Clara shifted nervously on her legs. It was a beautiful evening outside The sun was yet to kiss the horizon for the day and the sky was overcast with a beautiful mellow yellow sheet. A gentle breeze softly blew her brunette hair, but that rather ruffled her than reassuring.

About ten minutes ago, she was provided with her old clothes to change into and scouted outside through a labyrinth of hallways. Now, she was standing in front of a gargantuan plexiglass dome with a stone-faced security in cinder uniform beside her. A titanium phoenix was glaring at her from his shoulder. The thought of making a run for it did cross her mind but she doubted she'd make it to the end of the road without a bullet in her skull. So she shook off that idea. Her scout hadn't uttered a single word so far but she could tell he was waiting for something and that had everything to do with her.

She rubbed her palms on her arms. So far she'd absolutely no idea who held her captive for the past three days and why are they letting her go now. All she could tell was she was in Harlin and somehow the Phoenix were deeply involved in it.
She was surprised really. For them to be involved in something and the matter going this smoothly without any blood spilling here and there didn't go quite hand in hand. Other than the interrogation from the first night, they weren't asked much. In fact, she wasn't asked anything at all. She couldn't bet the same for the boys but something told her they were just testing the water with them.

The boys

Her heart churned thinking about them. Though she had been constantly telling herself that they're okay, she couldn't shake off the tightness from her chest. She hadn't seen them for three days now and it was the longest she was ever away from them, ever.

She snapped her head when she heard footsteps coming down the pitched road and a grin spread across her lips. Her favorite black and blonde heads were bobbing up the curve. They were also in their own clothes and they looked...okay. No bruises or anything. Clara's grin turned into a smile as a rush of relief washed her over. She was right after all.

So far

She was almost ready to break on a stride and hug them when she noticed another two uniforms behind them as well. She rather stood there like a happy bunny.

As the boys neared, a black SUV pulled off in front of them so stealthily that they didn't even notice it coming. Clara looked at her scout. He was heading towards the car and gave her a sharp cart. She followed suit and so did the boys.

It was an eight-seated SUV with the second and third row fitted face to face. Clara, Xen and Derek sat on the third row while their scouts sat on the second face to face, one of them with a rifle. They took off as Clara's scout rode shotgun. The car darted down the road at an awfully fast speed.

And suddenly, a dangerous thought crept up in her mind and a lump knotted at the pit of her stomach.

We aren't being set free. We're gonna be killed

Clara's grip on her seat tightened. She tried shaking off the idea as well but her mind was running at a lethal speed now. They were practically in the middle of nowhere and no one knew them here. Just about now, the SUV would pull over somewhere deep inside the forest and they'd be shot. They'd be shot dead saying they're trespassing. Or because they're offenders and they tried to escape. Maybe they've figured out by now that they're just a few nobodies from a third-world country and were of absolutely no use to the Phoenix. So these soldiers would just dump their bodies somewhere in this deep forest for feral animals to feed on them.

Clara's fingertips started going numb as her overactive imagination started conjuring all horrible images that would possibly be their future in the moments to come. She tried to control her shallow breath. In and out. In and out. It wasn't working. Nothing was working. She couldn't bear to look at Derek or Xen. If she did, one of them would catch her going into a panic attack and she'd have to explain why out of nowhere the devil had arrived. No matter how less of control she had over her attacks, she was too proud to have them in front of complete strangers or so she'd tried her whole life. That fact had more weight more than ever if those complete strangers turned out to be her killers. Her being weak was the last piece of satisfaction she had in plans to offer.

But you could just be overreacting here.

But no matter how much she shouted that in her mind, the storm inside was devastating.

She didn't realize how long it had been but they came to a halt with a jerk. To her surprise, it was at the premise of a cut edge house instead of a creepy forest ground. She let go of her grasp. Her hands had fallen asleep from clenching.

The man in front motioned them to step outside, the rifle still dangling on his left hand.
Clara didn't even realize when they entered the suburbs from the forest. The structure was nothing like anything she'd seen ever before.

It was pure black with yellow spotlights here and there, adding more dimensions to its beaming sophisticacy.

Her attention glitched when she felt a cold blade touch her forearm. She jumped. It was some sort of an ATM card. Her scout was handing her an ATM card. Xen and Derek were handed similar cards and they seemed equally lost. The men in uniform stood in a line, motioned them to go ahead and taking the eerieness one step further, saluted.

Clara did not see this coming. All this while, she was vividly picturing all the places she could be shot at. Still now, she couldn't believe this was happening. For all she knew, this was just to clear their conscience as they'd shoot three innocent lives the moment they'd turn thinking they were free again or to frame them of stealing.

