Chapter 84 Cutting class

Chapter 84 Cutting class

Eloise

This has to work. It was the only option we have. After the heirs already caught us sneaking around the dungeons, we had to be extremely careful so we weren't caught again.

The five of us have figured out a way to make sure of this in a few easy steps.

The first step: create a distraction.

“Uhm… professor!” Raihn raised his hand in history class the next day after we gathered in my room.

Professor Micah glanced towards him, an eyebrow raised. “Yes, Dahaan?”

Raihn looked uncomfortable as he swallowed. “I don't feel so good.”

The professor's eyes furrowed and he strolled towards us. Raihn's uncomfortable expression deepened and he winced. I glanced at him, concern written all over my face.

“What exactly is the problem?” The professor asked.

Raihn's face reddened with embarrassment. He glanced around. The whole class was now staring at him expectantly. He had interrupted the professor while he was narrating a particularly interesting tale about the foundation of the Dragon Keep.

Raihn leaned towards the professor to whisper but I still heard him clearly as I was sitting beside him, “It’s my shoulder blades. The place I got injured during The Binding.”

“Isn't that healed already?” Professor Micah said.

“It is, but it still feels a little numb. The healers asked me to come in today but I just assumed I was fine so I didn't go. Clearly, I'm not.” He winced slightly, clutching his shoulders.

My heart dropped at the thought that he's in pain. “I'm so sorry, Raihn. You're in pain because of me.”

He gave me a croaked smile. “Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. As long as I go to the healers right now.” Then he turned to the professor. “Can I go, please?”

Professor Micah nodded almost immediately. There was no hesitation on his face, only concern. “By all means, go ahead.”

Raihn muttered his thanks and attempted to stand up. He slumped back into the chair and winced in pain.

“I should go with him. I'm the squad leader. I'll make sure he gets there safe.” Aeron said.

“Yes yes, go ahead.” Professor Micah nodded.

I watched as Raihn and Aeron exited the class, the latter wincing in pain. For the next fifteen minutes, I couldn't do anything except shake my legs anxiously and bite my nails.

I don't even bite my nails. But the anxiety seem to get the better of me today. I couldn't stop glancing at the door, hoping the two of them would walk back in and Raihn would be fine.

“Would you just join them?”

My head snapped back from the door to the professor who was now standing just a few feet away from me.

“Huh?!” I blinked in surprise.

“It's clear you're no longer paying attention to class anymore because you're worried about your friend. You should go after them.”

“Really?” I asked, still not believing what I was hearing. The entire class groaned collectively when Professor Micah nodded with a smile on his face.

I didn't wait for him to change his mind before bolting out of the classroom. I basically ran down the hallway until I exited the class buildings.

When I got to the path leading to the infirmary, I saw Raihn, Aeron, and Lidia leaning casually against a wall.

“What took you so long? We've been waiting forever.” Lidia said as she pushed off the wall.

The concerned look on my face melted into a wide grin. I wiped away the fake tears that had gathered at the corner of my eyes.

“Try fooling a professor and the entire class that you're on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.” I sighed. “How did you even get out of class?”

Lidia shrugged. “I snuck out.”

Aeron shook his head. “The rest of us had to make up fake scenarios and you just ‘snuck out’?”

“It's not my fault you're all dorks.” She snorted.

“Hey! I'm not a dork.” Raihn glared. “Our way was much better. We tied up all the loose ends. If anyone's searching for us, they would believe I went to to infirmary for a check up, Aeron accompanied me, and El came to see me later. You, on the other hand, are in big trouble if you're caught.”

“Whatever.” Lidia rolled her eyes.

“Guys, we need to move. What's the use of skipping class if we just stood here lazing around? We will be caught soon and it would be for nothing.” Aeron said.

The four of us nodded simultaneously. Tina was the only one absent in our group. I doubt she would have any excuse of skipping classes, especially with Yulemas so close.

“Raihn, Aeron, would either of you do the honours?” Lidia asked.

Raihn grabbed my hand and dragged me into a hug. Within the blink of an eye, we had shadowshifted from our previous location to the front of Aurelia's dorm room.

It was only seconds later before Aeron and Lidia shadowshifted to join us. The four of us were standing in front of what used to be Aurelia's bedroom.

