Chapter 69
Before heading to school, the Waymakers gathered for an urgent meeting. Micah described the chilling encounter with the possessed man on the train—the way his voice had twisted, speaking of a New world and the darkness that loomed ahead.
Duke's voice was low but firm, advising us, "We need to stay vigilant—Things may have been quieter than usual, with only one demon sighting since we got home, but the calm is always before the storm. Be on the lookout for anything strange. If you face a situation beyond your control, notify us immediately via the Sourusensa."
The weight of his words pressed on us as we walked through the school gates. The usual hum of students filled the halls, but beneath the normalcy, something felt... off.
A girl held up her phone, vlogging loudly. "Hey guys! It's time to go back to the snoozefest, which is boring. The nightmare is back—school! I hope you all enjoyed your break 'cause it's officially over. Ugh! Anyway, catch you later now, bye-bye!" She waved at the camera before ending her recording.
Micah scoffed under her breath. "I really hate that."
Becky turned to her. "Hate what? The girl?"
"No, it's just... how people record others without consent—it's an invasion of privacy. And I don't get the hype of social media. It's like a useless addiction. Then again, maybe I'm just old-school."
"I understand what you mean there. I have too much going on to be on social media. Plus, I get it. I'd rather lose myself in a book than a screen any day. Nothing beats that crisp scent of freshly printed pages. What do you think?"
"I really can't say. Technology is moving way too fast. Take a look at our demon tracker and communication device—the Sourusensa. It's practically a cell phone, just a bit different."
Micah nodded. "I guess you're right. But just look at Serena—she's exhausted. Probably glued to her screen all night."
Seeing the dark circles around her eyes—she was not wrong.
This semester, many of the classrooms underwent changes during the break. This time, Micah, Evan, and I all shared a class. Becky and the others were in other classes.
Well, at least I get to have a class with you this time, Micah. I wish they would just keep us together."
Duke walked over and communicated with us. "Even though you guys have been divided because of different education levels that accommodate you. And the amount of teacher faculty that can handle children. You can be sure that the other part of our group is with teacher Baby.
"How do they know who to divide anyways?" Micah asked Duke.
"Most of its test scores. Last year, our scores were lower than those of some of the other students. Whereas James, Becky had hired test scores. Josh is a grade higher, but unfortunately, his poor grades and frequent absences from school led to him repeating the grade last year. This is ironic because James is younger and is in a lower grade, but they advanced him to the next grade—the same as you all.
"Okay, that makes sense," I said as I took my seat at my desk and prepped my school supplies for class.
The vlogger Serena was sitting in the corner of the class, scrolling through her phone. Her fingers were trembling, and the screen pulsed to blue light. It reflected off her wide, sleep-deprived eyes. "YES, I made it!" she shouted.
Duke, or the teacher, turned around from the lesson he was writing on the board by her abrupt reaction. Serena, you know there are no phones in class. Hand it here!
She slowly and hesitantly walks toward the front of the class. I was thrilled because I had finally reached 200,000 followers!
"While that is a great achievement. Your greatest achievement in life will be to focus on your education and get through school!"
When she went to hand Duke the phone, her arm jerked back just barely as it touched his fingers. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to give you my phone. What if my parents try to get in touch with me or I have an emergency?
"You will get it back after class as long as there are no more outbursts from you. If you continue to resist, I'll have to send you down to the principal's office!"
"Fine!" She hands Duke the phone, and he places it on the desk. As he opens the door and slides it onto the desk, he notices a familiar electric charge coming from a phone.
Duke hands out the lesson plans throughout the class. When he hands me my paper, there is a sticky note: Legally read, I have to return the phone, but something dark clings to it—and to her, keep an eye on her.
At lunchtime, we gathered at the table not far from Serena.
After the group arrived, I told them what Duke had said. Then asked, "Does anybody have a cell phone?" Maybe we can find some information about Serena."
Evan walked from around the table and slid next to me. "I do," he chirped. "And also, I found her information in my verse."
Evan pulled up Serena's social media. A video auto-played—clips of her sneaking into offices, stealing test answers, and vandalizing a teacher's car. But between the footage, the screen glitched, flashing a shadowed figure, whispers laced in the static.
Something is following her around, and it's got to be a demon. We can talk to some of her friends to see about giving up your phone.
"After Selena left, she put up her food and went back to class. We went over to the table with one of her friends.
Kayla, one of Serena's closest friends, confirmed our fears. "She's changed. More tired, more angry. There's some online troll, @Shadowmaster, egging her on. He promises her fame if she does these stunts, but... I don't trust him. I think she's going to get caught one of these times or get into a lot of trouble."
"I couldn't agree with you more, I think. We should get together and have an intervention with her before it's too late."
Later that night, when Serena was all alone at her home. @Shadowmaster came across one of her live streams. I started to follow her at the end of her stream. @Shadowmaster said one more challenge tonight at the schoolhouse!