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"I know we've been through a lot in the last few days. Well, months, really. Okay, uh, it's been a rough couple years, to be honest." Alaric addressed the students sitting in the seats before him. "And I wish I could say the worst was over. But no matter what comes next, I firmly believe that we will be able to get through it if we stand united as a school, a community..."
Alyssa Chang cleared her throat as she stood up, interrupting the headmaster. "Sorry, just for clarification, does 'our community' include your daughter, who murdered me and held the entire school hostage to stage a grotesque display of black magic power?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest. The quiet murmurs of the other students quickly filled the room and Josie held her head down in shame.
"Josie is back to normal and safe."
"Thanks to Hope," Alyssa clarified before looking around at the other students, "who I'm noticing isn't here at the ass crack of dawn like the rest of us. So much for unity, I guess."
"Hope, I'm sure you all can understand, was hit hard by what happened to Landon, and she's just taking some time for herself." Alaric lied to the teens. He wanted to keep the truth about Hope a secret from the rest of the students for as long as he could. He didn't want them to know that the truth was that she was currently unconscious and had been since she dived into Josie's mind to save her. And he especially didn't want them to know that he had no idea how to wake her up.
"Speaking of," Wade rose to his feet as Alyssa sat down, "how is my boy, Landon?"
"Getting Landon back is my top priority, and I won't stop until I do. And that would go for any one of you." Alaric commented causing Tristan to let out a deep chuckle.
"That's hilarious," He voiced as he stood up, "you know considering the fact that your own daughter is missing, yet you don't seem too worried about that now do you?"
"Of course I'm worried," Alaric replied calmly, almost a little too calmly. "And I have people looking for her as we speak. But unfortunately, she's not the top priority right now."
Tristan stared at the man in disbelief. "She's your daughter. How is she not your top priority?" He asked, his voice rising.
Alaric clenched his jaw. "Yes, she is my daughter. My daughter who ran off upset, it's not exactly a rare thing. Nor is it a reason to be worried. She'll show up, she just needs some time to cool off."
"She would have been back by now dad, especially now that Jo's okay." Lizzie piped in from where she was sitting on the first row.
