CHAPTER 44: 44-THE RINGLEADERS ARE OF NO HELP

Clementine:

"And when have I ever done that before?" I said, standing up, ready to defend myself. "You always bullied me, so don’t act like you’re the victim. I get it, I was wrong. I should’ve just left you there to die. How the heck was I supposed to know you’d want to stay behind for her? And besides, I was told by Ian, just like you were, that Sadie boarded the train," I said, frustration bubbling inside me. I guess the reason these alphas hated me so much was because every time they accused me of something, I would actually speak until they heard my side instead of staying silent and letting them drown in the misconceptions they had about me.

Haiden clenched his fists, muttering curse words under his breath, and then walked away to stand by the closed train doors. We watched him try to force them open. Yorick and Troy rushed toward him to stop him, but once they realized the doors wouldn’t budge, they let him be, letting him take his anger out for a while.

Finally, after a few minutes of Haiden grunting and punching things around, he sat down with his head lowered and his hands hanging, almost defeated. I felt really bad for him. His child was out there. He must have been feeling so awful at that moment.

"Maybe we should speak to our ringleader and let her know what’s going on," I said. This wasn’t an issue we could just sweep under the rug like we had with other matters. It was about a pregnant girl, her baby, and our crusader’s child. We needed to take it seriously and do something about it.

That was when Haiden looked up and glared at me.

"You’re not a hero, Clementine. You fucking stay away from me and sleep with one eye open, because I’ll make sure you suffer the worst now." He made the threat while glaring at me, making me feel awful, as if I had done it all on purpose.

We arrived at the station in what felt like just 10 minutes.

A lot of people were cheering when the train stopped, and all the crusaders were advised to get out, except for our squad. Once the ringleader found out it was the Black Squad that had slain the faun, we were asked to stay behind. For a good fifteen minutes, we were completely alone. We just sat silently in our coach with the train stopped. Others were definitely preparing for the celebration outside, because we could hear the cheering and the music. It was going to be fun, but sadly, not all of us were happy. At least I wasn’t. And I could tell Yorick and Troy weren’t either. Even though they weren’t Haiden’s friends and we had all been brought together by circumstance, they kept stealing glances at him, clearly worried.

Haiden hadn’t raised his head since he sat down and gave me that deadly comment. He kept cracking his knuckles, his head down, and I could only imagine he was holding back tears, because he kept blinking as if trying to stop them from falling.

"Hey, Haiden, don’t worry. We’ll do something about it. We’re definitely not going to leave her out there," Yorick said, patting his shoulder.

Haiden only nodded, not even looking at him. I guessed he didn’t believe us.

Then, suddenly, our door opened and Miss Rue stepped inside with a huge smile on her face. She looked victorious. She was holding a tray full of sweets.

"I’m so glad that my squad was able to do this," she said, quickly stepping forward to hand each of us a sweet to celebrate.

She first went to Yorick, who happily put the entire Lokum in his mouth. I just knew it was a Turkish delight, but had never tried it before. Then she fed Troy. When she moved to Ian, he didn’t let her feed him, but he took the sweet out of her hand and held it in his fist.

She then offered the sweet to Haiden, who took only a very small bite of the tiny cube. He stood up, his eyes red, the veins in his face almost visible.

"Miss Rue, we have a request to make," I said, rising to speak. I noticed everyone looking at me except Ian, who was still sitting in his seat, staring out the window.

"What is it?" she asked, smiling.

"One of the Crusaders from the Red Squad was left behind," I said.

She began nodding.

"I heard some other Crusaders from other squads also died. I’m so sorry. We couldn’t bring their bodies back. Sadly, this is the rule," she said.

That’s when I realized even this supposedly easy mission had cost lives. It made me wonder how crazy things would get when the real danger started.

"No, no, that’s not what I’m saying," I clarified. "The Crusader who was left behind was pregnant. She was actually Haiden’s girlfriend and pregnant with his baby. She suddenly disappeared. Haiden didn’t want to come, but I guess he ended up on the train because of us."

I was trying to use the right words—safe words—because I didn’t want anyone to feel accused or get into trouble. Still, Haiden shot me a harsh, deadly glare that didn’t make any sense. He looked at me like he wanted to tear me apart.

Then Yorick and Troy exchanged a look. It was like they were speaking with their eyes, and it seemed as if something was wrong. They looked guilty too, though I didn’t understand why.

"Wait! Haiden, she was your girlfriend? She was pregnant with your baby?" Rue asked him.

That’s when I realized no one had told her. So maybe I had messed up by saying it.

Haiden kept glaring at me before finally looking at her. Then he nodded.

"She was," he said.

I started to relax a little, my muscles loosening. But Troy and Yorick were the ones showing the most emotion. Ian didn’t seem to care at all.

"I’m really sorry, Haiden. You guys should have come to us earlier. But even then, there isn’t much we could have done," Miss Rue said. "You see, their ringleader isn’t very lenient. Unless both ringleaders agree, we can’t really do much. Besides, it’s the rule, once you’re a Crusader, no amount of sickness can excuse you from a mission. This isn’t something you do for fun."

"But it wasn’t a sickness. She was pregnant," Haiden said, finally speaking up. "How could they make her go fight some monster when she was pregnant, when she should have been resting?"

He was right, and I had to admit it. He really cared about his girlfriend.

"Haiden, I sympathize with you. But the truth is, now that she is left behind, I’m pretty sure she’s dead," Miss Rue replied.