Chapter 224: 224-Caught Red-Handed
Clementine:
I had been waiting for a while just to make sure the ringleaders would be asleep before I went to sneak downstairs.
Then I remembered Bodhi’s words written in the diary. He had mentioned something about the ringleaders always watching. I recalled Ms. Lenora and Mr. Rick’s conversation about watching Joshua’s wolf, and it made me wonder, were they able to watch us in the North?
If so, they must have seen other Crusaders before us as well, which would mean they already knew about the monsters that were there.
And then the whole thing about them wanting us dead, it just made me so uneasy.
’And they want us to transition,’ Mint spoke up, reminding me that our identity wasn’t safe either.
’Oh, about that. I need to figure it out. There’s something about us that we should have figured out a long time ago,’ I said to Mint.
I didn’t think there was anything wrong with her, to be honest. She wasn’t evil. I had never noticed it. But the way others spoke about it time and time again left me confused.
First, the way Ian reacted to our wolf. Then the brown house leader. Then the council members. I remembered vividly how they had asked me not to show my wolf to anyone.
’Why would they do that? But if I was dangerous, wouldn’t they want me gone?’
I had to get answers to all these questions as soon as possible.
But the first thing I needed to do was find the number to my squadmates’ hotel rooms so we could have a conversation.
After a few minutes of silence and standing at the window, I decided it was time. I snuck out of the room, crouched down, and started to walk. I noticed there were no cameras in the corridors.
’Of course there aren’t. They don’t want cameras in locations where they would only get gossip. And also, these locations are always accessible to us. Anyone could have spotted them," Mint explained, and it made sense.
We weren’t on any mission here, so there was a high possibility we would see the cameras and start questioning them.
I started to walk toward the main hall. But before I could get inside, I noticed the door open and the three squad ringleaders coming out.
They were wearing their colored hoodies. I instantly crouched down, hiding behind the small wall of the corridor.
They were walking in the same direction as the road, the road we took when heading to the main road for the cars. So they were probably going somewhere, which was honestly the best thing that could happen to me.
Once they were out of sight, I sped up.
It was easy for me to open the lock to the main hall. I opened it and walked into the darkness of the hall, heading downstairs.
And there it was. They had collected the register and placed it among the shelves. It was just lying there.
I could tell these registers weren’t really important. I picked up a few and noticed it was just attendance records and names of the previous Crusaders or other Crusaders, mostly about us. What time we clocked in, what time we left for different tasks.
So it wasn’t much.
The only thing I needed was the phone numbers.
I began to go through the register and noticed they had indeed written the locations, hotel names, and phone numbers there.
I started to look for a pen. It wasn’t very hard to find one. I grabbed one from the table and started to jot down the numbers on my palm.
Although I didn’t want to contact Ian, I still wrote his number.
After getting the number, I started briskly walking in the direction where Ian had once led me, the same place where the phone booth was. I remembered there were no coins needed. All I had to do was go in and make a call.
The first person on my mind was Haiden, because I’d written his number first. I was going to start with him, because I knew with the state of mind I was in, I’d mess it up and call someone twice. So I was going to go line by line.
The weather was pretty calm, unlike all the other nights. It was way too silent, and that gave off some creepy vibes.
Once I was outside the booth, I instantly unlocked it and rushed inside. I held the phone close to my ear, waiting for someone to pick up.
"Hello?" It was a girl.
I frowned, but then remembered that of course he had his family over. But who in his family was a girl? Was it his stepsister? Did he even have a stepsister? I began to wonder what was going on.
"Can I please speak with Haiden?" I asked, waiting for her to respond. "Haiden Raze, from Magical Fangs Pack?" I explained.
I heard the girl scoff from the other side. It was a little too loud of a scoff.
"And who might be calling for him?" she asked, her voice gentle but also high-pitched and babyish.
"I’m from the academy. I’m his ringleader. Miss Rue," I stated, biting my bottom lip.
"Oh, okay. Well, I’ll bring him on the call," she said, her tone changing. However, before she left, she decided to have one last word.
"You know, I’m his fiancée."
That was all she said before she sped away. And my smile started to fade, just a little.
I gulped hard, debating if I should slam the phone down.
He has a fiancée? All this time? Then why the fuck was he pursuing me? And what about the mate bond that we felt? I began to have so many questions.
Before I realized, I needed to wait.
There was a more important issue at hand than my jealousy. So I waited for Haiden to pick up the call, and he did.
"Hello, Miss Rue?" he asked.
I had to first focus on my breathing before responding. But before I could even explain, he spoke again.
"Clementine?"
I instantly opened my eyes in shock. He recognized me from just my breathing. What about his fiancée then? I sucked in a breath.
"I can’t believe you’re calling me. Is everything okay?" he started to ask.
"Yeah, I was just—oh yes. I was in the basement with Miss Rue and the others, and I heard something. Also, Bodhi’s diary. Do you remember Bodhi’s diary? He wrote about some stuff. I read it."
I instantly started to yap. My mind was all jumbled with thoughts, and I didn’t know how to gather them or put them into a straight one good sentence.
When I finally spoke up, I felt like I must have completely confused him.
"Wait, why were you in the basement? And why are you still at the academy?" Haiden questioned.
I took a deep breath because I knew I had to at least deliver as much to him as possible.
"Haiden, we are not supposed to trust the ringleaders. Bodhi knew something. I have called you to tell you that and I guess I missed—"
I paused when I heard someone clear their throat.
"Missed what?" The voice came right from behind me.
I clenched my fist in fear.