Meliora - Extricate - 14

[lady_mab]

Jun Zhou

I'm packing up my stuff into my backpack after the final bell of the day rings when Zoné’s voice suddenly calls into the room.

"Oi, Jun, let's go!"

Glen, who sits beside me in Biology, glances up to find him standing in the doorway to our classroom. "Did I miss a memo?"

"What?" Zoné asks. He's just as startled by Glen's presence as Glen is of him.

"Are we hanging out after school or is this something else?" Glen looks at me, as if I'll answer him, but I hadn't actually expected Zoné to come pick me up.

I expected to have to go and find him. I know where room 307 is, so it is not like I need an escort.

"Oh, no. Uh." Leaning very uncasually against the doorframe, Zoné looks everywhere except for at the two of us. "Where am I? Oh, wrong class. Right." And then he actually turns around and leaves.

"What the fuck..." Glen hesitates. "What was that about?"

"Believe me when I say I actually do not know." That's not entirely true. I am meeting with Zoné in Lysander's classroom, so I suppose that it would only be logical that he might want to walk together.

But considering the fact that we have not come up with an answer to the looks our friends are giving us when we say we are not dating and then proceed to hang out together, I don't think that it is the best idea to hang out together so obviously.

Glen looks like he doesn't want to believe me. He also looks like he's been suffering a head cold for the last three days. He’s tired, worn down, and annoyed. "I mean, I know Zoné is weird, but that's a bit weirder than usual."

"I know."

"He knows we have Biology together, doesn't he?"

I don't know where he's going with that question. "I thought so. I mean, everyone else has seen you and I together when classes let out, so I would have assumed they knew we had class. Or had classes nearby."

Glen's eyes narrow, and the annoyance shifts to something that might be mildly disappointed. "Okay."

I lift a hand to his forehead, and he allows me to feel his temperature for a few seconds before pulling back. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Just tired is all. I haven't really been sleeping well." He finishes shoving his stuff into his bag and slings it over his shoulder. "I won't keep you, though. Go have fun doing... whatever it is the two of you are doing."

When he leaves, I feel the sting a bit more strongly than I thought I would. It's obvious that our friends don't believe us when we say that we're not dating. They keep making references to it, trying to get us to sit together at lunch.

If anyone should be annoyed, it's Zoné and me.

I grab my backpack and the bag of lunch boxes, storming out of the room with a bit more agitation than I really mean to. I hurry up the flight of stairs to where Lysander's classroom is, weaving my way through the students heading in the other direction.

Zoné waits in the hallway, fidgeting with the ends of his tie. "Sorry. I forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"That you and Glen have class together."

"Why are you apologizing for that?"

He shrugs and ruffles his hair. "You look angry."

I take a breath. "I am not angry at you."

"Oh. Well. Still." He stands aside and pushes open the classroom door. "After you."

I accept the gesture with a nod in thanks and slip in. There are a few other students still lingering in the classroom, clustered around Lysander's desk and peppering him with questions about the lesson.

They glance at us as we enter, but don't pay us much attention.

I pick a desk at random, and drop my stuff into the chair. Zoné pulls up the one beside me and, without much consideration, pulls out the new laptop that Lio made for him. It's starting to look a little weathered already, but has held up despite the way I've seen Zoné swing around his backpack with the computer still inside.

He starts to work on his homework, which I suppose I could also do, but before I can decide what to work on, the four students leave as Lysander ushers them out. Once they're gone, he closes the door and, after a moment's consideration, locks it.

"There." Lysander wipes his hands together as if to rid him of that situation. "Now people will have to knock before coming in. I suppose I could have also said that you're here for detention, but that would be unfair to Jun."

"Hey, I've gotten better!" Zoné grumbles.

"If only because you would be in trouble with the school board and probably have to quit your job if you didn't keep up with your homework." Lysander sighs and leans back against his desk. He rubs a hand over his face, and I wonder when he started looking so old. "I'm not even going to start with how bad an idea it is to let kids your age participate in this game."

Zoné snorts and puts away his laptop. "We're responsible! Well. Jun is responsible."

I don't really have the energy to grin, because Lysander is saying something that has been bothering me for awhile. We are basically children, compared to a lot of other people participating. It's not the age that's the matter so much in the level of our maturity. We have other responsibilities and challenges presented with being this age.

I have a hard time getting away in the evenings, even though I have made an effort to try and maintain a layer of transparency in what I'm doing with Uncle Bao. Despite our shared interest in Meliora and its results, his first priority is still ensuring my safety and my education.

Lysander's gaze lands heavy on me, studying me without saying anything, and then switches to land on Zoné. His shoulders are slumped, and his arms are crossed over his chest.

"Did you stay up late researching?" I ask, concerned for his health. "Are you eating well?"

He jumps at my sudden questions, picking himself upright and looking more like a teacher in front of a class of two. "No, sorry, I was just thinking. I didn't stay up that late. It was actually pretty easy to search, though a lot of the sources are pretty outdated."

Lysander moves to his laptop and flicks his fingers over the screen. The space between us is illuminated with a 3D rendering of an overgrown gate. "The location is an old cemetery called Highgate. It was rumored to be haunted centuries ago, but when the city moved away, a lot of people lost interest in it."

Zoné's eyes widen and he leans forward over his desk. "Are you saying it's haunted by vampires?" I can't tell if he sounds skeptical or excited by the idea.

"That's what people believed, yes." Lysander flips through a few pictures, images from inside the cemetery from when it was still used. "It was more of a tourist attraction than a burial ground in later years. Now, it's all grown over. It's going to be hard for you to get in."

"What are you supposed to do when we're in there?"

