Chapter 19 The Woman Behind The Scarf
The Woman Behind The Scarf
Dylan’s POV
We couldn’t sleep that night. We just cuddled each other on the couch while trying to make meaning out of the photographs we spread on the table.
Liam picked up one of the pictures, turned it over and checked the back to know if he would see any other hidden message, but none. He looked at the angles carefully and the distance between us and the cameraman. He has lived up to three hundred years on earth and in those years he had tried to handle threats, so finding out who did this won’t be much of a problem for him.
For real, I couldn’t think clearly because of the discomfort of seeing my own face plastered across dozens of pictures with dried blood framing the edges. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I was never alone even when I thought I was, the thought frightened me badly.
“Do you recognize the handwriting?” I asked, looking at the Arabic script again.
“No.” He put down the photograph he was holding. “But the message isn’t the point. The message is just confirmation that whoever sent this wants us to know they’re close enough to do something with what they have.”
“So it’s a warning?”
“It’s a leash,” he said. “They’re not exposing anything yet. They’re showing us they can.”
“Could it be someone from the academy?” I asked.
“I can’t tell at this point, this person is on to get us.” He said. “It obviously started when you joined the academy, so they are not off the list.”
Liam got the team’s register and we started going through every name we could think of. Teammates whose interaction had sat slightly off, and every moment over the past weeks where something had felt suspicious. We came up with possibilities and dismantled most of them before morning. By the time the light changed outside the window we had a shorter list and no proof for any of it.
“I need to start going,” I said, standing up already.
“Why? Let’s go together.”
“We can’t afford to be seen together at this point. If the person who sent this is truly from the academy, the two of us walking side by side is enough information and we don’t need to hand it to them freely. I think it’s best if you stay back home today. Whoever it is will stay off the radar for one day while we figure out the next step out.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” He agreed, but I could see how lonely he felt when he said it, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and looking at the photographs still on the table.
I walked inside the academy expecting the energy that they gave me yesterday, the collective look and loaded silence like they just saw me for the first time. Instead, it felt surreal as I walked in, they looked at me the same way they did before, waving back at me when I greeted them. Someone passed me my water can that I forgot yesterday without being asked. I pinched myself slightly to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Calen fell into steps beside me with his normal energy. I pulled him aside immediately.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Yesterday this place was ready to burn Liam at the stake and today everyone’s acting like nothing happened.”
Calen glanced around briefly. “The coach talked to the team this morning before you got here. He told everyone to drop it, said the matter was being handled internally and he didn’t want it affecting our performance.” He shrugged. “You know how it is. The coach says leave it, they leave it. Most of them weren’t that invested anyway, they just go wherever the energy goes.”
“Interesting,” I said, nodding my head in surprise.
I trained hard while observing each one of them. Cole was the top suspect on our list and if he was the one who sent it, he would definitely be stealing glances at me, wondering where Liam is but he wasn’t. He was with the two guys who had been loudest yesterday and they were busy practicing. The coach pushed the drills at a pace that left no room for anything except work which I suspected he did deliberately.
After the final whistle I was gathering my things when one of the teammates approached me
“Dylan, the coach wants to see you in his office.”
“Sure,” I said and he left.
I went to his office and his door was locked. I knocked twice but no one answered. I checked the time on my phone and it was getting late. I didn’t know whether to leave or wait, but I had to wait to hear what the coach wanted to say.
I waited in the corridor for close to an hour and eventually the door opened and the coach stepped out, he stopped when he saw me standing there, which told me that he had forgotten he called for me. He stepped back and held the door, and I walked in.
That was when I saw a lady seated inside the office, at the far edge of the chair nearest to the wall, her body angled slightly away from the door. She wrapped a scarf around her head and it pulled forward across the lower half of her face, covering everything below her eyes. She was already looking toward the window when the door opened and she kept looking there deliberately, her body language of someone choosing not to be seen.
Immediately, the coach moved between us, obviously trying to make me not see her face.
“You sent for me,” I said.
“Where is Liam?” He asked.
“After everything that happened yesterday, he couldn’t come,” I replied.
“I just wanted to remind you of what I said yesterday, in as much as I find it hard to believe that Liam took my ring, to sort this issue out, he needs to apologize to me.” He said.
“If you are finding it hard to believe that it’s Liam’s doing, then you should try and investigate, rather than seeking an apology from the wrong person… See you tomorrow.” I said and left his office.
I stepped out of the corridor, picked up my bag and headed for the exit, walking through the building with my head down.
I was almost at the main door when I heard quick footsteps behind me.
I stepped aside to let whoever it was pass and caught a flash of the scarf in the corner of my eyes. She was walking fast with her head down, and the scarf pulled tight, walking toward the side exit.
Something was very suspicious about her and I had to follow her.
“Excuse me,” I said and my fingers mistakenly caught the edge of her scarf and the scarf pulled away from her head.
She turned and I saw her face.
“What are you doing here, Vivian?” I asked with my eyes wide open in shock and surprise.