Dean Morton : The Paupers' Guardian Angel

006 - The Illuminati Club

Dean doesn’t immediately apologize, as he is still stunned and confused with the bizarre condition of that room. Until he remembers some rumors, telling about a club that consists of nerds and geeks who have strong and weird interest in fantasy novels and also witchcraft.

  

“Um, is this the so-called Illuminati Club?” he asks.

  

“Yes, it is! Ah, um… My name is Daniela.” Suddenly, the girl with the golden hair introduces herself with a shy face. “And my friend here is Sara. By the way, are you interested in joining our club?”

  

“No, I just came here looking for…”

  

Suddenly, Dean hears the door closing. As he turns back, he is startled to find another girl behind him.

  

This one is so beautiful and majestic, a bit taller than the other two, with silky long hair, in a big and long dress that is usually worn by those of nobles. This kind of attire is so rare to be worn by any other students on campus.

  

Dean isn’t that unfamiliar with this one, because she is the most popular figure in the university due to her beauty and her accolades as the student with the best achievement.

  

“Uh, The Chief of Student Council, Mariana Durham? What are you doing in a place like this?” asks Dean with so much confusion.

  

That girl steps forward, puts both hands on her waist, and brings her face closer with an intimidating gaze.

  

“What do you mean by a place like this? Are you taking this club as a joke?” she inquires with a displeased tone.

  

“No, that’s not it. I mean…”

  

The girl brings her face even closer, waiting for Dean to finish his words. But Dean knows that he might have offended her.

  

“Sorry! I better leave!”

  

But that girl who is usually called Mary suddenly slaps the door and holds her hand there, preventing Dean from getting out of that place.

  

“What do you mean with a place like this?” she inquires.

  

“Uh, you see! I always have some kind of impression that you are the smartest student in this university, a role model worth emulating,” Dean explains with an awkward face.

  

“Aaah, you think so?” That girl suddenly behaves differently after receiving such acknowledgement.

  

“That’s why, don’t you have any class right now?” asks Dean, trying to hide the fact that he is actually judging this club as a club only for the weirdos.

  

“What about yourself?” asks Mary. “I’ve never seen your face before this? You must be from another faculty, right?”

  

“Yes! I’ve been looking for my friend.”

  

“The one named Monica?”

  

“Oh, you know her?”

  

“Nope! I just heard you call her name when entering this room before.”

  

Dean just nods with an awkward smile, and intends to open the door. But the girl is still not letting him leave. Her hand is still holding the door like a boss locking her lackeys for punishment.

  

“I believe you came here to join our club!” she insists.

  

“No, I’m good! I have a different hobby,” Dean denies politely.

  

“I know you are good. You were even able to open the door despite the fact we had put a strong sigil on it.”

  

Dean scrunches his face with confusion. He takes those words as a joke, but he is a bit afraid to offend her again.

  

“Join us, then I will help find your friend in just three minutes,” she offers.

  

“Finding it in three minutes?” mumbles Dean.

  

The girl just grabs Dean’s hand, and forces him to follow her. She then takes a big map, and spreads it on the floor. By the look of it, Dean knows it is the map of the Braham University. But there are several weird symbols all over the place.

  

“What are you doing?”

  

“Just watch!”

  

There are three circles with a diameter of 2 cm in the center, arranged in a triangular pattern. In each circle there is different writing. There’s [Ozu/Yes] on the left, [Opfel/No] on the right, and the other circle citing [Teseph/Home].

  

There is also the alphabet and the numbers 0 - 9, making Dean think it is a bit like an Ouija board. And that girl named Mary puts one unique coin on the [Teseph/Home] point.

  

“Put your index finger on the coin,” she commands.

  

“What?” asks Dean with a blank face.

  

“Just follow me,” says the girl as she puts her own index finger on the coin.

  

And so, Dean stupidly follows her due to his curiosity.

  

“Remember! Don’t put any weight on the coin. Just put your finger there without putting any pressure.”

  

Dean likes to ask so many questions, but the girl has already closed her eyes, and starts chanting some weird spell. But then, she suddenly opens her eyes, and asks about Monica.

  

“Hold on! Do you have any picture of that Monica in your phone?”

  

“Huh? Yeah, sure!” replies Dean as he gives his phone by showing Monica’s picture to her.

  

“Wow, she is quite the beauty. She must be your girlfriend.”

  

Oi, oi. You are much more beautiful than Monica, you know that? That’s the first impression Dean has as soon as he hears that girl named Marry praising Monica's beauty. This is the first time he finds a girl this beautiful yet so humble unlike most girls he has encountered.

  

“Not really! We live under the same roof. Her family adopted me,” explains Dean.

  

“Oh, you are an orphan? Interesting,” utters Marry as she puts the phone on one empty rectangle on the map.

  

“What’s so interesting being an orphan?” mumbles Dean in his mind.

  

The girl closes her eyes again, and begins chanting the same spell over and over again.

  

“Sin Syin Shen Jokosyin Den Silaos!”

  

Dean looks so confused, not knowing what to expect. Until at some point, he feels the coin is vibrating a bit, and the girl immediately opens her eyes.

  

“Are you here?” she asks.

  

“Wa, what do you mean?” asks Dean.

  

“Shut up! I’m not talking to you.”

  

And then, the coin slowly moves toward the [Ozu/Yes] circle. Dean scrunches his face, believing that this girl is moving the coin by herself.

  

“Could you show us where that girl in the picture currently is?”

  

And again, that coin moves leaving that circle. But then, the screen on Dean’s phone is locked, no longer showing Monica’s picture.

  

“Oh, excuse me!”

  

“No, it’s okay! Don’t move your finger!”

  

That coin keeps moving by itself following some corridors in the map, and then leads to the parking area. From there, it moves out until it stops after reaching the outline of the map.

  

“Okay, thank you! Could you go back to where you come from?” Marry issues.

  

And so, the coin moves back to [Teseph/Home] circle. Soon after that, she lifts her finger and then ends whatever ritual she has conducted.

  

“Sorry! It seems like your girlfriend has left the campus.”

  

Dean just puts on an uninterested face. There’s no way he would buy such a gimmick, and simply takes his leave.

  

“Hey! I’ve helped you! As per our conditions, you have to join our club!”

  

“Sorry! I’m busy,” Dean denies as he gets out of the room. “Damn, why would I stupidly waste my time with that stupid thing?”

  

Dean opens the door and walks out. The other two girls rush to the door with their confused faces.

  

“See! He can easily open the door!”

  

“I believe Marry put a sigil before closing it! Didn’t you, Mary?!”

  

Mary doesn’t say anything. She looks so upset and rushes to follow Dean outside.

  

Dean rushes to check the parking area. And just as what Marry told before, he no longer finds Monica’s car there. Normally, that car would stay there with the driver waiting to take them home.

  

He is still worried about her, and intends to get home. But the thing is, he doesn’t have any penny in his pocket for transportation.

  

“I’ve told you! She’s left the university a while ago,” utters Mary from behind, attracting Dean’s attention.

  

Dean only looks back for a moment, and then immediately looks away. He seems so annoyed despite the fact what that girl predicted before with her Ouija thing could just be correct.

  

“Hey, look!” Mary tries to attract Dean’s attention once more. “We don't usually demonstrate the thing I just showed you. The only reason I did it was because I believed you were probably the same as us.”

  

That one really catches Dean’s interest, and he immediately looks back. “Same as us? What do you mean by that?” he inquires by squinting his eyes.

  

“Have you ever experienced something strange in your life?” asks Mary while crossing her arms on her chest. “Something that you can’t explain, a feeling that is so strong which drives your adrenaline high, but also scary at the same time?”