Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scar was typically a heavy sleeper. Coming from a family made up of one person who had a strict nighttime routine, and very specific time to head to bed, and a separate someone who hated being woken up even a minute earlier; Scar was nearly genetically assured to have some kind of odd relationship with sleep.

Either way, he tended to be a deep sleeper and a very early waker. Only that was only assured when he actually got sleep. Something that wasn’t happening tonight.

It was already 2 in the morning and he’d barely gotten a wink. He was too busy thinking of the earlier events of the day.

After Taurtis stood up to Sam, the rest of the lunch period was spent in a tense silence. Scar couldn’t tell which of the two were angerier. He didn’t even manage to catch Taurtis after lunch, the blond disappearing somewhere. Scar had stayed by his tree a little longer after the last bell screeched. Only Taurtis never showed up, and just as Scar thought that was odd he didn’t see any other students on his way home.

The last bell rang and it almost seemed that the students all just disappeared, and rather than waiting out in the courtyard as they had the past few days. They were nowhere to be seen.

Scar had ridden on the bus, silently, only offering the driver a nod as he came and left. He spent most of the time trying to find a way to explain to Cleo and Bdubs why he was nursing a new black eye.

The more he looked at his eye the worse it looked. After the morning encounter with Yuki and Sam, his eye had gotten progressively darker with purple and red painting over his upper cheek. There was a slight throbbing in his eye that he could vaguely ignore so long as he didn’t touch his face.

Still there was no way he was going to be able to hide it from his siblings. He wasn’t even going to be able to keep it a secret from the other hermits. He’d have to come up with some kind of excuse for the injury, rather than explain the truth.

He knew what would happen if he did explain what had happened. Sure, he’d expressed his concern about how ‘weird’ the school was, or how odd the kid’s acted. But he hadn’t expressed the danger of other students…because honestly, he didn’t think there was any. If he did explain to his friends that he’d been punched in the face upon trying to help another student from someone ruining their work, well…he wouldn’t be seeing Taurtis any time soon.

Between Cub, Doc, Mumbo and Tango’s redstone expertise, False, Gem, Cleo, and Etho’s physical prowess, and Pearl, Iskall, Stress and Ren’s ability to not get caught he didn’t stand much chance. Not to mention Skizz, Xisuma and Bdubs would be a mess to deal with, with how worried they’d get.

Luckily, coming up with some kind of lie would be quite easy with his track record.

Only, he hadn’t expected his siblings to have people over when he arrived home.

Bdubs had invited Xisuma, Cub and Xisuma’s brother over to work on something together. So when Scar entered their home, expecting to only have to dodge his brother and sister, he immediately ran into his cousin.

“Scar?” Cub asked, he was carrying two cups from the kitchen. He smiled once he recognized his cousin, before his eyes scanned over him and noticed the dark spot on his face. His face fell, eyebrow’s furrowing as his eyes widened.

“What happened to your eye?” He said, quickly, shoving the cups onto a counter.

Scar felt his stomach drop. This was not what he’d counted on. This was not in his plan at all. The shorter of the two grabbed the other’s face, twisting it so he could see the boy’s eye better. “Hey, Cub…” Scar muttered, trying to push the other way.

“When did you get a black eye?” Cub deadpanned, letting go of his face to stare at Scar properly.

“Oh, you know, just clumsy old me..” Scar smirked with a tired chuckle, raising a hand to cover his injured eye before someone else called attention to it.

“‘Clumsy ol’ you’ gets a bruise every once and a while, not a black eye. When did you even bruise it? I don’t remember you having one last time I saw you.” Cub asked again, crossing his arms.

Scar sighed, rolling his eyes, “This morning.”

Cub frowned, Scar could see as his jaw clenched. He grabbed the brunet’s hand that wasn’t hiding his face and pulled him into the living room where Bdubs and the Voidwalker siblings were.

As Cub pulled Scar into the room, the taller sighed realizing he’d already been defeated in trying to hide. Cub pushed the taller onto the couch next to Bdubs, before walking out of the room once again and back into the kitchen.

“Scar!” Bdubs shouted once he noticed his brother, “I need your help at getting Joel back!” Bdubs huffed, as Scar was made to sit next to him.

The red-clad twin looked Scar over curiously, about to comment on the uniform before his twin interrupted him.

“Hello, my friend.” Xisuma greeted, politely. Xisuma had always had a keen sense of professionalism, his word choices proper and calm. It was why he’d been reelected student council president so many times over, no matter how many times his brother tried to steal the campaign out from under him.

Scar waved at Xisuma with his free hand, causing the green-clad twin to comment on it, “Why are you hiding your face?”

“He made paper mache horse heads and left them in my locker!” Bdubs continued, ignoring Xisuma’s inquiry. Bdubs fell against the couch, crossing his arms, with a faux frown but Scar could hear the laugh in his voice.

“It’s nothing.” Scar shrugged, waving it off to Xisuma. The student council president raised an eyebrow concerned, before Cleo’s voice echoed through the hallway.

“Scar!” Cleo shouted, rounding the corner into the living room, Cub right behind them with a first aid kit in his hands, “You dumbass, show me your eye.”

Cleo stared at Scar from the doorway, eyeing how he still tried to hide the injury. They looked like they had just come from working on some project. Their hands covered in tried clay and an apron covering their clothes. She had a ball of clay in their hands that she was itching to throw at her brother if he didn’t reveal the injury.

Scar tried to give his older sibling a smile, but they only sighed. Their resolve of throwing the clay breaking. Both Voidwalker twins looked back over to Scar from Cleo. Bdubs’ faux smile dropped immediately as he sat up from his lounging position to look at his brother. “Wait what?”

“It’s nothing, Cleo.” Scar shifted.

“Then move your hand.” Cleo glared as Cub grabbed an ice pack from the kit. The raven haired boy sat down beside Scar, searching through the first aid kit for materials.

Scar stammered, “Uh, no.”

Cub huffed, grabbing the other’s hand and pulling it away from his eye, revealing the purple and red bruise. Xisuma and Xander both cringed, wincing at the bruise that painted over his eye and upper cheek.

“Woah! Scar!” Bdubs gawked, “What-What happened?”

“I’d also like to know.” Cleo asked, tapping their foot on the ground like a disappointed mother.

“You look like you got punched, dude.” Xander joked, snickering into his mug as Xisuma elbowed him in the gut. The two quickly engaged into a arguing whisper battle over the proper etiquette for when someone was injured.

Scar nearly scoffed a laugh, as Xander guessed correctly, instead he only shrugged, “I tripped.”

“You tripped?” Cub asked, looking at Scar’s eyes to spot the lie.

“Yeah, you know me…” Scar huffed, crossing his arms as Cub handed him the ice pack, after he’d successfully broken it in to chill. Scar reluctantly took the ice pack, raising it to his eye. “Just tripping all over the place.”

“Don’t say that.” Bdubs interrupted, quickly, before his brother said something he’d regret.

“You tripped and ended up with a black eye?” Cleo asked, eyeing Scar for lies herself.

Scar swallowed, “Yup, concrete.”

Cub and Cleo exchanged a glance, before the shorter looked back to Scar, “I should probably check you for a concussion then.”

“What? Why?” Scar asked, quickly, as Cub started moving.

“Falling and hitting your head often ends with a concussion, Scar.” Cub said, then Cub paused looking away from the kit and to Scar with an inquiry in his eyes. He wondered, “Unless you didn’t fall?”

Scar crossed his arms, “I’m not lying. I don’t have a concussion.”

“How do you know?” Cub asked, he crossed his arms believing he’d caught the other in his lie. He smiled, proudly as Scar stammered out a response.

“Because,” Scar paused, thinking on his feet. He needed to find a reason that could fool his friends, only he had three people currently listening that were incredible at finding his lies. Cub and Cleo had known him since he was a child. His cousin spending many days at their home and his sibling constantly looked out for them. Not even just them, but Xisuma was practiced in the tells of all the different hermits. He knew everyone, and prided himself on it too,“Because, I already checked!” He answered, proudly.

“You checked?” Bdubs repeated, confused.

“Yes, the nurse checked.” Scar said, confidently.

“And they didn’t send you home?” Cleo asked, raising an eyebrow. Her fingers pressing deeper into the clay they held, as they rolled it around in their hands.

“Why would they? I’m fine!” Scar laughed it off, as Cub glared at him.

“That’s not an excuse, Scar.” Cleo muttered, tapping their fingers along the clay ball as they sighed, “Don’t you think this has gone on long enough? The school got their headline, ‘Hermitville High Exchange Program improves Social skills’.” They mocked, “Can we just go back to normal now?”

Scar’s brow furrowed, why was Cleo questioning this? “I can’t quit now.” Scar claimed, “It’s only been a week.”

“It is just the trail run.” Xisuma added, “You could if you wanted to.” He took a sip of his drink as his brother intervened.

“Of course, then you’d be a coward.” Xander muttered, earning a quick glare from his twin.

“You would not be a coward, Scar.” Xisuma stated, firmly, never looking away from his twin. He sighed, turning back to Scar, “Didn’t you mention to Impulse you thought the school was odd?”

He hugged his mug in his hands, looking over to Cleo, concerned eyes watching the family debacle. Cleo looked back to Scar again, waiting for his answer.

Scar swallowed, he shrugged, “Well, I only meant…I only meant that it’s different. That doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

“You have a black eye.” Xander deadpanned, raising an eyebrow.

“That was my own fault, not the schools.” Scar defended, “It’s not like I wouldn’t do the same here.” Scar chuckled, “I mean, you guys have seen me. I’m just clumsy. One black eye is nothing.” Scar waved it off.

“But at least here you have people.” Bdubs sighed, “We know what to look for, and we know how to help too. Over there you're just…you.” Bdubs shrugged, trying his best to break the news to his brother easily. He didn’t seem too keen on either side, having enjoyed his brother's stories afterschool. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling in his stomach as he looked at the purple shaping Scar’s eye.

Scar shook his head, as Bdubs had the completely wrong answer. “That’s not at all right.” Scar huffed, leaning back into the couch, “I have plenty of friends over there.”

None of his friends said anything, waiting for him to elaborate. Xander blinked, boredly while Xisuma smiled nervously looking between Cleo and Cub. The two were staring at Scar waiting for him to continue while Bdubs tried his best to look anywhere but his brother.

