Chapter 22 — Redacted file…

Harry—I meant Amon drove Irene’s car towards the nearest cliff while he left me on the school to get rid of the evidence. As I was covering the tracks of snow made by Irene’s car with a shovel, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking and my stomach from churning.

Amon. My watcher. One of Ivanov’s men was able to become close with me without my knowledge. He lied to my face. Pretended to be someone else. He was right under my nose. The one who sent the beast after me, the one who severed Felix’s thumb and the one who threatened to take Alexander’s life if I don’t kill Irene tonight.

He was right under my nose. It makes perfect sense. He knows everything that’s been happening to me from the day I got here because he’s been with me ever since. My mind was still in a state of shock when all of a sudden, I thought of Andrea.

Does she know?

I doubt it. If he’s really who he says he is then he wouldn’t let a civilian like Andrea notice his true identity. But he’s been here for two years, why hasn’t anyone noticed?

Is he that good? Probably. If he can directly speak to Ivanov then that must mean he is that good at his job. Then why didn’t he just do the job? Why did they have to send me? Someone who’s weak, stupid and desperate.

No amount of punishment could ever make up for this. He was right under my nose and I didn’t even notice. The worst part is that I actually liked him as a friend. Now, how could I ever see him as one when he wants to kill me?

While I was shoveling snow, my eyes landed on the brown manila envelope that Irene dropped earlier. She said this file contains a lot of evidence against me. I took it and hid it underneath my clothes as I heard tires coming up the driveway.

At first, I thought it was Amon but that’s impossible he couldn’t have been that fast and besides if he did drove off Irene’s car down the cliff, he wouldn’t be coming back riding one. I turned around and it was a black car, the exact same one that Alexander left with.

I dropped the shovel in shock as my knees trembled uncontrollably. Shit. What am I going to do now?

“When you find yourself in a difficult situation, take three deep breaths and go back to your center.”

The voice of Grumpy Toad echoed through my mind. I took three deep breaths and thought about my family. My center.

“Cali,” Alexander said with a worried expression on his face as he approached me. “What are you doing out here?”

“I-I was waiting for you,” I said with shaky voice as tears streamed down my face. “You said you’ll be back by New Year’s Eve and…and I saw that the snow in the driveway got thick and I thought maybe…maybe..”

He pulled me into his arms, something that I’ve been waiting for him to do ever since I saw his face.

“It’s fine.” He said in a soft voice as he comforted me. “I’m here. I’m here.”

“You were late.” I murmured at his chest.

“I was stuck in the holiday traffic.” he said, hugging me tightly. “I’m really sorry.”

“Now, let’s get inside, it’s freezing out here.” He said as he led me inside the school without letting me go.

“Do you want to go back to the party or should we head up to my room and drink some hot chocolate?” he whispered in my ear.

“You should go to the party.” I answered as I wiped away my tears. “They are waiting for you.”

“No, what do you want, Cali?”

“I want to sleep. I am so tired.” I groggily said.

“Then to sleep we shall go.” He jokingly said as he led me to his bedroom.

I sat on the toilet with the file on my hand, Alexander was outside unpacking his clothes.

I don’t know how I am going to dispose this without him noticing but I decided to think about that after I have seen what is inside.

With shaking hands and a fast-beating heart, I opened the manila envelope. It was a redacted file. I expected that since Irene may be a rich man’s daughter but he is still not part of the mafia family. Or maybe he is but he just didn’t have enough power to get the original one. I think the latter is more probable, taking into consideration the countermeasures they had taken to make sure that their boss Ivanov’s plan will succeed.

I tried to make sense of the information that wasn’t redacted.

Name: Lilian ——— Griffin Age: 18

Seriously? They decided to hide even my middle name?

Special ability: Telekinesis

First sighting: 6 years old at —————— with her mother, Helen ——— Griffin, a seesaw and ————— elevated ————— for approximately ———— minutes Extracted on: June 18 ———— at —————— in ——————— Pennsylvania

What? What does “first sighting” mean? What did they mean by the words “seesaw” and “elevated”? What the hell is going on?

Observations:

October 30———: The subject ————— upon administering ————— the body showed signs of rejection.

Recommendation: increase the dosage of ————

What the hell? That’s a few weeks after they abducted me. What did they give me?

