It was past lunch when my baggage came. Each was labeled with the name of the owner since our parents cannot hand them personally to us, for obvious reasons. Major Coleman assigned us rooms by giving us keys with numbered, wooden, key rings attached to it. Mine was room six, a room just above the glass sliding door we came in.

  I was halfway done with unpacking my stuff, which mostly are clothes good for a month when I remembered about the handbook Major Coleman was talking about. I went to the lamp table and pulled open the drawer. Inside was a simple notebook, the words Haunted's Handbook engraved with white ink, in contrast to the black cover. Same as with the number 6 in the center, the number of my room. I took it out, sat on my bed, and ran my fingers on its cover. It's some sort of fabric, it felt like touching the surface of a sofa. I opened it. There was an extra space where a pen is held by a strap. The first page reads:

  TOP SECRET

  FOR BIRINGAN PERSONNEL AND HAUNTEDS EYES ONLY.

  It described the Shade (although Mr. Chua did describe the Shade to our class already, the information here is more detailed). Below it was a set of Shade Rules that we were supposed to familiarize ourselves with if we wanted to survive throughout the month of October. Like how the Shade originally kills haunteds.

  Apparently, according to Shade Rule 1, once a Shade latched on a haunted, the haunted will fall into a catatonic state, usually leading to cardiac arrest. Doctors weren't able to do anything once the haunting took place since drugs seemed to have no effect on the body.

  I kept reading.

  I already know that U.V. lights protect us from the Shade. But what I didn't know is how exactly. Apparently, according to Shade Rule Four, The Shade cease to exist under U.V. light. It went on to explain that the Shade doesn't simply disappear from the naked eye; all (supernatural) traces of it disappear. But will reform again in another place safe from U.V. lights.

  I bet this rule is based on the theory of Mrs. Roth, the one who discovered the use of U.V lights. I've read about her on our trip to the Shade Museum for history class. She's got a whole gallery dedicated to her with her monument, self-portraits, everything. She was a hero.

  I've remembered reading that after her kid died; she took a passionate interest in the Shade. That passion eventually led her to conclude that only sunlight can affect the Shade because A) the Shade never appears during the day, even in dark places safe from sunlight—under the bed, inside the closet— and only appears at night and B) Apparently, she tried everything else. Fire, flashlights, and anything that casts light, because, at its base, the Shade is still a shadow. So she passed on her theory to the government and the military tested the only thing we have closest to sunlight: U.V. lights.

  It was a short read, ending in Shade Rule #5 The Shade cannot be captured or recorded by any devices, like Major Coleman said. Not really sure how the last one was going to help. But it does explain why there was never a picture of the Shade.

  I closed the handbook, put it down besides me and lie on my back. Years of studying, observing the Shade and all they have is this. My mind is having a hard time to believe it. I would've read it again if it weren't for someone knocking at my door. I sat up and jumped off my bed to open the door. It was a girl.

  "Hey, we're having a karaoke party," she said, smiling. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to join us."

  "Sure," I said. I've been meaning to get to know my dorm mates so this is just perfect. I extended my hand. "I'm Vergil, by the way."

  She reached for it. "Harmony," she said. She looked over my shoulder. "You haven't unpacked yet? Do you need help?"

  "Nah, I'll be okay. But thanks. I'll see you there?"

  "Okay. See you."

  I put the handbook away and finished unpacking. I grabbed my key and ran downstairs. When I got inside the arcade room, it was surprisingly empty, except for one girl playing Tekken 7 on Playstation 4.

  "Hey," I called out. "They're having a party inside. Weren't you invited?"

  "Oh, I was..." Cana said. She trailed off; her eyes fixed on the flat-screen television, doing a 10-hit combo with Asuka. Man, this girl is good. The in-game voice announced "K.O." as the two letters flashed on the screen. She rested the controller on her lap and stretched her arms up. "I was waiting for you."

  "Oh, let's go then."

  "Yeah, totally," she said. She handed me a controller. "Do you play?"

  I took the controller. "It's really not that fun beating girls in video games."

  "Oh, you are so dead."

  It was a standard best of three. Let's just say my Bryan seen better days.

  "You're right," Cana said. "It's no fun beating a girl in video games."

  I laughed. "How are you so good at this?"

  "Its dad's favorite," Cana confessed.