"I hope we do not have to find dead foxes," I mutter. I am okay with various animals being dead while in the kitchen. I've learned different cuts of meat and even how to skin and debone smaller creatures. But stumbling upon dead foxes is not in my plans for any evening.

Lysander shakes his head with a small huff of laughter. "No, nothing like that. Apparently the man who was leading the Highgate Vampire craze claimed he found dead foxes with no sign of how they had been killed, later stating that he thinks they had been drained of blood."

I let out a sigh of relief, though that doesn't quite make the implication any better. "So we have to go find this vampire king?"

"And stab him through the heart?!" Zoné brandishes a hand dramatically, probably miming stabbing a vampire.

Alright, definitely excited.

"I hope you don't have to." Lysander's frown reminds me of my brother Feng when I would try something that he thought was too difficult for me. Concern. Uncertainty. But the curious desire to know if I could really accomplish something so outlandish. "I think you just have to go where the vampire was spotted and check in."

"Ugh, boring," Zoné drones, slumping back over his desk as if he wasn't just trying to fight an invisible monster a minute before.

"I don't think they would try and expect you to fight something that doesn't exist." Lysander closes the projection and sits down on top of his desk.

I arch an eyebrow. "You don't think vampires exist?"

"Oh, Lord, Jun. I didn't take you for one of those vampire fans." His exhaustion is a completely different kind -- one of a man tired of hearing about something.

I laugh at his expression and shake my head. "No, not like that. In Chinese folk culture, we have the Jiganshi. The hopping ghost. It is... Hm." I search for the words in English, only able to come up with the tales that Feng would tell me on summer nights when we would pretend to be asleep. "Sometimes, they are combined with the preta. A hungry ghost who will devour your qi."

Lysander is nodding along as I speak. "I see what you mean. Vampire culture is steeped in Eastern Europe, though with a lot of the developments in modern medicine and land running out, there's not much space left for traditional cemeteries. And vampires or ghouls would originate from souls who did not have a proper burial and would take to wandering."

Zoné shivers, but doesn't say anything.

"That is what I think of when you say vampire," I say. "One who is angry and trapped. One who will take your life force."

"That doesn't always refer to the dead," he counters. The smile he gives me is charming but sharp, clever.

I can see why the other students like him. He knows he is charming and clever, but he knows how to use those talents without being obvious about it.

I smile in return and nod. "This is true. My uncle would be very inclined to agree."

Zoné tosses his hands into the air. "Okay, so when are we going? I don't want to have to think about vampires living or dead longer than I have to."

Lysander pulls out his phone and studies the screen for a moment. "I suppose you can go whenever you are ready. I'll send you a map, but I unfortunately don't have any lock picking tools or things you can use to try to actually break in to the cemetery."

I tap a finger to my chin in thought. "I might be able to ask Uncle Bao for something."

My teammates stare at me in shock, but they don't ask, and I don't offer up an explanation. I take Lysander's earlier cue and give what I hope is a charming and clever smile.

"Anyway, you'll be able to find your way to the original cemetery, and from there, to the crypts where the vampire sightings happened." Lysander types on his phone, and a few seconds later, I hear a buzz from my bag that indicates a text message. "I have two old torches from when I was younger. They're more reliable than cell phone lights."

Zoné pumps a fist into the air. "It's going to be an adventure!"

“It’s going to be something,” Lysander counters, then shakes his head. “Perhaps I should go with you. This one sounds a lot more dangerous than the other tasks you have gone on.”

“I do not think that it is any more dangerous than the past events.” I curl my hair around my finger in thought. “Besides the rumor of vampires from centuries ago, have there been any other rumors of danger?”

He considers this question for a moment. “Not… really. It was a tourist spot, so there was always a lot of public activity going on. And people tend to ignore it now because it is outside the limits of what is considered Eminence.” He taps his phone against his knee and once again lays the heavy glance on myself and then on Zoné. “I really don’t like the idea of the two of you going there on your own.”

“We’ll be fine. I can hit things really hard, and Jun probably knows kung-fu.” Zoné does his best imitation of what he thinks a kung-fu move looks like while sitting down. “Trust us.”

“I do. You just have to understand the position that I’m in.” When Lysander leans forward, his shoulders look more hunched than they had previously. That tired and distressed edge returns to his posture. “I’m your Informant in Meliora, yes, but I am also your teacher. I am an adult who is responsible for your well being, both on behalf of your caretakers and the school.” He looks like he wants to say more, but keeps his mouth closed and fidgets with his phone. “You have to promise to keep me on speed dial. I am going to not be terribly paranoid by having you keep me on the phone the entire time, but call me the moment anything happens.”

“We promise,” Zoné and I chime at the same time, and this manages to draw an amused smirk from Lysander.

“Alright. Just let me know when you plan on going. I’ll bring the torches with me tomorrow, so they’ll be here for you to grab.” Lysander pushes away from the table and scoops up his laptop. “Now let’s get going because I have lesson plans to prepare.”

“Eugh.” Zoné disengages from the desk and grabs his stuff. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

With a nod, Lysander turns his attention away from us.

I grab my things and hurry after Zoné, catching up with him as he leaves the classroom. “When do you want to go?”

He hums in thought, a bounce to his step that I am familiar with by now. I know exactly how to match my pace to his. It is strange to see how cheerful he is when everyone else around us has been looking so tired. “I work tomorrow night so… Saturday?”

“Saturday sounds good.”

When we exit the school building, I half expect to see the other boys there waiting for us. But there is no one that I recognize, and Zoné walks me to the bus stop without incident.

As we part ways, and I watch him walk back in the direction we came to head to his apartment, I wonder just how he can maintain that level of cheer when keeping something like this from all of his friends.

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