November 28 ———: The subject ———— body rejected ———— despite increasing its dosage.

Recommendation: use a different a serum

December 29 ———: The ———— test of the new ——— was a success. The subject ——— body showed no signs of rejection. Side effect: insomnia Recommendation: find a ——— to remedy the side effect January 10 ———: The subject no longer experiences insomnia with the new ———. However, the amount of ——— on his bloodstream makes ——— drug addict.

Recommendation: alternate dosage of the first ——— risking effects of insomnia

February 25 ———: Final conclusion: the subject ————, with the help of ———, is under control.

January 10 was the day Doctor Warren entered my room to inject me with a sleeping drug. I looked for the doctor who wrote this and immediately felt a stab on my heart when I saw who it was.

Signed by Doctor ———— Warren What the hell is going on?!

Does this mean I—I...no, no, that’s not true! I have to read it again. Maybe I missed something.

After reading it again for five times, my knees collapsed on the floor as I felt a heavy boulder on my chest.

The drug that Doctor Warren gave me was not to battle my insomnia nor was my insomnia caused by stress and trauma.

“The subject …… is under control.”

“Special ability: telekinesis”

“First sighting…..seesaw...elevated”

They didn’t bioengineer my DNA to become a mutant like they said they did after the tournament. I was a mutant. Before they even took me away from my family. They were only putting my abilities under control while I was training for 3 years. And in the last year before they allowed me to go on my first mission, they decided to let my abilities loose.

They put me under their control. I bet they did this to the other trainees as well. They were taming us down and only allowing us to use our mutant abilities when it will benefit them.

Ivanov that asshole! From the very beginning he was using mutants to fight his battles for him! I thought that only started when he sent me on this mission!

There was another file on the envelope and after reading it, I discovered a more disturbing truth. The...the mutants that died on the arena...that fucking competition to see who’s the best.

They didn’t bury them.

Right after their deaths, they made them into monsters. They used their bodies as a vessel...a vessel! A vessel for Ivanov’s soldiers.

When I saw the description of the creature they created, I felt a tear escape from my eyes. The description fit really well with the beast who attacked me last month and the one who towered over Felix to send me message.

This only means one thing. That person died twice. And maybe they died on the same hands twice as well.

Maybe he was one of the trainees I had to kill in that arena. And now at his second chance in life...

I can’t take it anymore. This is too much.

One of the redacted files was my mission in this academy. None of it made sense but if you took Irene’s notes on the side that she probably got from scanning my mind, one could formulate the premise of my mission.

My hands were shaking as I reached for the last paper inside the envelope. It was typewritten. It vividly described in detail what I did to Cheryl Jones to frame up Liam Adams. It was so accurate that the only for it to be possible is if someone had taken it from my memory.

And someone did. At the bottom of the paper were the words:

I saw this on Calanthe’s memory that morning Cheryl Jones was brought to the hospital. My brother, Liam Adams, did not harm her. You can choose not to believe me, professor, someone who’s been your student for years and believe Calanthe, someone who’s been tasked to massacre everyone at the academy except 30 mutants who fitted her standards. Please, take time reconsider her stay here. The FBI are looking for her. She’s one of the largest Russian mafia family. She doesn’t deserve Deviant Heritage Academy as her home.

Yours truly, Irene Smith She doesn’t deserve Deviant Heritage Academy as her home. These words echoed through my mind as tears streamed down my face. I don’t belong here.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Cali? Are you done? Harry is here to see you.” Alexander said from the other side. I was so surprised that I dropped the papers on the ground. I hastily retrieved them and with shaking hands placed them neatly inside the envelope again.

Amon is here. Amon is here.

“I’ll be right out.” I casually said as I hid the envelope once again inside my jacket. I went to the sink and started splashing my face with water. My efforts were futile since my eyes and nose were still red from crying.

That’s okay as long as I won’t cry anymore. I took three dep breaths before stepping out of the bathroom.

“Are you okay?” Alexander asked as soon as I was out.

“I’m fine.” I said with a forced smile. “Where’s Harry?”

“He’s out in the hallway.”

“Okay, I’ll go see him,” I said as I headed for the door.

“Don’t go missing me already.” I jokingly said which made him chuckle.

“Apologies, my dove, if I ruined your evening.” Harry said in his usual chirpy voice but his face remained emotionless.

