A Shocking School Visit
The next day, after waking up, the six friends gathered with Tari in the living room. Tari still looked sad about what had happened to her and her family. Amanda, Nara, and Fani tried to comfort her.
"For now, would you like to stay with us?" Amanda asked.
"Yes, you'll be safe here," Nara added.
"There are plenty of rooms here. Just pick one you like, right, Manda?" Fani asked, turning to Amanda.
"Yep, totally. Even though it's a boarding house, you don't have to pay," Amanda replied, hugging Tari.
"Someone else is paying, right, bro?" Indra asked, resting his elbow on Diaz's shoulder and looking at Alex.
"Totally, our boss is super generous," Alex added, also resting his elbow on Diaz's other shoulder.
"You two are annoying, but don't worry, Tari, I won't charge you back," Diaz replied.
"Hehehe, the boss really is cool," Indra and Alex teased.
"You two wanna fight...?" Diaz retorted.
Seeing Indra, Alex, and Diaz joking around, Tari smiled slightly. Then she turned to look at Amanda, Nara, and Fani.
"Thank you, everyone. I'm okay now," Tari said.
"What do you want to do now?" Amanda asked.
"I don't know, sis. I don't know what I should do now. Mom and Dad are gone... hiks..." Tari replied, tears welling up.
"It's okay, take your time. Don't think about it too much," Amanda said, hugging Tari.
"Okay, sis, thank you," Tari replied.
Suddenly, Tari's smartphone rang. She immediately answered the call and spoke to someone. Amanda, Indra, Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani just listened to the conversation. It seemed Tari was getting a call from someone at her school. After Tari finished and hung up,
"Who was that, Tari?" Amanda asked.
"My homeroom teacher. He asked why I hadn't been in school since yesterday and hadn't called. He tried calling home, but no one answered. He wants me to come to school after school hours today," Tari replied.
"Where's your school, Tari?" Nara asked.
"At SMAN 97. It's close to this house," Tari replied.
"Whoa, that's my alma mater!" Amanda exclaimed.
"You know the school, Manda?" Indra asked.
"Of course, I graduated from there," Amanda replied.
"Oh, really, sis? I came here yesterday because I thought it was close to the school," Tari said, turning to look at Amanda.
"We can just drop you off if it's close," Diaz suggested.
"Agreed. We can go for a walk too; we're still unemployed anyway," Alex added.
"Let's go... let's hit the road. We can grab some food too; it's already afternoon," Nara suggested, standing up.
"I can go by myself, big sisters. It's fine," Tari said.
"No way! Mr. Fadli said last night that you might also be a target, right? We can protect you," Fani insisted.
"Yup, relax. Believe it or not, we're all used to this," Indra added.
"Plus, we can explain things to your teacher. Who's your homeroom teacher?" Amanda asked.
"Mr. Mardi..." Tari replied.
"Oh, Mr. Mardi? Don't worry, I know him," Amanda responded.
"But won't it be a bother for you all?" Tari asked.
"Not at all. We're unemployed; we usually just play games all day, hehehe," Nara replied.
"That's just you..." Indra, Amanda, Alex, Diaz, and Fani all said in unison.
"You all are like that too, you losers," Nara retorted.
Finally, they all changed and got ready in their respective rooms. After that, they all got into Diaz's car to quickly reach Tari's school, even though it was actually within walking distance. Once they arrived at the school, Diaz drove the car through the gate and parked in the parking lot. The dismissal bell rang, and the six of them got out of the car with Tari. The students, both boys and girls, who were just leaving their classrooms and the school building gasped, seeing Indra, Amanda, Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani walking behind Tari.
"Wow... who are they? New celebrities? Is our school going to be a filming location?" a student whispered.
"Holy cow, they're so cool..." another student whispered.
"Hey, look, that's Tari from 2A. Who are those people behind her? Gosh, the guys are hot, and the girls are pretty and sexy!" a female student whispered.
"Yeah, you're right, that's Tari. How can she be coming with them?" another female student whispered.
"Who are they? They look like college students... but seriously, they're so cool!" another female student added, whispering.
"Any of the guys are fine, but are they dating? The competition is really tough," another female student whispered.
"Oh, the one in the middle is Big Sister Manda, right? She used to go here. We were just in first grade when she was in third," a male student whispered.
"Yeah, you're right, I remember her white hair. She was a transfer student but became famous instantly," a student next to him whispered.
"Crazy, the others are in the same league as Big Sister Manda too..." the student next to him added.
Finally, none of the students who had just come out moved from the gate, but they cleared a path so that Tari could walk in with the six friends into the school. Once inside, they immediately went to the teachers' office to meet Mr. Mardi, Tari's homeroom teacher.
"Good afternoon, sir," Tari greeted Mr. Mardi in the teachers' office.
"Oh, Tari? Let's talk in your classroom; everyone's already left," Mr. Mardi said.
Mr. Mardi stood up, then, with Tari, he left the teachers' office. In front of the office, Mr. Mardi met Amanda, and they walked to the classroom together.
"How are you, Mr. Mardi?" Amanda greeted.
"Oh, Amanda? I'm good, Amanda, how are you? What brings you here?" Mr. Mardi asked.
"I'm here to bring Tari, sir," Amanda replied.
"Oh, you know Tari?" Mr. Mardi asked.
"Very well, sir. Tari is my relative," Amanda replied.
"Oh, I see. Alright, come along too. Who are the others?" Mr. Mardi asked, looking at Indra, Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani.
"Tari's relatives too..." they all replied.
"Oh... really, Tari?" Mr. Mardi asked.
"Y-yes, sir..." Tari replied.
Finally, they all entered the classroom. Mr. Mardi immediately asked why Tari had been absent for two days without any news, as she never usually was, and Tari's family would always inform the school if anything happened. Tari told Mr. Mardi everything, with Amanda's help. After that, Mr. Mardi expressed his deepest condolences, both personally and on behalf of the school, to Tari. He also allowed Tari to take care of her parents' funeral before returning to school. He would discuss this with the principal. Suddenly, it became noisy in front of the classroom.
Several students were peeking into the classroom to see Tari and her relatives. Indra closed the curtains so no one could see them, but when the curtains were closed, a distortion, like a swirling black hole, suddenly appeared on the classroom wall.
"Look out...!" Diaz yelled.
The six friends immediately stood in front of Tari and Mr. Mardi. They prepared their stances, even though they hadn't transformed yet. Break! A large hand emerged from the black hole in the wall, followed by a second hand beside it.
"What is that..." Mr. Mardi mumbled.
"Step back, sir..." Indra replied.
Slowly, the bald head of a human-like creature emerged from the black hole. It had a face with red eyes, a flat nose like a skull's, fangs protruding from its lower jaw, three red eyes, and pointed ears adorned with round earrings. Its eyes scanned the classroom.
"Fo-u... nd... you..." it rasped in a hoarse voice, with a horrifying smile, when it saw Tari.
Immediately, it pulled its body out. Once it was fully out, Indra, Amanda, Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani were forced to look up, because the creature was enormous, with a fat and muscular body, long arms hanging down like a gorilla's, thick, massive legs, blue skin, and a body covered in fur.
"Groaaaaaaaar....." the creature roared loudly in front of the six of them.
"Holy cow... doesn't it brush its teeth or something...?" Indra mumbled.
"Everyone, be careful!" Amanda said.