Heathen Chronicles - Changed

Chapter 20 - The Box of Uncertainty

Ntsakela's POV

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I bolted upright, staring at the door. My heart thrashed against my ribs like a prisoner about to meet their executioner. Infuriated, I rolled out of bed and threw on my gown. I stomped toward the noise, slamming the door open to see who was foolish enough to wake us in a way that could get them killed.

I peeked out, but saw nothing. I opened the door wider and scanned the hallway. Nothing but a small box waited patiently on the floor to be retrieved. I stared at it, hesitant to touch it. Instead, I ran back inside to wake the others one by one.

Eventually, we all stood in a circle, staring at the box, none of us sure what could be inside. Tyrell, Serina, Victoria, and Jeydon joined us an hour later—some showing up even though they hadn't been called. The rest of the group filtered in shortly after.

"It's not a bomb, otherwise we would all be dead by now," said Dwayne, the last to arrive. He looked bored, angry, and exhausted.

"And I don't hear any ticking," Taylor added quickly.

"You shouldn't be trying to hear anything!" Xelia hissed anxiously.

"Fine. Open it, Tyrell!" Serina commanded.

"Why me?!" he stammered, overwhelmed.

"Because I'm telling you to," Serina yelled, her voice dripping with a threat.

"I'll open it, but I'm not doing it for you," Tyrell decided.

Everyone's eyes widened, looking between them in confusion. Serina glared at him as he pointedly moved closer to Tannah than to her. What the hell was going on with them?

He reached down and flipped the lid, jumping back instantly in case something popped out. When nothing happened, he regained his confidence and peered inside.

"It's just clothes and... other stuff," he stated, sounding more confused than before.

"It's Raven's stuff!" Xelia noted, her expression perplexed.

"Why would she send it to us?" Tannah asked, sounding disillusioned.

"Maybe she didn't," Serina muttered skeptically, still glaring at Shaylin from across the room.

"We can ask her," Tyrell suggested.

"How?" I asked.

"Email her," he replied.

"They probably wouldn't even show her the email. They'd likely delete it the moment it arrived. We need to see her face-to-face. We need to ask her what the hell is going on," Taylor suggested, looking overwhelmed.

"Why don't we?" Dwayne asked, a slow, evil smile spreading across his face.

We all turned to stare at him, baffled.

"Let's ask Dr. Harper to take us to her. We make him think it's in both his and the General's best interest to show a few of us how things work—you know, as 'advertisement' for the school and the military. If the General refuses, we'll know something is wrong, and maybe Sir can do something about it. After all, we are his responsibility once our parents drop us off. It's that whole 'trust' thing," he explained slowly, his smile widening.

"That's actually a good idea," I said, genuinely surprised.

"When can we see him?" Tannah asked enthusiastically.

"We have to make an appointment first, and then he'll see us when he has time," Dwayne informed us, too focused on our reactions to realize how clinical he sounded.

"I'll make the appointment today," Taylor added, having just finished rummaging through Raven's things to see if she'd left a note.

"Then it's settled. Sir will see us tomorrow whether he likes it or not. What will we say?" Xelia asked, her voice tight with nerves.

"Leave that to me," Dwayne boasted, glancing at Taylor as they began to separate to get ready.

"Whoa, guys, slow down. We don't even know if Raven is in trouble," Victoria interjected quickly.

"Yeah. For all we know, they could be sending her home soon and she just sent her gear back in advance," Jeydon added calmly.

"Or maybe she decided to stay there full-time," Victoria stated, sounding completely uninterested in the drama.

"Are you serious?!" Dwayne snapped, irritated.

"Yeah, like Raven would just leave her mom like that," Xelia added rationally.

"We all know Raven well enough to know she wouldn't do anything like this without telling us! So, all of you, SHUT IT!"