“What?” Scar asked, once he finally recognized the silence. Then he huffed, once he realized, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“It’s not that we don’t believe you.” Xisuma tried to placate, keeping one hand on his warm mug while the other moved as he spoke. “It’s just…”

“You’ve only gone a few days.” Cub interpreted, he sighed, “That’s not a lot of time to get to know anyone.”

“While we’ve known you for years.” Cleo added, calmly.

“So wouldn’t it make more sense to just go back to what you’re used to?” Bdubs sighed, pulling his legs up onto the couch to turn towards the other.

“They don’t believe you.” Xander translated, not looking up from his own cup.

Scar huffed, rolling his eyes. “Just because you guys don’t feel comfortable stepping outside of this town doesn’t mean I’m the same way. If I want to go I’m going to go. I got picked for the program and I get to decide whether or not I want to continue it!” Scar argued, “One screw up isn’t about to change my whole life, or anyone else’s.”

“It’s a trial run, nothing is permanent.” Xisuma said, whether it was supposed to help one argument or the other no one could tell.

“Permanent or not. I don’t think you should go anymore.” Cleo decided, looking away from Scar as they spoke.

“What?” Scar gawked, “No!” He argued, “Cleo, it’s my decision. I tripped, so what? I’m going to trip anywhere!”

“But at least here there are people we know and a school that actually tells people when things happen!” Cleo motioned, before crossing their arms. The ball of clay in their hand being squeezed tightly, as it erupted in their hands

The idea of leaving Taurtis alone to deal with Sam was enough to make Scar feel sick in his stomach. He couldn’t just let this go. If he didn’t figure out what was going on he would regret it for the rest of his life. He knew he would. He’d never be sure what happened to the blond boy with a crazed friend that controlled him. He’d never know what happened to that teacher, or why everyone was so scared of something that seemed invisible. He’d never forget it and he’d always regret it.

“Cleo, whether you like it or not-I,” Scar paused, he took a breath recollecting himself so his voice wouldn’t waver as he spoke, “I’m going back. You’re going to need more than one black eye to prove to me that there’s a reason to walk away.”

Cleo frowned, as everyone waited for their reaction. They sighed, “Fine. But one more time and this is over…” Cleo sighed, looking back to Cub, “Cub, fix his eye.”

And that was where the conversation was left. It was very obvious Cleo was still set in the idea of him leaving the program, she kept making off hand comments for the rest of the night. Each time met with a quick comment from Scar that left Bdubs and Cub silently waiting for their argument to finish.

Xisuma and Xander left later into the night, claiming that Keralis had asked for some help. The four knew it was truly because they couldn’t stand to sit through another passive aggressive argument between Cleo and Scar.

Sleep was still evading Scar, he couldn’t relax, too worried about the possibility of leaving Taurtis to deal with Sam all alone. He’d laid down but his thoughts continued to pester him as he was pestered with images of Taurtis and Ellen.

He couldn’t seem to wipe the memory of Taurtis’ face as Sam told Scar to pick someone. The whole ordeal was engraved in his mind, replaying and reminding him of things he could’ve done.

He had so many questions. What was going on between Sam and Taurtis? Why did Taurtis allow everyone to walk over him? What had Sam meant when he claimed Taurtis was only there because of him? Why was Rowan so obsessed with keeping things quiet? Why did Taurtis hide in Rowan’s office? What was that knocking on his window?

Scar looked over from his bed to the dormer window of their house. “What?” He muttered to himself, pulling himself out of his bed.

He pulled the curtain away to see a hand knocking against his window frame. Scar’s eyes widened as he looked through the corners of the window to see whoever it was that had managed to climb the roof of their two story home.

Scar nearly shouted when he saw who it was, quickly opening up the latch of his window and poking his head out to tell them off, “Cub! What-What are you doing? It’s like 2 in the morning!”

Cub still had on his regular lab coat, the ends covered and splattered with stains of substances Scar had no clue of. His lab coat was a multicolored mess of pinks, reds, blues, yellows and greens. Underneath, he wore his regular pajamas proving once again to Scar that Cub had grabbed the coat as a means to keep himself warm in the chill night air rather than actual scientific work. Cub rolled his eyes, “Two in the morning and you’re not asleep, well that’s a surprise. Something got you up?”

“Yes! You!” Scar gaped, “What are you doing?” He whisper-shouted.

“You sure it’s not the lie you told?” Cub muttered, “Now will you get out here, before you wake up Cleo and Bdubs. I don’t want to get turned into a statue.” Cub grimaced, worriedly looking in the direction of Cleo’s room.

“I didn’t lie.” Scar scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Liar liar,” Cub mocked, “pants on fire.”

Scar glared, pointing a finger at his cousin, “You take that back.”

Cub smirked, “Get out here and make me.”

Scar sighed, climbing onto the window sill and crawling out of the window onto the roof. His feet slid on the slanted roof, until he balanced himself on the corner of the dormer window. Cub carefully made his way up to the flattest part of the roof above Bdubs’ room. Scar followed after him, his mind slowly remembering the way from when they were younger and did this a lot more often.

Cub used to climb onto their roof in the middle of the night during the school year when they were in middle and elementary school.

“It’s like two in the morning, can this wait until later, Cub.” Scar huffed, rubbing his eyes to try and stay awake. No matter how tired he was though, he couldn’t sleep.

“You didn’t seem that keen on sleeping earlier.” Cub chuckled, looking back to his cousin with a smirk. “Will you just admit it?”

“Admit what?” Scar crossed his arms, squinting at the other to see where he was going with this. “I have nothing to admit.” Scar raised his chin proudly.

“Oh, please, you can’t sleep because you know you lied. I know you lied. So just admit it. You can never sleep when you're lying about something important.” Cub pointed out, raising a finger to point at the other.

Scar scoffed, nervously, “That’s not true!”

“You couldn’t sleep for a week after lying to Mumbo about what happened to his science project. He wasn’t even upset!” Cub huffed, motioning off the side of the roof as if Mumbo was in fact standing below. Scar had to look below them to make sure their tall friend wasn’t. But of course, Mumbo was having a perfectly fine night sleeping in his own bed.

Scar groaned, running a hand through his hair, “Cub, let it go. I’m fine.”

“It’s not like anyone’s going to be upset, man! No one’s going to care if you ran into a door or got hit in the head with a baseball. But really? Falling down the stairs?” Cub sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You only have a black eye, nothing else is bruised like you fell.”

“People can land on their face.” Scar defended, immediately regretting speaking once he heard his choice.

Cub stared at him blankly, before finally sighing, “You never mentioned anything about stairs, Scar. I made that up.” Cub crossed his arms, shifting on his feet.

Scar internally cursed himself, “Darn it.”

“Just tell me what happened. It’s not like you got punched or something.” Cub exaggerated, shrugging his shoulders.

Scar frowned, “I did get punched.” He muttered, before sitting down on the flattened roof edge. He curled his arms around his knees as Cub processed the information.

Cub froze, his arms falling to his side. He stared straight ahead. Cub had known Scar for a very long time, the two were inseparable as children. Sure they were no stranger to the sparse bullies or older kids that liked to pick on them, but never had either had to deal with anything physical. Anything that could’ve ended in a punched eye or kicked gut was quickly resolved by either Cleo, teachers, even Skizz and Impulse had lent a hand.

Cub blinked unsure of what to do, he wasn’t the person people went to for comfort. Even after bad days or rough nights Scar hadn’t gone to him for help. The brunet often sought out Impulse, Skizz or Tango seeing as they were close friends. But even then, Cub was mostly right there with Scar on those days, whatever one went through the other did to.

To be the first person Scar had told, he didn’t know what to do, until he finally looked back down to Scar. “What?”

“I got punched.” Scar huffed, sadly. Cub sat down beside his cousin, staring up at the constellations and night sky that the two would stare at for hours on end when they were kids. Their shared love of space led them to constant conversations that went long into the night.

Cub’s mouth felt dry as he spoke, “What happened? Why-Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

Scar shrugged, “I kind of deserved it.”

Cub scoffed, “Scar, there is no way I would think you’d deserve to get punched.” Scar didn’t look convinced when Cub looked at him. Cub sighed, nudging his cousin in the arm, “What happened, man?”

Scar smiled, sadly, “There’s-” Scar sighed, “there’s this guy. He’s really sweet…and funny. When he lets himself at least. Anyway, he’s just really nice. He’s blond, has this funny way of tilting his head when he talks-”

“Scar, where are you going with this?” Cub asked, squinting in confusion as Scar rambled. He raised an eyebrow at the other, waiting for the statement he believed would be coming from the other any moment.

Scar caught the look. Cub was one of the very few people Scar had been open with. Cub had managed to get the truth out of him after one to many lies of meeting some girl. It wasn’t like he minded either, but Cub was constantly assuming things whenever Scar made friends outside of their normal circle of Hermits.

Scar punched the shorter in the arm, “Not like that!” He muttered, huffing before continuing as Cub snickered beside him. “Look, he was-we were talking and his friends came up to us. One of them stole his sketchbook and threw it in the mud.”

Cub’s laugh came to a sudden stop, as he eyed Scar curiously.

“His friends?” Cub asked, confused.

Scar nodded, “I tried to get his book back but one of them punched me before I got the chance. They had a pretty good swing too,” Scar tried to chuckle, rubbing his swollen eye gently. He sighed, “I was just trying to help him, I got in the way and well…”

“So you stepped in the way of someone getting picked on and think you deserved to get punched?” Cub asked, trying to follow the train of thought.

“Well, not so much as deserved, I should have seen it coming, really. It’s my fault. I just didn’t really think someone would go for a punch so quickly.” Scar shrugged, hugging his knees.

“Yeah,” Cub huffed, “People suck.”

Scar scoffed, “You really can’t tell Cleo or anyone, you know that right?”

Cub frowned, tugging on his lab coat against the night chill, “Why? I think they’d want to know. I mean, maybe they were right, man. Maybe it is better to be here rather than…there. I mean what do you think ‘Suma would think? He’d probably say something like ‘Scar, you should be taking care of yourself. You need to think rationally, here. Where would you be safer and happier?’ or some shit like that.”

“Cub!” Scar gawked, appalled at his impersonation of their beloved student council president. “But seriously, I don’t want anyone to know that happened.”

“Why?” Cub asked.

“Because! You heard what Cleo said! You guys already think I can’t handle it. If I tell them I got punched, they won’t let me anywhere near that place. They won’t let me out of their sight…probably. They already don’t trust that school, so why should I give them any more reason?” Scar muttered.

“Scar, do you think that any of us would have had a different reaction if it-let’s say-had been Iskall who went?” Cub asked.

