Chapter Thirty-One
Paige being shot and Heather’s death had sent the school into an uproar. There were so many outrageous rumors from people claiming to know what happened or assuming to know. Amongst the rumors, I had been the one to be painted as a bad guy. It was crazy. I had told the girls what happened, and they seemed just as shock as I had been. I also told them about my display of dark powers. Kerry and Taylor had done their best to comfort me, but only Yuri actually knew what I was going through. I now understood her sleepless nights and her dark moments. I had killed someone. I’d taken someone’s life. No matter how much Heather seemed to be loose of a few screws, she didn’t deserve to die.
All of it had become too much for me, that I needed an escape from all the whispers. Thankfully, today was the day that Paige was allowed to have visitors. She had been in the hospital for a week and was finally moved from critical condition to stable condition. On the way to the hospital, I stopped by to get her some flowers and other trinkets that I thought she would enjoy. I had been in the hospital before, so I knew just how boring life in the hospital could be.
Stepping off the elevator, I searched the room numbers until I found Paige’s room. Finally finding it, I stood outside for a moment before knocking on the door.
“Come in.”
I pushed open the door and stepped into the room. Paige turned her attention from the small black TV perched in the corner. Seeing me, she gave me a look of surprise as I stepped further into her room, shutting the door behind me.
“Hey.” She said.
“Hey.” I walked over to the side of her bed. Standing beside her, I handed her the gifts I’d purchased. “I brought you some things to have until you get out. It’s not much, but’s it’s enough to keep you busy.”
Paige sniffed the flowers before putting them in her lap. Turning to the bag, she removed the different items smiling and oohing. She finally spotted the Cree King CD and squealed. “Oh my God! This is Cree’s new CD. The pre-order copy hasn’t even come out yet. How did you get it and how did you get him to autograph it?”
“It was nothing. Since Kerry and Cree are dating, I asked for a favor. He was more than happy to do something for one of Kerry’s best friends.”
“Kerry and Cree are dating?”
“Oops.” I said covering my mouth. “That’s not supposed to be public knowledge. You can’t tell anyone, okay.”
Paige nodded as she hugged the CD happily. “Don’t worry. I’m not like his other fans that don’t expect him to have a girlfriend. The guy is eye candy. I would find it weird if he didn’t have a girlfriend.” Paige tucked the CD back into the bag. “This was really cool of you. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
An awkward silence settled in the room as the two of us tried to think of what to say next. Eventually the awkward silence began to disappear as I told her what happened after she was shot. She was sad that Heather was dead, but she wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Heather had almost killed her and she was finding it hard to let go of the resentment she felt and forgive her. I didn’t bother telling her how Heather died since it wouldn’t make any sense to her. After we talked about Heather, we then laughed about the stupid rumors that were going around about us at school. It felt good to laugh about it with Paige. She assured me that once she got back to school, she’d set the record straight about what happened. She disliked me, but not enough to frame me as a killer.
“Why do you hate me?” I asked Paige quietly.
“Huh?”
“Why do you hate me? I never understood what our beef was about. What did I do to you?”
Paige shuffled under her covers. “It’s not you that I hate Autumn, it’s your mother.”
“My mom?”
Paige nodded. “I never told anyone the real reason for my parents divorced. My parents divorced because my father was in love with your mother.” My eyes widened in shock as Paige gave a sad smile. “Your mom was my dad’s first love and he never let my mom forget it. She was older than him when the two of them dated in high school. They broke up for some reason he never explained. When he finished high school, he planned on getting back with your mom, but by that time she had already met your dad. My dad was heartbroken, but he eventually moved on. Or at least so it seemed. One night, I overheard my parents arguing about her. The two of them had been sneaking around behind my mom and your dad’s back. My mom demanded that he end things or she would end up taking me away. In the end, it was my father who left. Your mom and my dad were supposed to run away together and get married. Only your mother never left your father. Instead she told him never to contact her again.”
“My father tried to come back home and make up with my mom, but it was too late. The two of them got divorced, and I spent my childhood bouncing between households. One weekend while staying with my father, we attended a party hosting by some really important people. The party was one of the most boring parties I had ever been to, but I found it bearable since the boy I had a crush on would be there. I had been all set to confess my feelings to him, until I saw your mother there. I knew that if my father saw her, my night would be ruined. So I tailed her, and that was the first time I saw you. You were standing near their buffet line with your dad. The two of you laughed about something until your mom interrupted. I remember she said something mean to you that made you walk off, and your parents break into an argument. Instead of sticking with your mother like I should have done, I followed you. It took a while to find you, but when I did, it was like looking at your mother all over again. You were talking with my crush K.J. I could tell right off that he liked you which made me angry. The anger turned into pain when K.J. pretended to not know who I was.”
“I’m sorry Paige. I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t. I’m not blaming you. I should have known K.J. would never like me. In the end, I marched off to find my father who was with your mother. What surprised me was that they were speaking into such angry tones, and then your father showed up.”
“My dad?”
“Yeah. When he showed up, both our parents froze. Your mom said something else to my dad and walked off leaving your dad to stare at mine. After that, my dad snatched me up and we left the party.”
