Andria’s POV
"But be assured that I don’t have any bad plans up my sleeves, and it’s your choice to join my campaign group, and I still maintain that an undercover is best for you. You could help solve a major problem, stop hiding in the shadows or better still, use the shadow as an advantage." I told her as I pushed the door open.
"I will make sure your doorknob is fixed. Please consider my offer." I told her before shutting the door behind and heading straight to my room.
I never trusted Larissa, but maybe l isn’t like her childhood friend, Larissa, after all.
"Even l cannot be trusted," Athena whispered to as I lay down and drifted off to sleep.
************************
I must have drifted in and out of sleep, because when the sunlight finally broke through the blinds, I felt as though I hadn’t slept at all. My body felt heavy, and my mind fogged.
But I forced myself up, replaying the events of yesterday, from the confrontation at the locker room to the testimony in the council to l’s confession.
I swung my legs over the edge and sat there for a mont, breathing, staring at the faint cracks on the wall as though they could whisper so aning to all this to . The dorm was quiet, too quiet.
No l’s humming, and I was sure as hell that Larissa didn’t co back to the dormitory last night, because she would have been watching her early morning show by now.
I wonder why she didn’t co back, but what does it matter?
I washed my face, letting the cold water chase away the last of my drowsiness. It stung, but in a way that grounded . My reflection in the mirror looked pale, uncertain, but my hands tightened on the basin until the knuckles turned white.
"Pull yourself together," Athena whispered. "Tracy and her gang of wolves are waiting for you to break. Don’t give them reasons to win"
I dressed slowly, button by button, braid tied tighter than usual, as though I could force so sense of control into my appearance. Books stacked neatly into my bag, campaign notes tucked into the side pocket. Every movent was deliberate, steady.
By the ti I stepped into the school hallway, the academy was already buzzing, which was very unusual since the school bell hadn’t gone out yet, but the hall was already bustling.
Students stread past , so chatting, so rushing. A bunch of them stood by the doorway and in so parts of the hallway, gesturing towards , probably gossiping, because they were staring way too much at .
A sense of nostalgia hit , reminding of the days I was wrongly accused by my sister and how she would turn the entire school against . This ti, I was not a trembling, sober ss; in fact, they could look and talk about fake rumors all they wanted, but I knew they were just victims of a spell.
It wasn’t until I reached the end of the hallway that I froze.
The walls, the boards, the spaces where I had put my election posters with Becca and Arlo’s assistance, pinned up the day before I was kidnapped, were empty... No, not empty, much worse. My posters were gone, and they had been replaced with Tracy’s.
Tracy’s smile was polished and perfect. Tracy’s na, written bold as though it had always belonged there. Her posters stretched across every board, stacked one over the other like a conquest, covering every inch as though there had never been room for anyone else.
For a mont, I couldn’t breathe. My bag strap dug into my shoulder as my fingers tightened, and the world blurred at the edges. They hadn’t even tried to be subtle.
She had her own space; why had they chosen to tamper with my own space? Can’t these supporters or whatever try not to bully soone? Must they be like their candidate? Anyway, what was I expecting?
And then I saw them. One of Tracy’s girls stood by the board, the edges of one of my torn posters still clutched in her fingers.
She smoothed a fresh Tracy’s poster over the space with exaggerated care, patting it down as if the walls themselves belonged to her idol.
I walked straight toward her, stumping very loudly. I was very agitated by that single act of disdain. She noticed coming, her smirk twitching wider, as though she had been waiting for this.
"Tell ," I said, my voice low, cold and sharper than I intended, "Was there no space allocated for Tracy, or is the space already so filled up that you had to take mine? To the point you’d tear my posters down just to paste hers at my poll?"
I wanted to cry, but I was past that already since the day I left my bad ho. I promised myself not to show any signs of weakness anymore.
For half a second, sothing flickered in her eyes, hesitation, maybe guilt. But it vanished behind the curve of her lips.
She smirked again, slower this ti, and pressed Tracy’s face against mine until the paper crinkled. This was a deliberate action to trigger a reaction from . I bet soone was in the corner filming this whole act to paint as a bad contestant if I reacted badly.
They probably feel like they are taking Tracy’s vengeance for her.
The burn in my chest spread, but before I could speak again, I saw shadows closing in.
Footsteps circled—more of them, drifting in from either side, forming a circle around . Tracy’s fans, of course, are loyal and as dumb as she was. Nothing prepared for the altercation I was about to face.
"I feel like the vampires didn’t beat you enough," one of them said, her voice carrying the kind of cruelty only my sister Lena could have. "Maybe we could help them finish what they started."
Their laughter rang out, sharp and ugly. It echoed across the courtyard, bouncing off the walls until it felt like a hundred voices laughing, not ten.
But I said nothing; it felt like a trap, and I wasn’t going to give in easily to that setup.
"You liar," another spat, her face twisted with mock disgust. "You frad Tracy just to steal her spotlight, and now you cling to the Alpha successors like so desperate parasite."
"She’s just their plaything," another voice called, laughter spilling around her words. "That’s all she’ll ever be."
The words struck deeper than I wanted them to. They cut, not because they were true, but because part of feared they could be believed. My chest tightened, my throat burned, but I refused to let them see it.
I lifted my chin and t their eyes, one after another. "You can believe whatsoever you want to believe," I said, steady, though my voice trembled at the edges. "Besides, I know you don’t even think for yourselves now. How do you think a person will not only fake her kidnapping but also the kidnapping of her friend? And not just that, the bruises too. If you aren’t convinced yet, have you checked the security cara?"
Perhaps they were right to think I frad Tracy, while the actual culprit who frad their candidate remains sowhat elusive, after visiting the council room yesterday. Could it be that she was also detained?
For a heartbeat, silence fell. "Well, you know we cannot believe you, and who cares about adulterated footage. We only believe what Tracy says because we believe that she wouldn’t lie to us, and that’s why she is our candidate," one of the students spoke up, breaking the silence.
They started to draw close, covering the tiny space in between us, until I almost couldn’t breathe. "What is this?, A gang up? Oh, sweet Athena, save ," I muttered to Athena.
"I suggest you all disperse now. What is this gathering about?" A voice all too familiar rang from the far end of the hallway, and it didn’t seem like a question but a command.
Kaelric?,How surprising.
The circle dispersed instantly as he stepped into it. With just his words and his undeniable aura, he sent them scampering away.
"I suppose you think yourselves brave," he called out to the fleeing and retreating students, voice loud, firm and stern. "Fifteen against one. Hiding behind laughter because you lack the spine to stand alone. Cuddling the lies you all so want to believe," he cajoled them.
Kaelric’s eyes narrowed, his tone dropping even colder. "If I hear of this again, if I see another poster torn down, another word spat on her face, you’ll regret it. And I don’t waste words on empty threats."
Those who were just watching the whole scene turned and faced their actual business. I was imnsely relieved by his intervention, but I tried not to show it.
I stood rooted to the spot, my breath uneven. Kaelric’s gaze t mine, unreadable, piercing, as if he were searching for sothing I couldn’t give.
I wanted to speak. To thank him, or to tell him I didn’t need saving, or maybe both.
He stepped closer, and with each step he took, my heart beat accelerated.
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