How Things Changed Forever.. PART - II

CH 20 - The Long-Awaited Reunion

Kai arrived quite early to school the next morning, given that he had made it to his flat at around two. Laura and Casey paced up and down in the lobby, both busy on their phones. He usually didn't hang out with Laura when she was with her friends, especially considering what happened between him and Casey yesterday, but this looked serious. 

It was Casey who spoke up. She didn't seem to remember anything she had blurted out yesterday. "There had been an onslaught of ambushes on a number of people from the party yesterday. Jude had been found lying in a alleyway today morning. They had injected a sedative and robbed him. Liam had been hit in the head, when they couldn't sedate him. He's fine, but needs to stay at the hospital for a few days. I still can't get a hold of Theo, not sure whether his mobile is just dead or something worse. I called the City Central Hospital and they confirmed that three teens were admitted there yesterday at around one and one of them had slipped into a coma." She shuddered. 

Laura cut-in "They say a police investigation will be launched soon, but we need to gather all the details before then. I've already called for a taxi, we'll be leaving in five minutes. We've been trying to get a hold of everyone who was there at the party yesterday. Do you know of anyone?" Kai was about to shake his head-off when he was reminded of his encounter with Mariah. He'd seen her at around eleven, hadn't he? Leaving with three more friends. He knew Elisabeth wasn't with them for long, since she'sneaked into the amusement park, but surely, Mariah would have reached home by one, wouldn't she? 

"Which hospital did you say that was, where they admitted three people?" He asked, halfway through dialing Ray. No answer. He tried the floral shop, but the line was dead. He knew for a fact that the place opened at around five every morning, but it was nearly eight by then. Something was very wrong, be could almost feel it in his bones. He thought of calling Max, but he didn't want to start a panic before he was certain. 

Laura shook him out of his thoughts, literally. "Kai, what's the matter? Who do you think it is?" She asked, hands on his shoulder. She didn't have the playgirl look on her now. She seemed genuinely concerned for him, or whoever he was thinking of. But he wasn't going to let her too close to him. Sure, a few genuine emotions might surface up every now and then, but she was still a nothing more than a convenience to him, and he was sure that he wasn't anything more to her either. And anyway, there were other things to think of, which were far more important. 

"There are two main hospitals in that area, isn't it. One way or the other, most of them would be there. I'll check on The City Central Hospital. You two could go to the other one. I'll call you once I have more info." He said, not waiting for a reply, already out of the school gate. 

******

Going to a posh school came with its drama, thought Hillary as she hurriedly went through her locker. With sixty percent of the students being celebrities already, everyone was stuck in their own bubble of close friends.

One of its only advantages was its hybrid atmosphere of both Japanese and American schools. 

Her first class of the week, AP Chemistry went quietly, mostly because a good deal of the class was absent, including Kai. She couldn't exactly say she missed him, but she did miss Casey and Laura glowering at her every time Kai talked with her. They were missing too. Their professor assigned them to come up with a topic with their lab partners by tomorrow for their mid-sem project. She groaned inwardly, hands on her face, now she had to go in search of Kai to get her work done. 

It wasn't until lunch break that she started hearing the rumours. There had been a huge party. A good deal of them hadn't reached home. A few of them were ambushed and robbed. Few teens were found lying in an alley, injected with sedatives. There had been guns involved. Two of them seemed to be in a critical condition. There were rumours that one of them had died...