Supernaturals: Secrets (Book 1)

{16} Meet

Echo's POV

I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. One second I was lying peacefully in my new dorm, music still playing in my earbuds, with my roommate, Samantha Greene, and the next Carson Maye and Avery Singhe had rushed in, grabbed our arms, and dragged us out of the dorm and down the hallway into a room I'd never been in. Although it was big, all the other students were packed into the space and I'd never felt so claustrophobic. As soon as we were inside, Avery let go of me, and Carson did the same to Sam. We glanced at each other before shrugging.

"Echo, come stand next to me," Luke snapped. I looked up at him, surprised, before nervously stepping next to him. My heart began to pound. He looked stressed. Had he found out about my power? I hadn't been completely truthful...

"Alright, everybody calm down," Luke spoke over the hushed voices. They all looked up at us, and I began to feel uncomfortable in front of everybody. I was not used to attention.

"I'm sure many of you are wondering what's going on. You heard the bells, but this is not an attack. We are safe as far as we know."

I frowned. Alarms? At that moment, I realized that loud bells seemed to be going off everywhere. My cheeks reddened. I must not have heard them due to my loud, distracting music.

"I am collecting you all here to make a decision. Echo's parents, Roger and Laysette Mawlkin, have accused her of the murder of her older sister, Bailee Mawlkin."

My jaw dropped down as the information sunk in. Those fuckers! How dare they! Hot tears collected in my eyes. I couldn't believe they would lie about the crime they commited! I growled under my breath. I was beyond upset. My fists tightened into balls. They had the nerve to blame me for the death of the one person I cared about. Saying I wanted to kill someone was not even close to how much damage I wanted to do to them. My eyes blurred.

"As some of you know, this is not true. They are the ones who committed the homicide. But as the police are looking for Echo, they were able to find the school. Leila has given me a few choices on what to do, and I have narrowed it down to two. We will have a quick vote, and that's what we'll do. We must make this quick, however, because Keith has informed me they have bolt cutters and plan to open the door. Alright?"

Everyone nodded. I bit my lip, my hands trembling as I struggled to calm myself down. I looked around the room, looking for comfort. My eyes met Skylar's, and she gave me a reassuring smile. I took a deep breath and felt my heartbeat slow.

"Choice one: using charmspeak, Leila convinces them that there is nobody here and to leave, and using hypnosis, Skylar makes them forget they ever saw us. Choice two: we kill them."

Murmurs filled the crowd as the students whispered to themselves. I watched as Jason said something to Leila and Keith, who both nodded and raised their arms above everyone else.

"Yes?" Luke motioned towards the commanders.

"If we send them back, other officers will question them about their mission. They'll become extremely confused and won't remember even why they came here. This'll make the rest of the department suspicious, and they'll come here. Except there will be more. Killing them will also make them more suspicious about Echo, but if we make it seem like an accident between each other, we could pull it off."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows, deeply concentrated on the decision.

"And how will we do that, may I ask?"

Leila and Keith glanced at each other. "This forest is large and easy to get lost in. If we make it seem like they got seperated and were out here for days, it would work. We'd just have to deprive them of water, which Zachary will do. Then we leave the bodies in random areas around the forest, and bam! No more problems."

Luke shook his head. "That is a wonderful idea, Leila, but a few officers dead won't make the rest stop looking for Echo."

Leila grinned. "Already one step ahead of you. If we leave a note in one of their pockets, explaining that they found her already dead, that would solve the problem. As for 'Echo's' body... we can make it seem like she died of dehydration or starvation, then got eaten by some animal so they don't recognize her. I get that as soon as they read the note they'll begin looking for Echo and that they'll instinctively head for the school, but if we leave her 'body' somewhere between the school and the note, they'll find 'her.' Then they'll stop looking, and won't feel like they have to go to the school anymore."

Luke nodded, an impressed look on his face. "I have to say, Leila, that is a foolproof plan. But what about the body?"

Leila flushed momentarily. "We can use Julie..." she muttered under her breath.

For a moment Luke looked taken aback, and I frowned. Who is Julie? But before I could ask, Luke was already speaking.

"Without voting, I have come to my decision. We shall kill the officers. Zach will be the one to do it. He will deprive them of water. Keith, you write the note explaining about Echo. Avery, you will be the one to leave 'Echo's' body close to the note in the direction of the school. Alright everyone, this meeting is adjourned. The danger is gone; go about your business except for those three."

Everyone nodded and slowly the room began to empty. Soon it was just me and Luke. I turned to him, hands on my hips.

"Who's Julie?" I questioned.

Luke froze for a moment before turning to me slowly.

"She was an old student. Julie Tsandra. Her power was ice manipulation. One morning during whole-school battle practice..." he trailed off. I raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

Luke sighed. "It wasn't Leila's fault. The two were good friends. Julie snuck up behind Leila during the tournament. Leila wasn't ready. She's not good with people walking up behind her. Julie yelled in her ear, scared the poor girl to death... in less than a second Julie's neck was snapped clean in half. Leila hasn't been the same since. I've tried to explain to her that she acted on instinct but.... she still blames herself."

I bit my lip, feeling ashamed for asking.

"Oh. I'm sorry.... were you close?"

Luke turned to me with sadness in his eyes.

"I loved her," he said simply, before turning away and leaving the room.

I was left alone with my thoughts.

A/N: So, Luke has come to his decision! How many of you guys thought he would let them live? Haha, no. Luke may be kind, but he cares more about his students then humans :3