Chapter 23 — The truth behind his eyes…

At sunset, Amon told me to meet him in the rooftop where we could talk in private. When I got there, he was leaning on the railing with his back on me.

“What do you want?” I bluntly said as I crossed my arms against my chest. He didn’t turn to face me, instead he threw a small metal tube in my direction. After catching it, I opened the tube and inside was a papyrus with unfinished boxes and dots written all over it.

The Rosicrucian Cipher.

After decoding the message from them, my heart felt heavy against my chest.

Calanthe Amon New Direct Order Kill Them All No Traces Twenty-Four Hours Vadim “Vadim?” I asked in confusion. “Ivanov’s second?”

Amon didn’t say anything. He just kept his back on me which made me feel weird since he wouldn’t shut up earlier when he was still pretending to be Harry Sandoval.

“I will start a fire in the kitchen and let it spread throughout the east wing,” he began to say in an impassive spread. “By dawn, this place will be in ashes. All you have to do is make sure that no one gets out. Use your telekinesis to permanently lock the doors and windows.”

“I will knock three times on your dorm room in three hours, that’s the signal which means—”

“Wait! What are you talking about?! I am not going to do this!”

He spun so fast to hit me with a ball of fire that I barely had enough time to duck.

“Traitor!” he bellowed at me.

“No! I am not a traitor!” I screamed at him as he continued to throw balls of fire but I kept on evading them by running side to side. “I am loyal to Ivanov! That is not Ivanov’s order! That’s Vadim!”

“You know this is what I hate the most about young bloods like you!” he said as he threw another ball of fire on my direction, I wasn’t quick enough to evade it so it grazed the sleeves of my coat.

“You don’t know anything about the family! It’s normal for usurpers to come and take the position as boss and we have no right to complain!”

“You know what? You were doing so well!! Disposing of Liam Adams and Irene Smith, two of the greatest threats in your mission. But you were too weak to get rid of the last one! You even slept with him!”

“You traitor! Calanthe, the question is not the loyalty on bosses but the loyalty on our family’s name!”

“I only have one family!” I bellowed at him as I used my mind to shot his arms up before throwing may knife at his stomach.

“You bitch!” he said as he released a massive gust of fire to my direction. I threw myself to the ground but it wasn’t enough as I felt a burning sensation on my right arm.

I ignored the excruciating pain on my arm as I willed my mind to throw him off the railing. With my hand on my arm, I ran to the railing hoping to see his dead body but a skilled assassin is not going to die from a fourth-floor drop. I saw him stood up and slowly spread his arms to his side as a massive surge of fire gathered around it.

His eyes were fixated on the school building and not on me.

“NO!!” I shouted as I jumped off the railing and rolled my body before I landed to keep myself from dying. The thick snow also served as a cushion for my fall so I barely felt any pain.

I quickly stood up and focused my mind on his arms. I want to break his arms but nothing is happening.

“The roots of telekinetic abilities are the mind and the heart, our emotions, feelings and thoughts.”

I have to let my emotions rule over me.

I steadied my breathing and let all the pain, fear, suffering, heartache, anger that I have locked away in my heart washed over me like a pail of boiling hot water. Then all of a sudden right before he pointed his fiery arms to the school, the bones on his wrist, elbow and shoulder simultaneously broke. He let out a deafening cry of pain as he fell on his knees.

My knees started to buckle, I felt a piercing pain on my head and my ears started ringing, I unconsciously touched my right ear and felt liquid coming out of it. When I retrieved my hand and looked at my finger, it was blood.

“You bitch! I will kill you!” he angrily shouted at me as he stood up. “I will make you pay!”

He started running to my direction and I thought I am doomed. I don’t have any weapons and I am experiencing the worst migraine. I can’t use my abilities.

But instead of attacking me, he ran straight pass me and into the woods. Anyone would’ve been happy that their enemy decided to run away but not me for I know for certain that he will be back and when he does, he will not be satisfied until he has my head on a silver platter.

“CALI!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!” a furious voice shouted behind me and when I turned around it was Alexander; his face was livid and his eyes were resentful as he stared into mine. The man I woke up to this morning is gone.

He started to march inside the school and my instincts told me to follow him which I did. When we got inside his office, he was fuming mad.

“What did you do?!” he shouted at me. Now that he’s up close, I can see that underneath his resentful eyes were a hint of fear. Fear? Fear of what?

“A-Alexander I can explain, I—”

“And Irene?! What did she ever do to you?! Why did you kill her?!”

“Kill her? Alexander, what are you talking about?!”

“Stop playing games with me Cali! I know who you are!” he shouted loud enough to make my heart beat faster again.

“What are you talking about?”

“Is it part of your mission to kill Irene?!” he bellowed. “And what about Harry?! Is he part of your fucking mission too?!”

“Y-You knew?” I breathed out as tears started to form in my eyes.

“H-How much did you know?” I said in a low voice as I felt my knees weakened so bad that I had to hold on to one of the chairs near the fireplace to keep myself from collapsing. I couldn’t breathe through my nose.

“Everything.” he said while gritting his teeth. “I know everything, Lilian Mae Griffin.”