“Well, yeah, I mean Iskall’s a pretty competent guy.” Scar shrugged.

“No.” Cub laughed, “Yeah, no. If Iskall had come back claiming the school was weird, or that the students were off-putting-I think we’d have a bigger problem on our hands. Iskall’s a weird guy, if he thinks something’s off it probably is.” Cub shook his head, “My point is, it doesn’t matter that you’re the one who got picked for the program. I promise you no one is questioning your capabilities. Cleo, Bdubs, X, Impulse are not questioning this because they think you can’t handle it. They’re questioning it because of what you’ve said.”

Scar sighed, staring off down the road and watching the neighborhood homes. He saw Mumbo's home down the road, the light in his bedroom still on, oddly. Mumbo was always asleep by this time, why was his light on? Scar shook his head pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he couldn’t worry about Mumbo’s habits right now.

“What have I said?” Scar asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well for starters, you told Imp, Skizz, Gem and Tango about how you weren’t sure about the people or the school itself. Add on the fact that you come back in a weird uniform that none of us have ever seen before. Plus what you’ve told me now? And don’t think I’ve forgotten what you’ve shared with Dubs.” Cub pointed out, he sighed when Scar didn’t say anything. “Scar, you are one of the most understanding and comforting people I know. You may pretend to be oblivious most of the time but I know you’ve got a brain in that head of yours. You figured out Xisuma was doing too much of the work for the student council. When Pearl had that awful week, she went to you. You distracted Tango from overworking when he had to get Decked Out finished before the deadline. When Jim was getting picked on, he went to you. Scar, whatever you think you’re seeing, you’re seeing it. Don’t second guess yourself now.”

“It’s different, Cub. If I get this wrong…”Scar muttered.

“But if you get it right?” Cub finished. Scar frowned, not looking Cub in the eye. “Look, I know you like this guy-”

“Cub.” Scar warned.

“Just give me a sec. I know you care about him, but you can’t help someone out of a hole by burying yourself with them.” Cub continued.

“You want me to leave.” Scar clarified, disappointed.

“I want you safe.” Cub was silent a moment later. “Did Zedaph tell you what he found on that school?” He asked, quietly.

Scar furrowed his brow, “He said there wasn’t a lot about it.”

Cub nodded, “He had to dig pretty deep. He told me to tell you about it. Most everything about that school, every article or whatever he could find, it’s all been wiped. Just deleted off the internet, he had to backtrack to find anything about it. And what he found was-just…jeez man.”

Scar looked up, his face falling as he thought about what Cub and Zed could have potentially found. His eyes softened as Cub looked worriedly off into the distance. Scar noticed he was looking in the direction of the town over. Scar could see the line that sectioned off their own town from the other. He could see where the trees darkened and the forest grew thicker. He could see that the farther they got from Hermitville the darker the forest became. The sun rose of the hermits but it had set over the other town, leaving it constantly casted in darkness.

“What did he find?” Scar asked, nervously. He didn’t know if he really wanted that information.

“Violence reports. Lots of violence reports. Kids beat up and sent home. Fights breaking out between students and teachers. They had to replace the principal twice in one year. Missing kids and equipment. These aren’t even that old, it’s all stuff that happened in the past two years!” Cub stressed, “Zed said they were deleted only a few weeks after being published.”

“Was there anything about deaths?” Scar asked, quickly. He didn’t look at Cub, his eyes scanning at the shingles of the roof rather. Cub took in a breath, gripping his pajamas pants.

“What? Why-”

“I’m serious. Was there anything about someone dying?” Scar asked, again.

Cub shook his head, “Only missing people-students and teachers. There weren't any…there weren’t any obituaries from what we saw.”

Scar nodded, “okay.”

“Scar, how much are you not telling us?” Cub asked, eyes darkening with worry as he looked back to his dear cousin.

“I need Zed to get me those articles.” Scar ignored Cub’s question. He stood up, pulling himself from the roof where they sat. He stumbled some, standing on the slanted roof, as Cub stammered.

“Scar-how much? How much have you hidden? What the hell is going on?” Cub called out to him, shoving himself up, not caring about being silent anymore so they wouldn’t wake Bdubs.

Scar ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know, but I know I’m not leaving that school until I figure it out.” Scar pointed off to where the sun had set over a darkening town swallowed by trees and cliffs.

________________________________________________________

Scar stepped off the bus back onto the gray sidewalk that was colored with chalk paintings. He gripped the straps of his backpack, as he took a step away from the bus stop. He heard as the bus started to pull out, closing the escape from the encampment of imposing pine trees and gray buildings.

He’d spent the past night, after his conversation with Cub, trying to plan. He was trying to solve a mystery that was still unfolding in front of him. He could tell that morning that both Cleo and Bdubs had noticed his lack of sleep. Cleo’s comments about leaving the program had subsided for questions of if he was alright. Bdubs had tried to convince him to take the day off, to stay home and give himself a break.

Neither one of them got any words out of him.

He had stayed quiet that morning, his brain still working to formulate some kind of plan to solve the questions he had.

He glared at the school in front of him, he saw it less as something confusing and exciting everyday. All he could imagine now was the frustration of solving some problem only to get it wrong everytime.

Scar walked into the courtyard, straying off the path of sidewalk that the other students were mingling and whispering on. He trudged up to the benches under the tree. Taurtus was already standing waiting from what Scar could see.

The blond’s back was facing him, as he stared at the school. His bag was still hung over his shoulder. He shifted on his feet, left then right, leaning against the bark of the tree and hiding his arms in front of him.

“Hey.” Scar greeted, a smile seeped from the apathy he was trying to insist on.

Taurtis flinched once he heard Scar’s voice, his shoulder’s tensing before he turned around. Scar didn’t manage to get a good view of the smaller before the other was staring wide eyed at his face.

“Oh my-! Your eye!” Taurtis gasped, his hands ghosting around looking for something to do. His hands clenched at his side.

“Is it really that bad?” Scar tried to laugh, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn’t think it looked very terrible. Sure, having a black eye wasn’t the best thing, but it certainly wasn’t the worst bruise he might’ve had.

Taurtus seemed to take the question differently, quickly trying to pick up the peices of what he thought he’d shattered, “Oh no. No, it-it’s fine. I’ve seen worse.” Taurtis tried to play off, waving a hand to try and brush the comment away.

It was as their hand moved that Scar could see the new white bandages that were wrapped tightly around their arms. Scar’s brow furrowed as his eyes latched onto the dressings that covered the other’s arms from elbow to wrist. They weren’t clean, splotches of blood and stains were spotted on different sides. One was still bleeding sluggishly through the bandages. At the same time, Scar noticed the band aid that was stuck to Taurtis’ cheek, just under his eye.

Scar swallowed, “What-What happened to you?” He asked, pointing to what all he’d seen.

Taurtis’ jaw clenched and Scar saw how he darted his eyes away so he wouldn’t have to look Scar in the eyes. “Just a little accident.” Taurtis muttered, rubbing his hand along one of the bandages covering his arms. “Your friends…were they terribly mad?”

“My friends?” Scar asked, not understanding where the other was going with this.

Taurtis only nodded, “Yes, your friends. Didn’t you tell them about the uh…” Taurtis pointed to his own eye rather than the bruising on Scar’s face.

“Oh!” Scar realized, “No-well, I just told them I tripped. No need to worry them, you know?”

Taurtis frowned, he almost seemed disappointed that Scar hadn’t told them the truth. His eyes glancing around on the ground as if he was searching for something else to say. “Oh,” He whispered, “Of course, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Scar frowned, “Is something wrong?”

Taurtis shook his head, forgoing the frown and trying to smile, “I just hadn’t thought about it like that. I guess, there really isn’t a need to worry them for something silly, yeah? I promise Yuki didn’t mean it-well she did mean it, but…” Taurtis rambled on, as Scar slowly became lost in his tangent of trying to condone his friends actions. Taurtis sighed, “She was just startled.”

“Yeah,” Scar agreed, looking off, his voice a bit grimaced, “Startled,” he repeated snidely, but Taurtis didn’t seem to take notice. Scar shook the frustration away, looking back towards the friendly face, “What about you though? I didn’t catch you after the last bell yesterday. You didn’t run off somewhere again, did you?” Scar tried to laugh.

“Hm,” Taurtis hummed in response, shifting in his spot. He pulled his bag up higher on his shoulder, “Sorry, I was just-I had to meet up with Sam. He wanted to talk to me about something.”

Scar’s face fell, “Why didn’t you say anything? I would’ve gone with you.”

Taurtis laughed, brushing the worry away, “Oh, please, it’s not like Sam’s dangerous or anything. I’m fine! You act like he’s some kind of scary mastermind. He’s just a friend.” Taurtis smiled, tightly.

Scar’s frown didn’t fall away, “I’m not scared of him.”

“Neither am I.” Taurtis scoffed, “So, I swear, I don’t need a bodyguard to go see him.” Taurtis rolled his eyes.

Scar’s frown wavered, “Well, I wasn’t-”

“I actually kind of need to go see him now.” Taurtis interrupted, throwing a thumb behind his shoulder towards the school. Scar felt himself almost deflate at that. He had looked forward to his morning chats with Taurtis, he didn’t want to miss out on them, especially not today.

“Why?” Scar asked, sadly, “Can’t it wait?”

Taurtis smiled, sadly, “‘fraid not. He’s in a bit of a huff, right now. He just needs someone by his side. I probably won’t be able to talk to you as much anymore,” Taurtis chuckled, his words falling out of his mouth quicker and faster with each breath. It was as if he was trying to spit the words out of his mouth so he wouldn’t actually have to handle the consequences of them. “He’s just really lonely right now, so I need to be with him more than I have been. I really hope you understand, Scar. I mean, these past few days have been absolutely wonderful, but there’s no telling when things are going to slow back down again. I just really wanted you to know that,” Taurtis took a breath in and Scar realized he hadn’t actually understood anything that he’d just said.

“It’s been nice knowing you, Scar.” Taurtis whispered, sadly, his head tilted down defeated. His hands gripped the straps of his own bag as he turned slowly and began the walk towards the school entrance.

Scar was frozen still, he couldn’t wrap his mind around what he’d heard. He was trying to decipher the words when the last sentence finally caught up to him. His eyes widened, he’d heard that line plenty of times. Maybe not said directly to him, but he knew what it meant.

