[ Mask ]

Geoffrey laid in his bed, ready to fall into a deep slumber.

On his desk were the wrappers for the multiple rice balls he had bought on his way back, with some water bottles laying around.

He didn't need much more than that, with the different flavors he had, like kimchi or tuna.

He got his white card out, spinning it around his fingers in a similar fashion to how Jet did it earlier.

"Why?" he asked himself.

It was as if the school made it easy to steal those cards. Who else had them?

Geoffrey's attention went toward his door.

Smoke?

It was colored smoke coming from under the door, someone must've been walking through the hallway, thought Geoffrey.

Still, he got up and walked to the door.

As he got closer, he could hear as someone knocked on a door.

Distant murmurs, whispers made barely made it to him. 

"What are you doing here?!" was the first thing he heard. 

They didn't talk for long before the door closed, the person leaving.

Geoffrey opened his door quickly, stepping into the hallway.

He expected to arrive face-to-face to whoever was meeting someone on his floor.

Yet, when he opened his door, he came face-to-face with two people standing before him.

They wore black medical masks, and instead of uniforms, they had common clothes. 

They both held a used baseball bat.

He could see it clearly, the black smoke.

The person on his right swung the baseball bat he was holding. Geoffrey quickly ducked, the bat hitting his door frame.

The other one tried doing a vertical swing, Geoffrey taking a step back into his room.

The bat loudly struck the ground, it's hit echoing through the hallways.

They've done it.

Geoffrey stepped forward, perfectly executing a front kick and pushing back against the wall the assailant on the left.

The other one swung once more, Geoffrey moving his body back again, the bat hitting his frame again.

As it hit the frame, Geoffrey stepped in and grabbed the wrist holding it.

He then struck. Three consecutive hits.

They were quick and powerful, the assailant letting go of the bat while stumbling backward.

The other one quickly stepped up, swinging his bat again, Geoffrey raising his forearm to block it.

As the bat would've hit, the man let it go and took a step toward Geoffrey, his arm describing a wide arch.

The assailant's fist started glowing, something that reminded Geoffrey of Jet's power.

It wasn't lightning, however.

After blocking the bat, he quickly executed an uppercut on the man's fist, sending his hand toward the ceiling. 

Geoffrey stepped back, expecting an explosion, quickly noticing in the corner of his eye that the man was looking away.

Shit.

Instead of an explosion, a flashbang resounded, a blinding flash filled the hallway, Geoffrey unable to look away in time.

Disoriented, he took a step back, thinking he would be in his room, yet his back hit the door frame.

His ears were ringing, his head spinning.

He could feel as a fist hit his chest, yet unable to see where it came from. 

He faintly heard steps coming toward him.

It then hit a second time, nearly taking his breath away.

Geoffrey took a step forward, where the man should be, and reaching out with his left arm finally got a hold of something.

The man's arm.

Following the arm, his other hand grabbed the assailant's neck while his eyes still remained shut.

He couldn't see him, but it didn't matter anymore.

He tightened his grasp on his throat, he could feel as the assailant gasped for air, his arm grabbing his own trying to make him let go.

Geoffrey's grasp tightened even more.

He tried opening his eyes, but he could barely see anything, bright white spots hindering his vision.

He could tell that the assailant he struck down first was gone. He clenched himself, expecting to be hit while choking this one out.

"Geoffrey! Stop!"

His ringing ears barely heard as someone called him out.

But he wouldn't stop, not until the assailant stopped trying to make him let go.

He could hear as doors opened, more people coming into the hallway.

Where were you guys when they were swinging their bats around? he thought.

He could hear the protests through his poor hearing, his vision just starting to adjust.

He could now see on the side. 

There was a small crowd in the hallway, meters away from him.

He angled his head to the left, trying to look at the person he was holding.

What?

The person he was holding had no mask, he could see their face clear as day.

Emilia, who was desperately trying to have him let go of her throat was the one he was holding.

Her teary eyes looked at him, her face red from his grasp.

He let go, Emilia instantly falling to the ground.

He rubbed his eyes, but his vision wasn't any better. People yelled at him, that much he could tell.

Two of them rushed to Emilia, while he could hear someone approaching him.

"What?" said Geoffrey.

The person's words were mumbled, behind the high-pitched ringing that was constant.

He could see her, however.

It was Nora, from the committee.

Her expression was one he had faced often in life.

Disappointment. 

Her stiffened expression, her face red in anger.

She kept yelling at him, he tried reading her lips but everything was blurry.

He stepped back, his back against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

He could see as two students grabbed Emilia's arms and lifted her up, hurriedly leaving toward the stairs.

Some of the students around he could recognize, a lot of them from his own classroom.

Terror, disappointment and disbelief tied them all together as they stood further, watching the scene.

He took a deep breath, and looked at Nora's lips once more.

'Come with me.'

I guess this will be a long night.