“I can’t believe you made me do that.”
He was a fool. He would have done – and did do – anything Iv asked of him, which was why Gwen was now unconscious on a chair after Hendrick had put her to sleep.
“Well, she didn’t seem too keen on my methods.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I would agree, either,” he said just as Iv’s butler, John, had finished putting over her uniform a medical gown. He then took out a needle from a medical kit he probably got from the nurse’s office and that was when Hendrick understood the how, although not yet the why.
“Why are you drawing blood?”
“She wasn’t willing to give me hers, and I’m not quite sure you have any.”
“I mean why, Iv.”
Something in his tone must have made her realize that he wasn’t joking around anymore, so she in turn became serious.
“You know how people have this conception that elite boarding schools equal rituals to keep the 1% on top and all that jazz?”
“They have the ritualistic part right apparently.”
“Exactly. They may not believe in ghosts, but if we show them something more tangible, easier to believe, and blame it on Kyle…”
“By them you mean the outside world.”
Hendrick was surprised he had already began thinking of Elysium as a bubble separate from reality, but he supposed there was truly no other way to see it. They were disconnected. More than any of them could have realized at that time.
“That’s enough,” Iv signaled John. There seemed to have been quite enough blood, in fact more than any blood test would have required.
“I do mean the outside world. But to reach the news and make headlines, we need witnesses. We need to convince our schoolmates.”
She got up from her chair and headed towards Gwen, looking surprisingly steady considering the amount of blood she lost and the fact that she was quite petite.
“Wake her up, please.”
“Wait!” Hendrick caught her wrist. “Are you sure she is going to do things your way? I can help with that. Maybe create a little scenario in her head.”
“You would do that? You didn’t seem too keen on my methods, either.”
“Just pour the blood on her, take John and go. When she wakes up she will think I’m Kyle. The rest I’ll take care of.”
There was her answer. When it came to certain people, Hendrick wasn’t sure there was any moral boundary he wouldn’t cross, and that was a harsh realization to have.
***
There is
nothing left for me here. It’s too much. Not enough. I’m bored. I can’t
cope with the stress. Should I just go? I’ve decided that I will. But I don’t
want to be the only one. They all act as if they can handle it, but I know the
truth. I can’t be the only one who feels like this. Why should I be the only who suffers?
In 50 years, if Elysium High keeps doing this to their students, I will come back to cause mayhem. I will take down another poor soul until they learn the lesson. That is the curse I place on to you.
Sean X
By midday the snowstorm had calmed to a drizzle. The rest of the students hadn’t dared yet to venture outside, except for Jabari. Jacy could see him laying down as if ready to make snow angels. Maybe he didn’t know he was already an angel to him. Because of that, even if Jabari had decided to keep secrets, he was going to show his devotion anyway. That was why he had taken the letter.
He walked towards the boy, sinking with every step into the thick blanket of snow. Jabari was looking up at the sky, but he had no doubt that he had been noticed. He lied down next to him and handed him the letter.
“What’s this?”
“Sean’s goodbye letter. Found it in Kyle’s room.”
“How did you get in?”
“There was a cat roaming around in the cold. Kyle must have seen it and opened the window to let her in. He left it open while he went to shower, so I took my chances and sneaked inside. The cat was sitting comfortably on his desk, but I have a feeling it won’t rat me out.”
Instead of laughing, Jabari continued his interrogation.
“How did you know it would be there?”
“You went into the headmaster’s office when you found out about Tyler’s sketchy admission. I assume you would have looked for the letter, too, if you hadn’t found it by accident. And if it wasn’t there, there was only one other possibility.”
“What if I hadn’t even thought to look for it? Or what if I did find it and just never told you?”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“You have too much trust in me. But you’re right. I couldn’t find it and then I just forgot about it, what with all that’s happened.”
They sat in silence for what could have been minutes, just staring at the snowflakes gently falling around them. Jacy knew Jabari had a lot on his mind.
“Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Of course.”
“Was it a black cat?”
That took him aback.
“Yes.”
“Must be the same cat I met on my first day here. Haven’t seen it since, though.”
He felt Jabari stare at him, so he turned his head towards him.
“Aren’t you going to read the letter?”
“No need. It doesn’t take a genius to realize it’s a fake. The paper feels too new.”
Jacy had noticed the same thing. By the smell of it, the paper couldn’t have been dated around the time of the death, even if it looked old enough.
“It also doesn’t take a genius to know that you went to look for him. The ghost I mean”
It wasn’t a question. Jacy knew Jabari. He was sure the boy was on to something and that was what was plaguing his mind.
“I didn’t, but I know where he is,” responded Jabari honestly.
“You don’t have to tell me. I trust you. Whatever you decide, I’m here.
“Thank you.”
Jacy didn’t know how much longer they stayed like that, but he could tell that moment was the calm before the storm and he intended to fully bask in it.
***
When she found out she was something other than human, Svea had accepted it better than most would. Perhaps because she had a feeling or because she knew she had her mother to rely on, even though she had kept it a secret from her. Her friends were accepting and luckily enough, she wasn’t the only one having to hide her true nature. So she quietly spent her afternoons in the forest, learning more about what she could do and about who she really was.
But Nik had none of that. She had called her mother once and asked about the witte Wiwer. They were not very kind creatures, even to fairies’ standards. It was a miracle, her mother said, that they somehow took pity on him and chose to prolong his life. She could see now, as she watched him sit by the window of the classroom where they’d met that morning, that there was indeed a shadow haunting his features, a melancholy that only disappeared when he was with them.
“Have you been here alone all this time?”
He turned to look at her as she took a seat close to the window.
“Yes, but I have you now.”
