In another part of the world, near Shibuya and Meguro in Tokyo, Japan, stood a massive cedar gate. Beyond it was an equally colossal estate with traditional styled buildings. To those who did not know, the estate looked like a fancy house built around the Meiji era. But to the locals, this was the home of the country’s most influential family.It was known as the Homura House, or better yet, the Cedar Palace. There was no one in Japan and people who were involved in the government and business from other countries who did not know what it signified.The head of the Homura Family, Homura Ryuu, was one of the wonders in the business world, among Rockefeller Group’s founder, André de Lancy. Also, similar to André de Lancy, Homura Ryuu was equally mysterious as he rarely appeared in public.Homura International was handled by Kazehaya Gin, Ryuu’s cousin, and served as its CEO. Compared to the reclusive Ryuu, Gin was very sociable and his face that looked strange for a Japanese since he ha
What? Who died?Puzzled, Evie watched as her father turned pale as he suddenly stood up in shock. He then turned his eyes towards the living room, and he rushed to open the television without telling them anything. He switched channels a few times before it stopped on breaking news.“Around ten in the morning here in Altair, and four in the afternoon in Japan, Homura International’s CEO, Gin Kazehaya and his wife, Emi were on the way to the airport when the car they were riding suddenly exploded. The police have confirmed that there were no survivors in the accident. The couple was supposed to attend the International Business Conference to be held in Paris, France…”The voice of the news anchor droned on as Francis stared at the television showing the accident, and his legs suddenly trembled, and he slumped slowly on the carpeted floor like jelly. He was obviously very much affected by the news.Evie looked at the television where it showed the police trying to sort out the debris of
“What happened? Why do you look like that?”Eileen Russel looked up from the steak and potatoes she had been stabbing with the fork and knife as if she was murdering her food, to the elegantly dressed woman who just walked in the dining area of the equally elegant house.The woman was well maintained. Even if she did not look that pretty, she looked as if she was still in her late twenties rather than someone closer to forty years of age. She had an oval shaped face, and thin lips, thickened dramatically by lipstick, making it pouty. She had long chestnut colored hair that fell over her shoulders in soft waves courtesy of the salon. Unlike Eileen, whose real eyes were brown, the woman’s eyes were hazel— soft brown with flakes of green and gold in the middle. She wore an aqua colored chiton style dress partnered with a pair of silver high heeled sandals.“Why do you think so?”Eileen retorted sarcastically. She was in a very bad mood since the morning. All her carefully laid out long t
The clock on the wall ticked, and Eileen became more and more upset as she was forced to wait for her mother to finish her meal. She was boiling inside, but she had to stay put in order not to annoy her mom. Vivienne might spoil her, but not enough to let her daughter be rude towards her. It was not impossible for her to be slapped or be depraved financially for a while if she so much as angered Vivienne.In their little family, Vivienne called the shots. Eileen could only get advantages when her mother’s in a good mood or when they’re in the same boat. That was why she had been looking forward to controlling Evely Hunt for a long time. It would not only make her mother happy and be more caring towards her, she would also be more financially independent as she had heard that the idiot had a huge inheritance she was about to get on her eighteenth birthday in a few months.But no! Evely Hunt already put a hamper to her plans! That other woman had lied to them too! Her hands on her lap b
Today was Friday. Days had passed since classes commenced, and until now, Evie was surprised that nothing eventful really happened after the first day. The crazy cuckoo seemed to be behaving herself, although she still acted and looked pitiful whenever they crossed paths, and her minions would glare at her.At least, Evie did not hear any nasty rumors about Liz and a twisted version of the truth, and so she was sure that Eileen did not dare spread misinformation after her warning or she’ll get face slapped by the truth. In any case, a person could only spread lies if no one would question her.Her parents had gone to Japan since Tuesday to attend the funeral of her father’s business partner. Because they would be gone for a while, Liz had returned Eli to her parents’ house for them to take care of him which they did so delightedly. Liz was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, and the youngest among their four children. It was understandable that Liz was their darling girl, and he
“Observe and wait?”“Well, aside from those, do you have any other ideas on how to deal with those monsters?”Evie was amused. The boys must have been thinking that she would be doing something amazing to get rid of the shadow lurkers. Well, technically, she could. But not right away. She’s still too weak.“None. But if we’re not doing anything either, then what’s the point?” James asked back. “Wouldn’t that put us in a dangerous position since as you said those things infect others?”Good point!“You’re right,” Evie agreed, and when the two looked confused due to her complacency, she decided to explain. “We can only observe and wait— at least for now. I cannot do anything at the moment, but the same thing cannot be said after a few months.”“A few months?”“Yeah. Like I said, I cannot do anything until I recover my strength. Those things cannot be eliminated easily. There is a special method which I cannot tell you what kind right now. But I will explain and show it to you when I re
