The next day, during lunch break, Dean and Bianca headed to the cafeteria like they always do. As they walked, they saw Ruby, wearing a clean uniform with a bandage over her eye behind her glasses. She was in the hallway, trying to hand out a stack of flyers. Nobody was taking one, even though she was trying to convince them. Dean and Bianca looked at each other and then walked over to her.
"Hey," Bianca said.
Ruby turned and her face lit up when she saw Dean and Bianca. Without hesitation, she handed them each a flyer. They read them and saw it was for a "Mysteries and Paranormal Activity Club" she had started. She was looking for members.
"Oh... a club?" Dean asked.
"Yeah! The teacher said I could use a room in the old school building," Ruby replied.
"Hmm, how many members do you have so far?" Bianca asked.
"Only two—me and my friend, hahaha," Ruby said with a bitter laugh.
"Sorry, but we're not inter—" Dean started to say.
"This is interesting. How about we join, Dean?" Bianca interrupted.
"What? We're about to graduate. Why would we join a club?" Dean said, turning to Bianca.
"It's fine, right?" Bianca asked, looking at Ruby. "Can people from other schools join?"
"Um... sure, but they can't be official members. Official members have to be from our school," Ruby replied.
"Oh, that's okay. I'm sure she'll be happy to join," Bianca said.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of asking Claire to join, too," Dean said, looking at Bianca.
"Hehe, you read my mind," Bianca replied.
Suddenly, with a crash, a blonde girl with lots of earrings and a black choker pushed Ruby from behind, making her fall and scattering her flyers everywhere. Dean and Bianca saw the girl, who looked like a troublemaker, and four others standing behind her.
"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?" Bianca said, helping Ruby up and giving the girls a sharp look.
Dean stepped forward and stood right in front of Ruby. He didn't say anything, but he stared at the five girls until they all backed away, looking a little scared and surprised. "Let's go," the girl with all the earrings said to her friends, and they all turned and left without another word. After they were gone, Dean turned around and knelt down to help Ruby and Bianca pick up the scattered flyers.
"Who were they?" Bianca asked Ruby.
Ruby was silent. She held the handles of her glasses, looked down, and hugged the pile of flyers tightly. Bianca understood and didn't ask again. She held Ruby's hand and looked at her as Ruby lifted her head.
"If you ever want to talk, Dean and I will listen," Bianca said.
"Th-thank you," Ruby said, stammering.
"Alright, we're joining your club," Bianca said, looking at Dean, who was picking up flyers. "Okay, Dean?" she asked.
"Huh?" Dean replied, looking at Bianca's very serious face, which wouldn't take no for an answer. "Uh... okay," he said.
"Really?" Ruby asked, suddenly cheerful.
"Yeah, really," Bianca replied.
"Thank you... um... what's your name?" Ruby asked.
"Oh yeah, we haven't officially met. I'm Bianca. You're Ruby, right? Dean told me about you," Bianca said.
"Oh, really?" Ruby asked, looking at Dean, who was busy picking up flyers, and then back at Bianca. "It's nice to meet you, Bianca," she said, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, too. It's great to know you," Bianca said, shaking Ruby's hand.
Dean looked at Bianca being friendly with Ruby, shook his head, and stood up with the flyers he'd collected. He walked over to Ruby and gave her the stack back.
"Um... can you guys come to the old school building after school?" Ruby asked.
"Okay, we'll be there. Right, Dean?" Bianca asked, turning to Dean.
"Uh... okay," Dean said, rubbing the back of his head.
After that, they all walked to the cafeteria together. Dean just followed Bianca and Ruby, who were walking ahead of him and chatting.
"Why are they getting along so well? This is weird," Dean mumbled to himself.
[Like I said, special souls attract each other.]
"Huh, what do you mean?" Dean asked.
[You'll find out later, hohoho.]
*****
Meanwhile, in a different state, at a fancy house in the casino city, Mark, a man around 68 or 70 years old, sat in his office chair. He was wearing a shiny, expensive-looking bathrobe that showed off terrible burn scars covering half his body, from his face all the way down. He was casually reading files and smoking a cigar. Behind him, a beautiful young woman was massaging his shoulders. "Knock, knock, knock," someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in!" Mark yelled.
"Click." The door opened, and a thin man around 52 or 55 years old, walked in. He was wearing shiny clothes, red pants with a pattern, sunglasses, and had tattoos on his face.
"You needed me, boss?" he asked, standing in front of Mark.
"Yeah, Zack. I need you to find out how Brandon, Benjamin's son, died, and take care of the killer, nice and clean," Mark said, handing the file to Zack.
Zack took the file and read it, his eyebrows raising when he saw the picture of Brandon's body, which looked like a mummified corpse with a terrified expression.
"Where did you get this info, boss?" Zack asked.
"The police gave it to Benjamin, and he made a copy for me. He gave it to me this morning after we signed the papers handing over 50% of his casino shares," Mark said casually.
"Hoo... it's in the city where Heather goes to school," Zack said.
"Yep, the city where your ex-wife and daughter live. Can you find the killer and handle them? That's the deal I made with Benjamin," Mark replied.
"That's easy, boss. Consider it done," Zack said, relaxed.
"I'm putting this on you, but be careful. That city has its own powerful peoples. Don't mess with them," Mark warned.
"Yeah, I know. I won't touch the powerful Vargas and Malini families there," Zack replied.
"Good. I trust you. I'll transfer your cut and your operating costs today," Mark said with a smile.
"Ready when you are, boss. I'll be waiting for the transfer," Zack said.
"Okay, you're good to go," Mark said.
"See you, boss," Zack replied.
Zack turned and walked out the door. As soon as the door closed, Mark turned his chair around, looked at the woman in front of him, and unbuckled his belt, then opened his dressing gown.
"Sit here," he said.
"O-okay, boss," the woman stammered, pulling down her underwear and lifting her skirt before sitting on Mark's lap.
"Hmm... you're always good. I'll give you a raise," Mark said, enjoying it.
"Y-yeah, thanks, boss, aaakh," the woman groaned, looking a little scared of Mark.