EL Official BK5 Chapter 4 - I Stalked the Quiet Kid (pt.2) (Patreon)

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Come Monday morning, neither Cassandra or Hadrian were in class but the rumors spread like wildfire. Some were convinced Hadrian was lying, while others thought Cassandra was outright insane. The video of their fight circulated among the students. It was grainy footage, burned white like an overexposed polaroid rather than a digital file. Apparently the phone had broken while filming, not that any complaints could be made about it, given there weren’t supposed to be any phones at school in the first place.

By the following week a sense of normality returned. However, Cassandra now sat alone at lunch. I didn’t even try to talk to her, she sat next to me in class and I ignored her. Anyone crazy enough to behave the way she did wasn’t someone I wanted to associate with, still, mild guilt filled my gut. Without me, no one else made any effort to be near her either.

She pushed food around her plate delicately with the back of her fork, avoiding eye contact and pretending not to hear the whispers. It must’ve been lonely and I hesitated, was I any better for behaving the way I was? Maybe she really was mistaking him for someone else?

As I thought about going over to her, someone placed a tray down on her table and sat in the seat beside her. Cassandra looked just as shocked as I did, even more so when she realized it was Hadrian. He didn’t acknowledge her in any way and Cassy stared at him dumbfounded as he set out his food.

“What are you doing?” she hissed at last, glaring at him sideways as she spoke.

“Eating?” he responded with disinterest.

“Don’t play dumb. Why are you sitting here?” she demanded and he smiled just slightly.

“If I don’t sit with you, no one will.”

“And what do you care?”

“It’s not good for your health-”

Cassandra stood abruptly, hitting the table with her knee and roughly grabbing her bag as she stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving Hadrian alone with his lunch. He blinked slowly, as if trying to comprehend exactly what had just happened, before his friends joined him. The rowdy group settled in around him completely unaware of the previous interaction, and Hadrian recovered quickly to match their enthusiasm, as if nothing had happened.

Unsurprisingly, Cassy missed the next class. Some of the other girls said they heard her crying in the bathroom but when I went to look she wasn’t there. The situation was unusual and I found myself obsessing over it. I wondered if there was a way I could see Hadrian’s ID or find out if Cassandra had any history of mental illness. I was drawing absently on my books as I thought about it, and startled when a creamy arm entered my view.

Hadrian was leaning on my desk, his hand covered my page enough to get my attention and I looked up at him with wide eyes, “What do you want?” I blurred out confused.

“Sorry, I was hoping we could talk for a moment?”

“About what?” my brow creased as I spoke.

“Well..” he straightened up, rubbing the back of his neck, “I… I’m sort of failing a couple of classes, and they’re thinking about cutting me from the hockey team… But I remember from that project we did together last year that you’re good at school work. So I was wondering if you might be able to tutor me after school some days?”

He was awkward, as if he’d never asked anyone for anything before. He kept his gaze focused elsewhere and had an overly casual pose as if it didn’t matter what my answer was, but I got the feeling that he needed me to say yes.

“I’m… a bit busy…” I started hesitantly.

“Oh- yeah that’s okay, I understand,” he assured quickly, he seemed embarrassed to have even asked and my stomach turned with guilt.

“But I could do Wednesdays, if you’re free?”

“Wednesday? Yeah! Yes, that would work, thank you,” he looked relieved and I returned the warmth.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I smiled.

***

I met with Hadrian in the library afterschool on Wednesday as promised. It was quiet and we sat in the history section at a table beside the window. I’ve always loved the smell of old paper and the quiet of an empty library. Behind us rows of alphabetized books decorated the shelving and I waited patiently while Hadrian took out his books.

“So, which part do you need help with?” I began.

“Well… I guess, all of it. We’re supposed to write a paper for history, but…” he trailed off.

“Well, what’s your topic? And what have you written so far?”

At this Hadrian fidgeted, “Human history,” he mumbled.

“Oh, so like, archeology?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, which time period?”

“I wanted to know more about the history of Europe… Migration patterns across it.”

“Well, there’s plenty of that, what have you got?”

Hadrian hesitated slightly, before offering over a hand drawn map with lines detailing migration paths. It was breathtakingly beautiful, drawn in the same way old sailors' maps were made and I stared at it in awe.

“You made this?”

“Yeah, but… Mr. Thomson said if I handed that in, he would fail me, so I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

“Where’s the write up for it?”

“Write up..?”

“Your essay about this,” I clarified.

“...I don’t understand what to write. Words can’t track the pathways across the paper…” he murmured, tracing his fingertips gently across the ink lines and I watched him, mesmerized.