“Wait-what?” Scar finally stammered out, but by then Taurtis was already a bit ways away from him. Taurtis didn’t hear him, his voice too quiet as he’d muttered it under his breath. Still, Scar ran after the blond, catching him by the elbow. Taurtis nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt the light hand wrap around his elbow.

The blond turned back around, wide dark eyes staring at Scar with fear. “Scar?” He asked, swallowing something in his throat.

“What did you mean by that?” Scar asked, firmly, gazing down right at the two void-ish eyes in front of him. “What did you mean by ‘it's been nice knowing you’?”

Taurtis shrugged his arm away from the brunet, laughing to himself, “Well, you know what that means. It means I’ve enjoyed meeting you.”

“People only say that when they don’t plan on speaking to each other anymore.” Scar stated, “Are you-Why would you- If I did something to make you upset, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I might’ve said, but if you tell me I’m sure I can explain. I mean, is this like the last time where I went too far on something, or?” Scar rambled.

Taurtis frowned, Scar could see as the other shrank in on himself biting the inside of his cheek. It seemed Scar’s questions weren’t making whatever this was easier for the other. “Scar-” Taurtis quickly reconciled, “No, Scar, you’ve-you didn’t do anything. I swear.” He head out his hands trying to placate the other.

“Then why?” Scar asked.

Taurtis opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t speak. The boy looked over his shoulder for a second, eyeing the window that was nearest to them. He looked over to the door back into the school, and sighed. Before Taurtis could look back to Scar and answer, the other had already seen what he needed to.

Just below the window on the door was a pair of bunny ears. Scar could see through the window that Sam was waiting just inside the corridor, waiting. He’d been watching the entire debacle play out. Scar couldn’t help but clench his fists and clench his jaw.

“Sam doesn’t like me.” Scar blurted out, glaring at the door over Taurtis’ hair. The blond looked back at Scar, with concerned eyes and a furrowed brow. Still, all the smaller could do was sigh, and stay silent. “Got it.” Scar finished, taking his silence as an answer.

“Scar-” Taurtis tried.

“Sam doesn’t like me, so that means you can’t be around me. Do I have that right?” Scar asked, eye twitching as he glared in the direction of the bunny hatted boy.

“Don’t-Don’t take it personally.” Taurtis whispered, “He doesn’t like a lot of people.”

“Because they don’t do whatever he tells them, or they’re not scared of him?” Scar scoffed, crossing his arms still looking over Taurtis’ head. Taurtis frowned, before stomping harshly on Scar’s foot. Scar yelped out in surprise, raising his foot from the ground and hopping on one foot to wait out the pain. “What was that for!”

Taurtis glared at him silently a moment longer, before, “Quit with the sarcasm, okay? You want to do some good,” Taurtis pointed a finger at the taller’s chest, jabbing him in the center, “Stop treating this like the puzzle on the back of your cereal box!”

“Hey!” Scar huffed, “well…” He thought quickly of some kind of comeback, “You don’t have to listen to him, you know? I mean what kind of black mail does he have on you to make you do whatever he wants? When did you let go of your free will?”

Taurtis’ eyes widened, and he took a step backwards. “I know that.” He seethed as firmly as he could, still backing away from Scar.

“Then why don’t you?”

“The same reason you tie your shoes!” Taurtis pointed out, repeated what he’d said to the taller when they first met.

Scar flinched back, remembering what had been said afterwards. He tilted his head slightly, confused, why had Taurtis used that example specifically. He didn’t say anything back, keeping his silence to himself so he could calm down.

“What? So you don’t trip and fall?” Scar asked, drawing a blank.

“So you don’t face the consequences when you step on the shoelace.” Taurtis retorted with a stiff glare on his face.

“What consequences?” Scar enunciated, “What are you so scared of?” He asked, quieter. “He’s just another guy. He wears a bunny hat for crying out loud! There is nothing he can do or say that will make me do whatever he wants and if that’s the reason he doesn’t like me then…that’s his problem! But, seriously, you can say ‘no’. He doesn’t get to decide the people you’re around or what you do. Because, as far as I’m aware I’m still your friend and you’re still my friend.” Scar pointed between the two of them.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” Taurtis warned, looking over his shoulder before glancing up at Scar through furrowed brows.

“And you do?” Scar challenged.

Taurtis’ face fell, his glare disintegrating into something dangerously sad. It was the same face Scar remembered seeing when he first met the other. The pitiful frown that could barely count as a frown. The eyes that looked a second away from crying, drooping like he hadn’t slept in weeks. “Yeah, Yeah I do.”

Taurtis shook his head, “Scar, whether you like it or not I’ve been here longer. I’ve seen more shit than you have and I know the crap you’re going to see if you don’t stop. You want to save your friends and family from worrying over you, then the exit is right there.” Taurtis motioned towards the open gate from the courtyard. The stern looked appearing on his face once again and overtaking the sadness. Scar followed his line of sight, until Taurtis spoke again, “I was like you once. I used to think Sam couldn’t get to me. I was above him, he didn’t scare me and he couldn’t control me! Think that all you want but he gets to you eventually! So next time you want to come argue about Sam, you remember that I was once in your jacket!”

Taurtis grabbed the lapel of his uniform’s jacket, he pulled the lapel out and Scar could see out of the corner of his eye something he hadn’t seen before. His eyes caught it for only a moment before it was gone.

As Taurtis’ hand gripped the lapel, the bands around his arms matched up to the white sleeve of Scar’s shirt. The tiny drawings matched up.

The white button up had been one of the uniform items the school had handed over upon his arrival. He’d found it odd how the uniform looked to be used, only to find out that all the uniforms had been used and reused. His just happened to be from someone who drew on the sleeves of the white shirt and jacket when they were bored.

Scar had seen Taurtis drawing on his hand the day they met, he hadn’t connected the two. Taurtis was the single person across the school that wasn’t forced to wear the same clothes everyday.

How had he not seen that sooner?

The handwriting matched almost perfectly, Taurtis’ was a bit more shaky and scratchy than the original but the curvature matched. The drawings were the same: small stick figures, birds, random letters, moons and suns.

Scar looked between the sleeves and then back up to Taurtis’ face. The other must have seen something change in Scar’s face, because the brunet could have sworn he saw a tiny smirk form on the other’s face before falling back into a frown.

Taurtis cleared his throat, dropping the lapel and patting it down where it had been. He apologized, “Sorry…just think about what you're doing. This-I’m trying to give you an out, Scar. Stop talking to me and you never have to deal with any of this again. Your life can go back to being how great it was before you ever came to this school. That exit is there and it might be the last time you can take it before something happens.” Taurtis sighed, looking back to the gate.

Scar frowned, his mind wandering back to his conversations with Zedaph, with Cub, with Cleo…with Mumbo.

“I meant what I said. As far as I’m concerned we’re still friends. Sam doesn’t get to decide that.” Scar declared, firmly.

Taurtis sighed, reaching into his pocket, “I was worried you’d say that.” He pulled his hand back out, and held it out for Scar to shake. Scar looked at his palm, confused, “At least, leave me with the dignity to say I tried?”

Scar offered a sad smile to the smaller, taking his hand in his own and offering a quick shake of goodbye.

Although, as Taurtis pulled away, he turned his hand slightly so that something fell into Scar’s palm. Scar raised an eyebrow about to ask if Taurtis had meant to drop something. Taurtis just offered a smile, pulling his hand away fully and leaving Scar with a slip of paper in his hand.

Before Scar could ask another question, Taurtis was leaving once again and this time he wasn’t stopping. Taurtis walked away and as he did Scar could see the school doors open, as Sam waved his friend over to him with a grin on his face. The two disappeared but not before Sam sent a grimace over Scar’s way. Scar didn’t offer anything back to the boy as he wrapped an arm around Taurtis’ shoulder and led him into the school.

The brunet looked down at the paper Taurtis had slipped him. It looked like he’d torn it off of his sketchbook, the same thick and coarse paper. Written on the paper in scratchy pencil were the words.

B’s Bakery and Bookstore
7:00 pm

Scar had a feeling that wouldn’t be the last time he saw Taurtis after all.

_____________________________________________________

As Scar walked into his first class he immediately noticed the empty seat right next to him. There was no bag on the chair and no book on the desk. He sat down at his own desk, assuming Taurtis still hadn’t gotten back from wherever he and Sam had gone. What he wasn’t expecting was to be pelted in the back of the head with a ball of paper.

The second bell hadn’t screeched yet, and students were still filing into the room but Scar see exactly where it had come from. Mainly, from the giggles and whispering between two people in the back of the room.

In the back corner was Sam, legs propped up on the desk as he laughed to himself. His grin grew when Scar looked back at them in confusion. He had a pile of balled up papers on his desk. Next to him was Taurtis, sitting like a perfect statue staring ahead. His eyes on the back of Yuki’s head, he barely casted a glance in Scar’s direction trying to hide from the attention Sam brought.

Sam whispered something over to Taurtis, causing the other to cringe slightly as he looked away from both of them and out the window. He rested his head in the palm of one of his hands and Scar could just barely make out the scribbles along his wrist that he’d somehow missed before.

Yuki didn’t say anything back to Sam as he whispered, only offering a quick glance before turning away again. Scar was starting to wonder how deeply Yuki was even involved in Sam’s games. She never seemed too interested in anything the other two were doing.

The bell startled Scar out of his thoughts and he turned back to the front of the room, but not before casting a sad gaze over to the empty chair beside him.

Scar was still thinking about that morning into his next class. Even in the different desk and the change of rooms, he still felt far away. His mind focusing on whatever he could piece together. His uniform must have once belonged to Taurtis. Meaning that at one point that Taurtis did abide by the rule of the uniforms. Taurtis had specifically said that he had been in his ‘Jacket’ not shoes like the normal metaphor.

That had to mean something.

Taurtis was trying to tell him something there, Scar just couldn’t figure it out. Scar frowned, his brow twisting as he tried to think. He knew he was thinking harder than anyone else in the classroom as they went over some grade school curriculum.

Scar pulled on the end of his sleeve, revealing more of the drawings and scribblings. “What were you talking about?” Scar whispered to himself.

He tried to focus on the individual drawings.

There was one on the right hand sleeve, just under the top of his hand. There were four stick figures all holding hands, or that’s what he assumed. The tallest on one end of the line had a darker band wrapped around his head. The next two were the same height, one with longer hair and the other with short hair covering over their eyes. The last was the shortest, barely reaching the others waist, they had short hair too. The odd part was the symbols drawn above each of their frowning heads. Above the tallest was a circle traced over with red. The longer haired on had what seemed to be a crescent moon above them, next to them a childish symbol of the sun. And lastly, was a tiny circle like the first only this one smaller and without any color.

