Brothers

At 4:08, Hesta left the office building where Valenti was and headed toward the course selection classroom along a third-floor corridor.

She sensed that someone had been following her. Ever since she had left Valenti's office, this person had been trailing her from a distance. Through the glass windows at several corners, she caught glimpses of their shadow.

A man.

She glanced over the surroundings. About a dozen steps away was a manual fire alarm, which also happened to be within a surveillance area.

Hesta broke into a run. She swiftly smashed the glass casing and pressed the red button. Seconds later, a piercing alarm blared throughout the building. The bright white lights in the corridor went out at once, while flashing red arrows appeared on the floor and walls, pointing toward the nearest emergency exit.

Rain began to fall in the corridor. It was the building's automatic fire suppression system, triggered along with the alarm.

"Good grief... what did you do?"

As a rapid succession of footsteps drew closer, Hesta heard a male voice. It sounded young and confused. She turned around—and the person who had been following her finally appeared.

He wore an oversized black hoodie, his hands tucked into the pockets at his waist. Half his face was concealed beneath the black hood, revealing only the outline of one cheek. "Why did you—"

"Don't move!"

Every muscle in Hesta's body tensed. Her hands clenched into fists, and she bent forward slightly. Hatred and vigilance burned in her eyes as she took a defensive stance like a young she-wolf.

To her surprise, the person actually stopped. He slowly raised both hands above his head and took a step or two back.

Under the flashing alarm lights, he slowly pushed back his hood. The drizzle from the suppression system reflected a chaotic red glow, dyeing his pure white short hair with a neon-like sheen.

He looked like a small teenage boy, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, perhaps even younger. His hair had probably been dyed, because the roots were a deep black completely different from the tips. Beneath his faint brows were a pair of golden eyes. Even under the circumstances, he still looked somewhat languid.

"Oh, I get it..." he said with a smile. "You pressed the alarm because you noticed me."

After confirming that the cameras had captured his face, Hesta subtly shifted her center of gravity—if he made even the slightest move, she would turn and run immediately.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." The boy kept his hands raised. "I read your file. I know you only arrived yesterday and that you're staying in Room 403 upstairs... I didn't expect such a coincidence. This afternoon, I happened to pass Miss Viking's office and saw you—"

"Who are you?" Hesta cut him off without mercy.

"Me?" The boy's voice sounded somewhat thin amid the shrill alarm. "My name is Shawn Grangua."

"Why are you following me?"

The boy smiled and lowered his hands behind him, clasping them behind his head. "How should I put it, Miss Hesta... maybe because the moment I saw you, you seemed very familiar."

Hesta frowned slightly.

Shawn looked at her. "You didn't fill out the questionnaire Miss Viking gave you honestly just now, did you?"

Hesta did not answer, but the corners of her mouth could not help sinking slightly.

Shawn had his answer.

He smiled and continued, "It's nothing. Neither did I, and I never have. But starting last year, I noticed they'd added lie-detection sections to the assessments... Of course, I've already figured out which questions are used to detect lies. If you want to know, I can share them with you—"

"No." Hesta's voice was low and cold. "Please leave."

"Fine." Shawn stepped back two paces and made as if to leave. Just as Hesta began to feel relieved, she saw him stop and look behind her.

"...Karl?"

At Shawn's quiet call, a tall man slowly emerged from the shadows behind Hesta.

For a moment, Hesta's heart nearly stopped. The instant their gazes met, she felt an almost crushing difference in strength—she had never even sensed that there was another person nearby.

The man's height nearly reached the corridor ceiling. Even in a relaxed state, the arms hanging at his sides were still powerfully built. Hesta could even clearly see several raised veins crisscrossing his forearms.

The man's gaze lingered on Hesta only briefly before he walked straight toward Shawn.

During that brief moment as they passed each other, Hesta felt that immense pressure again. She had to use all her strength just to keep her knees from buckling and collapsing beneath her.

"You were following me again?" Shawn asked.

"I came to see whether you were getting yourself into trouble again." The man reached out, grabbed Shawn by the back of his collar, and lifted him clean off the ground. "Shawn, shall we go back?"

Though his tone sounded like a question, the man clearly gave Shawn no other choice. Shawn flailed helplessly in the air and could only let himself be carried away, gradually disappearing at the end of the corridor.

And so, Hesta was once again left alone in the long corridor.

Before long, several faculty members hurried over, carrying fire blankets and wearing protective goggles. Liz was almost the first to spot Hesta standing against the wall. "Jane!"

Hesta raised her head, her face almost bloodless.

Liz hurried over and took her hand, finding it ice-cold. Hesta seemed to be trembling faintly all over, as if she had been badly frightened.

The others saw the shattered alarm casing on the floor. "Did you trigger the fire alarm?"

"Yes," Hesta answered quietly.

They all grew tense. "Where's the fire?"

"There isn't a fire..." Hesta replied. "I realized someone was following me, so... I triggered the alarm..."

They looked at one another and all relaxed slightly—at least the danger of a fire could be ruled out for now.

Liz draped a fire blanket around Hesta. "Are you all right? Can you walk?"

Hesta's teeth were still chattering, but she shook her head. "...I'm fine."

"Don't be afraid, and don't worry..." Liz held Hesta by the shoulders. "Did you see who it was?"

Hesta's throat moved. Remembering the moment the second man had emerged from the shadows, she could not help shuddering again.

"He said his name was Shawn Grangua."

Liz's expression immediately turned complicated.

Of course she knew Shawn. Though she usually had little contact with him, his intense narcissism and tendency to glorify himself made him like a walking narcissus. Whether necessary or not, all kinds of lies always came effortlessly to him, and he had long been a headache for Miss Viking. Liz had heard plenty about it.

"Come on, let's get out of here first," Liz said softly. Looking at Hesta's clothes soaked by the suppression system, she added, "Let's get you changed first. Don't catch a cold."

Thanks to Linglan yeh for the tip and monthly vote ^_^