Chapter 8: Panic Arises

Valarie had originally intended to follow Xavier when they heard the scream, but being less physically powerful, she found herself stuck at the back, unable to push through the crowd.

Xavier gave Valarie a signal, and without uttering a word, she comprehended what he wanted her to do. She moved away from the crowd, heading towards the table she and Xavier had vacated. Seated at that table were other students, equally handsome as Xavier, and girls even prettier than Tasha.

"Alright, everyone, get your lazy asses up; we need to search the area," Valarie commanded the others at the table.

"Really?" a girl with long, curly red hair questioned.

"Don't look at me! Xia's orders," Valarie replied. With that, they all stood up and left the cafeteria.

Although the cafeteria remained noisy, students had ceased crowding around the lifeless body, now engaged in hushed conversations about what might have caused the cook's death.

"We're all going to die in this school!" Drake exclaimed. "None of us is safe."

Drake's sudden dramatic shift surprised everyone. Known as a tough guy, why was he being so dramatic? Despite thinking he was overreacting, his words triggered worry, and panic began to spread.

"He's right," another male student said, standing on a table nearby, gaining everyone's attention. A hush fell over the crowd as they awaited any information about what was happening.

"Three days before school resumed, the body of the last janitor was found in one of the toilet stalls," the boy on the table continued. "He was dead, and till now, no one knows the cause of his death."

While everyone believed the student, no one questioned how he knew about an event that occurred three days before the school resumed.

"He knows this because his mom is a staff here," someone in the crowd whispered.

"If this happened in our school, why haven't we heard anything about it?"

"Well, I guess not to raise tension, especially since they don't know the cause yet."

"Why is this happening only in our school?"

"No, it's not only in our school," a voice from the back said, immediately grabbing everyone's attention.

Amid various comments from students, the speaker continued, "Last week, my neighbors died while having dinner, I'm talking about a whole family."

"That's so sad, could be as a result of something they ate," Tasha suggested.

"Nah, forensics said there was no poison in their system. The only thing they could find were two red marks on each corpse's neck." The boy broke down crying, clearly close to his neighbors.

Some students approached the lifeless body of the cook to check for similar marks on her neck. When they found them, fear gripped them. Perhaps Drake wasn't being dramatic after all.

"Alright, everyone back to your classes," the principal arrived with a few staff members, guiding the students back to their respective classes.

Clark and Sage were on their way to class, discussing what had happened, like everyone else.

"Do you think those marks were caused by some kind of animal?" Clark asked Sage, who had been quiet for a while.

"Probably. I can understand if a snake bit the cook and the janitor, but what about that guy's neighbors?" Sage replied. "Hey, I'll meet you in class; I need to get this mess off my clothes." With that, she parted ways with Clark.

Returning from the toilet, Sage spotted the group that had left the cafeteria earlier. Not certain if it was them, she observed the strange girl with a blond bob, and Xavier was also present. Sage was far from them, hiding behind a wall. She didn't know why she was spying, but this group seemed suspicious.

While students returned to their classes, Xavier walked toward the entrance; education wasn't his primary goal here. He had a lead now and needed to follow up.

His friends had ventured to search for what they believed to be the cause of the cook's death—a vampire. If the vampires weren't relenting, neither would he.

"Did you get anything?" Xavier asked his friends immediately upon their return. Two girls and two boys made up the group.

"Red was able to pick up a scent, but we couldn't trace it," the strange girl replied.

"What do you mean you couldn't trace it?" Xavier asked, a slight frown indicating his growing frustration.

"We followed it, just like you asked us to, but then the scent disappeared," a girl with red hair, also called Red, explained.

Before Xavier could say anything, the strange girl interjected, "Before you blame Red, I want you to know that it wasn't her fault. I believe a spell was used to either dull our senses or coat the scent. Whoever did it knew we were around."

"What were you expecting? We're here to find the hybrid before they do, but we are too open. They see what we do and can predict our next moves. That's why they are always a step ahead of us."

Leo and Edward had both remained silent since entering the school, but now Leo felt compelled to speak. They were engaged in a game with the trickiest person they had ever known, and he would use their moves against them; they had to play smart.

Xavier had to concede; Leo was right. If they continued searching for the hybrid so openly, they would be doing all the hard work for Lucian, the vampire lord.

"Where did the scent lead to?" Xavier inquired.

"It led into the woods," Edward replied. "I know you want to check again, Xia. Just be careful." Xavier didn't say anything, but he nodded his head.

"You can all go," Xavier said, dismissing them.

Edward stayed behind while everyone left. He walked toward Xavier but stopped a few feet shy of reaching him.

"Hey man, I heard about your loss. Your dad was a good man; don't ever forget that." Xavier didn't say a word to Edward; he just kept nodding his head until Edward walked away.

Behind a wall in the school hall, Sage had heard everything Xavier and his friends discussed. She couldn't make any sense of it. To her, it sounded like they were in competition with another group of students, but it didn't make sense.

Sage saw Xavier walk out of the school and decided to follow him.

Xavier had exited the school and was now in the woods, searching for any sign that could point him in the direction of the one he sought. Slowly walking behind him was Sage, keeping her eyes on him to avoid losing him. She had to stop to tie her shoelace, which had come loose during the trek. When Sage got up after tying her lace, Xavier was nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, she continued to walk on the path he was on, this time a bit quicker, assuming he must have gotten ahead of her. However, there was still no sign of him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an object coming towards her, but before she could react, it pounced on her and squeezed her neck tightly. Sage was losing her breath, her vision getting blurry, but she managed to speak. "Please, let go."

The person who had pounced on Sage, gripping her neck, turned out to be Xavier. He had mistaken her for someone else, thinking it was a vampire, and without waiting to think, he hid when Sage was distracted.

“Why are you following me?” Xavier questioned, lacking patience. He would have snapped Sage’s neck, but he hesitated; he couldn't sense any vampire energy or any supernatural presence. In fact, he sensed no energy, whether wolf or human, so he paused.

“What? No one!” Sage managed to reply as Xavier loosened his grip around her neck a bit to allow her to answer.

“Let go of her,” Xavier’s wolf shouted inside his head, and Xavier immediately released his grip. Although Xavier was filled with anger and didn’t recognize whose neck he had held firmly, his wolf did. It had memorized every piece of Sage's structure and could tell that this was his mate.

When Xavier let go of Sage, she quickly pulled herself away from him. She had almost died at his hands, leaving him filled with fear and shock.

“Sage?” Xavier asked, a mix of concern and shock in his voice. He had come dangerously close to killing her which scared him.