"A hidden voice echoed from deep within; once he stepped in, he never came back out."
— Chapter 5 —
Shadow told me not to message him through Happy Faces anymore. "We'll stay in touch," he said. "But this platform is no longer safe."
Just as a storm of "What is going on?" started brewing in my mind, a new notification popped up:
"User 'Cherry' has sent you an invitation."
I clicked 'Accept Invitation.'
"You have joined the room: 'Night Talks.'"
BlackTiger: Alright, spill it… what happened?
Cherry: Guys… I wish the ground had just swallowed me whole…
Knight: What did you do? Burn down the cafeteria?
Cookie: Ahh just tell us already, I'm dying here!
Cherry: Ugh, everything was going fine at first. The seat across from him was empty. I grabbed my food and started walking over. Then I remembered what Cookie told me… I thought, "a little hair flip can't hurt."
BlackTiger: Nooo don't do ittt.
Cherry: My hair dipped right into the soup :'(
BlackTiger: NO WAY! A soup-dip entrance?! That's a first.
Cookie: Oh nooo. What kind of clumsiness is this?! Didn't you memorize the plan I sent you? How do you skip Step 1 and jump to Step 2?!
Moonlight: Aww, that's unfortunate.
Knight: What happened next?
Cherry: When I saw my hair like that, a little scream slipped out. At that moment, our eyes met. You might not believe me, but I swear… his eyes flashed red for a second.
Cookie: OMG is he a vampire or something??
Knight: Nahh, probably just the steam from the soup.
BlackTiger: I mean… those eyes sound like a traffic light. Straight up said "STOP!" to you.
Their words brought back the image Teddy had sent me. Right! I had taken a screenshot of the photo. I opened my gallery and looked at it again, this time more carefully. At first, I thought the red eyes were just from the camera flash, but after what Cherry said… I wasn't so sure anymore. Could the guy she mentioned be the same one in the photo? How can someone's eyes turn red like that?
As much as I wanted to, I couldn't share the photo in the chat group. The app flagged any image it detected as a human face as a violation, and users could get banned.
Cherry: Whatever it was -illusion or not- it doesn't matter. He gave me such a cold look I didn't even dare sit across from him. I ran to the bathroom, washed my hair, and then rushed back to class.
Knight: So instead of helping you, he glared at you? There's hair in your soup, you're traumatized, and he's still acting cool?
BlackTiger: Chill bro.
Cookie: Forget him, sweetie. Anyone who loses a girl like you doesn't deserve social privileges.
BlackTiger: Exactly. Toss him out, we'll find you a new one.
Cherry: I think you guys misunderstood me. I have no intention of giving up on him. It was a bad start, but I'm going to fix everything.
Moonlight: He doesn't sound like a safe person, Cherry. I suggest you keep your distance.
Knight: Agreed!
Cherry: Anyway, I want to be alone for a bit and listen to some music. We'll talk later. Bye.
"Cherry has made the 'Night Talks' room private."
---
Ding Dong
Ding Dong
I buried my head into the pillows, annoyed by the noise ruining my sleep. A moment later, my grandmother appeared at my door.
— Lena, sweetheart, the delivery guy is here asking for you.
— The delivery guy?
I dragged myself out of bed, threw the cardigan over my shoulders, and headed to the door.
— Yes?
— Are you Lena Korkmaz?
— That's me.
— This box is for you. Please sign here.
Still half-asleep, I signed the paper and took the box to my room. I had ordered a dress I really liked recently while it was on sale-must be that.
I grabbed the box cutter from my drawer and opened the package excitedly.
Inside were black bags and something wrapped in bubble wrap. "What the heck is this?" I pulled out the note on top and read it:
"As per our agreement, everything you need is inside the box. Put on the earpiece in the gray case. I'll contact you at 12:30.
– Shadow"
I put the note aside and dumped the contents onto my bed. Popping the bubble wrap was fun, but I had more important things to deal with. What even were these weird tools? Did I really need all this stuff?What kind of mission was I getting ready for-was I supposed to be FBI or something?
First things first: the earpiece. I picked up the gray case mentioned in the note. What I found inside looked like… a really smart earplug. "You call this a headset? This tiny thing going in my ear? What if it gets stuck in there?" Yup-pretty sure I just developed a new phobia.
Thankfully, there were detailed instructions. I still had a few questions, but I got the gist. I inserted the tiny batteries into the device. Then, I took the SIM card from the box and placed it into the pendant-shaped device.
I pressed the hidden button on the pendant until a small light came on and hung it around my neck.
Everything seemed fine. Plus, this daisy-shaped pendant had a separate button for answering calls. I held it in my hands and checked the time.
"11:00"
Still an hour and a half until he calls. I had to make use of the time.
I left the pendant and went for a long, warm shower to clear my head. Then, I headed to the kitchen and devoured the fresh fruits and vegetables my grandma had picked from her garden for breakfast.
It was the weekend. Only two weeks left until high school graduation. I was a successful student-Not because I was a genius, but because I worked incredibly hard. I had clawed my way to where I was. If I could get a good enough score, I wanted to study psychology at university.
Back in my room, I heard a faint vibration. It was coming from the pendant on my desk. Shadow was calling me!
My heart racing, I tiptoed to the door and quietly locked it. I inserted the earpiece into my right ear and answered the call.
— Shadow… i-is that you?
A deep male voice replied. So close, it felt like it was inside my head.
"Good. You followed the instructions exactly."