  "Of course it is." I said. "Well, we should probably go inside. They're waiting for us."

  "Sure, let's just casually sing in front of complete strangers. Sounds fun."

  "You don't have to sing, you know."

  Cana crosses her arms over her chest. "Oh please. It's karaoke. I'm not a buzzkill."

  "I don't get it. You literally sang in front of people before. You sang "Happy Birthday" to Mrs. Misaki in class.

  "That's different. They're our classmates, my friends."

  "Is that why you've been waiting for me out here? You're feeling shy?"

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "I'm not shy. I'm stranger-avoidant."

  "Stranger-avoidant?" I said, hardly containing the grin spreading over my face.

  "Look, all I'm saying is that there should be some degree of familiarity, I need to know them first. Otherwise, I might end up sounding like a goat being butchered."

  I laughed. "Now you make me very curious."

  She hit my shoulder.

  "Okay, if it comes to it, we'll sing duet. High School Musical style." I said, rubbing my shoulder, still laughing. "So you won't have to do it alone. We'll be like Troy and Gabriella, but less attractive and can't sing."

  She suddenly got quiet. I thought that was a good joke but she just kept staring at me.

  "Troy and Gabriella got together, you know?" she said. She brushed her hair behind her ear and looked at me. "Is that what you're saying? That we should..."

  All the blood in my body rushed to my cheeks when I realized what just happened. "Oh...wow...haha—that's not, I swear I didn't—"

  "Kidding!" she said, laughing. You're so easy it's not even fun."

  "You know, I'm starting to regret ever talking to you." I said.

  She powered down the Playstation 4 and got up. "Come on, Troy."

  I followed her inside. There were five more people already singing and laughing. Everyone was still in their uniforms. There was Demi, Harmony, and two of whom had already made an impression back at the dining area, Blonde Ponytail Girl and Spiky Boy. They were sitting on the sofa, singing along with another guy standing next to the karaoke, holding the wireless microphone, belting to Ed Sheeran's Dive.

  When he saw us, he waved with his free hand. I waved back at him while he continued hitting those high notes, making Spiky Boy and Harmony "Whoooooooo!" The glass table was filled with a bag of potato chips, paper cups, and a couple of 2L bottles of Mountain Dew. I gave Demi a nod, which he returned.

  When the guy finished the song, he joined us on the couch.

  Blonde Ponytail girl stood up. "You guys, let's stop for a bit and have everyone introduced themselves." she said.

  "There you go again, doing things on a whim," Great Pipes guy said.

  "What?" Blonde Ponytail said. "What's wrong with that?"

  "Didn't it occur to you that maybe someone here hates introducing themselves to complete strangers and now you've put them completely on the spot?" Great Pipes guy said.

  I immediately thought of Cana. I turned to my left and saw her chatting it up with Harmony. Despite her stranger-avoidant condition, she's actually doing pretty well.

  "I think it's a great idea." Harmony said, temporarily suspending her chat with Cana. "This is the perfect opportunity to get to know our each other, considering we'll be staying here for a while. Plus, it makes first meetings less awkward."

  "See?" Blonde Ponytail Girl said to Great Pipes Guy. "I'll start," she continued. "My name is Eris Mitchell from Lorenzo High, with him," she said, nodding at him who was sitting by her side."

  He grabbed Eris' wrist and pulled her down. "I'm Leo Garcia, yes, The Leo Garcia," he said, beaming.

  He looks like he was waiting for us to gush over him for some reason so I shot Cana a look. "You know him?"

  She gave her a head a quick shake. "Not a clue."

  "He's the lead singer from our school's band so he thinks he's such a big deal," Eris explained while facepalm-ing herself.

  "I AM a big deal," Leo emphasized, leaning on the table. "She's just jealous that I'm getting all the attention," he said almost as a whisper as if Eris cannot hear anything.

  "I'm not as vain as you so I don't really care." Eris said. "But I'll have you know, some guy asked me out for a movie last week. I just told him no because of tennis practice."

  Leo looked at us and shook his head. "Complete lie."

  "How dare you!" Eris said, punching Leo on his shoulder.

  "I know you're both from the same school and all, but do you know each other?" I asked.

  "Don't be silly," Harmony said to me. "They're obviously been dating for a while."

  Eris just rolled her eyes "Ugh, here we go again."

