Chapter 216: 216-Everyone Has Family, I Don’t.
Clementine:
As soon as Ian started going through the pages to tell us about the shadow people, he suddenly stopped. The rest of us exchanged glances, more like sneaky glances, wondering what had just happened. We watched Ian as he lifted his head, closed his eyes, and then frowned.
It was so clear and so strong that we understood he was sensing something in the air. We copied his actions to figure out what he was feeling. However, even though we were the same alphas as him, we could not sense anything.
I looked at Troy, tried to see if he noticed something, and he shrank. Haiden didn’t react either, and Yorick just raised his hands as if he had no clue what Ian was feeling, and then Ian suddenly reacted.
He opened his eyes, closed the book as quickly as possible, shoved it in his trunk, and slid the trunk back. He did it really fast. That was not how Ian usually reacted.
He always took care of his stuff very carefully, like it was something of high respect. After that, he sat down on the bed, acting like he was doing nothing, while we watched him in silence.
That was when the door opened, and a Lurker walked in. He snapped his fingers at us, all of us, and then turned around. He didn’t stop walking until we joined him, and one by one we did. We stood behind him.
Even though we were ready to follow the Lurker, it didn’t change the fact that I noticed the others were also uncomfortable, probably wondering the same thing I was. How the heck did Ian sense it? Or maybe he heard footsteps in that moment, and we didn’t? Regardless of what it was, we were taken to the hall in a line behind the Lurker.
I noticed the other passages, white and red squad, were also accompanying us, which meant there was bad news. We were going to be taken straight to the North again, and I began to get anxious.
Once we were in the hall, we stood in our places. Our team was nervous and anxious this time, mainly because we were this close to finding out what we were going to face in the North, and we were not given a chance to read the rest.
It was exhausting.
It reminded me of that one feeling when I was taking exams, and right when the exam was starting, my friend told me that the following question was really important, that it was going to be part of the exam, and I was this close to opening it and reading it when I was taken to the exam center.
It reminded me of that feeling. It was one of the worst feelings. The ringleaders showed up, standing in front of us. Miss Rue gave us a very smiley face and a head nod.
"Does this bitch think it’s funny to send us to the North?" Ian muttered under his breath.
I had mixed feelings about Miss Rue. She didn’t seem as bad as the other ringleaders, but how much could I really trust her? At the end of the day, she was still working for them, and it’s not like she had a choice to go against their will. I sighed and straightened my back.
"You’re probably wondering if we gathered you here to take you back to the North, right?" Miss Rue began. The way she spoke felt lighter, like there was some good news.
"Are you not?" Ian intervened, and she gave him a pleasant smile before shaking her head.
"We listen to you, and we try our best to give you what’s best, especially when it comes to comfort," Ms. Lenora spoke up, glancing at her squadmates.
My eyes landed on Oriana, and I noticed she was looking back at me. I quickly looked away.
After what happened last time in the North, I found myself thinking about her too. She hadn’t done anything to me, but that didn’t change the fact that she had made huge claims about her squadmates bullying her so badly she would show up at our dorm crying hysterically, terrified for her life.
Yet in the North, I never saw her flinch once at the sight of them. It made me wonder what she was really like.
"With that being said, we’ve come to a decision. There’s a new change we’re introducing this year, specifically because of you. Just like we let you stay in your packs for a few days, this time we’ve changed it a little more. Your parents, your families, are invited to come here and spend time with you."
The moment Miss Rue said that, wide smiles spread across everyone’s faces, and cheers erupted from the Red Squad, Jack, and Nate. The rest of us just stood in silence.
"We’ve prepared suites, cabins and guestrooms in different areas. If someone doesn’t want to face their crusaders or squad members because it would stir up harsh memories of the North, that will be the perfect time to refresh your mind away from each other. That way, you can enjoy time with your families, which will help you forget the cruelty and the deaths of your squadmates, at least for a few days." This time it was Mr. Rick making the announcement, and it felt like the ones who had passed away would have truly cherished these changes.
I sighed and looked down at my fingers. That was my way of avoiding everyone else.
"Also, remember, running away won’t help. This is just us being nice. And since you all recently cleaned the rock, we’re not too worried about any monsters breaking through the magic barriers and entering the mainland for now. So enjoy these moments, because who knows when they’ll end." He finished, and the others started clapping. I kept a sad look on my face, and I could tell my ringleader noticed.
As the other two approached their teams, Miss Rue came toward us, her smile fading as her eyes locked on me. She stopped in front of me and gave me a very sad look.
"I almost forgot about you, Clementine," she murmured. "None of your family came to see you, nobody’s left back home anyway." Her words made it painfully clear that my stepsister would never come and that I had no one left there.