Chapter 19

Hailey's POV

Having to calmly walk back to the dorms and change in to more comfortable clothing, like I do

every day and then calmly walking back to the school grounds, books in hand was the act of the

day.

Today was not an ordinary day.

Today was the day I find out a few things but one of them, the most important of all was to find out

if Thomas was okay.

The day was especially draining.

The teachers didn't even give us much work to do, most just had us read for learning. The bad

feeling and heavy tension was weighing everyone down. Clearly the teachers too.

To be honest, my intuition was screaming at me to take cover. Protect myself by staying in my room

and waiting for whatever this feeling is to go away but Thomas. I am worried about him and after he

risked getting beat up by Jaxon's friends, I owed him plenty.

Walking in to Mrs Gellars office, I find it empty. The entire school was actually empty, which was

terrifying and definitely unusual. Mrs Gellar was always in her office and students would be running

around acting like fools.

Today, not even school security was present.

If a pin dropped, I'd hear it. That's how quiet it was, in a school filled with children. Was there a

meeting I did not know about? But Thomas's bloody stench was still in this office.

Definitely stronger but it ended here. I could not smell him anywhere.

"Also, how am I smelling him right now?" I ask myself. Chuckling to shake off the weird feeling in my

gut.

I hear distant sounds, choosing to follow them quietly and I see Jaxon. He was talking to Azuri,

holding hands as they stare in to each other's eyes. I felt a pang in my heart, followed by a stab and

then the entire thing falling to pieces as they hug each other.

My insides wanted to lash out at them but the coward in me stayed rooted in place. What would I

say?

What if he denies me in front of Azuri? I'd die of embarrassment. He denied her before, why

wouldn't he do it to me?

Oh damnit!

Why am I even dating this asshole?

I hear another growl, which gains the two lovebirds attention and they pull apart minutes later to

chase the sound. I wait for them to get out of sight before I follow them. If anything, following them

will lead me to the animals and hopefully Thomas.

I was not following them out of curiosity and jealousy. No, this was all for my friend.

Thomas was more important than finding out if my own boyfriend is cheating on me, right? He's

hurt. I can deal with Jaxon later or right now, everything could reveal itself to me.

The growls got louder and louder, as glasses broke. My feet moving faster to really find out what

was going on, until the growls stopped. Seconds later, I hear them on the other side again,

confusion clouding my brain as I try to grasp how the animals could move from one side to the

other in less than a minute.

I turn around and start running to the new location, feeling like a clueless agent that has not had

any field training or combat training. If I actually find the wild animal growling, what would I do?

Why did I even think this was a good idea?

"I smell her! She's here. Someone find her right now!" I hear a voice say.

Something inside me tells me they are talking about me and I run back, looking for a place to hide.

That form of fitness and stamina, long gone as I start to breath heavy and the fear growing, soon it

would cripple me.

I find a door and I open it, shutting it before checking what kind of room I'm in. Upon inspection, I

realise I'm in a broom closet and there's no way out.

Smart.

Like I said, an agent with zero training and even if I had a lock pick, there was no lock to pick. The

thought of being stuck in here had me breathing heavy, my heart beating faster and faster as fear

begins to have me seeing black spots. The growling sounds get louder, my brain immediately

thinking the animals are coming for me and I think I black out for a minute before coming back.

"You listen here. Thomas is in more danger than you. Find a way out of here or you won't be able to

find your friend.” I pep talk myself.

Didn't work as my heart continued to beat erratically. Although, I was breathing fine so I looked

around for any signs of getting out.

Why did I have to be so curious? Is it really important to know everything and make sense of it all?

"Now look at me! Stuck in a broom closet at school because I had to follow Jaxon. Just great!" I say

to myself. Scared to death and definitely moments away from pissing my pants from all the

growling going on outside.

I honestly knew something was weird with Jaxon but animals at school? Did he have a secret pet or

some weird science experiment gone wrong?

Oh no...

He was the type to torture animals by doing twisted experiments on them. If that is the case then I

can't just hide in here and let the boy I am secretly in love with do this to those poor animals,

probably dogs or whatever.

Maybe I need to stop watching crime documentaries, especially with ones of serial killers and

people with weird fetishes.

