Chapter 18: (October 31)
"You got a message."
Riley was in House 1 eating lunch with Will when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Nomi.
Found the location.
Who's ready to go?
Meet tonight at the fountain.
8 o'clock.
Will set his glass of water down and looked at his watch. "That gives us about nine hours until we leave." His phone buzzed a second time as someone in the group message texted back. It was Nomi again.
Might want to find out who helped w/ cards first.
Definitely someone we know.
"Kind of obvious, Nomi…" Will said, shutting his phone off.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," Nomi scoffed, visiting the two. She sat down at the table with them, grabbing a slice of toast from a plate. "I was up the entire week trying to find the location. It should have taken less time, but the Internet hasn't been too much fun lately with this awful weather. Makes me kinda miss the States."
Riley stood from her seat and walked over to one of the windows. Pulling aside the curtain, she could see small drops of water trapped in a spider's web above the window catch. Many of the surrounding trees were bare, and a light frost was covering the ground. "It's so strange that it's almost winter," she said in a barely audible whisper.
"What are you going as for Halloween? A cop? Dracula? Baldur the security guard?"
"I have no idea, Nomi. I think there comes a point in the teenage years when people no longer 'go' as anything." Will laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And do they even have Halloween here?"
Riley walked back to sit at the table. "This is the Faroe Islands. Not an alien planet."
"If we're going out in public during a holiday, we'll all need to be dressed up differently. Anyways, I have to go… see you guys soon." Nomi ended the visit and looked around Amanita's room in House 3. Kala was there too, holding up a dark red fabric against her skin.
"Nomi, were you spacing out or something?" Amanita walked through the open door, holding a large box of fabrics under one arm, and a small sewing machine under the other.
Nomi quickly stood and grabbed the box from her, setting it down on the floor. "I can't believe you're making all these costumes from scratch. And did Kala even volunteer for this or…?"
Amanita looked at Kala, as did Nomi. Kala's eyes widened and she said, "I'd be glad to help."
Amanita grinned and set the sewing machine down. "Awesome. It's nothing elaborate-."
"Why do I feel like that's exactly what this is going to be?"
Amanita grabbed some spools of thread from the box, throwing them on one of the beds. "Hey, I thought you wanted costumes. If not, I can just work on mine. It involves lace and fishnets," she whispered, winking.
On the other side of the room, Kala flushed and dropped the red fabric.
Nomi sat down on the ground again, folding her legs. "I did want costumes, but nothing too crazy. I don't want you spending the entire day cooped up in this room. You might want to go downtown or something, hang out with people."
"Well I don't need to go now, because I'm going with you tonight anyways."
Nomi looked over at Kala and sighed. "You told her?"
Kala shook her head. "No. She read my messages."
Amanita watched the both of them and then placed her hands on her hip, making her look like a rather serious parent. "Okay, I realize I'm not one of you…sensates, but I kind of deserve to go with you. I almost got my ass kicked out of the Board to find information."
"Yes, but that information was useless in the long run. I only found out the address last night, from the picture of the cards." Nomi grabbed a small piece of paper from her pocket, and showed the other girls.
Amanita leaned forward to see the word scrawled in Nomi's handwriting. "That's not even in Hoyvik. We'll have to walk at least twenty minutes to get there."
Kala was distracted by a sudden text message on her phone. Reading it, she looked up and apologized. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I hope you have fun making your clothing." She nodded to the both of them and left the room, but not without first grabbing her coat from a hanger in the girls' closet.
/
Walking through the doors of the School, Kala made her way up a flight of stairs, gazing back in hopes of not getting caught by another teacher.
She looked at the text message again and located the room number on the second floor, only a few rooms down from where her history class was held. Music poured from the room, flowing hauntingly down the empty hallway.
Opening the door, Kala stood in the narrow entrance. "I've never been in the music room before. It's lovely, the piece you were playing," she said softly, as though the music was a kitten that would be frightened away by the smallest of sounds.
Camille stood from her seat, and leaned against the body of the piano, looking at Kala blankly. "Of course it was. I've been playing music since I could stand."
"You wanted to meet?" Kala asked, wondering why the girl seemed so unfriendly.
"Oh yes, Myra gave me your cell phone number. I wanted to talk about something."
Kala grew uneasy as the girl circled around the piano once, and then came to stand directly in front of her. Camille was only a few inches taller, but already the girl seemed to loom over Kala like a cold, dark cloud.
"I know it must be hard for you to understand," she said in a sickly sweet voice, "but I just wanted to make sure that now, with Wolfgang and I, there are, what's the term, 'no hard feelings?'"
"Why would there be if we've already told you there aren't?" Kala responded assertively. She wasn't a fighter like other members of her cluster, but she did know how to stand up for herself.
"D'accord. " Camille smiled, and walked out of the room, letting the door swing shut. As Kala heard the click of the door close, she stared up at the ceiling.
I'm not going to get upset, she thought to herself as coldness washed over her, not unlike being submerged under water. She blinked and the feeling was gone. Kala didn't know why, only that Sun was connecting with her, giving her the strength to fight against her emotions.
/
Wolfgang was in the living room of House 2 when he checked his phone and noticed the messages from Nomi. Sighing, he pushed the phone into his back pocket, trying his best to ignore the guilt of not responding. He felt as though the other seven always got along, while he was the outcast of the group. They were good and caring people, unlike him. The only one of the group he'd had an easy time connecting with was Kala. Although they couldn't have been more different, he felt strangely at ease with her.
"Wolfgang. Wolfie, what's going on?"
"Was?"
Felix grinned and punched Wolfgang lightly in the shoulder. "You were thinking about a girl? Yes, I can tell. It's that blonde girl you were partnered with for that project, right? What's her name—Camille?"
