Seeking The Truth

Chapter 7

My hands skim over the quilt and I slump on bed. I didn't see Liza during dismissal. Where could she have been? At least she knows what I've been investigating now. After we had scurried away from the shimmering office, Joshua and I cleared every question she had when we dropped her at her house.

The sky is looking like deep pools of stars outside. Hopefully, the tornado theory is false.

Evan is cuddled with blankets quite near me, his heartbeat sounding loud enough to hear it steady. His flaxen hair fans out on the pillow perfectly. He snores peacefully. I find myself smiling at him.

"Stew," says Joshua as he lies down on bed next to us. "How was your day? Did anything good happen to you? As if ..." His voice trails off, the unspoken thoughts drift up to the ceiling.

"As if I was chosen for the final teams?"

Joshua clears his throat, then forms a diminutive but pleased smile. "So they chose you." His arms are comfortably wedged between the bed and his neck.

"Same for you then," I say.

Something inside me gets rigid and keen, I roll over to the opposite side to face the wall. I'm worried about tomorrow's ceremony. What if Louis' news were very important and it had to do with tomorrow's planning? Does he know anything about Ms. Dixon or the school, at least?

The feeling is straining my muscles, like a spider trying to devour me from the inside.

"Is something wrong?" he asks on my back. He pulls my arm to roll over again. I'm forced to face his preoccupied look. "You're too quiet, Stew."

Stillness is in the room before I speak. The only audible sound originates from Evan's constant and placid breathing. "Will nothing wrong happen if they chose us? Because ... they chose us, not the school itself." I say, "Maybe it's a little risky."

"I see." He sighs. "I see. Look, I honestly believe that being an inspector doesn't have to do with her other job. Not to mention the unique similarity of both jobs containing children, I see no other relationship between them."

"Who do you think those employees were, Josh? They seemed to be allied to the school. Do you think they are partnering up?"

He shrivels his shoulders up.

Joshua is the only person I trust for now. He was there since the beginning and having a different perspective about the subject can help very much. I should tell him about the recent scene I witnessed at school.

I let out a short breath I didn't know I held. "One of my friends was caught by some sort of bodyguards and now he seems to be in trouble. All he said was about 'Ms. Dixon' before the incident happened."

Evan scratches his belly and snores like a trimmer.

"What was he doing?" Joshua stares at the blank space above his face.

Louis never said anything though. "I don't know."

"We'll have to wait until the ceremony."He admits, "I haven't worked out the plan I said before."

"Sounds ..." I waver, "good."

"Remember to stay close where I can see you tomorrow." Joshua saunters to the doorway and asserts, "I don't want to lose you and fail as I did with her. I don't want you to get harmed at some point tomorrow -I'm your old brother still. We're dealing with the enemy, and so you don't want to get caught or harmed by them." He says, "Promise?"

I gulp down air in my mouth. The accident flashes before my eyes, they flicker and the horrendous memory of her death scene dissipates.

"I promise," I swear with a crack on the last word emitted.