“But I have a major fashion emergency!” he said in his usual dramatic voice as he gestured for me to follow him

When we were seven meters away from Professor Alexander’s office and out of the line of sight of the security cameras, he pushed me against the wall with his hand on my neck. He’s at least six foot tall and really strong, something I failed to notice before.

“Try telling him the truth, Calanthe, I dare you.” He menacingly whispered in my ear. “That would make you a traitor and I have a kill on sight order on traitors.”

“Hand me the file.” He commanded as he let go of my neck. I reluctantly gave him the manila brown envelope as I gasped for air.

“Now, that you have proven your loyalty to Ivanov,” he said in stern voice. “You have exactly 48 hours to execute your mission. Failure to comply will make you a traitor, and you already know what happens to traitors.”

As I watched him walk away, I cursed myself for always getting caught off guard when he’s around. I can’t believe I let him choke me twice!

You can’t kill me if I kill you first, Amon.

Even to me that sounded impossible since he had already overpowered me twice! But no, I will not give up. I will not let Amon kill me or anyone in this school. If he wants to harm anyone, he’s going to get through me and once he attacks me, I will be the death of him.

I don’t care if you can produce fire with your bare hands, Amon. I will rip you into pieces before I even let you go near these people.

….

48 hours? Let me borrow 8 hours to enjoy being with the man who means so much to me. I will deal with you in the morning, Amon. And when I do, you better watch your back.

I walked back to Alexander’s office and I saw him by his fireplace, holding a mug with a look of concern and fear on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked which made him jolt in surprise.

“N-Nothing!” he hastily said. “I was just thinking.”

“About?” I said as I sat on the chair opposite to his.

“About you.”

“What about me?”

“You looked really scared and worried earlier.” He said as he stared into my eyes. “Were you really that worried about me?”

“Of course, you said you’ll be home by New Year’s Eve and you were late!”

“But why?”

“I am not answering that question.” I said with a snicker. “Because I know exactly what you want me to say and I will not say it. You’re going to have to wait.”

“It was worth a shot.” He said with a shrug.

“How was the trial?” I said, changing the subject.

“There was no trial,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Cheryl’s family dropped the charges.”

“What?”

“I was really surprised too but I guess it is what it is.” he said as he massaged the bridge of his nose.

“But what do you think?” I asked, staring into the fire.

“What do you mean?”

“If it were up to you, will you have Liam Adams convicted?”

“If he’s guilty, of course.”

“Is he guilty for you?”

“There were a lot of strong evidences against him, so yes, I do think he’s guilty. It doesn’t make me happy though, those two have been my students for years. I never thought that Liam is capable of doing that.”

“Where is all this coming from?” he asked with furrowed eyebrows. I couldn’t meet his eyes. I can’t.

“I was just curious about your principle of justice.”

“My principle of justice is simple. A criminal without a mental disability or illness is a criminal.” He firmly said. “A murderer is a murderer.”

“But why do you exempt criminals with mental disabilities?”

“Because they do not have a sense of control or empathy as a result of their mental illness.” He simply answered to which I didn’t reply. “Cali, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to get to know you better.” I said as the words “A murderer is a murderer” repeated in my mind like a broken record.

“That’s good, can I take my turn?” he said with a smile. “Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?”

“What?” I astoundingly said, gaping at him.

“Given the choice of anyone in the world—”

“No, I heard you the first time, it’s just so…random.”

“Answer it, come on.” He pleaded which made me roll my eyes at him.

“Hmm.. anyone?” I asked to which he simply nodded. “Neil Gaiman, I’m a huge fan of his works. You?”

“Me? Oh, well, the queen of course.”

“The queen?!” I snorted. “Why would you want the queen?”

“Well, it’s because she’s the queen.” He said as if it’s common sense which made me laugh at him.

“Okay, next question,” I said after my laughter died down.

“Would you like to be famous? In what way?”

“What is up with your questions?” I said with furrowed eyebrows “They’re so random!”

“Just answer them,” he pleaded.

“Fine, I want to be a famous book author.”

“A book author? And what will you be writing about?” he said with a grin as he pointed his fingers at himself.

“Ways on how to break up with your annoying boyfriend.” I sarcastically said which made stare at me with wide eyes before chuckling.

