, it is far from my school that's why I need to stay in a dormitory. Milly's house on the other hand is a bit near, so she doesn't need to rent a unit like me. I am not really close with Ciara since she just transferred and we just met this semester. I'm totally cool with anyone sharing a space with me, as long as they are not an elite. That's one of the reasons why I chose to live in the arched cabin rather than the duplex suites, I have more chances to live with a commoner than an elite.

I reach for my phone and stare at the text message I received last week. I'm still trying to figure out who the hell sent me that message. I even tried to let professionals check the source of the text, but they said it was from a burner phone so they couldn't trace it. Not knowing the sender of that cryptic message still bothers me.

I ask Kim, one of the teasers of our team, about the progress of their assignment. They were tasked to hack a website where we can upload the video of the announcement of The Anonymous from the last protest. Anger is brewing inside me every time I remember how the government covered up everything. I know they are the sole reason why there was no news reported regarding the events that occured at the central park.

"We are still trying, Shannon. I'll give you an update once we find something," he says.

I nod as I dropped the call and continued wandering around. My mind suddenly wonders about the mysterious man who I think is related to The Anonymous. Every time I go outside I've been unconsciously checking everyone with the same colored jacket, just like now. The only thing that was left for me as a clue is the unique symbol that looks like 7YX. I don't know if it's an initial or just a mere clothing brand.

I am already done with my projects and requirements, and the sketches that I drew a while ago are just waiting to be finalized. With nothing left for me to do, I decided to go outside and chill for a bit. For the past few days, I was so busy balancing my time for school, for the protest, and for my blog. I think it's time for me to unwind.

I just got into the bus when my phone rings. "Hello, Milly?"

"Hey, Rei! Where are you? I'm nearing your dorm, let's hang out!" she enthusiastically says.

I look outside my window and see that I'm almost at M62. "But I'm outside, Milly. Are you almost there?"

"Oh. Well, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Where are you anyway? What time are you heading back?"

I look at my wrist watch and sigh. She should have just told me a while ago that she's coming. "Okay, just go inside when you get there. I'll just buy some snacks and I'll go back after." I reply before ending the call. I'm confident that Milly knows the passcode of our unit and since Ciara knows Milly, there will be no problem.

I went straight inside the mall when the bus stopped. I did not walk around the mall anymore since there's someone who's waiting for my arrival back at the dorm. Waiting is one of my pet peeves, so I know how irritating it feels. As soon as I reach my favorite pastries shop, I grab two boxes of cinnamon rolls and one croissant.

I am already on the line paying for the food when Milly called again. "I'm almost done now Mi-" Milly's frantic voice cuts me off.

"Rei, you need to come here! Now! Your dorm building is on fire!" she yells.

"What do you mean?" Nervousness can be heard from my voice. I didn't even realize I'm already at the counter. I absentmindedly give my bill to the cashier lady as she asks for my payment.

"Hello, Rei? Do you hear me?! Your dorm is freaking burning! Get your ass here or else you won't have any stuff-"

When Milly's cause of panic finally registered on my mind, I quickly grabbed my items and immediately ran towards the nearest exit of the mall. I didn't even bother looking at the reaction of the people that saw me crazily running inside the shopping center.

The painting!

Out of all things that I have inside my room, the only thing I can think of saving right now is the painting. I don't think I can bear losing the only memoir that reminds me of the real me. I already lost them and everything that belongs to them. That painting is the only thing left to me that reminds me of their existence.

"I won! I won! You're such a loser, A!" I say as I stuck my tongue out. We've been playing Jenga for a while now, and A already lost five times in a row.

"This is so boring, M. Why do you enjoy this kind of game?"

"You're just saying that because you're a loser."

"I'm not! C'mon, let's play one more time. I'm going to prove to you that Aliens are better than Mortals."

"Whatever! Even if you win this game, I'll still think that mortals are better than a half-alien like you," I tease him.

"Really? Then why is a half-mortal like you playing with a half-alien like me?"

I stare at him as I think of possible words that I can use for rebuttal. A is my best friend. We became friends because he always keeps me company whenever I wait for my parents. I'm always at their house because my mother works for them, while my father is working for his grandfather.