Wolfgang shook his head slowly, and said nothing. Felix wouldn't understand how he felt. Finally he said, "No, it's not…Camille."
He sat upright on the couch, a sudden thought coming to mind. "There's something I need to do."
"Are we still going to town or what? It's Halloween!" Felix yelled after him, as Wolfgang walked out the door and down the stairs. The autumn wind was chilling, and he stuffed his hands in his jean pockets.
"Wolfgang!" It was Lito, following after him as he had ever since the fight.
"What is it? I'm busy." Wolfgang walked towards House 1, pushing past the other students crowding around the fountain. It seemed that someone had dumped a vat of red dye in, and now the fountain shot arcs of pink water into the air.
"I'm trying to stay away from Daniela. She follows me everywhere… hey, why are you going to the dorm?"
"I just realized who I think sent us those cards."
"Ah. Did you come to give them a little beating up?" Lito followed Wolfgang up the steps. After knocking at the door, a girl opened and warily looked at them.
"Yes?"
Wolfgang pushed past her and walked up the stairs to the rooms.
"Hey!" the girl yelled. "Boys aren't allowed on the second floor!"
Lito saw Riley cautiously come out from the dining room, confused at the sudden commotion.
"What's happened?" she asked.
"He went up there to find someone."
They jogged up the stairs, and a few seconds later saw Wolfgang walk into a room down the corridor. Entering the room as well, they found Camille at a desk, reading from a small, hardcover book. She pretended not to notice for a little while, and then looked up at the three of them.
"It's three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. Don't all of you have something else to do? Alors?" She shut her book with a loud thump, setting it aside.
Wolfgang took out the tarot card from his wallet, showing it to Camille. "I never told them who I got it from, but you gave me this. You said it was a gift, and when I asked you who really gave it to you, you wouldn't say. So has it been you this entire time? Is it a threat? Did the woman get one too before she disappeared?" He slammed the card down onto the desk, the table lamp perceptibly shaking from the force.
Looking at Riley and Lito, she turned back to scowl at Wolfgang. "You met through 'some friends,' hmm?"
"Don't bring Kala into this," he whispered, clenching his hands.
Camille was absolutely livid. "Well you must know it wasn't me. I don't care about your stupide teacher friend. I was only doing what I was asked, you know. It was one card. Yours." She lifted her chin towards Wolfgang, and looked at Riley.
"Who asked you? We only want to know to see if it has to do with the missing teacher. That's it. We're not trying to blame you," Riley said, trying to ease the tension in the room.
"I can't tell you. And I don't want to now, because all of you are bothering me." Camille stood from the chair and grabbed her book, shouldering her way past Lito.
"Oh, she's cold," the boy muttered, folding his arms as she slammed the door shut.
"Definitivamente." Riley agreed.
/
Later that night, Amanita came out of the bathroom and walked down the hall to her dorm, showing off her costume to Kala and Nomi. The short dress was red, and, as Amanita had promised, involved an embarrassing amount of black lace and fishnets.
Kala gaped at the immodesty, wondering what her parents would think if they'd been in the room with her at that moment.
"Oh come on Kala; it's not that bad. Here, I made you a costume too, because you said you didn't bring anything." Amanita dug through the box and pulled out a lovely white gown.
Kala wondered if it would be as scanty as Amanita's outfit.
"Trust me. You'll look fucking gorgeous." Amanita shoved the dress in Kala's hand and pushed her down the corridor to the bathroom. "Hurry up, we have ten minutes!"
Other girls from the dorms walked in and out of the room, grabbing purses and leaving with their own group of friends. A majority of them wore costumes as well. Closing the door to the bathroom, Kala removed her current outfit and slipped the dress on. The sleeves belled out at her elbows, and the dress was short enough that it did not impede her walking. She left her hair as it was, dangling just above her waist in a spill of raven-colored curls.
Pursing her lips, she walked out of the bathroom carefully; afraid any movement would somehow ruin the dress. Amanita and Nomi were waiting in the hall outside.
"Aww, Kala! You look so nice. Seriously. I would probably date you."
Amanita glanced at Nomi and added, "In the most platonic way ever, of course."
Nomi ignored this and pushed her glasses up, smiling.
"What about you?" Kala asked, noticing Nomi's lack of costume.
"I've got my rainbow extensions-courtesy of Amanita- and my red contacts. See?" She took off her glasses and widened her eye so that the color was visible in the dim light of the hallway. "I'm good to go."
They descended the steps and walked out the door with a few other students. The weather outside was freezing, and Kala was glad that that she'd brought a warm scarf. The air contained sounds of skittering leaves and the laughter of teenagers. Students ran everywhere, and the candles that flickered in windows illuminated the otherwise dark courtyard. As they approached the fountain, Nomi could make out the six sensates. Riley wore a long dress and an elegant mask, and Will had a suit on. The others looked cleaned up as well. The only one who wore his normal, dark clothing was Wolfgang. He watched Kala, but looked away quickly when the three girls joined the group.
"Are we ready to go?" he asked, lowering his gaze to the ground as if it interested him more than the people around him.
Nomi zipped up her jacket and coughed. "I guess we are," she replied, unfolding the paper with the mystery word. "We're going to spend this Halloween in Hvitanes."
A/N: Camille enjoys her dramatic exits. I decided to move update time to every Saturday. According to my view stats, it'll give everyone an opportunity to catch up on recent chapters as the [school] year starts again. Thank you to Missy for the guest review yesterday. I wish I'd thought of a Halloween dance when I wrote the chapter! Maybe there's a certain dance in the nearby future... As you can see, this is only the first part of the Halloween chapters. On a side note, I am currently working on a Sense8 one shot that should be released December-ish. Hope all of you have an awesome week! Next Saturday, the 22nd, we visit the (somewhat) quiet village of Hvitanes…
~C.o.D.