Chapter 67 HUNT FOR AARON!
"What did you just say?" the mother snarled, licking her lips like a predator savoring its prey.
"You heard me," I shot back without hesitation, dropping my gaze to my shoes. I could feel the weight of every stare from the windows above. The entire school student was watching, their faces pressed against the glass like ghosts in a haunted house.
No one ever touched Melanie. Why? Her parents were filthy rich-they could bury any scandal. The last girl Melanie tormented had ended her own life, but the school swept it under the rug, calling it "academic stress." Her parents grieved in silence. The dead girl never got justice.
If there was one thing I'd learned as Celina it was that monsters deserved to taste their own venom.
"Expel her!" the woman shrieked, her voice cracking with rage. I didn't flinch. I just stared straight into her eyes, calm and unyielding. That only fueled her fury. She shoved the teacher aside and-
POW.
Her palm cracked across my cheek, snapping my head to the side. The pain exploded like fire, but I licked the blood from my split lip and turned back to her, my eyes burning.
"I will ruin you! How dare you glare at me like that?" she screamed.
A bitter sigh slipped from me. Melanie, that spoiled, blonde nightmare: stood there, to the side, watching with a smug little smirk.
"If you ruin me," I said quietly, "I will ruin your daughter too."
The woman went feral.
Slaps rained down on my cheeks: one after another, sharp and relentless. I didn't move. Didn't blink. But out of the corner of my eye, I caught Melanie's smirk widening. I'd wipe that off her face soon enough.
Then the door burst open. Jolie came crashing in, dropping hard to her knees on the cold floor. Those slaps hadn't broken me, but seeing Jolie like that, humiliating herself for my sake....twisted something deep inside my chest until it felt like it would tear.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, my voice cracking.
Jolie wouldn't look at me. "I'm so sorry on her behalf!" she cried out, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Stand up, Jolie. You did nothing wrong!" I pleaded.
She stayed down, her head bowed. "Please let her go," she begged the mother.
The woman paused. Something cruel flickered in her eyes. She licked her lips again, folded her arms under her chest, and stepped forward.
Her stiletto heel came down hard on Jolie's fingers.
A raw, piercing scream ripped from Jolie's throat.
The sound shattered me. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to my knees beside her.
"I'm sorry, please don't hurt her!" My voice came out soft, broken. Jolie was the one person who could bring me to my knees. The only one.
"Punish me instead!" I begged, staring at that heel grinding deeper into her fragile fingers. My hands shook violently. Fuck.
I wanted to shove the woman away, to end it, but that would only make things worse for Jolie.
"Let her go," I whispered, turning to the mother. "I'm sorry. Punish me. Just me."
I could see Jolie biting back her pain, trying not to cry out again.
My gaze snapped to Melanie, dark, venomous. "I'm sorry," I forced out, the words tasting like ash. "Tell your mom to let her go."
Melanie just smiled, cold and triumphant. She didn't say a word.
"Why should I?" she finally drawled.
That was it.
They made me stand in the blazing sun for hours while classes dragged on. Students gawked from windows—some with that triumphant smile, some pitying, most just mocking.
"She deserves it."
"What a pathetic wench."
Their whispers followed me as they passed, but I stayed silent. Because Melanie had laid down her terms:
"If you stand out there for both class periods, I won't touch her again."
I laughed bitterly when she said it, but I accepted. Anything to keep Jolie safe.
Later, I escorted Jolie to the infirmary. Her fingers were swollen and bruised. Cassandra was there too, fidgeting, rubbing her own hands like she could feel the pain.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I caused all this. Please... just ignore me next time they bully me. I don't-"
"Stop." My voice cut her off. She froze. My whole body was still trembling from the rage I hadn't let out. I licked my dry lips.
"You didn't cause anything. Melanie's just a vicious asshole."
I turned to Jolie: my friend, the one person who had stuck by me and gave her a tired half-smile.
That was hours ago.
Now I stood soaked and reeking, while those same assholes tossed expired milk cartons at me during break. The teachers looked the other way. They always did.
A low growl escaped my lips as I locked eyes with one of the girls. She froze mid-throw.
"You're dead the second I'm free," I said, my voice low and deadly.
Both girls shivered and backed off, but then Melanie strolled closer, and their courage returned. They kept going. Of course they did.
When the final bell rang, I stank of sour milk and rot. I grumpily walked back to class, ignoring the stares and cruel laughter. I'd grown numb to it long ago.
But the moment I stepped through the door, my blood turned to ice.
Melanie had Jolie and Cassandra pinned against the desks, yanking their hair, slamming their faces down. That bitch had grown bolder.
The two lackeys from earlier froze when they saw me, their hands still tangled in my friends' hair.
"She's here-stop," one stammered.
Melanie just laughed. "Why should I care? She's no god."
Of course she had watched her mother break me earlier. She thought she owned me now.
I licked my lips slowly and walked straight toward her.
"Move," I said.
She scoffed. "Make me."
My lips curled into a dark smile. "Sure. Do whatever you want."
I shifted toward her desk instead. She laughed, thinking she had won.
Then I grabbed her heavy textbook and swung it full-force into her face.
It connected with a sickening thud. She crumpled to the floor, blood trickling from her nose, dazed and gasping.
"Oops," I said sweetly, kicking her bag aside as I slid into my seat. "Look what you made me do."
Jolie stared at me in shock. Cassandra looked at me like I had become death itself.
I dropped my head onto the desk, tuning out the chaos as everyone screamed about Melanie bleeding.
The next day?
Expelled.
Not me......
Her.
Turns out she couldn't win after all. I had recorded every second of her bullying, the slaps, the threats, the cruelty and uploaded it all with proof. That even her mum's money couldn't take down.
She was gone.
But her parting words still echoed: "This isn't over. I swear it."
I brushed them off. I thought it was finished.
Until that night on the rooftop.
Cassandra stood at the edge, tears streaming down, her body trembling like she was about to jump.
But something felt wrong. She didn't look willing.
Then I saw her...Melanie creeping up behind, her hands reaching out.
My stomach dropped. The girl who had "committed suicide" years ago... Was pushed. It hit me like a blade to the gut.
If I run to the rooftop, I would be too late. If I pulled out my phone to record, Cassandra would fall.
So I did the only thing I could.
I called out, loud and clear: "Really, Melanie? Pushing another one off? What would the world think if they knew you killed the last girl?"
She froze mid-step.
"Who the hell are you?" she screamed into the dark.
Laughter bubbled up in my throat, cold and sharp.
"I caught everything on camera. Kill her, and you're a murderer."
She laughed back: manic, unhinged. "I can disappear in minutes. Plus even if you have the video, I'll just say I have mental issues, get reduced jail sentence and I'm free or Mommy will bail me out, just like last time. That last girl was annoying. She deserved it. I pushed her when she couldn't do it herself... and I still got away."
A sneer twisted my lips.
"Bravo, Melanie. You just confessed to everything... on a live stream."
Her face drained of color. Too late...she realized.
I had already called the police.
Cassandra turned, saw me through her tears, and ran into my arms. She clung to me like I was the only thing keeping her alive.
"I'm alive because of you," she sobbed, over and over, heavy tears soaking my shirt. "I promise I'll make it up to you one day."
I hated hugs. Always had.
But I wrapped my arms a
round her anyway and held tight.
That's how I met Cassandra.
(Flashback ends)
And now she's a respected detective.
I need her to find Jolie and Emily.....While I go hunt for Aaron.