I call him A, short for alien, because of his unusual habits and attitude. He refers to me as M, short for half Mortal; according to him, I'm a human but there are things that I do that humans don't do.

"Argh!" he groans desperately as the Jenga pieces fall.

"I told you! You're such a loser!"

"One more game!" I snort a giggle while he aggressively arranges the Jenga pieces.

"Ed, it's time to go home, dear."

We both turn our gazes towards the direction where the voice came.

"Daddy!" I ran towards my father and gave him a tight hug. I laugh as he raises me up and puts me on his shoulders. "Bye, A! See you tomorrow!" I wave at him before we disappear from his sight.

My dad gently lifts me up as we get off the bus and enter our home.

"Hi, mom!" I kiss her on the cheek before sitting down on the chair in front of the table.

"Hi, darling. So, what did you do today?" They both sit down and place the food on the table.

I fish out the paper from my pocket, they are both eyeing me as I'm slowly unfolding it. "Ta-da!" I exclaim excitedly.

"Wow! You drew this, Edrei?"

I proudly nod at my dad. He taps my shoulder and slightly ruffles my hair. "I'm sure you'll be a good artist someday. I'm so proud of you, my daughter."

I almost shout at the bus driver to make him drive faster, but I know I can't demand such a thing. After all, there's a definite time of arrival for every public transportation vehicle in this country.

When the bus finally reached my destination, I immediately got up and ran. I don't know how I managed to go inside my dorm before the fire consumed everything thoroughly.

"God! You should never do that again, Rei! Have you lost your mind?! Why did you run inside?!" Milly scolds. We are now in front of our fully burned dormitory building. I managed to bring out most of my valuable stuff because of my adrenaline. Milly is not pleased with what I have done. As she repeatedly says, "It's fine if you just went in once! But no! You ran back inside three times! Three times, Rei!"

She's being hysterical. "Calm down, Milly. Look, if I didn't come back for the second and third time, I'll have to do my plates all over again. Don't worry, It's already done and I'm safe. Besides, there's no way I'll be able to do that again. Unless..." I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively.

She hits my arm before hugging me, crying. "Don't even joke about it! As if i'll let you go near a fire again."

"Who knows? Maybe it can be our weekend hangout," I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

She bonks my head and just tightens the hug. "Just shut up."

We remain in this kind of stage for almost an hour now. The firemen already extinguished the fire and every student who's staying in the building is outside with their saved things just like me.

"We should go now. I need to find a place, the night is coming," I say. I can't go back to our house now. I still have classes on Monday and it will be a hassle if I'll head back home then commute just to attend my class.

"Wait, I'll ask my mom if you can stay at our house for now," Milly says before typing something on her phone. I watch her as she tries to talk with her mom about my situation.

I smile, knowing someone's here for me. I'm really thankful that she's here with me. If she didn't visit me and immediately told me about the incident, I'll definitely break down upon losing everything. Makes me think that even in my wretched state, I'm still fortunate. I will always be beyond thankful to Milly and her family.

I'm staring into nothingness, when Milly taps my back that brings me back to my senses. "Let's go?"

I look at her with a puzzled face. "To where?"

She gently slaps her face before flicking my forehead. "To my house, you dummy!"

"Oh." My lips part and I scratch my nape as I realize what I just asked.

She helps me gather my things, even though there's not really much to gather. But still, I'm thankful that I was able to save the painting. She gazes at me before getting on the bus. I weakly smile as I hug the painting in my arms. We both sit comfortably on our seats, we let the silence envelope us as we both gaze on different sides.

I'm startled by the sudden vibration that I felt in my pocket. I take my phone out, a small smile appears on my lips as I read the message on the screen.

"We have news about the text message. Worry no more, it's just a kid who loves pranking people. If you don't mind me asking, what is the text message about, Shannon?"

I pull my hair back behind my ears and fidget my phone as I type a reply to Kim. "Oh, it was nothing. Don't worry about it. If you're thinking if it's about life or death, it's not. By the way, thanks!" I heave a sigh and suppress a giggle. I thought I was already busted but luckily, it's just a kid. A fan maybe? Anyway, this wasn't a bad day after all.