CHAPTER 257: 257-THEY WATCH US IN NORTH

Clementine:

"Since others will return in some time, Oriana will be staying in your room," Miss Rue informed us as she let Oriana in.

We had just woken up when we were told that Oriana would be staying with us. She looked dull as she entered, with bags under her eyes, swollen lids, and a red nose. She seemed timid, not the Oriana we knew. No branded clothes, just an old sweater and a worn tracksuit.

She walked in with her arms stiff, hands clenched into fists, shoulders tucked in, and head down. Then she stepped aside, finding a place to stand.

"There is an empty bed that hadn’t been used since one of the members had died in the early phase," Miss Rue paused to take a deep breath as she mentioned Riv—the one who had died during the ogre test.

She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, her face showing the sadness of having lost a crusader. I guessed she wasn’t used to losing anyone, since she hadn’t lost another crusader after that.

"You can take over that bed for now," she added gently, patting Oriana’s back.

We silently watched her. Ian grunted, got up, and left for the bathroom. Of course, he didn’t care about anyone.

After Miss Rue left, I got up from my bed and rushed to Oriana’s side. The moment I sat down beside her, she hugged me and broke down. I already knew whatever had happened was bad.

"Hey, calm down. We’re here with you," I told her, trying to comfort her.

"No, nobody’s here anymore," she cried softly, shaking her head and sniffling.

"But what happened? How did you end up like this?" Troy asked, reaching for a bottle of water, but she refused it. She just clung to me, head on my shoulder, arms wrapped around me, refusing to even speak to the others.

After she cried a little more, she finally seemed to regain her senses. She sat up while rubbing her eyes but kept holding onto my sweater with two fingers.

"So, what exactly happened?" Haiden asked again.

She lifted her head, looked at him, then turned to answer me instead.

"My father promised that he was going to make me stay, that I would never return again," she murmured, her lips quivering. I figured she must’ve gotten too hopeful, and when those hopes broke, she couldn’t handle it. But I was wrong.

Before any of us could ask what really happened, or why her father said that, or even if he was just trying to comfort her, she explained why she was back.

"And then I woke up to my father being dead."

A gasp escaped my lips as soon as she said that. She shrugged and hugged herself, her lips trembling again, tears streaming down her face.

"My father was my whole world, Clementine. He cared for me, he took care of me. I know they killed him. I know they killed him because he was not going to let me stay in this stupid, fucking academy."

She suddenly started cursing the academy, while we exchanged glances with each other.

"You know, Clementine, they’re fucking lying to us. They have so many fucking secrets."

It was the first time Oriana admitted that she’d noticed something was wrong with the academy. That caught not only my attention but my mates’ as well.

"What do you mean? Do you know anything?" I asked quietly, and she glanced at me again.

"It’s okay, you can talk in front of them," I told her, realizing she was waiting for my permission before speaking to the guys.

"I heard a few things in the last two days," she sniffled, wiping her cheeks clean.

"What did you hear, Oriana?" I asked, watching my mates grow excited as well.

"I heard them talk about the Lurkers, about how they’re orphans. And I began to wonder, why are there no orphanages? Where do all the orphans go?" she murmured softly, watching our faces.

That’s when I felt my heartbeat start to race.

"Actually, I’m a bit convinced that you’re up to something," Haiden spoke suddenly, pointing at Oriana.

"I remember when I became an orphan. One night, some people came to take me away. I was only seventeen at the time. There was always some dispute about my birthday. And I remember—people in black used to collect the crusaders, but that time it was people in white. They took me away, almost like an abduction. Then they brought me to some place. It was all white—white walls, wires everywhere. There were chemicals, medicines and weird stuff going on. I remember waking up briefly. And when I passed out again, I found myself back in bed. I swear I saw the Lurkers’ outfits when I woke up briefly."

Haiden snapped his fingers, as if a distant memory had just hit him.

"Wait, so do they take the orphans as Lurkers? Maybe they chose you as one and then changed their minds because you’re an alpha or something? Or maybe because you were not of age?" Troy wondered, trying to make sense of it, while Yorick stared hard at the floor, piecing things together.

But this theory made the most sense.

"And my family knew something about the North," Oriana spoke up. "When I was little, my stepmother used to get so excited about certain days. She’d bring popcorn, lots of food, and say they were going to watch a movie. But this time, my stepbrother said some things to me—things only I should’ve known. Things I never even confessed to during the interview with the ringleaders after I returned from North," Oriana explained, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"What stuff? What was it that you didn’t share with the ringleaders?" Haiden asked her.

I noticed she turned to me, almost as if asking me to stop them from pushing that question.

"It’s okay. We’re not gonna judge you," I told her, trying to reassure her that it was fine.

But she shook her head.

"It was just little things, nothing important. But it proved to me that maybe– maybe they’re watching us."

In a soft, gentle tone, Oriana gave us exactly what we’d been suspecting but couldn’t confirm before without proof. We all exchanged glances and nodded.

"But how, and why? Why would they be watching us suffer?"

There was a lot to unpack, and it felt like we needed to hurry before it was too late. Only a few of us were left now. It would be easy for them to get rid of us and bring in new crusaders.