Evie decided that for now, she would not tell them the consequences if the shadow lurkers matured earlier than she recovered her powers. For now, she would like to hold on to the faith that she would recover enough to purify the host or hosts if there were any before they matured. After all, another consequence of letting it mature was to have more victims to follow. It would be chaos.Although the probability of the shadow lurkers fusing with the host’s body and turning him into a monster was pretty low, the point was that it was still a possibility. Back in her world, there was at least one who turned into a monster among five hundred infected hosts. But the thing was that, even if the host did not turn into a monster, when the shadow lurker matured and left his body, he would be just an empty shell. After all, the shadow lurker fed on the host’s soul. In short, he would be disabled until his body expired.“Don’t worry about it for now. We will check first then I’ll let you guys kno
“Excuse me?”The girl looked offended. Her expression was akin to someone who just got her shit thrown on her face, and it would have been funny if it were a joke. But the girl was seriously offended even though she was the one who was rude first.“I said you’re an idiot,” Evie repeated without mincing her words.The group looked shocked. It seemed nobody had ever told them that they were stupid before. But it was understandable considering the class they were from. But that was not the point.“Are you talking about me?”“Is there any other idiot here— ah my bad. You’re a group. Birds of a feather, flock together, and so you’re all probably stupid if you came looking for her with the same stupid reason,” Richard mocked.“How dare you call us stupid?”“But aren’t you? We’re quietly having our meal here and you came spouting nonsense disrupting us.”“We’re not spouting nonsense!”“Oh, and which part within your reasoning makes sense? Why do you claim that the boss is dragging Hanz Jense
“Hi! Is Kyle Simmons here? I’m his cousin. He said he will help us look around.”Richard asked in a very friendly manner, and Wilson returned his smile.“You’re Richard?” he asked back, and when the other nodded, he pointed at the seats next to the booth. “Kyle already told us about you the other day. Just sit there and wait a bit. He will be here in a while.”“Thanks,” Richard said, and the three followed his invitation and sat on the plastic chairs on the side.Wilson returned to his group and helped them attach photos of the different places the club members had been to.Actually, Kyle, Richard’s cousin, was not a member of the hiking club. He’s a member of the urban exploration team. But since the number of people were not many, and the members of the hiker’s club weren’t a lot as well, their club and the Hikers’ Club shared a booth. It was such a coincidence, but a very good coincidence on their part.The three sat quietly as they watched the people get busy. They did not offer h
“Boss, you’re here…”Evie turned to her side where the pedestrian entrance to the university was and saw both Richard and James standing there, as if waiting.“Why are you guys still there? Why didn’t you go in?”“We want to wait for you here,” they answered plainly.She was perplexed. She didn’t know what to say. She clearly didn’t want them to suffer for her, but they were just too cute and acted like her real lackeys. She didn’t know why she deserved such treatment, though. She could not really remember their past interactions, and she doubted if that gloomy Evely treated them correctly.“Fine, let’s go inside, then,” she said, and all three of them went to the gate.Altair University was not as strict to its students. They could go in and out anytime they wanted using their passes. However, not just anybody could enter the school on normal days. One had to be a student, a faculty member, or staff at the school in order to enter.Today, however, was a special day. It’s an open scho
“Miss, the car is ready.”Evie looked up from her empty plate and saw Bernard standing a few steps away, looking regal as always. These days, she felt like a spoiled princess since the butler and all the servants took good care of her impeccably. Most often than not, before she even opened her mouth to ask for something, it’s either already prepared or already done.Bernard was really true to his title as the number one steward in Altair. He could anticipate well what his employers needed and prepared them in advance. If Evie was not sure that he was a hundred percent mortal, she would think he had an “all seeing eye”. It was a power similar to Dolya’s that could foresee the future.“Then I will go now,” she said as she picked up her bag and walked towards the entrance.Last night, she asked Bernard for directions to Altair University. Evely had never been there, as she had no memory of how to go to that school. She just knew that it was not that far from Altair City High School. But
