Riley Ross

A few days had passed since the trailer for the show was released, and Riley was now spending his free time outside the Academy with his family. They used to be able to just walk around the cities of New York without being bothered.

Sure, they get occasional looks from how different Riley looked—and the rest of the family didn't look too bad either, no. In fact, they looked like celebrities in the first place. Right down from how they dress to how they walk.

The only reason people don't approach them at all or talk to them is because of how they act. And no, they weren't pompous or looked snobbish. In fact, they were the opposite.

Despite how they looked, they seemed like any other family, maybe even more humble.

The complete contrast was what prevented people from ever approaching them.

But now, as they took their weekly walk across the streets of New York… everyone was staring at them, and there were even people following them, mostly girls and old women.

"Fucking great…" Hannah muttered, "...do we have to wear masks now even when just going out as ourselves?"

"Now, now, sweetie." Diana held Hannah's hand, slightly pulling her closer, "Don't curse in front of all these people. And honestly, you should get used to it—when the people learned about me and your father, I remembered being stalked for weeks."

"Pft. Sucks for them, I'll be in MA five days a week."

"You say it like you don't want the attention… but you're more dressed than usual, no?"

"What? Psh. No, I'm not."

"You are, Sister."

"Shut up, freak." Hannah lightly hit Riley in the arm.

And, yes. Yes, she was more dressed than usual. She had a croptop on and a large oversized jacket. She wore shorts, which showed how toned and in shape her legs were, and her bulky pair of white street shoes just complemented everything.

She was wearing someone's salary for three months.

"I just wore this because I know people are gonna be taking photos of us since we're with Riley," she said while subtly adjusting her jacket. "You… think it looks nice, though?"

"You always look nice, Sister."

"Good. This is why you're my favorite person." Hannah smirked, chuckling and nodding to herself before turning toward her father, "You're not gonna do anything with all the cameras?"

"No, dude," Bernard quickly replied. "I'm here to spend some normal time with my family. If normal involves people pointing cameras at us and old ladies following us, then so be it. I'll… take that moment and cherish it."

"Jesus, I only asked if you were gonna do something about it."

Bernard was wearing something simpler. Just a brown polo shirt, showing the outline of his muscles, and a pair of white pants and shoes—of course, it just looked simple. The watch he was wearing was worth ten people's annual salary, and his pair of sunglasses was worth even more.

Diana complemented her look, wearing a long white dress and a pair of Spartan sandals… not a single jewellery on her body.

As for Riley, well, he was still wearing his oversized gray hoodie and loose pants.

"Do you guys want to eat here, or somewhere else?" Bernard then asked as they stopped in front of a restaurant they always frequented.

"Huh? Where else? This is the only place that serves Riley's favorite," Hannah said, dragging Riley inside the restaurant before anyone else could suggest anything. Bernard and Diana didn't seem to mind at all, however. They just looked at each other's eyes, chuckled, and followed the two in.

But… it didn't take long for Riley to come out. How could he not, when Hannah almost rushed outside to curse and scream at all the people outside still trying to take photos of them, even while they were eating?

And in that instant, everyone screamed and cheered for Riley to the point that the restaurant's security had to intervene.

"Everyone."

They did close their mouths as soon as Riley opened his.

"I would appreciate it if you do not crowd in front of the restaurant and take photos and videos of me and my family while we are eating," he said.

"But if you could wait, I promise to take photos with everyone after. Please, listen to Mr. Philippe."

Riley then glanced at the restaurant's bouncer, "He will decide whether you will be staying in line. Thank you."

Philippine gasped for a moment, watching Riley step back into the restaurant before turning his focus back to the crowd of zombies behind him.

No, they were no longer zombies at all—most of them were even falling in line on their own. This wasn't really good for the restaurant, but it could be… Bernard was inside, after all.

***

Meanwhile, while Riley was having dinner with his family, Tomoe was also eating with hers. Well, not exactly. She was eating a blue cheese chicken wrap, seated on an old chair while staring at her mother crying.

Tomoe was wearing her mask, but it was painted on now as Riley told her to do so. She painted it white, with red streaks that resembled a lion's pattern.

"Eat your food," Tomoe said, watching her mother slam her fists against the crystal cage, "It's from your favorite place. It was the least I could do for you for what's going to happen tonight."

Tomoe continued to eat, but as she was halfway through her wrap, her mother's actions became even wilder, and she started hitting her head on the crystal.

Tomoe sighed as she saw this, leaving her no choice but to stop eating and open a small hole for her mother to speak.

"Help!"

The first thing she did was scream, but Tomoe only sighed and shook her head.

"No one's going to hear you here, Mom," she said. "There aren't any people for miles."

"O-onegai... Onegai da yo, Tomoe..." Her mother's voice quickly turned meek, and the dryness became even more obvious. She stuck her lips right on the hole, and Tomoe took a step back as she could hear the smell of her breath.

"Let… let us go," her mother cried. "Just… let… let Erik bury his son, please."

Tomoe glanced at Erik, and unlike her mother, he was completely empty now. His back was slouched against the crystal wall, with the crystallized body of Rob on his lap.

"There's no need to bury Rob. He's being preserved by the crystal," Tomoe said with a sigh.

"And you can't go home. I… already made it seem like you and Erik are on a trip with Rob right now. The next time people will get news of you is when they find your corpses. We would be in school then, and your bodies will be fresh, and no one will suspect us."

"W-what…? No. No! Why… why are you doing this?" Her mother pleaded.

"Why?" Tomoe blinked. "Because you watched as that man did… did those things to me. I'm just… sorry about Rob."

"You fucking monster!" Her mother tried to spit on her, but it only hit the crystal wall between them.

"...Me?" Tomoe's eye slightly twitched, and there was a rare change in her voice. It didn't last long, however. She quickly straightened her back and looked her mother in the eyes, "We're both monsters. I'm just not that blind for me not to see it."

"Please… I beg you. I—"

"Sorry—no. I'm not sorry." Tomoe stepped away from the crystal, waving her hand as the hole slowly closed itself. Not before, however, she made sure her mother heard her next words.

"He's coming here soon, and I hope he kills you slowly."

***

A few hours later, somewhere on the roof of the hundreds of buildings in New York, Replica Ricky was looking up at the sky.

No. That wasn't exactly right.

He wasn't looking at the night sky at all, but rather at a tower. Specifically, right at Riley's window.

"I told you, Riley Ross. I promised you…" He was whispering to himself, biting his nails to the point they bled. He didn't care at all. He couldn't even feel it.

There was only one thing he was feeling—anger.

Misplaced, but does it matter?

He continued to stare at the window, and as soon as he saw even the slightest flicker of change, his body replicated itself.

"Did you see that?" He said, glancing at his clone, "He's there. He's home. That's him. I'm sure that's him."

"Are we going to do it, then?" His clone replied, "Are we going to kill him in his own house?"

"Where else?" Ricky said, a crazed noise escaping his lips, "I want… I want the world to see. I know… I know he's hiding something. We're going to kill him in his own home. And… and that sister of his too. She's involved in all of this. We—huh?"

Ricky abruptly stopped talking as he saw the window of Riley's room open—and from there, he saw a shadow of complete darkness jumping and casually flying out.

"What the…" He muttered,

"Was that… Riley Ross?"