Not giving them another second to process, they drove away in the SUV.

They glanced at each other. For a while, no one could say anything.

"What the fuck was that?" Xen said raking his hand through his hair and Clara couldn't remember any other time when she was so happy to hear him curse. She jumped towards the boys and pulled them in a tight hug.

God! I missed this!!! I missed this so much!!

Tears were rolling down her eyes to which Xen gave an ew and earned a slap on his arm. She couldn't control her tears anymore. She just let them roll down. Death was all she could think of in the past few days. Never did she ever imagine themselves to be reunited like this, in one piece.

Now, with the euphoria of the reunion dazing out, it was gradually dawning on them that they were practically stranded now. Other than their clothes, nothing else was returned to them, not even their student ID. Xen cursed them under his breath for being such petty thieves and Derek was examining the card they got.

It was definitely not an ATM card but he couldn't figure what else it was. Seeing no other choices, they started walking towards the triplex house behind them.

They pressed the bell for a while but no one answered. The night was almost setting in and there was no other house in the vicinity. Clara was getting worried if they picked up the wrong people or the wrong place or both.

Suddenly the door swiped open. Clara and Xen jumped back. They looked at Derek. He fanned the card on their face and stepped forward to emerge himself inside.

Clara grabbed his arm."Do you think we can just... get in like this?"

"Apparently, we can," Derek replied in a monotone. Clara and Xen followed in as well.

It was breathtaking inside. Like the outside, the interior was also claded in black but Clara had never seen this color being pulled off so successfully in any interior design. The walls were black and a brown, luxurious couch was at one side, complemented by a coffee table of similar shade. A glass stair led upstairs to a series of rooms which she was pretty sure, was also clad in black. And still, there was no sign of any other living soul.

"Hello? Anybody here?"Clara called out but there's no reply.

Xen plummeted on the soft couch and crossed his legs on the coffee table.

"Xen, get up. Now!" Clara hissed lest someone should hear her.

But Xen didn't. He rather grinned. "I'm pretty sure this is our house now."

Clara couldn't believe her ears. She knew Xen's a knucklehead but this notion was too stupid, even for him. Before she opened her mouth, he elaborated," What else do you think is the case? I think someone has been pulling a really elaborate prank on us for the last few days to hand us over this mansion."

As much as her academic side wanted to correct Xen about it being a house, not a mansion, it dawned on her that he might be getting somewhere. She hadn't thought about it much before amidst the whole 'where on earth are we?' ordeals but her mind snapped at the night of their appearance. Though there's a huge blank space in between her memories she vividly remembered the night that led to all these. They were in a football game. She and Derek were cheering their lungs out for Xen who was representing Kallier as a foreign student. Xen scored their winning goal in the final which made Kallier the champion this year. The reward for the championship wasn't disclosed to the audience before to increase the suspense. But last year, each of the winning team members was provided with a personal car. If anything, this house could be it. This could be the one the winning team captain was promised to. Kallier might not be filthy rich like Harlin but they were wealthy enough to be bleeding money here and there.

"Then where did the demigods of Phoenix come from? They can't be fake. No one has ever seen them so close. It has to mean something right? I mean, they came for us." Clara asked. She was still skeptical somehow.

" Oh please! All the more reason for this to be fake. As you've said, no one has ever seen them so close. So no one knows how they look like. Besides, other than few interrogations, I've been treated like a king. They didn't even touch me," Xen replied pulling the hem of his jacket down. There was a fresh nicotine patch pressed against his arm. He definitely didn't have that when they left the stadium that night.

Clara looked at Derek. He was sitting on a tool by the countertop. He'd been unusually quiet the whole way. Like he was contemplating over something.

"Derek?"

"Hmm?"

Clara arched her brows.

"We're in Harlin," he blurted out," don't know if you know it already."

He was so sudden that even Xen sat straight. Derek was never one to bluff. It clicked in Clara's mind too.

How could I forget it! Shit! Yeah!!!

Xen was yet to grasp. He kept looking back and forth between Clara and Derek. "Bro what?"

"Yeah. Noticed the salty smell back at the forest? There had to be a sea nearby. There's no natural waterbody in Kallier or Annexa."

" Yeah. But how do.."

" Marine animals. They have that smell. That's how I know," Derek cut him short.

" Is it true? We are? But..then? How?" Xen looked at Clara with a frown.

Right then the door swished open revealing a jet black head and a familiar pair of bluish green eyes.

Only, this time, two pistols were aimed at them, ready to shoot.

So....what do think? what's gonna happen? (✯ᴗ✯) Gotta wait for that. But definitely got a surprise coming on the way (θ‿θ)

To anyone wondering what the house looks like, this is what I have in my mind XD