His teeth showed when he spoke. They were pearly white and perfectly shaped with particularly pointed canines. His lips looked soft and held faint color, while his eyes glinted between silvery and crystallic purple in the sunlight from the window. I was so distracted staring that I almost didn’t hear what he had said.

“Hadrian… You can’t just draw a picture and expect that to be enough,” I began gently. Now that I thought about it, he had added all the pictures to the last project we worked on, I had assumed they were photocopies from a book, but now I wondered if they were hand drawn.

“What else do I need to do then?”

“You need an essay, like a report on what you learned.”

He seemed to think for a moment, “Okay. My father writes reports every day, it’s not difficult,” he agreed, relieved.

“Your father writes reports?” I asked curiously, I couldn’t help myself.

“Yes, he works for my uncle as a physician, so he writes reports for my uncle every day.”

“Your dad is a doctor?” I don’t know why I was surprised, “I guess that explains why he has so many cars.”

“The..? Oh, no, only the red one is my father’s, the others are my uncles.”

At the time I didn’t know much about his family and curiosity got the better of me. If he was willing to talk, I was mildly interested to know. “So you’re close with your family then?”

“I suppose, my father and uncles are busy a lot of the time, but they argue about who gets to drive me to school,” he mused.

“You don’t drive yourself…?”

“No, I’m not old enough yet,” he shrugged.

“...How old are you?”

He took a small breath in as if startled, “Eighteen,” he answered quickly.

“That’s old enough to drive…”

“Ahh, yeah, just not for my family,” he explained vaguely and I took the opportunity.

“So then, the guy who picked you up the other day, was he your uncle?”

“Eric? No, he’s my uncle’s.”

“Your uncle’s what…?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He belongs to my uncle- oh,” he stopped as he glanced out the window, “I have to go, same time next week?”

“Yeah, okay-” I was hardly allowed the chance to respond as Hadrian gathered his things and was gone before I could finish the sentence.

Confused, I slowly turned to look out the window. Below, in the parking lot, was a black Mercedes and beside it was a tall man with long white hair lingering awkwardly as if uncertain. He dithered about like a lost senior, stopping and starting, on and off in different directions unsurely until he at last spotted Hadrian.

The man’s anxious expression dissolved into pure relief as his nephew jogged over and I watched from a distance as Hadrian apologized repeatedly. He must’ve forgotten to mention we were studying. They drove off in a sedate manner and I contemplated how weird I thought Hadrian’s family must be. Of course, I didn’t find out about the disappearances until the next day.

Quiet whispers circulated the halls and students moved in close knit groups. The atmosphere was heavy and classes were muted, so it wasn't until the first period that I found out two girls in our year had disappeared. According to Hannah, the girls were last seen walking down the road toward the national park when a European car pulled up beside them, and they hadn’t been seen since.

From there the rumors were rampant. Some were convinced there was a serial killer on the loose, while others said the road was known for mysterious happenings since it was so near the forest and the more I thought about it, the more I started to get worried. I lived near that road, I’d walked it a hundred times. If I hadn’t stayed back late to study with Hadrian, would I have been on that road?

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement as my locker door slammed shut in front of my face. “It was Hadrian,” Cassy stated, her eyes were dark with dread and her hand was still firmly plastered on my locker door, holding it shut.

“What?” I muttered reluctantly.

“You’ve heard about the disappearances right?”

“Yes. Who hasn’t?”

“It was Hadrian,” she hissed urgently, but I turned away, rolling my eyes as I did.

“You’re really going to try and blame this on him as well?”

Cassandra moved to block my path, and I shifted my weight to one hip irritably, “I’m serious,” she insisted.

“How could it possibly be him?” I dreaded even entertaining the idea.

“There was a witness, and they said it was a European car with a driver who had white hair. How many people do you know that fit that description, drive European cars and aren’t at school today?”

I pretended to think for a minute, “None.”

“Hadrian.”

“He doesn’t drive. Besides, only one of his cars is European, and it’s his uncle’s.”

Cassy stopped, “How do you know that?” she asked with narrowed eyes and I pursed my lips.

“Because, I was with him last night. We were studying until late when his uncle came to pick him up.”

“You can’t do that, he’s not safe!” she exclaimed in a whispered tone.

“You really need to get over whatever issue you have with him. He’s just a dude,” I sidestepped her as I spoke and she grabbed my arm.

“If I show you proof that I know him, would you believe me then?”

The determination in her eyes was deep and it fanned my mild curiosity into a relentless need to know. “Fine. If you can prove to me, I mean, really prove that you know him. I’ll believe you.” I was certain there would be nothing she could show me to make me believe her.

“Okay, Friday, after the game, I’ll show you a photo.”

