Chapter 15: After The End

Chapter 7: Revelations

Begin!

~Quigley's POV

"You know what's been going on?"

"Yes, and I wasn't supposed to tell you, but this is a serious mission and if you aren't aware of the danger then you could get hurt too."

Fiona pushed her glasses up to rub her eyes and sat down; I joined her. "The stress has been killing me."

"Is that why you're so tired?"

"Partly; I was up all night searching the school from top to bottom. I'm exhausted and my legs hurt, but I managed to search everywhere. Miss Strauss is a volunteer too; she gave me the keys to every room for my investigation."

"Judy knows and she wouldn't say anything..."

"Trust me when I say there's a good reason for discretion. I would tell you more but-"

"Don't, or at least not right at this moment. You've been up all night and I'm worried about you."

She smiled softly, "I appreciate you caring. It's nice to have you here; keeping you around makes the stress not so overpowering. I'm also sorry that I had to use your map for my mission too. It really is a nice gift and I wish I didn't need it for such a purpose."

"Heh, you used me for my maps?"

"It's more accurate to say I saw an opportunity and didn't hesitate. Starting something with you also wasn't part of the plan, but I wanted to take your offer, and I knew it would ease some of the emotional burden."

I put my arm around her and kissed her forehead. "Ok doll here's what we're going to do. First, you get plenty of sleep tonight. Second, tomorrow you're coming over to our dorm to talk about this with my family. Violet might not like it but she wants to solve this mystery too, so I promise she'll cooperate."

"I didn't originally want you involved but since the situation is growing worse, I have to ask for help. And I can handle whatever Violet wants to say to me; not like I haven't heard it before..."

~...

Needless to say, tensions were high when I brought Fiona over the next day. I had convinced Violet to hold her tongue, but thankfully Klaus was indifferent and concerned with getting things figured out. Isadora was happy to meet her, which made Fiona rather thankful that she wasn't bitter towards her, and Duncan was happy to know that we had the organization's help after all. (Even in secret) Once we were all settled in the dorm we began our discussion.

"First of all, Duncan, Violet, your investigating has caused some problems for this mission already. I hate to have to tell you this but asking questions is putting students on edge," Fiona started.

"Ok, we apologize for that. I hope we didn't compromise too much."

"Just don't do it anymore and we should be fine. Secondly, the students aren't missing. They're being kept in a V.F.D. safe place until the situation is resolved."

"How do you know that," Violet asked.

"Because it's part of my mission to know these details," Fiona replied, "Miss Strauss knows I'm on the case, and there's two teachers here who are volunteers in disguise that have been taking the students away whenever it happens. I assure you they're all alive and well; keeping them there is a precaution."

"At least we know they're not hurt," Isadora said with a relieved sigh, "But why is this happening?"

Fiona picked up her bag and set it down on our table with a loud thud. She reached inside and pulled out a small metal lock-box to show us. "In order to tell you exactly what's going on: I need to start at the beginning."