A sudden opportunity.

So the Silence runes worked, just not as intended. I briefly wondered if this was the type of bug that could be fixed with a simple change in the code or if it would have to be completely rewritten. To begin with, I was assuming runes worked like software code, which could be completely wrong for all I knew, so I left that to Frey. If I could be sure of something, it was that she would already be working to fix the issue.

On the bright side, the Stillness runes worked as intended. We tried them on the door, then pushed and knocked. It didn’t budge. We didn’t try it with the Silence runes, so we heard the knocking and kicking, but there was no rattling.

Then, at Alice’s suggestion, we tried it on a chair and tried to push it. It remained perfectly in place, no matter how hard we pushed or if we tried to lift it.

I had to agree with Noelle on this one. These effects kinda creeped me out, too. One thing was to know that the subtle and unseen effects on me and the others (like the sex and health improvements) came from magic. Another thing entirely was to feel first hand the drastic effects on the world, like sound ceasing to exist in a room and basically gluing a chair to the floor with just some writing.

In contrast, Sarah and Mila didn’t seem to fully grasp the implications of such magic. They thought it was cool and very weird, but in an amusing way. And then there was Grace and Alice, who also understood how big this was and seemed eager to do more tests. Oddly enough, this was the most Occult Research thing we’d done since the founding of our Club.

The bell rang, though, so our testing was cut short. We made sure to erase the ink on the markers with hot water from the electric kettle we kept in the club room and went to our classrooms.

It was during the first recess, however, that something else distracted us from going back there and continuing our testing. I got a text message from Diana. Just seeing the name on my phone made me smile, but her message made me just a slight bit anxious.

-Diana: Hey, I know this is very sudden, so it’s fine if it’s not possible, but I got this afternoon free out of nowhere. If the other girls are also free today, maybe we could meet up?

-Oliver: Out of nowhere? Did something happen?

-Diana: My boss at Hotel Intimacy forgot to tell us they’d be doing maintenance on the building, so I have nothing to do today and they told me I could go home.

-Oliver: Oh. Then I’ll ask the girls. I’ll be back in a sec.

Back in the club room, I told the girls what Diana said. They all shared questioning looks, and Mila was the first to answer.

“I’m free, so I have no problem.”

“Same here. I can go,” Sarah said.

“Me too,” Noelle said.

“I was going to my brother’s shop today, but that can wait. This is important,” Alice said.

“And luckily for me, my mother texted me an hour earlier saying we’d have to reschedule our dinner together today,” Grace said, sounding resigned.

Goddammit.

I walked up to her and gave her a hug. She didn’t try to seem strong. She just hugged me back, shook her head and sighed. “I’m fine, really. This works out.”

We put the rune testing aside for the moment. I texted Diana back to give her the girls’ answer.

-Oliver: They’re free. They say they can meet. Where do I tell them to go?

-Diana: Is Maria’s shop okay? I asked her if we could use her place and she said she had just the thing, whatever that means.

“Would meeting at the coffee shop be okay?” I asked the girls.

“Mmm… We’d have to be careful about what we say, right?” Noelle pointed out. “Although… it’s going to be the same anywhere else.”

“And the shop is emptier when Oliver is not working,” Mila said. “Yeah, I think it’s good.”

The others agreed, too.

-Oliver: They say it works for them.

-Diana: Tell them thanks for me. Your classes are over at 4:00 pm, right? Is 4:30 pm okay?

-Oliver: Yes.

-Diana: Okay then… Wish me luck?

-Oliver: You don’t need it. Just know that they’re not going there to judge you, just to meet you.

-Diana: Alright.

I let out a soft sigh and a tired chuckle. “It’s like I can feel her nerves through the text. Please be nice to her?”

“Of course,” Noelle said.

“Just… One question, Oliver,” Sarah said. “If we meet her and we don’t like her… What will you do?”

“...” Fuck. My chest tightened painfully, my stomach hurt and a knot formed in my throat. That question caught me off guard.

I liked Diana a lot, and I truly had a good feeling about her. The girls themselves encouraged me to go out with her, but… they had yet to know her. It was possible that they didn’t hit it off like I believed they would. “If so, I would ask you to give her some time. However much you think it’s necessary, but just… don’t write her out too quickly. If you still think she’s not a good match for us after that…” Fuck, this hurt. And it hurt more just to think how Diana herself would take it. “If that’s the case, then I won’t see her anymore.”

Painful as it was to even consider it, these five girls were my priority. I could only hope for the best.

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