Chapter 60: The hearing 2
Andria’s POV
"The badge on the clothing he wore inside the hoodie gave him away. As we fought, his hoodie shifted slightly, exposing the Ashwood badge on his nightwear," I explained, pointing to the left side of my chest, as a gesture of where the badge had been.
"So where were you taken to?" the whitish-blonde Lunar spoke up.
"I was taken to a dungeon inside a casino, called the den of coins. The men inside the casino were on hooded black cloaks; they were vampires."
I paused and looked at them to know if they were following. They whispered amongst each other, with worried expressions gracing their faces.
And then something strange happened. I could hear what they were whispering to each other. All at once, I could listen to what they were about to say.
I was hearing multiple things, like I was reading their minds.
"Do you think we can believe what she just said?" one of the council members whispered into another’s ear.
"The street footage shows that she is telling the truth, and every other evidence too," Beta Clara, my history teacher, defended.
"Becca has still not recovered from that deadly night as we speak, so how do you still think that I’m lying?" I spoke up.
"Now, Aria," the headmistress began, "This allegation you are bringing against Tracy is a grave and tricky claim. First, you were abducted by a school student who is supposed to have made deals with vampires."
The headmistress paused, turned to look at the school council members and then turned back to me.
"That means that the sigil was recently breached, and the kingdom stands a chance of being at war soon with the underworld. And Tracy or the other student being involved with underworld creatures might be banished to the underworld. Therefore, you have to be sure about your claims."
"I don’t know who the male student is, nor do I know about Tracy’s involvement, but what I do know is that the male abductor is a student in Ashwood, and I can identify him anywhere, and maybe we can find out who sent him or trace the actual perpetrator. Don’t you see that not only is Ashwood in danger, but the entire kingdom?"
"That’s true, Aria, we know that, but we just want you to clarify your claims. Besides, Alpha Zade also made some claims that he overheard some students discussing some business with the supposed vampires, and the vampires claimed that the person who hired them was Tracy," the whitish blonde explained, her voice softer but still very firm.
"Although that is still a speculation," Prof. Garrich Ulfrich cut her off. I could tell that he was taking Tracy’s side and trying to get her off the hook.
"Well, we have to bring in the two suspects. If you can recognize any of them, then the questioning will begin," the headmistress continued, ignoring Prof.Garrich’s attempt to defend Tracy.
The door opened, and the two suspects were pushed into the hall. I looked at each of their faces, but could only recognize one, but he wasn’t the one who abducted me.
I just happened to sight him in the casino, at the entrance to the dungeon. He might know something about this, or might just be a gambler.
"Can you identify any of them as your abductees?" the headmistress asked, gesturing towards the suspects.
"None of them is the one who abducted me, but one of them was seen at the scene of the crime that night. I happened to glance at him before I was dragged into the room where Becca had been beaten till she passed out," I said, pointing at one of the suspects.
Prof. Garrich shifted in his seat; he looked uncomfortable with my revelation. What if Prof. Garrich were also involved in this?, That would be quite a shame.
"His name is Wayne, he happens to share the same apartment with Zade, the Alpha of the Silvernight pack," the whitish blonde Lunar voiced out.
Ok, what a beautiful revelation, Zade’s apartment wasn’t safe after all. Thank goodness I always trusted my instincts.
"Wayne, come forward, you have a lot of questions to answer, and if you lie, we will find out, and you won’t be happy about what happens next," the headmistress warned him, while she drew up her sleeves.
Just then, Alpha Kaelric stepped into the council meeting, like he owned the room, causing the entire room to turn towards his direction.
"You are late for the hearing, but at least not so late for the questioning," the headmistress addressed him sternly.
He gave a lazy shrug and directed his gaze at me, sizing me up and gulping. That single gesture really excited me. Athena was burning up, and my cheeks were probably a bright pink, and if I didn’t apply the witch’s ointment, my scent would be all over the room.
He winked at me and walked over to the suspect. He was the one to question him. Being a Dravari, he could also read minds like vampires can, and so it’s impossible to lie to him. Making him the suitable pick for the questioning.
"Aria, you can now leave us," the whitish-blonde Lunar said, "Becca should prepare for her hearing too, as soon as she recovers fully.
I walked as fast as my legs could carry me out of the room. I was very grateful that I was asked to leave because the air in the room changed as soon as Alpha Kaelric stepped in.
His stares got me all heated and uncomfortable, so I would have chosen to leave that room anytime.
As soon as I left the council room, Liara met up with me.
"How was the hearing? I would have loved to show up at the hearing, but the campaign must go on," Liara reasoned with me.
"I’m totally grateful to you; besides, there’s nothing that I said there that you haven’t heard before from me."
I enveloped her in a heartfelt warmth. I really felt tense at some point in the council room, especially when I found that I was hearing their minds audibly.
Something about my vampire senses has been unleashed, and soon my true identity will be found. I just hope I can hold on longer until I obtain the wolf status I have been working so hard to get.
"I hope you haven’t forgotten about our reading group. We should also commence revisions, because as the elections are fast approaching, so are the exams, so we need to be very ready for both," Liara spoke, breaking the silence that fell between us after the hug.
"That’s true, we haven’t even met to discuss any subject since we formed our little reading group. And the exams are first approaching. Although we can’t start anything until Becca recovers fully," I replied to her.
"Yeah, that’s true, Becca has to be well for us to read. We can’t leave her behind," Liara murmured.
"Is anything wrong?" I asked Liara, and her tone came off with some attitude as if something went wrong.
"No, nothing is actually wrong. I was just thinking aloud, you know, the exams are fast approaching, and I can’t afford to fail because I couldn’t read," Princess Liara said in a low tone.
"You seem smart to me, so I don’t think you can fail," I assured her.
"Have you had lunch yet?" I asked as we moved towards the cafeteria.
"We can catch up with everything as we eat. I’m famished, actually. I was waiting for you to finish presenting your testimony at the hearing so that we could eat together," Liara said with a pouty face, rolling her eyes at me.
"Awwn, that’s so lovely and heartfelt," I squealed to her, smiling from ear to ear.
"Stop screaming, I might just go deaf," she teased.
The cafeteria was almost empty; every student had already retired to their dormitories. One of these days, I would love to see Becca, but for now I can’t," Liara said as we settled to eat lunch.
"I know you want to, but you can’t, and anytime you are free to visit, you can. Please tell me how the campaign has been so far," I said, gradually changing the topic.
"Well, there has been so much progress; we have been able to win seventy per cent of the school population, to your side," she explained with so much excitement in her eyes.
"What about the platform and the speech?" I asked
"Well, I already set up the platform a long time ago, and I’ve been able to convince a lot of students to join the platform. Your campaign has gradually turned into a war against bullying campaign, capitalizing on the events of the last few days," Liara illustrated with so much interest.
"As it was meant to be, I intend to put an end to the nameless bullies like Tracy."
When the words came out of my mouth, Liara gave me a light smile, and there was an awkward silence between us.
"Hmmm," Liara cleared her throat to draw my attention.
"What’s that?" I asked her. She looked like she wanted to ask a question, but she was finding it difficult to ask.
"Ask your question, you look like you have a ton," I urged her.