Chapter 8: Dawn of Eclipse

Dawn of Eclipse

Matria province, Saint Ramael High School

3:00 pm

Despite the lack of government support and the lack of a large number of active teachers or students, everyone there knew each other and lived together in a calm atmosphere, leaving aside quarrels and arguments for truly isolated cases, or so they said.

For such a welcoming school, there were a couple of scandals that made the front page of the newspapers years ago, although these were forgotten over time.

Perhaps forcibly. Reputation and integrity must have played a key role.

In any case, the current scandal wasn't due to one of those special cases, but rather to an unprecedented event involving an absolutely unprecedented situation.

The curiosity of Chase, Earlene, Jevo, and the foreigners prompted them to approach the gates of the school and try to figure out what the crowd was fervently discussing.

"Chase, can you hear what they're saying? I can't understand them..." Earlene asked in a low voice as she cautiously pulled out a piece of cracker she'd tucked into her pants pocket.

"Shut up for a moment... and all of you too. Maybe that way I can... and where did you get that? Do you have another one?"

"It's no big deal standing here. Let's just go in and find out what's happening," Jevo said, undoing the metal bars.

He walked over to the lock on the entrance and instantly noticed that both gates were locked in the middle with a chain, connected by a large padlock from the inside.

"(Is it secured? Why...?) Listen, the gates are..."

"Guys, look! Someone's coming. It's... Yes, it's her!" Earlene pointed through the bars, squinting.

Short height, short dark hair swept to the sides, just the right amount of makeup, and large brown eyes; those were the features of the lady approaching the entrance in a whitish nursing uniform.

Even with her hands full of medications, bottled water, and other supplies, she managed to signal the group to be quiet.

"Miss... Jazmin!" Earlene tried to express with her mouth full of food.

Seeing her expression brought a smile to the woman's face, but it wasn't a smile that could hide the uncertainty behind it.

“It's good to see you're safe... Uhm... Who are all these people accompanying you?"

"Hey, Jazmin. First, could you explain to us what the hell is going on here?" Chase exclaimed, holding one of the bars of the gate blocking their entrance.

"It looks like you need to be treated." The young woman turned her gaze toward the injured strangers and took the initiative. "That's the most important thing now. Let me let you in...”

With some difficulty, she extracted some keys from her white pocket and quietly unlocked the padlock on the gate.

One by one, the group entered the Institute.

"Please, let's avoid attracting their attention or things might get complicated..."

"What do you mean, Miss Jazmin?" Jevo murmured. Being the last to pass, he offered to lock the entrance again.

"Now isn't appropriate, Jevo. I'll explain everything in due time, I promise."

"Hm... I understand. So... do you want me to help you with that?" He approached and took some of the large amount of items the woman was carrying.

"... I appreciate it." She smiled instantly.

"If it's not enough... don't hesitate to take some of our supplies. We've brought more people, so your load has increased, I suppose..."

"I'll ask one of the students to help me with that if necessary. I also don't wish to bother you any further."

It was then that the group insisted on following the nurse, who signaled them to ignore the nearby commotion.

Even with that in mind, no one could contain their curiosity.

They watched the men and women anxiously exchange arguments from a distance.

“What's happening to our children?!”

“This is an abuse of authority!”

“Why can't we see you?!”

“Explain yourselves!”

“I-I'll sue you!”

On a makeshift platform, an elderly woman stood before the tense crowd, busy doing her best to calm the confusion.

"P-Please, everyone. Stay calm."

And diagonally across from the elderly woman, a girl of medium height with wavy orange hair waited quietly, not saying a word.

Her expression changed as she was the only one so far to notice the visitors' presence, as she watched them pass behind the crowd.

At that same moment, she locked eyes with Jevo Deems.

The young man noticed and, pausing for a second, expressed an idea through his focused gaze.

"Just pretend you didn't see us," he implied.

She understood the first thing, responding with a malicious smile.

After watching them disappear from sight, she approached to murmur a few words in the ear of the harried woman in front of her and stepped down from the platform, following their tracks.

Minutes later, it seemed the guests had settled in satisfactorily.

Beyond the two main blocks that made up the center, they entered a small green area with a few classrooms scattered randomly.

The intermittent song of the goldfinch could be glimpsed among the tall wild trees and small flowering bushes on both sides of the bridge that divided the sections in half, over a tiny river. A sense of calm was somehow felt in such a busy place.

Having taken that route, they stopped at a seemingly newly built construction site.

Unlike the other buildings, this one looked new and was twice the normal size.

The nurse opened the white doors, and they entered.

It consisted of two relatively dark, interconnected rooms, but they shared a single exit.

The group entering was paralyzed by the confusion of what their eyes saw.

The vast size of the site seemed insignificant due to the enormous number of motionless bodies covered by light blue sheets on the floor.

Stupefied, the guests immediately backed away.

"A-Are... Are they... d-dead!? ...Are they!?"

The nurse didn't answer that question. She just remained silent.

To be continued…