I sat there trying to take in everything Paige had been saying. My mom had been having an affair with Paige’s dad, and it seemed my father had caught them. So many things were starting to make sense now. I now understood why my mother treated my father the way she did, and why after a while my father stopped trying to win her over.
“Our parent’s conversation was so weird that night. They were arguing over something about a painting and not disappointing the Invisible Spider. I thought the two of them had sipped way too much champagne.”
At Paige’s words I froze. “The Invisible Spider. They talked about that.”
“Yeah.” Paige said giving me a suspicious look. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing. Paige do you know whether my mother kept in contact with your father after that night.”
“Of course they did. She was the one to tell him to stay away and yet they continued to meet up and call each other.”
“Did they talk about the Invisible Spider again?”
“I’m not sure. I think I heard it mentioned a couple more times whenever she came to visit my dad. The two of them would shut themselves up in his office, and sometimes some other people would join them. My maid Lisa said they all worked together part of some type of organization, but I think Lisa was fooled. My dad was a teacher.”
I left Paige’s room, my mind rushing with thoughts. I tried to ask her more about the private conversations but she couldn’t remember everything. She also grew suspicious about my questioning. The last thing she informed me was that her father cut off contact with my mother after my father died. He avoided all of her calls and tol
d security not to let her on his property.
Climbing into the back of a taxi, I gave him the address to the school. The cab driver turned on the radio as the radio DJ chatted on about some kind of a contest. I was about to tune him out until I thought I heard him mention my name.
“Excuse me sir, can you turn the radio up please?”
The taxi driver turned up the volume to the radio.
“The next song is dedicated to Autumn Jones from a special someone, who wants you to know that he hasn’t given up on you. From your secret admirer, who calls himself The Invisible Spider, here’s Blondie with One way or Another.”
“One way or another I'm gonna find ya
I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha
One way or another I'm gonna win ya
I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha
One way or another I'm gonna see ya
I'm gonna meetcha meetcha meetcha meetcha
One day, maybe next week, I'm gonna meetcha
I'm gonna meetcha, I'll meetcha
I will drive past your house
And if the lights are all down
I'll see who's around”
Chills ran down my spine as I suddenly felt claustrophobic. Outside the car, the sky had darkened and the sounds of thunder rolled in. In a panic, my eyes searched wildly as if I knew he was close by. The cab driver began to hum along with the song as I placed my hands over my ears, and the words from the song got clearer and the music grew louder, louder, and louder.
Epilogue
The inhaling of alcohol did nothing to take away the torturing thoughts in my head. The only thing it was good for was creating a headache that seemed to be pounding louder than the music that came from Jessica Piers stereo system. Getting off of the floor of the hallway, I made my way through the gyrating bodies of girls as they danced with each other. I stumbled to my room and leaned against the door. Great it was locked. I knocked on it a couple of times before I realized Autumn hadn’t made it back yet. She’d gone to see Paige at the hospital. Switching my cup to the other hand, I dug in my shorts for my key card. It took a second for me to hold the card right so the scan could detect it.
Hearing the beep, I pushed open my room door and stumbled in, closing it behind me. Tossing my cup to the side, I made my way to the bathroom to wash my face. I would feel better once I cooled down. Turning on the water to the sink, I ran my hands under it before dashing it on my face. I went to dash my face again when a loud squeak sounded in my ears. Groaning, I covered my ears from the horrid sound. I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me. Since the heist, I had been feeling under the weather. My stomach wouldn’t stop cramping up, and the headaches wouldn’t disappear. My thoughts had also made a turn for the worse. They were growing darker. I did all I could to keep it from the girls. I hated to be selfish, but I was glad that Autumn had started to experience what I went through after killing Mark. Soon she would start showing the same symptoms, and then I wouldn’t feel so alone.
A knock came from our room door as I sighed. Didn’t they understand that I didn’t want to be bothered? I tried to ignore the knocking as if I wasn’t here, but it continued. Growling, I marched out of the bathroom over to the room door and swung it open. Karen stood there with her hand on her hips and a scowl on her face.
“There you are Yuri! I’ve come to inform you that I will be informing Headmaster Blake about the illegal activities going on in this dorm.”
“So. Why are you bothering me about it?”
“Because it appears this wild party and alcohol was your idea.”
Okay so maybe she was right. After a little persuasion on my part, I got Jessica to throw a party. I needed to take the attention away from Autumn, and I needed a release from my thoughts.
“As you know, this violates the rules of Baldwin Faith Academy, and if you and the other mindless drones had read your pamphlets, you would know that the punishment is expulsion.” I stared at Karen as her words sunk in. Sensing my fear, she gave a smirk. “That’s right Yuri. You’re on the way out of here, and Autumn will be next.”
My body began to heat up as I felt that dreaded bubble of anger rise in me. Karen turned getting ready to take a step when I reached out and grabbed her collar. Yanking her into the room, I slammed the door.
Out in the hall, the girls continued to dance and laugh. The music slowly began to rise, blaring out the screams that came from behind the fourth dorm room.
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