Cassandra was gone before I could think of a response, however I was both skeptical and intrigued. Photos could be faked pretty easily, but maybe she had some way of proving it? Or maybe I was just an idiot hoping for a mystery to solve…

In third period I was surprised to see Hadrian. He approached without hesitation and handed me a folder with some papers in it, “I prepared the report like you said, do you think you could look it over before I hand it in?” he asked casually.

“Where were you? You weren’t in class this morning?” I asked instead of answering and he paused, surprised.

“Oh, yeah, sometimes I miss the morning classes.”

“Why?”

“Family stuff,” he mused, “The paper is due Monday, I hope that’s enough time?”

“Yeah, that’s fine…” I trailed off. As I looked down at the folder in my hands, I noticed Hadrian’s knuckles were bruised and he had faint scratches up his forearms, “What happened to your hands?” I asked quietly.

The boy seemed surprised and slowly pulled them away, “Nothing, sometimes I spar with my uncles, they’re big on that kind of thing.”

What kind of thing? Kidnapping victims that fight back? I thought to myself ironically. “Right… Did you hear about the disappearances?”

“Disappearances?”

“Two girls from our year disappeared last night…”

“Oh…”

An awkward silence lapsed between us before I spoke again, “I’ll get this back to you by tomorrow okay? Also… I guess maybe you should know, Cassandra is convinced she has proof that you know her.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, she says she’s got a photo, or something.”

“That’s interesting,” he mused, as his eyes moved sideways to look for Cassy, “Did she say anything else?”

“Nope, but I’m starting to feel like I need to check your ID or something,” I joked and he smiled.

“Maybe tomorrow then, I didn’t bring it with me today.”

He left without another word and I didn’t see him again until our shared extracurricular class. The class was a formality for ballroom dancing in light of prom coming up in a few weeks and most of the seniors were taking it. Typically it meant a lot of dancing with different people, but when class began this time, Hadrian moved over to Cassandra.

“Dance with me,” he stated the question calmly and to my bewilderment, she moved to do as he had asked, though not without a scowl.

“I don’t want to,” she muttered.

“That’s unfortunate.”

Hadrian took her hand in his and placed his free hand on her upper back. Unlike his academics, this class was almost pointless for him. He’d come into it already knowing the slower dances like the waltz and foxtrot, and picked up on the faster swing styles quicker than most.

“What do you want?” Cassandra sneered under her breath as they moved.

“I just want to know why you’re so determined to try and ruin my life,” he answered quietly.

“Because you’re an asshole. Where do you get off pretending to be whatever it is you’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you? Cyri-” she cut off as he dipped her back.

“Cassandra, you really need to think your actions through better,” Hadrian mused as he held her up from falling, “What are you hoping? I’ll suddenly admit to knowing you? Play into your delusions? It’s well known that my family are well off, but this won’t help you.”

“I have proof.. You can’t keep lying…” Cassy replied meekly as he pulled her back up with an eye roll.

“You can’t have proof of something that never happened. I don’t know you.”

“...T-then maybe you just forgot?”

“Or maybe you’re sicker than you think.”

Cassandra tensed as her entire body locked up, “... You do know, you do remember.”

Hadrian ignored her a long moment, then leaned in closer to whisper in her ear, causing her lip to curl and making whatever he said impossible to hear, before gently spinning her away. Another boy collected her as the change of partners happened smoothly and I landed in Hadrain’s arms instead.

His hands were cool, and his arms were strong. We hadn’t been paired before and it caught me off guard, “Mia,” he greeted me pleasantly.

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing in particular,” he assured.

“Why did you want to dance with her?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

“....Why did you sit with her at lunch the other day?”

“I was just being nice. It can’t be easy being new and labeled insane.”

“Why are you nice to her then? She’s not nice to you and she’s not pretty enough to get away with it.”

Hadrian smiled slightly bemused, “So? I’m nice to you as well.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” I mumbled embarrassed, “I just meant, guys will usually only excuse crazy for pretty, but you’re excusing it for nothing.”

“Not for nothing. Have you ever considered that maybe she’s not crazy?”

“...What do you mean?”

“My father is a doctor, remember?” he stated calmly before lowering his voice, “Cassandra is very sick, she probably won’t make it to her 21st…”

“So you do know her?” I whispered accusatorially and mildly appalled, “All this time you-”

“Shh, relax. I don’t know her, she was just one of my father’s patients and I know of her because of that… Still, if you could show her some mercy, I would appreciate it… It bothers me that she’s so confused with no friends. I try to be kind because I don’t think she should suffer…”

Truthfully, I didn’t know whether or not I believed him, but I couldn’t think of any better alternative. Moreover, if Cassandra really was that sick, maybe part of it was delusions… and maybe that meant I was being unfair to her.

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