Julia didn’t sleep the whole night, she’d sometimes wake up and listen to music with headphones. It was the playlist that Silvio made for her. The music was instrumental, with acoustic guitar and beats. The bracelet made her arm itch because she was wearing it for so long. In her half-awake state, she took the bracelet off of her arm, and placed it on the bedside table.

She had a nightlight which was the shape of a heart. Julia won it via a giveaway not long ago. She couldn’t believe that the last exam was over, and that the result would be published the next morning.

Julia awoke with a headache. She brushed her teeth and freshened up. Then she changed into a shirt, a jumper, and trousers. The morning air was fresh but chilly. She took her satchel. Julia dragged her feet towards the cafeteria and ordered a coffee.

As she sipped on the hot and bitter coffee, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. There was almost no one else in the cafeteria.

She walked towards the result board. It was so crowded that Julia couldn’t even see the board, only people. They were chattering among themselves. There were some people who had bright smiles, others had teary or blank faces.

Cole returned from looking at the board. He shuffled his feet.

“What did you get?” asked Julia.

He turned his head towards her and said, “I did good, but…”

Cole shook his head. He turned but didn’t leave. Instead, he was frozen in place.

“Something wrong?” said Julia.

“I will tell you later.”

Julia squeezed through the crowd. She found the board for witchcraft. She was no. 17 out of 60 students of her batch. Her score was around 85%. Julia sighed in relief. Cole was there at no. 2. She wondered how he did so good. At no. 1, there was someone named Whitney. Well, she never heard of anyone of that name.

She then shifted her gaze towards the Defense and the Art boards.

Sunshine got a total of 60% overall. And Silvio got a total of 89%, and secured 3rd place. Neither of them was around, so Julia thought of going back to her room.

Her phone rang.

“Hello?” said Julia.

“It’s me, Silvio.”

“Yeah, I know. I have your number saved.”

“Come meet me at the cafeteria,” said Silvio.

Julia cut the call and went to the cafeteria. It was full of students now.

“Julia.”

She found him there, wearing a sweater vest, and a shirt with grey trousers.

“How did you do?” said Silvio.

“I got eighty-five percent. That leads me to rank 17.”

“Hey, that’s pretty good,” said Silvio.

“Congratulations. You got third place.”

“Thanks. I saw that Cole got second place. He sure does know a lot. Nerd.”

“You’re just jealous,” said Julia.

“True,” said Silvio.

Julia got up and ordered French toast and water. Silvio got up and did the same.

The two of them began eating. Julia observed Silvio as he ate. He relished every morsel of the toast. He dipped the toast into the side of honey. He closed his eyes as he ate it.

“You know, this tastes almost the same as my mom’s toast,” he said.

Julia started to eat her toast. She was struggling to cut it into bite-size pieces. She lifted her head and saw Silvio smiling at her. She smiled back.

She saw Cole in the corner of the room. He sat down a table away from them. She was sure he saw them, but he still chose not to sit with them.

“Let’s go for a walk or a run,” said Silvio.

Julia nodded.

“Wait,” said Cole.

He stood behind Silvio.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Silvio.

“Forgive me for all I have done, I fear that I will soon leave,” said Cole.

Silvio faced Cole.

“Stop being so overdramatic,” said Silvio.

Cole’s expression grew dark, and he flinched.

“Cole, I’m sorry,” said Silvio.

As soon as he said that, Cole turned away.

“Goodbye to you. And goodbye Julia, we may never meet again,” said Cole.

“What the hell, Cole?” said Julia.

He walked away. Silvio chased after Cole, and Julia followed. She wondered why Silvio appeared to care more than Julia.

Silvio came back.

“Julia?” said Silvio.

“Did you find him?” said Julia.

“He gave me his glasses, and a note, and ran for the hills. For a second, I was worried there’d be another untimely death. But the note says something else,” said Silvio.

“By the time you’ll find me, I will be a changed person. Cole Letter is not the person you knew. If you wish to fight me, please do so before I do something terrible. I am returning to my place of origin.”

Julia took Cole’s glasses and wore them. At that moment, she felt like strings were being tied to her limbs, and she began to move without her own consent.

“Take the glasses off,” said Julia.

“Okay.”

Silvio took the spectacles away, and she felt alive again.

“My goodness, these glasses can control people!” said Julia.

“Wait, what?” said Silvio.

Silvio observed them and said, “They have the symbol of Puppet type DTCA! He must have been controlled this entire time. We gotta find him and do something. Quick, call him.”

Julia nodded and dialed Cole’s number and put it on the loudspeaker.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in use.”

“This is bad!” said Silvio.

They searched for him in his room, which was left open and with nothing inside.

Silvio walked back and forth with his hand in his chin. In the corner of the room, there was a flower pot. There was a dying lily. Julia touched it, and it fell to the ground.

Cole came out from under his bed and said, “Looking for me?”

“Aren’t you too old to play Hide and Seek?” said Julia.

Cole dragged himself out, only to be dragged back inside by a series of hands. He had no emotion on his face.

“What have you done Cole? Sold yourself to the Puppet Master and then tried to escape?” said Silvio.

“I have been hiding his influence in the depths of my mind and soul,” said Cole.