He looked at another drawing see scribbles of scratched out words and phrases.

The next thing that caught his attention though was a symbol on the left sleeve. It was large enough to take up a good amount of the section. It was a simple scribble, too. Just a rectangle with broken sides. There were two dots on opposite corners and two L shapes to finish the rectangle.

Scar pulled on the sleeve eyeing the symbol, for some reason he could’ve sworn he’d seen it before. He had to have. It looked too familiar.

“Scar?”

Scar dropped the sleeve, thinking back to how Taurtis had grabbed his lapel. He pulled the inside of his jacket out looking at the tag that was sewn into the inside of the fabric. There…there was the same symbol.

“Scar.”

This time however, it was bigger and purple.

“Scar!”

Scar dropped his hold on his jacket and looked over to see Salex staring at him.

He blinked, “Yeah?”

“I’ve been calling your name for a couple minutes. Are you okay?” She asked, carefully.

Scar swallowed, shaking his head to get the thoughts he was ruminating over out, “Yeah. I’m good. I’m fine! What-uh, what did you need?”

“I was wondering if you’d thought anymore about our project?” Salex asked, however seeing as one recognition passed through Scar eyes, she continued, “You know, the research project. The one I asked you to think about?”

Scar’s eyes widened,” Oh! Oh, gosh, I-I forgot. Is-Is it today?”

Salex’s own eyes went round, “Oh no, goodness no. It’s still not due for a while, but I just think we should get started on it. Do you have any ideas? I don’t mind doing Manga, but I don’t think I’d like to reread all of my books. And I’m not even sure if you’ve ever read one before…so?”

Scar bit the inside of his cheek, he had nothing. It wasn’t that he was trying to put it all on the other, but he had so much else on his mind he never even thought about what they might investigate. He was already investigating so much that was going on around him, but he couldn't do a project with someone about their dead teacher.

“Um…” Scar looked around the room, looking for something to jog his memory into thinking of something interesting. He saw the other pairs already working together on gathering information and writing notes down. Others were only whispering to each other and talking.

“You’ve got a lot on your mind, huh?” Salex muttered, with a smirk. She chuckled to herself, rolling her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Scar asked, still racking his mind for something.

Salex shrugged, “You’ve got the same look Taurtis gets when he forgets something.”

Scar straightened, he’d also forgotten Salex knew Taurtis, and knew him well it seemed. “How-What?”

“Pinched brows, glancing around for answers, bouncing leg; it’s all there, really.” She replied, easily, “So what’s gotten into your head? I know Taurtis has a hard time focusing when something is going on behind the scenes.”

Scar swallowed. It would be good to talk to someone who wasn’t…well crazy about the things he was seeing and was also at the school. Not that Ellen was crazy, he thought to himself, but Ellen wasn’t exactly the best person to talk to. And Taurtis and Rowan were of no help, he’d decided.

“This-just isn’t what I expected to be getting into.” Scar muttered, running a hand into his hair. Salex nodded, sadly.

“Yeah, I’ll be honest. I can’t imagine being in your shoes. But, hey! You still get to go home to your friends and family!” Salex smiled, hopefully, although there was something darker past the glaze in her eyes. Scar barely saw the twitch at the end of their mouth as they smiled.

Still, Scar took the comfort, “Yeah, I do.” He sighed, “You’re friends with Taurtis-”

“Yeah… friends.” Salex huffed, running a hand over her paper as she dusted off eraser marks. Scar furrowed his brow, hoping she’d elaborate, but that was all she said.

Scar began again, “Are you worried about him?”

Salex sat back in her seat, dropping her pencil. She sighed, her shoulder’s slouching from their position of comfort to something tired and tense. “I will always be worried about him. There are a lot of things I wish I had said to him.”

Scar raised an eyebrow, “Like what? Why can’t you talk to him now?”

Salex didn’t answer his last question, “I’d tell him, what he was planning was stupid and a bad idea. I’d tell him to stay home. I’d tell him he needs to stop forcing himself to be bigger than he was. That he didn’t need to compete with him. I’d tell him that Sam was playing him like a fiddle.”

“Why don’t you tell him that?” Scar asked, he couldn’t imagine the Taurtis he knew competing against anyone. He couldn’t imagine the boy pretending to be something larger than life. He couldn’t see that blond holding that much confidence in himself from the days he knew him.

Salex didn’t answer, “Oh, he’s just so busy nowadays. I barely manage to get a few minutes with him to myself!” She laughed, like she’d told some kind of joke. She shook her head, “Really, though, a few minutes just us two…away from Sam. That’d be great. But I’m glad he’s got someone looking out for him right now, yeah?” Salex smiled at Scar, playfullying punching him in the arm.

Scar frowned, he wondered just how close Salex and Taurtis were after all. With how Salex spoke about him, they seemed exceptionally close. It almost made the pit in Scar’s stomach churn a little with a nasty feeling he couldn’t place.

He looked away from Salex as he pushed down the feeling in his stomach. He didn’t know what it was but he didn’t want to deal with it right then, that was for sure. His ears felt unnaturally hot and his fingers tapped along his desk quicker.

His eyes scanned the room, before landing on one of the bookshelves behind the teacher's desk. The teacher themself was sitting at their desk, hidden behind the screen of a computer. Scar could barely see any part of their head over the edge of it. He could imagine though, that the snoring he was hearing was coming from behind the desk.

He focused on the items on the shelf, recognizing a statue right next to a stack of books. He looked back down to the sleeve of his left arm. The symbol was still there, he held up his arm closer to match the shelf line.

They were the same.

Salex watched him in confusion, before she could ask what he was doing, he was already speaking and pointing at the object. “What is that?”

Salex followed his eye line to the statue and Scar saw as Salex’s whole body paled. Her eyes widening, as her skin grew white. She sat still, staring at the symbol in what Scar could only imagine to be fear. She swallowed, shaking her head, “It’s nothing.”

Scar looked between her and the symbol. He huffed, shoving his arm in her direction and pointing at the symbol on the sleeve, “It’s obviously not. What is it?”

Salex looked at the sleeve, their frown grew until their lip wobbled underneath. Her eyes darted around the sleeve to see the other drawings. She shook her head, “Alright, alright. It’s-It’s a symbol. Like a logo of something, their just old town superstition though.”

“Like a myth?” Scar asked, staring at the symbol.

Salex nodded, slowly, “I-I don’t know a lot about them though. It’s not something people talk about. ‘Supposed to give you bad luck or something.”

“What do you know?” Scar questioned.

“Did you not hear what I said about the bad luck?” Salex asked, with a frown.

Scar shrugged, “I’m like a walking jinx, whatever bad luck it brings will just cancel out.”

Salex blinked, “That’s not how that works.” Still, she sighed, twisting her skirt fabric in her hands as she began to speak, “I know that it was years ago…A couple years ago that they were discovered and disbanded- but basically it was a cult.”

“A cult.” Scar whispered under his breath, looking down at his sleeve.

“Yeah, a bunch of old residents of the town that lived here for years thought they were like- superior. So they all gathered together and began this weird group that drove out any newcomers. I don’t know when it turned into what it became though.” Salex shrugged, “Somewhere along the way they started acting…different. People started calling them Watchers-that-” Salex pointed at the symbol, “that was what they always left behind. It was their symbol.”

“What did they do?” Scar asked, he couldn’t imagine anything too terrible coming from a bunch of oddly recruited neighbors.

Salex shivered, “nothing good.” Her fingers twitched to find her desk to latch onto. “Once they got found out, they disbanded. Some kids still think there are some members out there. I really hope there aren’t, though.”

“If they were so bad, why put up their symbol and show it off in a classroom?” Scar wondered aloud.

Salex shrugged, “Town history, maybe?” She sighed, “I don’t know. I just know they're used as one of those monsters in the dark stories to scare kids into behaving.”

Scar nodded, his mind still reaching to combine all the information together. Somehow Taurtis was connected to this in some way. If he had drawn the symbol on his sleeve and jacket, and directly pointed out to Scar, there had to be a reason. That symbol looked too familiar to pass it up either, he knew he’d seen it somewhere. He just knew he had to have seen it before he saw the scribbles.

If Taurtis was leading him to the answers he needed to follow them as closely as he could.

“So on a lighter note…” Salex tried to laugh, “Do you know what you want to do the project on?”

Scar looked at her in the eye, internally apologizing for how uncomfortable he knew this project was going to make her. “That.”

Scar pointed to the symbol they’d been speaking about and watched as Salex’s face fell and she grew pale again.

“I-are you-no. Do you realize how much-We could get into so much trouble!” Salex gasped, hugging herself in comfort.

“They said we could do the project on whatever we wanted.” Scar reminded.

“Not them!” Salex spewed, “The Watchers, dum dum. We say one wrong thing to one person and we have a whole cult on our tails! There’s still no telling how many of them are out there. I don’t want to get caught up in that chaos.”

“Salex, please,” Scar begged, “This is important. I need to know everything I can about them, and I can only do that if I have someone who actually knows what’s going on. You’re the closest I’ve got! Either you help me with this or I’m doing it myself and I have no idea what I’m doing!” Scar laughed nervously, “If you’re worried about a cult being on your tail, imagine me running around looking for answers with no idea what or who to avoid. I’d be a walking target without your help. Please.”

Salex groaned, “You’re guilting me into this…”

Scar smirked, sadly, “You don’t grow up with two siblings without learning how to guilt people.”

Salex tried to laugh back, before nodding nervously, “Okay. Okay, fine. But we’re getting Ellen’s help.”

Scar raised an eyebrow, “Ellen? Why?”

Salex swallowed, looking away, “They-They just-It’s a precaution. If these are actually weird cult guys with magic bad luck powers, I want to be safe.”

_______________________

For the rest of the day Scar noticed Taurtis was avoiding him. The shorter sticking close to Sam and Yuki the whole day. Even during gym class he barely casted a glance at the brunet, focusing on the game of dodgeball that had been introduced. Scar didn’t make the same mistake of sitting with the trio during lunch, opting to pay a visit to both Salex and Ellen where they sat together.

The rest of the day though, Scar was thinking about the piece of paper dragging him down in his pocket. The torn paper burned in his pocket as he tried to forget about it, only to feel the coarse paper when he shoved a hand into his pocket.