…

The moment Cali heard her real name come out of Professor Alexander’s mouth; she fell on her knees to the floor. She didn’t have enough strength to support herself. A part of Professor Alexander wanted to run to her and help her up but the image of Irene Smith’s body kept flashing to his mind which makes him angrier to the woman in front of him.

“H-How long have you known?” Cali asked him with her voice cracking from crying.

“Ever since I first met you and heard your thoughts about craving for pain, I already saw you as a threat to the safety of my students,” he explained without changing his tone. “So, I decided to always keep a close distance to hear all your thoughts.”

That’s when Cali looked up to him with anger in her eyes. It was her anger of his betrayal and lies that her to her feet. He stared straight into his eyes and at that moment Professor Alexander saw a stranger in her eyes.

“I have one question, for you, Alexander Grant.” She spitefully said. “Why did you treat me differently compared to all the students here?”

“And this time, don’t lie.” She warned him.

“At first, it was because I wanted to change your mind and stop you from pushing through with your mission.” He explained. “I never heard from your thoughts what it was exactly but a quick search in your belongings proved my doubts.”

“When I found out that your mission was a mass murder, I couldn’t let you do it, I had to tame you or else—”

Professor Alexander was cut midsentence when Cali punched him on the face.

“Tame me?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as tears streamed down her face. “Did you even know what happened to me? Did you even know what I had to go through to get here?! Did you even know what it will cost me if I don’t succeed in this mission?!”

“I know!” he screamed as he stood up to face her. “I know that you were taken away from your family three years ago, trained and tortured to be an assassin and that your abilities were tested when you fought for your life in that tournament. I know that those people promised to let you go home after this mission!”

“Hell, I even know that you can’t leave this place or else you’ll die!” he shouted at her face. “And I understand, Cali! That’s why I had done nothing but to be kind and show you that you can heal from your pain and find a home here, with us. That you can ask for my help and I will gladly help you get justice for what you’ve been through!”

“But what I don’t understand is why do you have to kill Irene Smith!”

“What makes you think that I killed her?!”

“Well, didn’t you?! Irene is not suicidal. She was coming here to show me some evidences about you. I was prepared to shut her down and tell her that everything is okay, that you won’t harm anyone!”

“I did that for you!” she broke down, placing a hand on her chest. “I did that for you! And you, you lied to me! You knew and you didn’t do anything!”

“You knew and instead of helping me go to the authorities to arrest those bastards, you did nothing!” Cali yelled at him as he pushed him with her hands “You made me believe in your sweet words! You knew and you watched as I suffered in pain!”

Professor Alexander couldn’t find the right words to say. He just stared at the pain in her eyes as tears started to stream down his face too.

“Were any of it true?” she desperately said. “Were anything you said true or did you only say them because you’re afraid that I would lash out and kill your beloved students?”

Professor Alexander remained silent but the apologetic looks on his face shattered Cali’s heart.

“Answer my question, damn it!”

“I-I don’t know…”

“Fuck you.” Cali helplessly snapped back. “You could’ve just thrown out the glass bottles or burned my stuff but you did nothing. You knew all along and you did nothing.”

Cali’s knees started shaking again so she sat down and with so much exhaustion in her body she wiped her face with her palms.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He said in a low yet stern voice.

“Amon told me to kill Irene Smith or else he would kill you.” Cali impassively said as she stared out into the window as if waiting for Harry to show up.

“Who’s Amon?”

“Why didn’t you know any of this? I thought you were reading my mind?” Cali said with an exasperated sigh.

“I stopped reading your mind when you made me promise not to do so.” He said in a low voice. “I keep my promises.”

“It doesn’t make you any less than a liar.” She snapped back at him.

“You lied too! You were the one who came in here under a false name and identity to—”

“Because I wasn’t in the position to not lie! My hands were tied! Yours weren’t and yet you did nothing! They literally had a poison inside me that will trigger once I escape! They were watching me! ” Cali exclaimed. “They had someone inside before I got here!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Harry Sandoval is Amon. He’s one of them.”

“I don’t believe you.” Professor Alexander said in a spiteful tone. “You’re a liar. I should never have listened to you.”

“I know I lied to you about my past and who I am but what I felt for you was true. I love you, Alexander.”

“It’s funny how this is the first time you said that…. Perhaps out of desperation?” He said in a voice filled with loathing.

“You were the one who—”

Before Cali could protest further, Professor Alexander commanded her mind to sleep and within seconds, she was unconscious.

“Say it.” Professor Alexander said as James Corvort opened the door that connected their two offices.

“We’re not children, Professor Grant.” He dismissively said. “Now, what are your plans with her?”

“Lock her in an empty dorm,” he ordered. “I’ll call the authorities and have someone come up here tomorrow to pick her up.”

“And the poison in her veins?”

“That’s up to the authorities to decide.”

James Corvort simply nodded and carried Cali on his back. Once they were gone, Professor Alexander let out his rage by throwing anything around him to the floor. He screamed and sobbed at the same time as he continued to thrash his entire office.

He didn’t stop even though his hands were bleeding as Cali’s words echoed in his mind.

“You knew all along and you did nothing.”

“You knew and you watched as I suffered in pain!”

He sunk to the floor near the window as the truth dawned in him. He did know. And he did nothing.