The next day at school.
"Wow… it's like it never happened. The school is standing again, and nobody remembers yesterday," Abdul said.
"It's Tari's handiwork. That's what she did on the field trip too. I think she has the power to erase people's memories," Ben added.
"This wasn't my doing," Tari said, walking toward them.
"Hey, what's up, Tari?" Abdul asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Israel isn't here yet."
"Didn't you hear me greeting you?" Ben replied.
She rolled her eyes again. "I don't care about you monkeys," she said proudly, striding away.
Ben and Abdul exchanged glances.
"Damn… she's so full of herself," Ben muttered.
"Yoo, dudes!" Israel screamed from afar, sprinting toward them.
"Hey, what's up, bro!" Ben and Abdul waved as Israel arrived.
They laughed and teased each other playfully.
"What were you guys talking about before I came?" Israel asked.
"Just how arrogant your crush is," Ben replied.
"Hey, you know without her we'd all be dead by now," Abdul said. "Her powers are insane. My body feels like I never even got hurt after she healed me."
"You see," Israel smiled, "if not for her, I'd still be buried ten feet under."
They all laughed.
School bell rang, and everyone started rushing to class.
Some minutes later, they were all seated. The teacher walked in.
"Good morning, class," Mr. Princewill greeted.
"Good morning, sir," the class replied.
"Before we start, we have a new student," the teacher continued.
The door opened.
As the new student stepped inside, Israel and Tari felt a chill run down their spines.
"Yooo, people," the newcomer said casually, acting as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Israel noticed Tari trembling.
"Hey—" Israel tried to call her, but she didn't hear him.
"Introduce yourself to the class, son," the teacher said.
"Yo yo, my name is Femi," the newcomer said. "But you guys can call me Femo… especially you, Israel," he added, pointing directly at him.
"You can sit now—seat close to Israel," the teacher said.
As he walked past, he tapped Tari's shoulder and whispered, "Calm down, child."
Then he moved toward Israel.
"What's good, bro?" Femi asked.
Before Israel could answer, he noticed Tari staring at him, shaking. Confused, he ignored it.
"Face the board, everyone," the teacher instructed, and the lesson began.
Hours passed.
Then the break-time bell rang. Everyone ran outside. Israel and his friends went to the rooftop to eat lunch. Tari followed.
"Hey, wait for me," she called to Israel.
"Wow… she's talking to me," Israel said, blushing.
They all sat down.
"Who was that?" Israel asked Tari.
"He's one of the oldest and strongest MALAIKA," she replied. "So you must pay him the utmost respect."
"But he looks ordina—"
"Yoo, fams!" Femi appeared suddenly, stopping Abdul mid-step.
Israel and his friends jumped in surprise.
"When did you get here?" Israel asked.
Femi laughed. "You guys really made a mess yesterday," he said playfully. "It took me a whole minute to set everything back."
"Just a minute?" Abdul exclaimed. "The whole school was destroyed!"
"And he got it fixed in minutes," Ben added.
"If I was in my best condition, I'd have done it with a snap of my fingers," Femi said.
Israel and his friends stared in shock, but Tari just nodded to herself, whispering "Yes."
Femi walked up to Israel and took his hand. "Hope we can be best buddies."
Before Israel could reply, Femi vanished.
"Wait… where did he go?" Israel said.
"Wow… he's cool," Ben said, mesmerized.
"…He just disappeared," Abdul said quietly.
Tari turned away, her face unreadable.
"That wasn't teleportation," she said after a moment. "He didn't leave… he simply chose not to exist here anymore."
Ben swallowed. "You MALAIKA are terrifying."
Tari didn't smile.
"Wait, you said he's one of the oldest of your kind. How old is he?" Abdul asked.
"As old as the earth," she replied.
"What?!" Abdul, Ben, and Israel screamed in shock.
"But he doesn't look older than us," Israel said.
"We don't age," Tari replied.
"Wow… cool," Abdul said.
"But why is he here?" Tari muttered, confused.
"Oh well, let's eat our lunch before the break ends," Israel said happily.
"Just wondering… if you don't age, doesn't that mean you're way older than us?" Abdul asked.
Tari didn't answer.
"How old are you?" Ben asked.
"Don't you know it's not right to ask a lady her age?" Tari said angrily.
They all laughed.
After some minutes, they returned to class. Femi was nowhere to be found.
Hours later, the bell rang for school's end.
They went home.
"I'm home!" Israel shouted as he opened the door.
"Welcome home, son," his father greeted.
"Good afternoon, Pops," he replied.
"Where's Mom?" Israel asked.
"She's in the kitchen making dinner," his dad said.
Israel went to his room to change.
Suddenly—pain shot through his head.
He screamed loudly.
His father ran up. "What's wrong, son?"
"They… they're coming… they're coming!" Israel kept repeating.
Then everything turned red.
The sun burned crimson.
To BE Continued….