Echoes of Hollow

"Did you see the message I sent you yesterday? What happened?"

"Ahh..., don’t remind me, my phone stopped working when I was leaving school yesterday. It was really weird, I was taking some pictures, and suddenly the screen just went blank."

"Oh, I heard about it. William said it happened to a bunch of people. He said his exploded after he took a picture of a couple of angels. Haha!"

"Angels...? Oh, yeah, that’s right. You should have seen it; it was surreal! Those two were way too beautiful! I had taken a picture to show you but..."

Closing the small metal locker door and looking sideways as she put her notebook into her backpack, the girl momentarily froze when she saw the long curly hair passing through the crowded hallway. Images from the previous day flashed vividly in her mind. The golden hair enchanted her as much as the blue eyes, and with a silent tongue click, envy was what she felt, certainly, seeing those arms that had held her during her dream now holding someone else... even if it was just a child...

"Hey, are you listening to me? What’s wrong? Are you already missing school? Because I’m not, not at all!"

Unhooking her shoulder from the lockers and smiling, the girl threw her arm over her friend’s shoulders and, pulling her close, walked down the corridor toward their classroom, which was starting to empty.

"I can’t wait to leave this place forever and finally have some peace!"

In the distance, the curly hair swayed as it ascended the stairs, and with a sigh, the girl walked into the classroom with her friend while zipping up her backpack.

"Sure, just don’t forget to add college to your ‘peace’ time you’re looking forward to, or a job. Who knows, given your grades..."

She pressed her arms together, gritting her teeth, and smiled, placing her hand on her friend’s head near her chest. The hair was shaken as her fingers moved through it.

"Hey, I have good grades! They’re enough to get into college... if I want."

"Sure, sure. A perfect D is a unique grade. I’m even jealous of you."

Resting her body on the chair, the girl moved her fingers, sliding them across her forehead and pushing the messy strands away from her face.

Entering the room and closing the door, the teacher walked to the front of the blackboard with a smile.

"Alright, let’s get started. Sit down. I know you’re all excited about finishing this phase of your lives, but it’s not over yet. So why don’t you save all that enthusiasm for graduation? You’ve prepared for it, right?"

"Yes!" all the students answered, smiling.

"Well, I hope that’s true. If not, if I see any of you trying to prepare at the last minute, you’ll all have to repeat the last year."

"Please, Ms. Marshall, don’t joke about that..." said a student with a gloomy expression. "I couldn’t handle that."

Laughter echoed beyond the classroom walls, filling even the nearby hallways and continuing through the following classes.

***************

"Hmm..."

Turning his face and raising his eyebrows, Lior looked at Alyia, who, with a notebook on her lap, kept sighing repeatedly.

"Hmm..."

"Alright, enough. What are you doing?"

"What...?"

He stood up, leaving his phone aside as he sat on the couch.

"You’ve been like this for over an hour... Don’t you have anything to do? A date to go to?"

"I’m meeting Hye soon, but..."

"And then, what are you still doing here?! Go sigh and murmur in his ear!"

"Your...!"

Closing the notebook, Alyia leaned back in the armchair and sighed deeply.

"I’m trying to figure out how to be less... me..."

"Oh, from what I saw yesterday, that’s not an issue at all. I never thought you could be so... affectionate with someone else. Are you sure it’s just curiosity?"

"I was caught off guard, okay? How could I have imagined she’d bring them both here to our house?"

"If you say so..."

Smiling, Lior threw his legs up on the couch and lay back down, resting his head on the soft, cozy cushion.

"So, what’s this about being less you?"

"They came here to see if I could train them, and as you saw, I just agreed without even knowing."

"And? Isn’t that good? You could use it to try to get closer to Ms. Samantha."

"Are you crazy?! If I do it the usual way, she’ll probably want to distance herself from the hunters even more..."

"Oh, I see. So that’s the problem... But does it really have to be you...? Couldn’t Teodoro also do it?"

"And here I thought you were going to help me..."

"Me? No, sorry. I’m already too busy dealing with my own problems."

"Oh, right, as if chasing someone were that difficult. Speaking of which, isn’t it time for you to go? She must be starting soon, right?"

"Oh, damn...!"

Jumping up, Lior grabbed his phone and headed for the door.

"And what did you mean by curiosity? I don’t do anything halfway."

"Of course not. Well, good luck with that, I’m leaving."

Counting the moments in her mind, Alyia waited patiently until, as she touched her fingers, smiling, she said,

"And what about the apologies to Yang Kai? You didn’t forget again, did you?"

The door opened, letting in a strong breeze that ruffled her hair and rushed towards invisible stairs that had no time to form.

"You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!"

With a long staff in hand, Lior descended the stairs and walked toward the exit again, clicking his tongue before slamming the door shut. The staff was topped with a pointed piece, crossed by a crescent-shaped blade, similar to a hatchet, with a spur on the other side.