Once he left the bust stop, arriving back in his own town, he headed for his cousin’s home. He didn’t plan on talking to Cleo or Bdubs about the message, but his cousin seemed a bit more level headed at the moment.

Scar knocked on the door a sign on the front warning of a biohazard inside. The yellow sign mainly served to shield away from any unwanted visitors. They weren’t called hermits for nothing.

The door opened after the second knock, revealing a messy-headed Cub. He still had his lab coat on, covered in different stains and even a few new ones. His face was covered in a bit of soot that dusted over his cheeks and forehead. His typical blue shirt was traded out for a t-shirt instead, as he tried to wipe his hands on his pants.

Scar blinked, seeing the charred edges of the others hair where the black stands turned a bit darker. “Rough day?”

Cub frowned, emotionally blank, “What does it look like?”

“Like you mixed two chemicals together and they blew up in your face.” Scar smirked.

Cub glared at him, “Ha ha, very funny. Zed’s not allowed to touch my stuff anymore.” He looked the other over, “No new bruises from what I see. So why are you here? You’re not hiding from Cleo, are you?”

Scar shrugged, “Not exactly.” He sighed, “I need some advice, Cub. And right now, you’re the only one who’s not immediately telling me to drop everything.”

“That’s not what I remember saying, but carry on-” Cub huffed, moving out of the way so Scar could walk into the house. Scar entered, throwing his bag on the ground and following Cub upstairs to his room.

The shorter had the attic room in the house, with a window open and a telescope sticking out. The rest of the room was dark, with planets and stars plastered up on the walls. A desk covered in papers and science equipment was shoved off to a corner. Cub’s work would alter from different areas in the science field but his mind was always up in the sky anyways.

Cub grabbed a towel from his chair, wiping his face to try and get some of the soot off. Scar flopped onto the bed, spreading his arms across the width to block Cub from sitting down. With Scar laid out across his bed, staring up at the ceiling Cub through the towel at him earning a shocked yelp.

“What advice could you possibly need?” Cub asked, running a hand through his hair to try and tame it.

“If, let’s say hypothetically, someone gave you a time and place to meet them would you go?” Scar asked, throwing the dirty towel off somewhere else.

Cub paused, ”What?” He looked back to his friend, “Alright, who and where? And also why?”

Scar grinned, laughing to himself calmly. “That guy I was telling you about, the nice one, Taurtis, slipped me a paper today with a place and a time on it. He didn’t say why or anything. He just walked away. Do I go?”

Cub blinked, thinking it over for a moment before shouting, “No!”

Scar sat up, having expected a different answer, “What? Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know? Maybe because you don’t know this person and going to an area you’re not familiar with is dangerous? Maybe because they didn’t give you a reason? Maybe because you were told about stranger danger as a child? Maybe because you have some common sense! Scar, why do you think ‘no’!”

“Cub, I need to do this! Have you forgotten what I told you last night?” Scar retorted, he couldn’t believe his friend wasn’t seeing how important this could be.

“Have you forgotten what I told you!” Cub shouted back, eyes wide with concern that his friend was in fact losing it. Scar blinked, unsure about what Cub was talking about. Cub huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Of course,” He grumbled, letting his hands fall to his hips, “The missing kids? Scar, I am not letting you turn into a missing poster!”

“You and Zedaph have been doing research about this place for who knows how long! Why is it such a problem when I do it?” Scar muttered, crossing his arms and pulling back from the conversation as Cub lectured.

Cub grimaced, “Because we’ve been doing it behind a screen! You want to run off to a place you don’t know to meet someone you don’t know at night!”

“I know Taurtis!” Scar defended, quickly.

“You’ve known him for a week!” Cub pointed out, “Cleo already is on the lookout for one thing to take you out of the program. If you want to stay in it you need to be more careful. That doesn’t mean finding a murderer in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not going to find a murderer-or a kidnapper. Okay? It’s fine.” Scar huffed.

“You wanted my advice,” Cub stated, pointing a finger at the brunet, “I gave it. The answer is no. You are not meeting up with someone at night alone.”

Scar blew air out of his nose, frowning as Cub turned his back to him to look back at his desk of books and equipment. Scar tapped his foot on the ground, glaring at the bed he sat on. He knew this was important. Taurtis wouldn’t risk getting caught talking to him if it wasn’t important, not now with Sam on his tail everywhere.

Scar replayed Cub’s answer in his head, trying to find a loophole in his logic. Then he grinned, looking at the back of Cub’s head with a smirk playing on his lips, “What if I wasn’t alone?”

Cub froze, he turned around, eyeing Scar carefully, “No.”

“Come on! Cub, please! I need someone to drive me there, and you’d be there, too, so if anything happens you’ll know! You’d be there to pull me out if things get bad! The note doesn’t say I can’t bring someone with me! Please, Cub, this is important, I know it is.” Scar promised, pleading with his cousin.

Cub tried not to look at Scar’s puppy eyes he was giving him. He didn’t want to get caught up in any argument between Cleo and Scar after this was over. But at the same time, no matter what Cub said, he knew Scar was going no matter what. It would at least be better if there was someone else there.

“Fine.” Cub grumbled, as Scar cheered behind him. “Be here at six thirty on the dot. Do not be late.” Cub demanded, as Scar agreed quickly.

“Love you, Cub!” Scar whooped as he left the other’s room to go home.

“You owe me!” Cub shouted back before he heard the door close.

As they drove out of town, following the same roads Scar saw in the morning, the brunet suddenly found how enclosed the roadways were. The trees curved over the road as if they were trying to swallow it up before it could get any farther. The car jerked and bumped as it hit the rocks and fallen limbs of trees.

Cub’s grip on the steering wheel was tightening the farther the escaped town. HIs knuckles almost turned white as he stared dead ahead. The car lights barely brighten the road in front of them.

Scar traced the line of the trees as they drove, trying his best to find the moon hanging over the limbs. As they crawled through the tunnels of trees and forests, they sat silently.

Cub leaned forward in his seat trying to see farther out ahead of them. They passed a sign claiming they were leaving Hermitville. The note in Scar’s pocket felt heavier once they passed the sign, it felt like a fire in his pocket burning for him to take out.

“It’s a lot creepier at night.” Scar muttered, looking at how the trees tangled together like a spider web, with animals hiding in the limbs of them like giant spiders.

“Everything is.” Cub whispered back.

“You know the way right?” Scar asked.

Cub nodded silently. They didn’t speak much after that, their attention focused on their surroundings. Scar tried to ignore how the fog that crept out of the woods changed the trees. The wind made the leaves contort and converge into monstrous shapes all moving in unison as they drove by.

As they slowly dragged along the road, Cub began to tap his fingers on the steering wheel. His eyes darted in each direction looking for any obstacles in their way.

“That’s the third dead rabbit we’ve passed.” Cub whispered after a long time. His words nearly made Scar jump from the sudden conversation. Scar laughed it off.

“Yeah, I guess it’s rabbit season?” He offered, hopeful.

Cub frowned, “I guess.” He muttered.

The sign for the next town was shaded by overgrown weeds and moss, leaving none of the words visible. The actual sign itself was possibly as old as the town, rotted and withered away. They passed by too quickly for Scar to get a good look at it, but he could’ve sworn he saw a smear of red across a section of it.

He shook his head as Cub began to pull into the town roads and off the country roads.

“You know where this place is?” Cub asked.

“212 Cobblerooms Street.” Scar answered, keeping an eye out for street signs. Cub nodded, following Scar directions as they twisted and turned down winding roads. Eventually, finding the bookstore they were looking for.

Cub pulled into a parking space, the lot was void of any cars or people. The buildings on either side of the bookstore were closed. The shadows spread across the floor like ink creating silhouettes of the buildings, except they were out of proportion and contorted in odd ways.

The bookstore itself seemed normal. A tallish two story building, a darker alleyway directly to the right. The building was made of dark wood, polished and chipped away from years of work. The lights were on inside, shining out of the two front windows and onto the concrete sidewalk.

The sign above the door read, B’s Bookstore and Bakery

“This is it.” Scar sighed, looking up at the building from the car. He smiled, nervously, “So do you just-like-want to wait in the car or?”

Cub glared at him, before shoving his door open and slamming it shut behind him.

“Come inside with me it is.” Scar muttered, rolling his eyes as he exited the car.

A bell above the door rang as they entered and they were met with the smell of old books and pastries all at once. What had seemed a horrific mess on the outside was a cozy space on the inside.

Bookshelves spread a long way back to the rest of the buildings. The floor was mainly tile with tables and chairs. The chairs were already placed atop the tables as if the workers were getting ready to go home. A counter to the side of the room held a cash register and a glass case filled with baked goods. Behind the counter were more bookshelves, a small desk, and a door.

Cub looked around the bookstore first, taking a step inside and roamed the first few tables of books. Scar took the time to look for any other customers in the store, but from the looks of it they were the only ones.

As the bell finally rang for the last time the door behind the counter opened.

Scar wondered who would own the late night bookstore. A creepy old guy that had figurines in his basement? A lady who wanted to take him to a house full of candy? A witch that was going to curse him for entering? A ghostly child that would haunt him?

What he wasn’t expecting was a kind looking man, who couldn’t have been older than 21, weaning a pink apron around his waist and blue sweater underneath.

“Hello!” He hollered once the door closed behind him, “Oh, I’m so glad to have some customers today! Anything specific I can help you look for!” The man grinned, leaning forward on his counter, “Cookies? Bread? Children’s books? Fantasy? Cakes? What’s your poison!”

Scar couldn’t help but laugh at himself internally, he smiled back at the guy. Taking a step forward about to say something when Cub cut him off.

“We’re just browsing.” Cub called over, crossed arms and glare intense.

Scar huffed, turning back to the other, “Do you work here?”

The man chuckled, “Of course I do! I own it!” He bent down reaching into the glass case and pulling out a cookie from one of the trays. He bit down on the cookie, before introducing himself, “Name’s Big B!”

Scar smiled, “Scar!” He greeted, happily. For a moment, he could’ve sworn he saw the man’s eyes widen before returning back to the way they were.

“How can I help you, Scar?” Big B asked, finishing his cookie quickly. Cub slowly made his way back to Scar, standing behind him. His eyes tracking Big B’s every move.

“I’m here to find something.” Scar said, easily, beginning to dig into his pocket.

Big B clapped his hands together, “A book, then! Yes, of course, I have plenty of them lying around. Do you have a genre you like most?” He turned his back to the two, scanning over his own bookshelves. “I have a list of every book I have here and they are all sorted into these books here by genre.”