“Wait, so I’m your boyfriend?!” he teased while chuckling.

“Wha-What?! No, I did not say that!”

“Yes, you did!” he teased. “So, we are dating.”

“Shut up,” I groaned. “Next question, please.”

“But you said—”

“Next question, please.”

“Fine,” he said in a defeated tone. “What would constitute as a perfect day for you?”

“A day spent with you.” I instinctively said without thinking twice.

“Really?” he said with a smile.

“Next question, please.” I said as I stood up to get myself a cup of hot chocolate.

“Wait, don’t you want to hear mine?”

“No, next question.” I bluntly said.

“A perfect day for me is a day I spent with you—”

“Hey, that’s the same as mine.”

“In bed.”

“You’re disgusting!” I said as I threw a pillow to him using my mind. “Next question.”

For the rest of the night, he kept on asking me random questions like that. I was glad he didn’t ask anything too personal or has any involvement with my past. We slept holding each other tight when we finally grew tired of answering random questions.

The next day I spent all morning with Alexander and by noon I told him I have to go see my friends or they might call the police and file a missing person’s report. He let me go after sharing a passionate kiss.

When I got to our usual spot in the dining hall, Clark’s arms were around Andrea while Felix and Harry were talking about something. Amon is here. How dare he talk to Felix?

I need to act normal. I need to act like nothing’s wrong. I approached the table with a smile on my face.

“And finally, she rose back from the dead!” Andrea teasingly said as I sat down beside Felix.

“Where have you been? I bet you were in Professor Alexander’s room.” Amon said in his usual Harry’s sassy teasing voice. I stared at him for a couple of seconds before regaining my composure. I have to act like nothing’s wrong. I have to act like Harry is not a skilled assassin here to kill me if I don’t do the deed.

“I was not in Professor Alexander’s room!” I defensively said.

“I-I was in my dorm, right, Andrea?” I said while deliberately making my wink at her obvious.

“Oh, come on, couldn’t you have made that wink more obvious?” Clark teased while rolling his eyes.

“My wink was not obvious! And it’s true I was in Andrea’s room!”

“No, you are not! You’re lying!” Andrea squealed as she giggled.

“Oh, come on Andrea! Back me up here!” I chuckled. “I gave you a signal!”

As I said this, everyone on our table started laughing but this time it wasn’t just me who was faking a laugh. I glanced at Harry and there was no sign of Amon in his eyes. How he does that, I have no clue, but starting now I will keep my guard up whenever he’s around.

…

Professor Alexander was smiling ear to ear while he was doing his work on his office. He saw the world brightly today. Even as the sun was already setting, he saw everything in bright color. He felt like anything is possible since he woke up beside an angel earlier this morning.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling every time he thought of her. He couldn’t contain the happiness in his heart so from time to time he would stand up and do some stretching to release some of it. But as soon as he sits down and he thinks of Cali, his happiness tank started feeling up again.

Even as he said “come in” to the knock on the door he sounded elated.

But his smile soon faded when he saw the anguish and despair on James Corvort’s face, his posture was off and he dragged himself across the floor.

“What happened, James?”

James looked up with tears in his eyes and Professor Alexander knew him to be a man who doesn’t show his tears often, that’s when the fear started creeping in his heart. Something terrible must’ve happened for James Corvort to openly cry like that.

“The police called, they found the body of a young blonde woman inside a car near a cliff a few meters away from the academy,” he said with his voice cracking every few seconds. “They asked me to identify the body.”

“It was Miss Irene Smith,” he cried out. “Irene Smith is dead. She shot herself in the mouth.”

Professor Alexander felt his world shrunk as his heart slowly shattered into pieces. Everything around him froze even his own breathing. A few seconds later, he felt his adrenaline rushing through his veins as he started breathing rapidly.

“Are you sure it’s her?” he said, clenching his fist.

“Y-Yes, it’s her.”

“No, no, no!” he angrily said, smashing the table with his fist. “This can’t be. I have to see it for myself.”

He grabbed his coat and sprinted towards the school driveway. James followed him while wiping away his tears.

Please, don’t be true. Please, don’t be her. He continuously begged in his mind as he got in the car and drove as fast as he could through the school gates without even noticing Cali who’s about fight for her life a few meters above him.