Svea froze for a moment, but Nik went on as if he didn’t realize just how charged his words were.
“I was waiting for someone to text in the group chat, but I guess they’re all busy.”
“Busy thinking up the most convoluted plans they can come up with, for sure.”
“I was busy thinking, too, actually. About us.”
Svea would be lying if she didn’t admit to her heart skipping a beat as she heard those words.
“What about us?”
“My heart doesn’t work like yours. It’s complicated – I’m complicated – and I don’t know if I can give you what you want or need. Come to think about it, I wasn’t even your first choice,” he said with a humorless laugh. “Even so…I think I like you.”
She wanted so badly in that moment to rejoice at the confession, but she knew she had to ease his concerns first. She also tried to think who else she could have been interested in, then it clicked.
Shiro had been the person she had asked out to the ball, and Nik and Tyler were both there to witness her being rejected.
“If by “fisrt choice” you mean Shiro, then sure, I was interested initially. I mean, no offence, he is probably the most handsome man to walk the planet and on top of that he had the air of someone unapproachable. I saw it as a challenge, nothing more to that.”
“Then what is it that draws you to me?”
She didn’t need longer than a second to think of the answer.
“Your kisses. They remind me of the cold breeze of the forest. You may think I need human warmth to fall in love, but to me a living soul is a vice. My mother told me a skogsrå takes the warmth of a soul not to feed on it, but to revel in it. We don’t need it like we need the air around us. What I’m trying to say is you’re not a vice. You’re not someone I could replace.”
She could see some of the shadows on his face give way to that spark of youth that reminded Svea that even though they may have technically been decades apart, Nik was just a boy who never truly got to experience this side of young adulthood.
“Should we try again, then?” he asked hopeful.
Before Svea could respond, the door opened.
“Have you seen Gwen?” asked Iv looking more frantic than Svea had ever seen her.
Not even a second later, Hendrick showed up as well.
“I found her, finally. But you’re not going to like it.”
“I should sit down first.”
And so was Svea and Nik’s conversation interrupted. She had a feeling however that whatever had happened was more urgent.
“Why would we even see Gwen here?” asked Nik.
“Long story, but Iv brought her here with a plan. A plan that pretty much failed.”
“Why did it fail, Hendrick? What went wrong?”
“There was a group of students in the main hallway…they were having a heated debate about something and when they saw her…well she didn’t even get to say the whole spiel I had taught her.”
“Why?”
“You might want to look out the window,” said Nik.
They all rushed to see what Nik was seeing and it was…Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, except the high school version. That was the only comparable image Svea had in mind to describe the chaos she was seeing. Everyone except them was outside on the snowy field, fighting with one another. In the middle of it all stood a bloodied Gwen, looking equal parts confused and equal parts thrilled by what she was witnessing, even encouraging, Svea would say, some of the students to punch harder, run faster, exactly like the Lady Liberty.
As they were watching that scene unfold, the door opened once more, revealing a very gleeful Shiro.
“You!” exclaimed Iv. “What did you do?”
Shiro seemed unfazed, even with her roommate grabbing him by the collar.
“I just incited the student population to a Civil War! Exciting, isn’t it?”
“How even…?”
“I happened to witness two boys arguing about the green-liners – red-liners thing and that gave me an idea. I possessed one of them, threw the first punch, and then it just all unfolded naturally,” Shiro answered Hendrick’s question.
“Why?” he continued, staring at Iv who had yet to remove her hands from his shirt. “Did I ruin something? Are you the only one who can come up with a plan?”
“I did come up with something, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about your actions. You are a violent being by nature. You crave it, but you need it in small doses, because it can’t always be the answer. Why do you think I let you attack that stupid football player? You need an outlet, I know, but it shouldn’t be the whole damn school!”
“So you wanted to control me.I see now,” said Shiro as he gently removed her hands. His gaze was nothing close to gentle, however.
“You are dangerous.”
“As are you.”
“The two of you, let it go,” Hendrick finally intervened.
“What’s going on here?”
They were all so caught up in the lovers’ spat – were they lovers still? Had they been? – that they hardly noticed Jabari and Jacy enter until the former spoke.
“Nothing,” said Hendrick giving both Shiro and Iv a pointed glare, but they had already abandoned their argument.
The two newcomers didn’t seem like they believed it, but promptly let it go to deliver their own news.
“Jacy has found the supposed letter left by Sean.”
“And by supposed Jabari means that it’s obviously a fake. Also what on earth is going on outside?”
The screams of the students fighting must have drawn Jacy’s attention towards the window. At the same time, Jabari’s phone started ringing. As he was looking through his coat’s pockets to get it, Svea noticed an envelope. If it was indeed the letter and they were sure it was a fake, then that brought about more questions than answers.
“Dianne? What’s wrong?”
Svea wasn’t sure of it was just her having more attuned hearing or if everyone was able to hear Dianne tell Jabari that Enrique – the guy Sean was currently possessing – was gone.
“Tell her to look for him outside,” responded Jacy.
And wouldn’t you know it, as they all gathered once again at the large window, they saw Enrique right in the middle of the quarrel, ecstatic to be delivering punches left and right. She was sure both Enrique and Sean were glad to unleash their frankly sadistic insticts, which made their union all the more dangerous.
Keeping his distance from the fight, Kyle, whose face gave away nothing, was watching over the whole thing with a terrified Tyler by his side.
“He has probably already called the staff,” guessed Jabari.
“Do you think he’ll get away with having let this happen?” asked Nik.
Technically, it wasn’t Kyle’s fault. But as the president, he would be the one responsible by default.
“I have a feeling he somehow will,” answered Iv.
Svea sadly had to agree.
There was more to come.
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