“Actually, it’s not a book I’m looking for.” Scar pointed out, carefully, he laid the piece of paper out in front of them on the counter. Cub looked over his shoulder seeing the paper for the first time now.

Big B turned back around, promptly ignoring the note, “Oh, wonderful! A pastry, possibly? Baking has always been my main passion. The books are only a tradition, really.” He waved it off, leaning down to his glass casing.

“He means a person.” Cub stated, plainly, and quickly. “We’re looking for a person.”

Scar nudged his cousin in the gut, as Big B stood up carefully. The man straightened his apron, looking between the two, confused. “I don’t believe I will be as much help in that aspect.”

“Just-” Scar started, placing his hands flat down on either side of the note, “please, a friend of mine handed me this note today. It had this place listed down and a specific time. I’m here. Have you seen them?”

Big B blinked, “You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.”

Scar shook his head, of course he needed to describe Taurtis! “They’re about yay-high,” Scar motioned with his hands about how tall Taurtis was. Cub was taking in the description, too, imagining this person that had managed to get Scar wrapped around their finger so quickly, “Blond, dark eyes, probably wearing a blue sweater and suspenders!”

While Cub only looked more confused by the description, about to question Scar, Big B snapped his fingers happily.

“Oh, of course, I know them!” He laughed.

“You know Taurtis?” Scar asked, hopeful.

“No.” Big B shrugged, “I know of him, though.”

“Well, they’re the person I’m looking for.” Scar explained, hoping the man would connect the dots that the person he’d described was Taurtis. “Have you seen them?”

“Oh, yes.” Big B nodded, clapping his hands together.

“Great!” Scar grinned, “Where are they?”

“Oh, I have no idea.” Big B revealed, blankly.

Cub looked between the two, his arms still crossed, “But you just said you saw them?”

Big B nodded, “I’ve seen them, yes, I have no idea where they are though.” He smiled as if he’d answered them perfectly well. Scar felt his eye twitch as he listened.

“Have you seen him today?” Scar asked, tensing his hands around the counter.

“Nope!” Big B grinned, “Can I interest either of you in a pastry? I really need to get rid of these before I lock up.” He muttered to himself, looking over the pastries he still had left in the display.

Scar ran his hands through his hair, his eyes glanced over to the clock on the far wall. He was right on time. It was 7:03. Taurtis should’ve been here. He rested his hands in his hair as he asked, “Look, has anyone come in here before us?”

Big B looked up, “You two are my first customers all day.”

Scar gaped at the man, while Cub huffed to himself, grumbling something under his breath. Scar frowned, taking a step away from the counter. “Maybe he’s just not here yet.”

Scar stared at the glass display case, before looking back to the clock on the wall. The time hadn’t changed.

“You’re welcome to wait here as long as you want.” Big B shrugged, beginning to do some work behind the counter. Cub continued to watch the older as Scar began to pace the room.

“I don’t get it.” Scar muttered to himself as Cub sat down at one of the tables, waiting. He listened to his cousin ramble. “He should’ve been here. Why isn’t he here? He meant today right? I mean there’s no date on the note, but he gave it to me this morning.”

“You sure I can’t interest you in a book while you wait!” Big B called out, scanning his bookshelves again.

“We’re fine!” Cub called, leaning his hand onto his arm as he watched Scar. “Scar, have you thought that maybe he wasn’t going to be here?”

“What do you mean?” Scar asked, as he paced back and forth, rubbing his arms.

“I mean-” Cub sighed, “is it possible that this-this was just a prank? Just to get you to come all the way out here for no reason? Just a stupid prank to waste your time?”

Scar stopped, looking over to Cub, frowning, he looked shocked that Cub would even consider it. “He wouldn’t- He wouldn’t do that.”

“How do you know, Scar? I know you think you know this person, but you don’t.” Cub reasoned, as Scar continued to shake his head and pace. “Scar, seriously,” Cub tried to interrupt the continuous ‘no’s Scar was making. “Scar, listen to me, Scar.”

“No, Cub, he wouldn’t. There has to be a reason.” Scar muttered, “There has always been a reason for everything so far.”

“Scar, look around, man!” Cub shouted, startling Big B who was dusting the bookshelf off. The man deliberately hit the edge of one corner of the black shelf with the back of the duster. “No one is going to come out here. This guy hasn’t gotten a customer all day.” Cub whispered, motioning to the man. The apron wearing shop owner was humming under his breath as he moved books from one shelf to another. “If your friend was going to meet you here, they would’ve been here. They would have talked to you about this before. They wouldn’t give you a note with no information. You fell for a prank. Just accept it man.”

Scar shook his head, “This-” He pointed a finger at his cousins, with a growing irritation in his eyes, “This is not a prank. I know Taurtis. You don’t, okay? I know him. Everything he has done was for a reason. From the shoes, to the newspaper, to Rowan, to the plaque, to the jacket, to that stupid symb-”

Scar froze.

Cub furrowed his brow, worried and confused as Scar stopped mid sentence from yelling at him. Scar blinked, he stood up straight from where he’d been leaning over Cub. He turned on his heels to look back to where Big B stood.

Cub looked over to follow his sight, to see the shopkeeper standing with his arms crossed leaning against the wall.

The baker squinted at the both of them, a slight smirk on his face. The playful glint in his eyes was replaced now with something serious. His face was mainly blank of emotion except for the smirk that cracked his lips.

Scar didn’t take another moment before he was pointing to the bookshelf the man had been messing with. “Tell me everything you know about that symbol.”

Scar was pointing at the broken rectangle symbol that stuck out like a sore thumb now on the book shelf. A bright purple rectangle with two dots broken off on the edges. Cub looked between the symbol, the shopkeeper and Scar, confusion growing.

The room felt like it had suddenly gained five pounds.

“What symbol? Scar, what are you talking about? What’s this about jackets, shoes and newspapers?” Cub asked, shooting up from his seat to try and follow after the taller.

Scar ignored him, glaring down at Big B as the man grinned more.

“What symbol?” Big B asked, although there was a knowing look in his eyes.

Scar grimaced, “That one.” He grumbled, pointing at the statue again, “The Watcher’s why do you have it up?”

Big B shrugged, “It’s good luck.” He said at the same time Cub questioned, “Watchers?”

Scar shook his head, “No. The Watchers were a cult-”

“A cult!” Cub shouted, eyes wide as he stared at his friend.

“Just talking about them can bring you bad luck. So why do you have their symbol up in your failing bookstore?” Scar asked, with a snarl on his lips, daring the man to answer his questions now.

Big B smiled, again. “He knew you’d figure it out.” He asserted, nodding. “I was worried we were making it too hard.” he laughed, “Give me a moment and I’ll grab your things from the back.” Big B said, opening the door beside him to the backroom of the shop.

Scar gripped the counter tightly, glaring into the glass, “I told you it was important.”

Cub stared at the back of Scar head, eyes looking between him and the symbol. His worry and concern turned into an angry fire that his cousin had kept this much from them after all. “When we get back-” Cub fumed, “You are telling everybody everything. And I mean everybody.”

Scar looked over to his friend to see the anger in his eyes, but also the hurt and concern that leaked from his frown and brow. Scar sighed, nodding, sadly.

Big B walked back into the storefront, holding a stack of three books. The books were old leather bound and covered in cobwebs and dust. The first was the shortest, the cover a dark blue with ruined edges where the brown of the paper could be seen. The middle was the thickest, about as large as a textbook, it was a dark purple color with the rectangular symbol extending over the front. And Scar could already see small notes and papers sticking out of the sides from between pages. The last was a red covered book barely the size of his own hand.

Big B placed the books on the counter, spreading them out so Scar and Cub could see each individually. “These books will tell you what you need to know.”

“He wants you to read?” Cub asked, raising an eyebrow at the books laid out. His attention drawn to the red covered book. He wiped the dust off the top uncovering the title.

“What is all this?” Scar asked, picking up the purple and looking over the symbol on the front He traced the symbol with his finger. “Why isn’t he here? He gave me this note. Why didn’t he come here to tell me this himself?”

Big B frowned, “I’m only supposed to give you the books.” Scar huffed, of course, no one was going to give him answers that easily. Big B shook his head, “But your note never stated that he’d be here. It only told you to come. I can tell you that if he could’ve given you this himself, he would’ve.”

Scar looked up from the cover of the purple book, “Why can’t he?” Cub seemed interested in the question, too, taking a step forward.

“He’s a busy kid.” Big B defended, quietly.

“And we’re not.” Cub said, quickly, “We had to drive here from out of town. The least the guy could do is meet us here.”

Big B sent a sharp look over to Cub, something that completely opposed his prior happy state, “While you might be busy, I can promise you he’s got a lot more on his mind.”

Scar intervened in the bickering before it got any farther, “Just,” He sighed, “What does this all mean? Why is he giving me these books? What am I supposed to do with them?”

Big B raised an eyebrow, “What do you normally do with books?”

“I mean what does Taurtis have to do with this? Why is he pointing me in this direction?” Scar asked, he pointed to the symbol on the book. “This symbol was on the sleeve of my uniform. A uniform he used to have. Why did he draw this symbol on the sleeve? And why did he point it out to me? Why did he tell me to come here to find you with the same symbol to give me a book with the same damn symbol!”

“Scar…” Cub warned, trying to calm his friend down from the panic that was turning in his stomach.

Big B didn’t even flinch at the shout, nor did he offer any sign of emotion. He stood perfectly still until after Scar was finished, “I’m only supposed to give you the books. I’m not supposed to answer your questions.”

“Why?” Scar pleaded, “Why can’t someone just answer me? Why do I have to keep getting these riddles! When am I going to actually get an answer!”

Big B raised a hand to stop him before he could continue, he sighed, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to him.”

Scar froze, his resolve diminishing as he watched Big B seem to deflate even more from the persona he pushed. His joyous, shopkeep attitude falling away for a solemn look.

“Taurtis believes he knows what he’s doing. He thinks he can put all this together and lead you to each answer. I’ll tell you…it’s all so he can stay safe. I meant it when I said the kid’s got a lot on his mind. He wants to lead you to the pond so you can see the water and decide what to do-rather than drown you in it.” Big B described, leaning forward on the display. He pushed the books closer to the two.

“If he’s in so much danger why doesn’t he just call the police?” Cub asked, skepticism clear on his features.

Big B leaned closer to Cub, staring him in the eyes as he spoke, “Do you really think he would stoop this low to reaching out to another kid before he tried that?”