I need to find that courage I had when I stood up to my father and his vile wife. He is just a boy,

what could possibly go wrong? Thomas needs me!

The broom closet door swings open before I could talk myself in to pointless bravery to reveal Azuri,

looking at me with deadly eyes. I could've sworn her eyes changed colours.

"Pointless hiding in here. You were made the minute you arrived little human girl.” Azuri says to me

as she drags me out. She throws me on the floor as I land on a pair of white sneakers that look a

little too muddy, even for me.

Little human girl? Guess I'm not dog enough to be tortured but I thought she was human too.

"Why did you follow me Hailey?" Jaxon's voice echoes through the school. He sounded different, a

little deeper and it scared me.

I look up to come face to face with Brett. He smiles at me but it looks more evil as his incisors look

strangely longer and pointy, and his face contorted in disgust. I look away, feeling a chill run up my

spine just by his look alone.

Azuri yanks me up with so much force that I lose my balance and fall back down. On my way down

back to the floor, I lock eyes with Jaxon.

He looked at me differently, not like the other times when we were together. He looked at me with

so much anger, my heart sank. Why is he angry? He's the one torturing animals. Speaking of

animals, I realize I don't hear growling anymore. My cowardice cost me the truth and judging by the

looks they were all giving me, I was not about to get my way.

Jaxon sighs out loudly before storming his way towards me and that fear I felt in the broom closet

creeps back in, finding myself cowering away from him. My action has him stop in his tracks for a

second and then slowly walking to me. That does not ease the panic that rises within, as I start to

calculate my way out of here.

"Stand up." Jaxon says to me but I am rooted to the floor, my legs reacting to the fear that has a

made a home in the pit of my stomach, my whole body feeling like jelly. Why can't I just be tough

for once? Stand up for myself instead of being saved by everyone I considered a friend once in my

life.

The rest of the group around me start to laugh and I am not annoyed one bit.

See, I want to be brave but I can also find comfort in shying away from confrontation. Especially

from an angry secret love who is pretending right now that I mean absolutely nothing to him. What

did I think was going to happen though? He is a bully with all his friends and they prey on the weak,

the likes of me but I convinced myself I will never get to experience his cruelty.

Ha! Jokes on me now for being stupid enough to have been so naive.

"I won't repeat myself Hailey." Jaxon says my name with such disgust, such malice and hate. The

same way he says the names of all the other victims that suffered in this school. If my mom was

alive, she would have been here saving me and making sure that they get detention all year but she

is not here and I am on my own.

So with my mother in mind, 1 will stand up and look Jaxon square in the eyes.

I stand up slowly, trying to gather all the strength that I do not have at all and I eventually get on

my feet. Surprise takes over me as I don't feel my legs try to give out on me, throwing a victorious

grin at Jaxon before giving him my deadliest glare.

Half of my conscious begging me to look down but the other half was cheering me on. Our secret

relationship, something he asked for holding zero weight to his cold demeanour, Being my first kiss

and first boyfriend. He knew this, knew that I am struggling to let people in because of my dad

letting me down as a parent and my mother dying so suddenly. His constant reassurances that he

will take care of me were obvious blatant lies and now I get why he asked for our relationship to be

on the low, he used me.

"Last I checked, this school was for everyone and I happen to be a scholar here, you being here is

just a mere coincidence.” I say without a stutter. My focus on Jaxon so I don't falter.

"Then why were you hiding in the broom closet?" Azuri asks me and I look at here curiously. She

stares back at me and I look back at Jaxon, who was still looking at me.

"Did you guys not hear the growling? And don't tell me I was hearing things. I've been lied to

enough.” I say still looking at Jaxon. He looks away, having a staring contest with Brett before

walking away from me, they all follow him leaving me alone with Caiphus, who was actually the

nicest in that group.

"I am sorry about all of this Hailey.. but you have now made yourself a target and game for them"

Caiphus says to me before walking away from me. I was all alone now and my legs finally gave out

before the tears.

Jaxon was supposed to be my boyfriend...

He is supposed to be the one to take care of me but I'm learning once again that I am on my own

and I need to stop believing people when they tell me otherwise.