CHAPTER 295: 295-WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY OF HELL

Clementine:

"Oriana, are you okay?" Ms. Lenora rushed in and moved to hold Oriana and help her out of the bathroom.

Mr. Rick snapped his fingers and gestured for all of us to come out. One by one, we left the bathroom.

The others had bloody faces, especially Yorick and Haiden. They glared at me for a moment before turning their attention back to Mr. Rick.

We stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the ringleaders.

"Are you still going to say that Oriana is the problem?" Ms. Lenora yelled at Miss Rue.

Miss Rue watched my face with a sad expression, then straightened and snapped her head at Ms. Lenora.

She was standing in the middle this time.

"More than before, I believe Oriana is the problem," Miss Rue answered.

"Actually, Miss Rue is right. I was in the bathroom when Oriana and the others broke down the door. Oriana wanted them to assault me, so before she could attack again I tackled her down," As I began to explain, Mr. Rick raised his hand to silence me.

"We are not talking to you," he yelled at me. I felt my fists clench, I knew he could see in my eyes that, if I could, I would have punched him too.

"Why not? Why isn’t she allowed to say her side?" Miss Rue demanded.

"It is her truth. If you do not let her explain her side, how will you determine who is at fault?" Miss Rue snapped loudly, arms folded across her chest.

Her look was the kind people give when they think someone else is the problem.

"Continue, please, Clementine," Miss Rue said in a soft tone, different from how she had just spoken to Mr. Rick.

"I defended myself. Oriana tried to attack me. The only reason she looks like a victim is that she never wins her attacks," I said, scoffing as Mr. Rick glared and Ms. Lenora looked at me in disbelief.

A warrior walked in and held a phone to Mr. Rick’s ear.

He listened, nodded, and made small noises like "hmm" and "got it."

After he hung up, he gave the phone back to the warrior and faced us.

"Well, congratulations. It seems the headmaster has heard about this. You are all asked to join us in the hall. There’s a new punishment for all of you," Mr. Rick announced, and everyone’s posture changed.

We walked behind the ringleaders and entered the hall. Oriana kept trying to draw the attention of my squadmates, hinting that her neck was hurting.

There weren’t many visible injuries on her face except for the redness on her cheek from when I slammed her against the bathroom wall.

She was doing her best to make it look like she was hurt through her shaky body language.

As for the Alphas, even though they had bled, it didn’t seem to have affected their strength at all.

We stood and waited for the last of the Crusaders to join us. It seemed like not a single person would be spared.

I knew that because they either sent one of us north, or all of us. Leaving one behind while the rest were in the north wasn’t something they did.

As soon as Zian walked into the hall and his eyes landed on me, I could already see fear in them.

He knew.

I was sure he did. The Lurker pointed toward our group, telling him to stand with us. Zian hesitated but came anyway.

"What did you do this time?" he hissed in my ear, his hands tied behind his back.

I looked at him briefly and smiled in satisfaction.

"Actually, the opportunity presented itself. I’m innocent, my lord," I joked.

I could hear him grinding his teeth. I might have felt bad if I had started this fight and, because of me, we had to go north.

But now the blame couldn’t be on me. They started it.

It was clear that the one person who would become collateral damage was Zian.

"We are really disappointed in how you all are acting. Ever since the vacation started, it seems like you’ve all spiraled down. Mr. Rick began acting as if this academy, or anything in it, was normal to begin with.

"Since the other squads left, you’ve decided to argue among yourselves, making us believe that the best thing for all of you is to keep you busy with good work," Ms. Lenora said.

She mentioned the north as that good work, saving lives and protecting the mainland from being exploited by the monsters.

The towers were built to protect the mainland so I don’t know why we were needed?

After having a deep and meaningful conversation with Miss. Rue, I also realized they didn’t care about the north, the mainland, or the monsters.

Still, the real intention behind the academy was what I had to figure out.

"Hence, the Headmaster has decided to send you all on a mission to the north," Miss Rue announced.

Her voice lacked the anger and hatred the other two carried.

I could tell she wasn’t happy that we were being sent back, but it wasn’t something she could control anymore.

"What the fuck did you guys do?" Zian hissed in my ear again, making me shrug without turning around to respond.

"What kind of mission?" Zian asked out of curiosity, drawing the attention to himself.

Oriana hadn’t moved a muscle since hearing that we were being sent back to the academy.

"You are being sent to the city of ogres," Mr. Rick explained, probably stealing the ground from under everyone’s feet, especially Zian’s.

Ogres might be deadly, but we had fought Wendigos before, he hadn’t though.

"Zian," I turned to him and smiled. "Well, you can’t have only the good perks. Welcome to the academy, Zian," I said with a smirk, watching his eyes widen.

But before we were dismissed, we saw a Lurker rush in and grab the attention of the ringleaders.

He had a phone in his hand. He showed the screen to them, and the look on their faces told me something truly terrible must have happened.

There wasn’t just shock in their eyes but fear too.