Cub swallowed, taking a step back as Big B spoke, darkly.

“You don’t want him to do that?” Scar asked, ignoring Cub, “You don’t think he should be leading me there?”

Big B leaned back, straightening himself, sadly. “I think the longer this goes on the worse it gets. He won’t like me telling you what he wants you to figure out yourself, but in the end he doesn’t have to know.” Big B shrugged, “I’m only accelerating the process.”

Scar smiled, finally he was going to get some answers from a person! “You’re going to answer my questions!”

Big B smirked, “I’ll fill in the gaps I can.” he nodded, “Give me a moment. Go ahead and take a seat, would either of you care for a drink?” He offered, quickly moving to open a cabinet behind him and pulling out a mug for himself.

“No thanks.” Cub answered, watching as Big B made himself a drink. Scar could tell his cousin was still nervous about their safety.

Scar shook off his cousin's worry, nodding, “Sure.” Scar gathered the books together, carrying them over to a table that had a chair already set down from where Cub had been sitting. He sat down, laying the books back out and flipping through the largest.

Big B carried over two mugs of a steaming drink over to the table, laying on in front of Scar before sitting across from him. Cub didn’t sit down, standing over Scar’s shoulder glaring at the man watching for any subtle movements.

Big B sat down, crossing his legs and taking a sip of his drink. His eyes paying attention to Cub’s stare rather than Scar’s nervous tapping.

“What are all these books specifically?” Scar asked, placing the book back down once he’d finished flipping through, quickly.

Big B nodded, setting his drink down. He pointed to the blue book, “This is a short history of the town and its founding. The origin of Evo and it’s rise starts with the founding members of the town and goes up into the industrialization of the town that you see today.” He pointed to the purple book, “This goes into detail about the Watchers and what they became after One rose into power. It’s called The Rise of One and covers the tragedies that the cult is remembered for today.” Scar’s eyes widened as he looked back at the book, feeling the weight in his hands get heavier. Cub looked between the two books, brows furrowed as he fought the urge to grab his friend’s hand and pull him out of the bookstore. Big B motioned to the last, “This is all we know about the raid of the watchers and their demolishment. The Ender Raid is what many refer to it as today.”

“Where are you getting all this information?” Cub asked, looking between the books.

Big B glanced up at Cub,“I own a bookstore. It’s my job to know things.” He turned back to Scar, “How familiar are you with the Watchers?”

Scar sighed, deeply, “I only learned about them today. I know that they’re bad luck. I know that they disbanded, yet there are some people who think they’re still around.”

Big B nodded, “Like I said, I can only tell you what I know. I don’t have the full story.” He sighed, “I know that a long time ago when the town was founded the group of people who lived here believed themselves to be superior above any others. They lived in harmony and peace, their intelligence kept them alive. Yet, as time went on and people began to move into the town, those that the original founders deemed ‘unfit’ and ‘unruly’, the founders worked to keep themselves superior. They tried terribly hard to force the newer citizens to praise them and honor them, but you can only keep power over people for as long as they give you that power.”

“They rebelled?” Cub asked, stealing the blue book away from the table and quickly looking through it himself. His eyes scanning the papers to try and follow along with the shopkeep to see who was telling the truth.

Big B nodded, his hands cupping his mug tightly, “The town became like every other in the area. Everything seemed normal, but you can’t kill an idea. There were still people who believed they were above the newcomers, they formed what they called the Watchers. It’s-It’s here where things get a bit fuzzy…” Big B muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

“They became a cult.” Scar filled in.

Big B shook his head, “No. It took years for that to happen. No. Originally, they were simply a group of people that gathered in order to keep their community in shape, at least the shape they believed in. It became the thing we know today when One rose to power.”

“One?” Scar muttered, looking closer at the title of the purple book, noticing the golden named number.

Big B nodded, “They never revealed their name, they made everyone call them One. They believed they were the one true and pure being. Over time as they rose in power that-that was when it became a cult. As more and more civilians came to town they used their power to facilitate hate and harm towards them. That book should fill in the moment I wasn’t around for, I know One had a reign of terror long before I came into contact with any of it.”

“Moments you weren’t around for?” Cub asked, raising an eyebrow, “What does that mean?”

“Were you a part of it?” Scar asked, quietly.

“Unwillingly, but yes.” Big B stated, he sighed, “The cult was passed down through generations. To become a member was a great achievement in their eyes, but it could only be passed down to one child each generation. It was the duty of the one before them to decide who would inhabit their ideals the best. I was chosen by my family.”

“So what happened when you were ‘chosen’? Scar cringed as he spoke.

“I was taken from my siblings and mother, and placed into the care of the elders of the cult whose job was to care for newcomers. You were taught their ways and how to act like one of them until you aged out and were allowed to rejoin society as one of One’s Eyes.” Big B described.

“Scar said they were disbanded, how did they get found?” Cub asked, motionting to his cousin as he uncrossed his arms finally.

Big B frowned, shifting as he rushed through his story. He pointed to the red book, “It took years, but eventually, a raid was placed on their main hideout. Unfortunately, no one knows who led the raid or even who was involved. All we know is that someone, no one knows who, led a group of officers and officials into the sanctuary. Everyone there unwillingly was reunited with their friends and family, One disappeared, they were never captured. The others, those One left behind, were taken into custody.”

“I had someone tell me there were stories of the cult still being around.” Scar said.

“One was never captured, it is possible they are still out there. I know there were a few children and adults that were not rescued from their captors. But that’s all I know of, I couldn’t tell you if there truly was still a cult or if those victims even want to be found.” Big B shrugged, he sighed, “But I do know, your friend had some connection with it. The Watchers are a town legend, some believe in it others don’t, your friend is someone who takes the Watchers very seriously. They asked me specifically, to hold these books for you and to only give them to you after you recognized the symbol.”

“But why?” Cub asked, before Scar could. “What does he have to do with this?”

“I know at one point, he had a dear friend. I knew him as well, that boy, he was always hiding something. There was something hidden behind him that no one could pull out of him. Taurtis only learned about the Watchers from him. I’d assume that whatever Taurtis is leading you to, it’s that boy. He’d be able to help you more than I could.” Big B said, sadly.

“But what was their name?” Scar asked quickly, scooting forward in his seat.

Big B frowned, sadly, “I never learned it.”

Scar’s face fell. His one lead was gone, just like that. He sank back into the chair. Cub tensed behind him, his expression changing from concern and interest to one of frustration.

“You didn’t learn it? Are you kidding? Are you even telling the truth? You met someone who possibly had answers about a cult that you were a part of and you didn’t learn their name! Was any of what you said true? I mean seriously, I think if there was a cult we would’ve heard about it! We only live one town over and none of this-none of it-has even been uttered over there. This can’t be true, Scar. You can not believe some crazy bookstore owner over everything we know is fact. If something this big was happening it wouldn’t have happened under all of our noses.” Cub shouted, glaring at Big B. At first, he’d started to believe the man but the more he spoke the more it sounded like utter nonsense. There was no way they would have no idea about a cult kidnapping kids and taking them from their families.

Big B’s face screwed up a second after Cub began. The more the lab coat clad boy spoke the more he looked ready to throw Cub out. His fingers clenching around his mug as he glared over Scar’s head up to Cub, who was pacing.

Scar looked between the two unsure of who to believe.

Big B slammed his mug down after Cub was finishing his last sentence. The man stood up from his chair, laying both hands flat on the table. He glared down at Cub as he steamed, “You want to know why you haven’t heard anything about this? You don’t get the name Hermits for nothing, now do you? Look at you, it took one of your own changing schools to even recognize the idea that there was another town right next door. You hermits, couldn’t care less about what’s happening around you. All you lot care about is the happy, rainbow filled world you live in. You live your lives in this comfort bubble wrapped up warm and cozy while there are others suffering just outside of your borders.”

Cub flinched away from the fuming words. His eyes widened as Big B spoke, and all Scar could do was sit silently, listening to the rant that was slowly making more and more sense to him. It had taken him leaving and exchanging schools for him to even see the problems that were staring at him in the face.

Scar had never paid much attention to Pearl, or Jimmy, or even Mumbo until this past week. He hadn’t seen how sad Mumbo looked that morning, or how tired he was. He knew Pearl and her family had always been an odd one, but he never saw it to the extent of what he was coming to realize as he watched her and Jimmy leave their home every morning together.

But not only that Taurtis, Sam, Yuki, Ellen, Salex, everyone and everything at that school. It was something he’d never seen before, but not because it was hidden. He’d just never thought to look.

He looked over to Cub who stared at Big B with eyes that seemed to be realizing the exact same thing Scar was. It was like Cub was looking around for the first time, as he saw the bookstore around them. Cub’s eyes laid down on the books in front of Scar, his mouth slightly open as if he was trying to retaliate against Big B’s words.

“If you don’t want to listen. If you don’t want to see the world around you, then I implore you to go back home. Go back to your bubble wrapped city where you can live happily ever after, but know. There are people who aren’t as lucky as you. And you had the chance to change that.” Big B fumed.

“I-” Cub started, but Big B cut him off again.

“Get out.” Big B pointed to the door.

“What?” Cub sputtered, “Scar-I”

“Get out.” Big B repeated.

Scar turned back to his cousin, wondering what they should do next.

“I’m not leaving Scar alone.” Cub said, sternly.

“Cub, I’ll be fine. I’ll be out in a second.” Scar whispered, before nodding to the door. Cub shifted on his feet, before nodding himself and walking out the door. Scar could see him just outside the glass door. He didn’t get back into the car, he stood outside the door waiting.

Scar looked back at Big B, a bit shaken up by the shouting match he’d witnessed. Big B sunk back into his seat in front of Scar.

Big B took a few breaths, before sighing. He took a moment and simply stared at Scar, eying him up and down as Scar shifted in his seat.

“Kid,” Big B sighed, “You realize you’re opening a can of worms, right?”

Scar swallowed, “I mean, yeah. I know there’s something going on-”

“But you don’t know how big you’re getting. I know, I just got onto your friend for it but I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to go back home. I won’t blame you for turning around now and leaving this behind you. You take these home, you keep digging, you’ll find something, I’m just not sure it’s going to be what you want.” Big B warned, “I don’t think you know how deep you're going.”

“I need to know. I can’t go back to not knowing.” Scar whispered, staring at the books.

“But are you willing to go that far?” Big B asked.

“For Taurtis?” Scar muttered, “Absolutely.”