Chapter 19. Haley and Abigail

"The mana has been stabilised into our environment." Abigail suddenly said as the sound of the marching footsteps of the abominations along with the clanging of their metal weaponry slowly faded into the distance.

As Abigail announced the completion of one of the most important phenomena to take place today, several thoughts popped up into my head.

'Does this mean they wouldn't be getting stronger? But aren't they already a little too strong for us to handle? Why are they so organized? Did they already recognise a boss among their ranks? Do we have time to meet up with the others? Are they sending the monsters out in teams or are they gathering in the grounds? .....'

A lot of things that should directly decide our next plan of action were uncertain at this moment, except for one thing. The abominations were stronger and more organized than before. Hence, the surviving humans needed to do the same. Gather and decide on a leader.

As expected, we should be making our way towards the student council. That was most probably the place with the maximum concentration of people and would most likely also be the gathering spot for the other stronger ones. Most of the smaller individual parties are bound to make their way into that group and be absorbed into the ranks of Julianne Romero. Just like us, who were headed in the same path.

As I stated our next step to the three, I could hear two simultaneous groans from the party, belonging to Mr. Haley and Abigail.

"Do we have to? I really don't like the council. Is there no other way?" Abigail looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Not for the moment and not unless you have a group of similar size to contend against the abominations or the student council in authority." I turned towards Mr. Haley who was staring at me with an annoyed expression. Though it wasn't clear as to whether he was annoyed with the idea or me, I chose to believe that it was the former as a means of comfort.

As I was about to conclude that his actions would add to only a minor expression of his annoyance, Mr. Haley joined into the conversation.

"So, we need is a group that could stand against the number of those abominations, right?", he asked.

"Well, that would be the best but it would be enough if we had a group that could contend against the student council so that we wouldn't have to join their ranks when all of us go against the monsters." I said, trying to be a bit lax with the requirements.

"Hmm. I think I know what we need. But it would take some time to gather them." He said after some contemplation.

"Are you sure you can find such a large number of students that would go against the student council?" I asked whilst hesitating to accept his claims.

Although there were several rumours about Mr. Haley being anti to the student council and also about him forming a group of mixed ranks, which included delinquents, scholars, artists, and people similar to him in social status, their identity had never been made public and the doubt about how it would fare against the student council, which is nearly a century old tradition, still remains.

"Don't worry, I just need a little time. Let's find you a spot to camp until then." He said as he took the lead.

"Do you have a place in mind or do you want me to choose the place. I have thought up of a few places that could be safe for us." I queried as he still continued to move forward. After receiving no response to my offer, I quietly followed him with the rest.

We slowly crept our way in the direction that the abominations appeared from and turned the corner by the edge of the building, which was precisely the one which we had spent most of our morning today in.

As we turned the corner, we were met with a completely contrasting view to the open gardens that played the host to our afternoon. There were several buildings closely built in the pathway, each holding a different functionality and purpose. One building was for classes, one for labs, one was the gymnasium that was directly connected through a pathway to the infirmary I laid in this morning and the last one was a grand theatre, or auditorium, that hosted some of the most important events held in the school, ranging from cultural events to prestigious ceremonies.

We continued to walk until we reached the theatre which was locked.

"Are you planning on breaking the door to enter? Isn't it safer to find a place that could be locked from the inside?" I asked.

Without responding to my query, Mr. Haley simply felt around his pockets in search of something. After a moment of annoying silence, he brought out a key which he used to immediately unlock the door. As the door revealed the insides of the theatre, I was faced with the probability of being stupid.

'Obviously! It's Haley, why wouldn't he have the key? Gold spoons and their massive donations.' I thought while shaking my head at the situation before me.

The four of us entered through the door and Ben, being the last one to step in, closed the door behind him.

"The three of you wait by the stage, I will get the people." Mr. Haley turned around as he informed us of his plan, in detail should I say? However, just as he was about to excuse himself from the auditorium, Ben thrust his hand forward, grabbing Mr. Haley by the arm to stop him in his tracks.

With Ben's back turned towards us and him covering Mr. Haley's face coupled with the distorted sounds from their whispers left me very curious as Ben suddenly announced that he would be leaving along with Mr. Haley.

What were they going to do together or why was Ben following Mr. Haley? I had no idea but I couldn't voice out my questions in the situation and just nodded.

"Stay by the stage, guys. We will make it quick." Ben shouted in a relatively cheerful tone, as he left through the door we just walked through, following behind Mr. Haley.

I turned towards Abigail and we nodded in turns as we resumed to walk through the hallway that led us to the backstage.

We found the stage in less than 5 minutes under Abigail's lead, who had been here before unlike a new student such as myself, and turned on enough lights for the place to escape from its previous darkness.

Even though the two of them promised to return quickly, I assumed that it would take them an hour at the very least, so I decided to get some shut-eye in the meantime. With all the movement that was caused due to my taxing skill, I would probably be the one to have exhausted the most, in terms of energy, and was badly in need of a break, both physically and mentally.

"Can you be on the lookout first?" I asked Abigail. "I think it's better for me to get some rest."

"Sure, no problem. Take your time. I don't feel that tired." Abigail nodded as she allowed for me to get some sleep.

I chose a comfortable spot that didn't have too much light on it, to get on with my break. Even though my body was demanding a long rest, the situation allowed me only a short one and I had to leave the rest to the trinkets.

"…"

An hour later, I got up from my seat while yawning and then fought the numbness with a few stretches. I found Abigail sitting comfortably on the stage while keeping an eye on the surroundings. She looked a little tired. She was probably practicing her mana control with her artefact, I assumed.

After my stretches, I made my way over to her. As she spotted me heading towards her, she gave me a warm smile and asked, "Are you feeling better now, Danny? You slept longer than I expected."

"Very much and sorry for leaving you on the lookout for so long." I nodded in agreement before apologising.

"It's okay. Nothing really happened." She said while waving her hand to dismiss it.

"Don't you want to get some sleep as well? I can be on the lookout. I feel really good after getting some rest." I offered.

"No, it's fine. I can't rest in this situation anyway. Who knows what those two are up to." She said while turning her head to stare towards one of the doors, expecting the arrival of the guys.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I had a few questions that I wanted to ask you for a while now." I was finally ready to get at least a few of my questions answered right now.

"Go on." She said, curious as to what my questions would be.

"Are the three of you close?" I said, while glancing towards the door myself before focusing my attention back on her.

"Yeah, we were. Ren, Ben and I. Those two especially." She spoke with a saddened expression.

"And did you Ren propose to you?" I asked, expecting that might have been what led her to use the word, 'were'.

"No."

"Ahh." I thought, 'That would put an end to the rumours', but she didn't stop there.

"But I wished he did." Abigail continued in a soft tone. "I wished that was it. You know, a silly love thing."

Everything she said hinted a larger drama at play in the relationship of the three, but she didn't elaborate more on it and I decided to not ask any further.

I turned back towards the doors while asking her the question once more. "Are you sure you don't want to rest? It might be too late for that lat…."

<<BAMMM>>

"..er."

As I was talking to Abigail, the door suddenly opened and the sight of several people crowded near the door followed the deafening noise. At the forefront of the crowd were two people that I had spent most of the day with.

Ben and Mr. Haley arrived with a crazy bunch of students.