The morning bell rang, and they headed inside.
In chemistry class, Reian slid into the seat next to Beran, the guy he had helped out the day before.
Beran looked up, looking way more relaxed than he had yesterday.
“Morning, man!
How’s it going?”
“Morning!
I’m good,” Reian smiled, setting his notebook down.
“How about you?
Did you manage to understand that problem from yesterday?”
“Yeah, thanks to you, I actually passed the morning quiz,” Beran laughed, leaning back.
“Hey, by the way…
I have a bunch of cool science stuff at my place.
Are you free after school?
You should come over and hang out.”
Reian thought about it for a second.
“Yeah, sure.
Sounds like fun.”
Once the final bell of the day rang, Reian met Flame by the lockers.
“Hey, go ahead and head home without me.
I’m gonna go visit a friend’s place for a bit.” Turning around, he spotted Silya waving at him from down the hall.
“Bye, Silya!
See you tomorrow!”
“Bye, Reian!
Get home safe!” she called back.
Flame rolled his eyes at his brother’s goofy smile.
“Alright, whatever, lover boy.
Just don’t be late for dinner, okay?”
“Got it, got it,” Reian chuckled.
A short walk later, Reian walked into Beran’s house, and his eyes immediately widened.
Shelves were stacked high with heavy textbooks, and the desks were cluttered with glass beakers, test tubes, high-tech microscopes, and sterile injections.
“Wow,” Reian muttered, genuinely impressed.
“You’re really into science, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of an obsession,” Beran smiled sheepishly, scratching his head.
As Reian walked around, looking at a neat row of chemicals, his jacket accidentally brushed against the edge of a small glass beaker.
The beaker wobbled and tipped over.
“Ah!
Sorry!” Reian gasped, instinctively lunging forward to catch it.
But his hand missed by an inch.
Smash!
The glass shattered against the floor, clear liquid splashing everywhere.
Reian panicked, immediately crouching down.
“Man, I am so sorry!
Hold on, let me clean this up right now.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Reian!
It’s totally fine, it was just water,” Beran said, rushing over to stop him.
But Reian insisted, quickly gathering the broken shards and wiping down the floor until it was spotless.
After hanging out for a little longer, Reian checked the time.
“I should probably head out before Flame locks me out.
See ya tomorrow, Beran!”
“See ya, man.
Thanks for coming over!”
Reian walked back to his apartment, hummed a tune, and unlocked the front door.
But the sight inside made him freeze.
Pillow feathers were flying everywhere.
Flame and Silvia were in the middle of a brutal, full-scale pillow war, yelling at each other.
But just as Reian walked in, Silvia’s foot slipped on a loose wrapper on the floor.
“Whoa—!” she gasped.
She lost her balance completely and tumbled forward, crashing straight into Flame.
The two of them hit the floor hard, with Silvia landing directly on top of him.
Right at that exact second, they turned their heads and noticed Reian standing in the doorway, staring blankly at them.
Reian slowly raised his hands, a massive, teasing grin spreading across his face.
“Hey…
don’t let me interrupt.
Please, continue what you were doing.
I’ll just, uh, leave and come back in an hour.”
Silvia and Flame’s faces turned a synchronized, burning shade of crimson.
Silvia scrambled off him so fast she almost tripped again.
“It’s not what it looks like!” Flame yelled, frantically waving his hands.
“Yeah!
We were just fighting!
He provoked me!” Silvia shouted, her voice cracking in pure embarrassment.
Reian’s smile instantly vanished as he looked past them at the rest of the apartment.
The living room was an absolute disaster zone.
Cushions were torn, trash was scattered, and feathers covered every square inch of the floor.
“Oh, really?” Reian said, crossing his arms, his voice dropping into a stern, parent-like tone.
“Look at this place.
Both of you—clean up this entire mess right now.
If I see one single feather when I get back from changing, you’re both dead.”
For the next two hours, a completely humbled Flame and Silvia worked silently side-by-side, sweeping and vacuuming until the apartment was clean.
By midnight, the lights were off, and everyone was fast asleep.
Meanwhile, across the city, the atmosphere shifted into total darkness.
Inside the hidden, dimly lit underground basement, the mysterious person stood over the experiment, carefully letting a single drop of blood fall into the compound.
The moment it hit, the person froze, staring at the results in absolute shock.
A twisted, creepy smile spread across their face.
Without a second thought, they reached out and slammed down on the red button.
The nightmare was just getting started.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter!