CHAPTER 269: 269-SHE STICKS WITH US NOW

Clementine:

We were all watching as Ian came downstairs and stared at us.

"What took you all so long?" he asked casually, acting like he wasn’t aware of our glares.

We had all been secretly communicating with our eyes, wondering how he had come from upstairs. It didn’t look like he had been in the tunnels with us.

He was perfectly showered, not hyperventilating, and definitely on the second floor.

"What?" he asked, finally reacting to our silent stares.

"Were you in the tunnels? We didn’t see you." Oriana went ahead and questioned him for all of us.

The way he looked at her and secretly clenched his jaw was bizarre. The Ian I knew was cocky. He used to act weirdly and be mysterious, sometimes rude.

But now he has completely changed. He was mostly annoyed, angry, and arrogant. Even so, his silent glares were terrifying.

"It’s not my fault you guys were slow. I went inside yesterday after you and, in about an hour, found the coals and came out," he shrugged, making my mates look at me and then at each other.

Those silent stares were mostly directed at Yorick, because he always waited for Ian. Even I did. But right now, I had my own agenda with Ian.

The fact that he went in, took the coals, left, and spent the whole night upstairs just resting, without worrying about anyone else, proved that he was right when he said he wasn’t like the others.

That he didn’t care about anyone.

I don’t know why it hurt so much. I should have stopped thinking about him or relying on him the minute he forced marked me.

But I guess I was hoping he’d have an explanation, maybe that his wolf had acted up, but no. Even that excuse wasn’t going to hold up in my court anymore.

"So we’ve all collected the coal. Does that mean we can leave?" Oriana smiled, sighing in relief. I could only imagine how she felt.

After the way she had been dragged back and how her father died, she was probably thinking, like the rest of us, that maybe someone would be left behind this time.

"Yeah, there’s no need to stay behind anymore," Haiden stated, getting up. I noticed his bag.

"I am so glad we are all fine," Oriana shared as we escaped the house. The fleshmingo started to come after us, but we already knew we didn’t have to fight because we were leaving.

So we began moving through the woods. It reminded me of our first task, which was also in the woods.

It was odd. There was some chittering of little monsters here and there, so we began sprinting quickly toward the station.

Once we arrived, we knew we still had to wait for the train. It was already evening, and I was worried the train might not come until the next day.

We sat on the benches. Oriana was the only one walking around, staring at the benches a little too hard.

Then she turned around, scratching her stomach, and looked at Haiden.

"Haiden, do you have anything to eat?" The way she asked and the way he instantly got up somehow caught my attention.

I don’t know why, but it just hit me. I know it wasn’t unusual, but I just noticed it.

"Sorry, what?" Haiden asked, already standing. He was busy throwing away the empty plastic food containers from his bag.

"I asked, is there any food left?" she asked again, hands on her waist.

"Yeah, I have a chocolate, if that’s okay," he said, bringing it out of his pocket and handing it to her.

"Thank you, you are always a savior." Haiden shifted into a rather sweet, dainty little thing as she thanked him.

She was smiling strangely, but I decided not to look at them too hard, it was getting a little creepy. She walked away, but now and then she would turn to look at Haiden.

Haiden was busy with the others. Troy was doing his thing, and Ian sat alone on a bench far away.

Finally, my heart revived when I heard the train arriving. Everybody got up instantly, especially Ian. He almost jumped off the bench, too excited to head home.

We boarded the train, and while we were in the same carriage, as per the rules, Oriana stayed on her own.

The train ride was awkwardly silent, not because something disastrous had happened, but because we were going back to find out why they had shunned us.

I had a feeling something must have happened for them to suddenly send us on this journey.

When we arrived, we immediately noticed that the ringleaders were not there. This time, only the lurkers and the headmaster were present.

He gestured for the lurkers to take our bags and check if we had completed our mission. I wondered if they realized how cruel it was to threaten us with being sent back if we didn’t collect enough.

But that was it. This was what they were known for.

One thing stayed prominent in my mind, where the heck were the ringleaders?

"Take them straight to their dorm rooms," the headmaster told the lurkers, and they began to make us follow. We all sat in one suv, whereas Oriana stayed in the other.

The silent journey began once again, mostly because we didn’t want to speak in front of Ian. Lately, he had been acting weird, and it didn’t feel like we were on the same page anymore.

When we reached the academy, the lurkers made sure to surround us so we wouldn’t wander off. Immediately, I knew something was up.

While walking toward the main hall to go through the passage, I noticed something from the corner of my eye.

For a split second, when two lurkers accidentally put a little distance between them, I caught a glimpse of the ground. I noticed one of the ringleaders doing something there.

But the lurkers quickly stepped back into my view, and we were led into the room. Silence filled the space until Ian went into the bathroom to take another shower, like always.

The minute he was out of earshot, we all faced each other.

"They’re looking for Bodhi’s diary," I said first, remembering that I had given Miss Rue the idea that maybe Bodhi had hidden a diary somewhere with the truth about the academy.