  I could have sworn seeing a ghost of a smile flashed on Leo's face. But he grabbed potato chips by the claw and shoved them in his mouth so I didn't give it much thought. "Our parents are close friends," Leo said.

  "Oh, childhood friends. That sucks." I said.

  Leo shrugged. "Well, what can you do?"

  "My parents are childhood friends," Harmony said. "Now they have me."

  Eris made a disgusted face. "With this guy? No way. That's like, super weird." It was so funny that it was impossible not to laugh. And feel sad for Leo.

  But Leo looked more annoyed than hurt. "Well, I'm not exactly excited being paired with a girl whose idea of fashion is a sweaty tracksuit."

  "I'm the team captain of the tennis club. Of course, I'm going to get sweaty, genius."

  "You're wearing them every time I come over, slob."

  "Well, you always come over right after practice, creep."

  "So!" Harmony interjected in a loud voice, almost a shout. "How about I go next?" She sat up straight and brought out a sweet and friendly smile. "Hello, everyone, my name is Harmony Adams. My friends call me Harmy, but if you have a better nickname, I'd love to hear them," she said as her attention jumps from person to person. "I hope we all get along." Then she gestured at Spiky boy across her.

  "You want me to... okay," he said, putting down his cup."I'm Kent. Kent Edwards, same school as Miss Congeniality here. And I mean that literally. It sucks you didn't want the entire thing, by the way."

  Harmony giggled. "Thank you."

  "Wait. What are we talking about?" Eris said.

  "She almost won Miss Senior High." Kent said.

  "Oh no..." Eris said. "What happened?"

  "I sort of failed hard during the question and answer portion." Harmony explained.

  "But you'd still won Miss Congeniality," Eris said in awe. "That's amazing."

  "I'd say it's well-deserved," Leo said, turning into some fake art expert scrutinizing every detail of a beautiful painting that is Harmony.

  I stared at Harmony for a bit. She was about my height. Slender figure. She pulled the top of her straight, dark hair up into a bun while letting her sides and back loose. Her chocolate skin accentuates the red shade of lipstick she's wearing. She's pretty all right. And she seemed to be someone cool to hang out with, so I get. Can't say I'm crazy about her, though.

  "What?" Cana said when she noticed me staring at her.

  I leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You going to be okay? I'm next, you know."

  "I think so..."

  Kent gestured for me. So I introduced myself. Cana went next, who basically just rapped out her name. Then, of course, Demi went last.

  Kent let out a satisfied "Ahh" after drinking soda from his cup. "Now that we got that out of the way, can we talk about this place? No school, no homework and we're practically free to do whatever we want, this place is awesome!"

  "Yeah and no phone, no internet," Leo complained. He was busy looking at a square hand mirror he's holding. He keeps tossing his already-hard-from-wax black hair with ash gray highlights up into messy waves. Then he pulled a piece down and twirled it into a curl. I thought he was going to return the mirror to Eris (I assumed it's hers) but instead, he slides it into the left breast pocket of his uniform. Dude brings his own mirror. Who does that? "How am I supposed to vlog now?"

  To ensure that our location remains hidden, Major confiscated our phones. Also, the dorm has no phone lines, no internet, probably because of haunteds like Leo here, who might just drop a "A day in the life of a Haunted" video.

  Eris rolled her eyes. "Will you die if you can't vlog for a month?"

  "No," Leo replied. "But my channel will if I don't post regularly." He took a sip from his cup. "And I just started putting out ads."

  "They don't trust that we'll keep the Shade a secret." Kent said.

  "And yet, we're supposed to take notes of this thing." Leo said. "Why not do it themselves?"

  "Isn't it because of Shade Rule 2?" Demi said. "It can't be helped."

  "Shade Rule Two: The Shade will materialize as close to a Haunted as possible. However, the Shade must have a direct line of sight of a Haunted for it to materialize." I recalled. So if we stayed inside, where the Shade can't materialize because of the U.V. lights, then it will have to materialize outside. But since it won't see any of us inside the dorm, it will not materialize at all.

  "Let's leave all Shade talk for tonight," Eris suggested. "When Mr. Donovan arrives."

  "Yeah, right now is for this party!" Kent cheered. "My mom never lets me do whatever I want so..." He grabbed his drink, held it out in front of him and sang "FREEDOM!!" with vibrato.

  We all followed suit and matched his voice, laughing.