After our unofficial meeting the previous night, we've all decided to search Aurelia's previous room for any clues that could prove whether she was possessed, or that could reveal what her motive was.

“Her room could be empty. They might have burned all her stuffs like they do to literally all dead students. This could all be for nothing.” Raihn said.

“Unlikely, she died late last night. And her name wasn't read on the death roll at Briefing this morning, which meant they might not even know that she's…” Aeron swallowed the last word. It was still hard to say it.

Aurelia might have not entirely been good to any of us, but she was still our squadmate. None of us had wanted her dead.

“I'll get the door open.” Lidia said and went ahead to pick the lock like she did the other day. She got the door opened in no time.

The room was exactly as we left it on the first day of our Binding when Lidia and I came here searching for Aurelia. The papers I had accidentally knocked off were still scattered on the floor.

Whoever was behind her murder had definitely not thought to check her room or they had removed everything that could implicate them. That made our chances of finding anything slimmer.

I took in a sharp breath, refusing to give up. We had already come this far, we might as well see it through.

“What exactly are we searching for?” Raihn asked as he walked around the tiny dorm room.

“Anything that might point us in the next direction.” Aeron answered before I could. He looked anxious seeing this room. After all, he had been there when Aurelia died.

“Why does she have drawings of all of us?” Raihn frowned, just taking note of the papers.

“Question of the year.” Lidia responded sarcastically as she pulled out drawers after drawers, emptying their content on the floor.

“That is creepy.” Raihn shook his head as he opened the armoire.

We all began searching. I could hardly concentrate on the search. My mind kept drifting to those last moments with Aurelia. Being here, in her room where she was lived, made the memories of her last moments fresh.

Especially as she kept calling me “child of none”, the exact name that ancient voice inside me had called me as it dragged me down that awful memory lane.

I blinked those memories out of my mind and tried to focus on finding something, anything. So far the only thing we found was more drawings of random people. Maybe her family members or the targets of the person who possessed her.

The thought immediately hit me. What if all these drawings were targets? She had hurt me and Raihn. What if she had planned to hurt these people too?

“That doesn't look right.” Raihn muttered as he stared at something in the ceiling.

“What?” Aeron asked.

“Remember the game we used to play when we were little? Where we'll fix little bricks into a board to find the brick that contained the treasure?” Raihn asked.

“Yeah?”

“Well, look.” Raihn pointed at the ceiling. “The pattern fits ‘fill the bricks’.”

Aeron and Raihn exchanged glances and then conjured shadows to lift them up. Lidia and I stopped searching and stared at them as they solved the puzzle.

“This is ridiculous.” Lidia muttered and shook her head.

I wanted to agree with her, but the males were right. The ceiling of my room certainly didn't look like that. And we've been searching this place without finding anything for the past hour.

What's the best place to hide something you don't want anyone to find?

In plain sight where they will never think to check because it's too simple. No one would think to check the ceiling.

“Found the tressure!” Raihn squealed as he pushed a wooden plank in the ceiling.

He quickly dodged out of the way as it fell to the ground. Their shadows disappeared and they landed on their feet as we all hovered over the piece of wood that just fell.

It was a box. A very weird looking box that didn't seem to have a lock.

Aeron crouched down to examine the box. “How do we get this opened?”

Lidia crouched beside him, probably to see if it had anything she could use to force it open. There was nothing.

“Maybe it's locked with magic. It needs a spell or a magic word.”

“Like a password?”

“Vega.” Raihn said. We waited in silence but nothing happened.

“That's too simple and quite frankly just dumb.” Lidia snorted.

“You've got a better idea, genius?” Raihn scoffed.

The two of them began arguing about how dumb or not dumb Raihn's idea of the password was.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway and they instantly went silent. Aeron quietly tiptoed to the door and peeped outside.

“It's Professor Micah.” He whispered.

“Why the hell is he in the girls dorm area?” Lidia whisper yelled.

“Maybe he knows we lied to skip class.” Raihn said.

“Then shadowshift us away from here before he catches us.” I added.

The footsteps grew louder as Raihn quickly lifted the strange box in his hands and took Lidia's hands. They were gone within the blink of an eye.

Aeron grabbed my hand and we shadowshifted away a second before a strange scent filled the room.