The ride home was awkward. YV sat at the front, dead silent as they drove, Rubie had squeezed herself in between Dawn and Mitzi just in case any of them had the energy to start up another fight. She looked over to her left, Dawn's bag of cigarettes was a crumpled, beat-up mess, a hole big enough to let a few slip out ripped through the plastic and the way he gripped it didn't make it seem any better, he was bouncing his leg, staring intently out the window, panic seeping through his pores even when it was clear he didn't want it to. She panned over to her right, Mitzi held onto the teddy bear that she'd managed to cling onto for the entire thing, her head slumped against the car window, she looked so disturbed and sat so still you'd assume she was just dead.
The car stank of sweat and grime and dirt, but even in the mess of it all she still swore the putrid stench of dead flesh and bloodied iron clung onto them. She couldn't think the same anymore. What…what was all that…? Part of her mind wanted to think of answers to her questions and theories to all the loose ends just so everything could make sense in her world again but… just not now. Just not today. None of it even felt real.
They reached WIA sooner or later. YV turned around, pausing to look between the three of them as you would to a sight of grisly hospital patients.
"W-we're here. I'm not sure if they'll let you in but…"
"I'll make it work."
Dawn swung the car door open, slamming it behind him as YV's gaze flinched and softened, the blazing determined fire he had back at Lunaris had been extinguished, all that was left seemed to be the gentle, concerned remains of whoever he was after witnessing…that… Rubie offered a smile in his direction, one that he returned before she gently ushered Mitzi out the car.
Dawn walked up to the gates, scouting around before spotting something further in the distance, he went past the front gates and up to the fences that kept the gardens separated from the outside world. At least he would have, if not for him stopping half way and gesturing back to her.
"...Come on."
Rubie reluctantly agreed, supporting Mitzi all the while as she trailed him all the way to a backside gate at the side of the school he violently shook.
"Hey! Mr Makoa!" It seemed like he called just into nothingness, despite having the streetlights on to at least make vision a little more bearable at this time of night, it didn't make seeing any easier of a challenge. They slammed their hand against the bars, not caring for how much noise they were making "Sir! Let us in!"
After a few moments of silence, whoever he was calling to this late at night poked his head out from behind the garden shed right next to the gate. Rubie's eyes went wide, the attendant from last night…
"...Dawn?" he got up, walking closer to the fence and talking to him from the other side with a heavy tired sigh. "It's 11 pm, Kid, what are you- oh… you–" he stared at her and Mitzi from the gate, narrowing his eyes before turning his attention back to Dawn "you brought company..?"
The way he looked at him made him seem comically disappointed, as if he was a dad scolding his son for coming home a few minutes late. Dawn persisted, shaking the iron gates more and more until he listened. "No time. Open the fucking gate sir. Please."
Not counting the encounter she had with Dawn earlier that evening by the old dorms, this was honestly the politest she'd seen him be. Mr Makoa sensed the urgency in his tone, raising a brow in suspicion before looking over at the poor state Mitzi was in. He fiddled with the keys he fished out of his pocket and unlocked the gate in front of them. The rest of what happened was a little bit of a blur, Mr Makoa was sternly trying to get answers out of Dawn, which didn't bode well with his agitated state, an argument started to break out before Mr Makoa dismissed her and Mitzi once he was clear that they'd be fine walking back to their dorms alone.
• • •
The night was silent- Anything would be silent without the constant demonic chanting in your ears. Somehow it made the sound of their footsteps, crickets and distant music blasting from people's dorms seem like the world was on mute. Rubie had been trying her best, letting Mitzi lean on her while still trying to navigate her way back to their dorms, it honestly shook her out of her skin for a second when Mitzi found the strength to say something.
"...Rubie?"
"...yeah..?"
She hesitated before saying her next words, letting a set of their footsteps ring out before talking again. "I'm sorry."
"..For what?"
"If… If I kept my composure– if I didn't start a fight… then none of this would've happened, huh? You didn't need all this on your first day back." Mitzi laughed, still out of it as she stumbled on the path. "I'm sorry– hah… that was so, so stupid– I'm sorry, Rubie."
She kept apologising– coming to a point where Rubie had to lightly tap her back to reality. "Hey- that's not your fault, things happen, okay? All we can do is just…live it out." It was horrible advice, but it really was all she could say. There wasn't much advice for dealing with the aftermath of witnessing what looked to be a satanic ritual…
The dorms were coming into view now, just a couple minutes left until they could collapse onto their beds.
"It sucks… we've changed." Mitzi seemed to be off in her own world now, the poor girl must have had it rough with all that running right after something so gory. "Me, YV, Dawn… we've all changed…a lot…"
Rubie let her speak, it was the least she could do for now.
"Like…I'm such a jerk nowadays… YV's gotten all pretty 'n bedazzled since you left… Dawn's not even really a guy anymore, did you know that? But ah, you know. I'm pretty sure we all saw that one coming."
She stayed quiet, but her mind kept racing.
…Rubie couldn't even say her shock was justified. Clearly, too much had happened since she'd left, people changed as easily as the currents in the wind after all. She'd never seen Mitzi so pissed off and angry for all the years she'd known her for like she saw her today, YV's new look was an entire 180 for the boyish, unruly kid she'd remembered him to be, and it really felt like Rubie had missed an entire period in Dawn's life where it felt like… they could've used her help. That was the thing. She'd missed such an important time in all of their lives that now they were just… practically strangers.
A strange whistling blew through the air, just a couple of steps away from the dorm building. It didn't sound normal, it carried the tunes of music, a melody to nature, eerily haunting the dead of night.
"...The Song of Lunaris."
…
"Yeah…"