Chapter 40 Slap
Naomi
It has been chaos for the past two days in Teran. It turned out that a group of unidentified individuals had been lurking in Teran. The recent incident that made the news was the fire at Xylos. Almost half of the laboratory was burned down. Some of the workers were burned in the fire.
This had never happened before. At first, they thought it was an accident—the normal day-to-day fire incident that always happens at the workplace. But this was not it.
One of the laboratory workers had been pulled out of the fire with burns covering every part of his skin. Unfortunately, he didn't leave enough information to recount exactly what happened. But he did say that they had been attacked by a group of masked men. President Polivan had stepped out and passed a decree for these men to be found and brought forward. They needed to face the consequences of their actions; and of course, he was not referring to ordinary people like us. He knew the attackers to be werewolves, although he hadn't seen them.
Just like him, the majority of the population believe it to be the work of the werewolves. No one ever attacked Teran except them. And there would be no reason why any of us would want to take down Xylos, so his judgment made some kind of sense.
I wouldn't mind if the werewolf territory could be burned down once and for all. We wouldn't be walking around scared of what might harm us in the dark.
In all of the mess going on, I haven't been able to get a hold of Mr. Rex for almost three days. He hasn't shown up at the place of practice, neither has he been to his office. Even to class, he hadn't been there.
I mean, she was Calix, President Polivan’s granddaughter. She could do whatever.
Again, I still had to ask Ma'a how I ended up in such an elite school, given how low of an income we were living on. It wasn't adding up at all. But then, I was grateful for it. At least something was good in my life.
"So, we all had to stay here and wait for you? Is that what you have been aiming at?"
"You always come late as well. Don't make it seem like I'm the only one who always comes late."
I shouldn't have said that to her. I shouldn't have talked back to her knowing how crazy she was. She could have slapped me right here. But then, damn the consequences. Like I said before, I was ready to go toe-to-toe with anyone that bothered me.
Was he okay? Did something happen? Even at that, he should have told me before so that I wouldn't have to go to the training ground and wait for him. I would have contacted him directly if I had his contact number.
I tossed my school bag on the bed and laid next to it, my eyes up at the ceiling.
Other groups had been created. The president said he needed more search parties out there. Every werewolf terrorizing Teran was to be brought to justice. After the fire incident, we have been going on search parties every night, well-equipped.
Some few minutes passed by. I got into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I got dressed. I took everything I needed and left the house. But that was after leaving Ma'a a note saying that I would not be home tonight, or maybe I would be back in the early hours of the morning.
Fear still raked my body as I passed through that narrow road that led to the main one outside—the same road where Alfred and Linus had stopped me and tried to take me by force. I had waited for the police to come and ask me questions, or even come to our area to ask questions, but no one had showed up yet. However, I still walk with my head over my shoulder. Something could happen at any time.
Mr. Rex had told me he would take care of it. I had no idea if he did that. Wait! I stopped and thought for a while. What if he went there and was caught by the police? What if he got locked up because of me? I wasn't so sure about that. I shook my head. Maybe I was overthinking things.
But it was still a mystery that Alfred and Linus were dead, just like that. We always gathered at the school before departing into the woods with our respective groups. And just like always, the majority of the students were already gathered and waiting. Looks like I was the last person to join them. Even Calix was present as well.
Everyone turned in my direction when I arrived. Well, I was ready for it all today. I was not going to back down anymore. I had taken more than I could chew from them treating me like I wasn't human like them.
Calix approached me, her jaw tight like she would hit me if it was just the two of us here. That thought was surprising, given that she was the type to do whatever she wanted no matter who was watching. And she was one of them—the very person I had been preparing my strength for.
She looked shocked. The other students looked at me with curiosity, probably wondering how I got the nerve to talk back to the almighty Calix. A smirk curled at the corners of her lips. Something dark crossed her eyes. She nodded like she was thinking of different ways to murder me without leaving a trace. Well, let her be assured that I wasn't going down without a fight.
"I can see that you have been taking some audacity lessons. But no problem. I will deal with you accordingly."
She moved away and asked the students to move forward. Benita came to stand next to me with a timid look in her eyes.
"You shouldn't have talked back to her. Who knows what she is planning?" she whispered, and I shrugged.
"I don't care what she is planning."
"Let’s keep going. I will separate you into groups when we get into the woods," Calix said. She led the way and we followed her. I didn't know why she did that, but we followed her anyway.
She kept talking with her friends as they walked in front of us. I took my eyes off them and focused on my inner thoughts. I hadn't caught that familiar scent in a while. Had the person suddenly realized what they had done and decided to leave me alone?
This might sound weird, but that smell did things to me. It calmed my nerves somehow. I remember the first time we went on a hunt, Calix tried to assault me just like she always did. I wanted to react, right until I perceived it. Everything came to a standstill. My heart calmed down such that I didn't feel any anger in me. That was its effect. But I haven't been getting that anymore.
"So, we are here." Calix clapped, bringing our attention to her. She turned and faced us.
It was dark in this area. There was not even any moonlight; it was just the flashlights from our torches. "I will share us into groups. Come back with results," she said and started grouping us.
She paired everyone except me. What was she doing right now?
"Well, you don't have to worry about that because you will be going alone." She looked at me with that sinister smirk on her face.
"No, you can't do that," I interjected. "I have to be paired just like everyone else."
She walked to stand in front of me, fuming as if she was going to do something crazy if I didn't shut up, and I was ready for it.
"You will go just like you have been instructed. You do not question me."
And before I could decide anything, she landed a slap on my left cheek; and because I wasn't taking rubbish from anyone else, I had to retaliate. The slap took her by surprise.
"Did you just slap me?" Her eyes went wide with shock.
"Yes, I just did," I answered back, bitterness coursing through my veins. Who did she think she was to treat me like that?
"No, Calix. You know exactly what to do. Let's finish this first." Her friends came to hold her back when she attempted to slap me again.
"You will be expelled from this school before this week runs out, I promise you."
"Whatever you want to do, I don't care."
She wanted me to go on this dangerous mission all on my own, and when I tried to ask why, she slapped me and expected me to hold back. I couldn't do that. Not anymore. She could report to whoever she wanted; I didn't care.