Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 47

I don't say anything because it feels like my jaw has been wired shut as I try to look for the others. Astrid and Indigo are sitting in a heap not too far away and I relax as they dazedly blink at me. There is a welt dripping blood from Indigo's cheek and Astrid's messy ponytail has come undone, one of her eyes swelled shut as she grimaces and sits up.

"The glory of the Hallewell clan, the truth finally coming out that we're a bunch of genocidal psychos," Astrid spits.

"That's no way to speak to family," the headmaster chides as he readjusts the cuff on one of his sleeves.

"You're not my family," she snarls as she glares back at him.

"But I am, and if you hadn't blown your chances of attending Saint Augustine's you would have been a headmaster one day," he snaps, his voice cracking like a whip that is heavily laden with an accusation.

"And become a murderer?" Astrid inquires sarcastically.

"You would have become a protector," Headmaster Hallewell counters as he shakes his head at her, "I had hopes for you Astrid."

"Yeah? Then why did you murder Finn and Sophia? They weren't Unfamiliars," Astrid says as her eyes dart to me.

Do you have a plan? her voice floats through my head.

I shake my head slightly as I wrack my brain for an idea.

"No, they were not complete Unfamiliars but they had the makings to produce Unfamiliars, if they had lived long enough to have children," her uncle says in an offhanded way, like he had taken care of a hornet nest rather than murdered innocent teenagers.

The blood drains from Astrid's face, but she pushes onward and wobbles as she gets to her feet.

We have to come up with something, she urges us as Tessa spares me a split-second glance.

I'm trying, Tessa tells her desperately.

"So you did kill them," Astrid says slowly.

Her uncle's lips twist into a grim smile, "I did, but not without Blaize's help, he has proven himself to be a worthy advocate in keeping Unfamiliars under control, he was brilliant when it came down to setting up persuasion spells."

Headmaster Hallewell pauses as he looks past us and smiles and I turn my head just enough to see that Blaize is standing several paces behind me. He's practically beaming as he smiles back at the headmaster, his chest puffed up like he's given him an award.

"However," the headmaster begins in a low voice and I look back at him as he glances down at the ground and frowns, "it was quite...inconvenient that he did not succeed in killing you, Kara."

A chill washes over me as I realize what he means; Blaize had been the one who had tried to strangle me to death at the fairgrounds.

"Wait...what are you doing?" Blaize asks as there's a scuffling noise and he's suddenly dragged past me, a dark clothed figure on each side of him as they hold his arms and drag him across the grass toward the headmaster.

"I gave you tasks," Headmaster Hallewell says simply as he shrugs, "and you succeeded, for the most part," he assures Blaize as the figures hold him steady in front of the headmaster.

"I did exactly what you wanted me to!" Blaize yells and the headmaster's face darkens as he jabs a pointer finger at him.

"That is a lie, young man, you cheated and I gave you a second chance to redeem your honor, but," the headmaster leans in toward Blaize, his light-colored eyes glittering in the early morning light as his lips press into a flat line, "Kara Zen is still alive."

In a flash, the headmaster has placed a flattened palm to Blaize's forehead and he stiffens under the headmaster's touch. It's like Blaize has been shocked as a strangled yelp escapes him before he goes limp and falls to the ground, the dark figures that were holding him up letting him go as he hits the ground hard.

I dimly realize a second later that he's dead because he doesn't move another muscle, his body merely remaining still and lifeless as the headmaster looks down at him for a long moment as I hold my breath. No one else in the gathering of students seems to react, including Luke who merely looks on like he had been expecting it as my gut roils with disgust and I taste acid on my tongue.

"A shame, but we can't have people who do their jobs halfway, now can we?" the headmaster asks as he steps over Blaize's lifeless body, advancing on me as I shrink away from him, my heart pounding in my chest as I scuttle backwards across the grass.

"I'm glad that you're a bragger, Clayton, you make my life a lot easier," a low voice suddenly interrupts from not too far away, "Salem PD, hands on your head."

The headmaster smirks as he pauses mid-word, his lip twisting up at the edge, "Officer Marshall, I was hoping that you were going to join us soon."