Hazel was indignant. “Why do you talk as if you know anything? You were not there. What do you know?”Wil raised a brow at her.“Don’t deny it. You know that Eric’s brother is in your school and he saw everything.”Eric Wales was Wilson’s best friend and classmate. His younger brother was a year younger than Hazel and also attended Altair City High School. Since the incident happened at the cafeteria at lunch time, it was totally possible that her actions were witnessed by the boy.Hazel’s eyes turned glum. She was very upset with her brother and herself.“What exactly happened?”This time, Hazel had no choice but to confess. She was arrogant, but only in the premise that her powerful family had her back. But if she’s in the wrong, although they would side with her in the presence of other people, they would never let her off in private.“You did that?”Her parents looked visibly disappointed. Hazel knew that since returning to Altair and “changing” her personality, her parents had b
That same night, in a different part of the city, another soul was restless. Hazel Trent had been in her room since she returned from school. She had been in a bad mood since the incident at the cafeteria, and then her confrontation with her so-called friends in their classroom.“Hmph! What friends!”Hazel had been incensed since the group of people who went to the cafeteria with her had turned their backs on her.Traitors!Well, technically, they did not betray her at all. They just suddenly woke up from the trance of unreasonableness that had fogged their brains. In fact, even if they realized that Hazel had egged them on so they would tag along in intimidating Evely Hunt and get scolded by Hanz, they never blamed her, and had advised her not to do it anymore. There was no sense in antagonizing Evely Hunt, since the girl did not do anything bad to them, nor as they said, did she start any of the fights she had, even before.Also, in the week since class had started, the student hadn
“Of course not,” James hastily denied, making the others laugh again.“Hey Hanz, where do you plan to study next? Have you chosen your university?” Richard asked.“Altair University, of course,” he answered swiftly. “I’ll be going there tomorrow, by the way. They have an open school.”James, Richard, and Evie exchanged glances.“What’s going on?”“Nothing. We’re planning to go there too in the morning,” Evie answered.The open school would open at nine in the morning. Evie and the others planned to go there at the opening time or at least she was going to suggest they went there at the opening time before they were interrupted by the crazy group earlier. Most students arrived around an hour before lunch break onwards. Not many students went around the opening time.“Really? Let’s all go together then,” Hanz invited and the others agreed.Evie planned to rope Hanz in her group anyway since he looked like he would be hanging out with them a lot. As for James and Richard, they didn’t min
“You have scary fans,” Evie told Hanz in amusement as soon as the group left the cafeteria.The drama has ended, and so, the students who hung out at the canteen started dispersing. Actually, even if they disagreed with the group for being rude, it was still a fact that Evely Hunt was famous for her fighting skills, and so most of the students were afraid of her.Also, Hanz Jensen, the top student was also there and he just got angry at the group earlier, and so they did not dare hang out longer. Even those who were still eating hastened their pace. Why? Because they didn’t want to have the attention of the group consisting of Evely Hunt, Hanz Jensen, James de Lancy, and Richard Simmons, who were all famous at school.All four people, plus the missing Yann Bouchard, comprised the people who were not supposed to be crossed at school. Hanz was the top student and he had tons of fans who were ready to slap people who would dare cross him. As for the others, they were from the leading fam
“You…”The class monitor of Class One was shocked at how Hanz Jensen had spoken to them. The Ice Prince might be cold and aloof to others, but he never scolded nor criticized anyone. They had never seen him this angry either. They tried to defend themselves but Hanz cut them off.“We were just concerned—"“I don’t need you to worry about me. I can take care of myself. You should worry about yourselves. When you attack or harass other people with your self-proclaimed justice without bothering to know the truth, that’s called bigotry. You should reflect on your actions.”Evie mentally clapped her hands as she could not do it while the people Hanz just scolded were still there. Even if she agreed with Hanz and she was displeased with the group, she didn’t feel it was correct for her to visibly gloat over their public embarrassment.Yes, public embarrassment. Because the group had caused a ruckus when they suddenly arrived with scary expressions and started scolding Evie’s group, they at
“Excuse me?”The girl looked offended. Her expression was akin to someone who just got her shit thrown on her face, and it would have been funny if it were a joke. But the girl was seriously offended even though she was the one who was rude first.“I said you’re an idiot,” Evie repeated without mincing her words.The group looked shocked. It seemed nobody had ever told them that they were stupid before. But it was understandable considering the class they were from. But that was not the point.“Are you talking about me?”“Is there any other idiot here— ah my bad. You’re a group. Birds of a feather, flock together, and so you’re all probably stupid if you came looking for her with the same stupid reason,” Richard mocked.“How dare you call us stupid?”“But aren’t you? We’re quietly having our meal here and you came spouting nonsense disrupting us.”“We’re not spouting nonsense!”“Oh, and which part within your reasoning makes sense? Why do you claim that the boss is dragging Hanz Jense