Chapter 49: Downfall (1)
I just realized myself that I was lying on a soft bed. The smell was familiar and I felt slightly better. It was already bright outside, the light entering from the open window.
I opened my eyes, groaning painfully when I suddenly felt dizzy. I saw Luna standing and facing a table that contained the first aid treatment.
"It"s good that you"re awake."
She turned to me and sat on a chair. There, I realized that I was back in t.i.tan Academy, in my own room. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was eight in the morning.
I sat on the bed and looked at Luna in confusion. "What happened?" I asked in a hoa.r.s.e voice.
Her eyebrows perked up in interest. "I"m the one who supposed to ask you that. You suddenly broke down inside the Stanford mansion yesterday. You hardly talked to us."
What Luna said gradually sank in.
"What happened, Shia? Did feel you feel unwell? Did you eat something bad?"
I couldn"t answer her question.
"We were worried at what happened, you know?"
She told me what happened. According to her, she heard something break, so she hurriedly went out of the room where she relieved herself.
When she looked at the hallway, I wasn"t there. She followed the noise and saw me in the hallway upstairs, barely able to stand up properly.
She asked me what the matter was, but I couldn"t answer. I just sat and covered my ears as if there was a shrill noise inside the quiet mansion.
"The others came," Luna said. "Gin tried to calm you but you just shook your head.
I froze when I remembered what she said. I just held tight to Gin and said one thing.
"I want to go home."
At that time, I felt that the longer I stayed inside the mansion, the worse the voices became. And it doubled when I saw the worried faces of Corrine"s parents.
"Corrine"s parents were worried," Luna said. "Maybe it’s because you ate something bad or something. Then, Senior Camilla came."
Luna suddenly paused as though she didn’t really know what happened herself. I wanted to stop her from talking about it, but she finished it before I could.
"Things became slightly chaotic." She said absentmindedly. "But the important thing is that you"re awake. You fell asleep in the vehicle on the way home and only woke up now."
I remembered everything. I remembered how the familiar old woman name Senior Camilla came out from one of the doors. She was curiously looking at us, but she was stunned when she saw me. Then she said some words that intensified my feelings.
Jane Elizabeth.
"Did the others return as well? What happened after we left?" I asked Luna.
"We also followed the two of you immediately. We said farewell properly to Corrine"s parents."
“I messed up another event, didn’t I? What’s new?” I muttered casually to wash away the tension building inside my stomach.
"It"s not like that." She said. "Corrine"s parents were even worried about you. They looked really uneasy yesterday."
"Is she awake?"
I froze when I heard Gin"s voice. Luna suddenly got up from the chair before I could stop her.
"It"s good that Captain is here. Because I need to bring these things to the medic room."
She took the medicine that was on the table and walked to open the door. "I’ll be back later."
Gin showed up when she opened it. He was holding his hair as if he was in the midst of gently pulling it, something he only did when he was frustrated.
He looked at me. Then, he slowly smiled. The solid dry feeling in my stomach melted into a puddle. Every time, his stare and smile would make me really weak.
Luna and Gin were talking in the doorway. He shook his head, then sighed. He took the items that Luna was holding and walked away while Luna was left in the doorway.
"I thought he wanted to talk to you or something, but now that you’re awake, he didn"t even talk to you." She said. "Almost the entire night, he was outside asking if you were okay or not."
I suddenly rose from the bed.
"Hey, wait, Shia. Where are you going?"
With my bare feet, I went out of the room and searched for Gin in the hallway. I saw him walking at the end of it, near the staircase. I ran to catch up to him.
"Gin!"
He stopped. I immediately imagined him frowning while he thrust his hands in his pockets.
"What the h.e.l.l is your problem?" I outburst when he faced me.
He watched me, in my nightgown and bare feet, with an annoyed expression on his face.
"You shouldn"t walk—"
"Oh, cut the bulls.h.i.t!" I snapped. "What did I do wrong again, Gin? Just tell me so that I wouldn"t just guess."
He just raised his brows. It was annoying how he could be calm in this situation.
"You didn"t do anything, Shia. What are you saying?"
“You’re avoiding me.” Something flickered in his eyes the moment I spilled those words.
"I"m not avoiding you." He was still calm but there was a change in his tone as he said it. "We need to focus on training, Shia. Isn"t that what you want? To get out of this place?"
I was dumbfounded at what he said. Yes, it was my obvious reason from the very beginning. But something was wrong. I didn"t notice that a few seconds had pa.s.sed when I didn"t answer him.
He touched my hair and gently rubbed it. Then, he smiled. A half-hearted smile.
"I will help you win so you can go back to him."
I felt that I went deaf at what he said. I blinked but no words came out from my mouth. I just realized that Gin was walking away from me. I wanted to stop him but couldn’t.
Lucas. Did he mean Lucas?
—
That night, I couldn"t do anything but stare at the ceiling. We were so close. Six days left. But why was all of this happening only now? I felt that I was going crazy.
Not all of the members know the reason why I was here. From what I knew, only Victoria had an idea on this matter. But it wasn’t that far for Gin to learn it, wasn’t it? s.h.i.t.
I wanted to ignore the events. Wasn’t that how it should be? He was stating the truth. I was here for Lucas. And he said he’d help me get out of that place safely. I should be d.a.m.n grateful.
But I can"t.
—
The next day, after breakfast, I chased Luna before she could go to the training room.
"Luna, I have something to ask."
She looked at me, wondering. "What?"
I was hesitant to ask about that matter. What if they really don’t know anything?
"Is it possible if it"s somewhere else?" I asked while a student who was also going out from the Breakfast Hall pa.s.sed by.
There were some that greeted us good luck on the Linus Cup that was only five days from now. I wanted to tell them to shut up because I didn’t want to hear those things right now. When we were finally outside the castle, I said it. "Do you know Lucas?"
She immediately paused at what I said. So they really know? When? d.a.m.n it. So I was the only one who believed that I was the sole person who knew the reason why I was here.
"Luna," I warned her when she didn"t immediately answer.
"You didn"t really steal the golden crest, Shia. That"s all we know." She answered. "You are just covering for the wrongdoing of someone else. That’s why you"re here, right? We need to know somehow."
But he wasn’t the one who took it! I wanted to shout but I calmed myself. "How did you know?"
"Last week, we were called in the Headmaster"s office." She said. "It"s part of the process, Shia. Like a background check or something. You can"t hide such important thing from us."
"s.h.i.t," I whispered.