Nefarious

C180 - Evidential search

Just as Xavier and I were heading out, Alex came out from the bathroom. "And where are you guys going?" he asked coldly. I nudged Xavier's arm since it was his 'brilliant' idea after all. "Outside for some air?" Xavier lied. The way Xavier answered made it obvious he'd lied, and Alex caught onto that immediately. "You two are going to do something stupid and impulsive, aren't you?" he asked, glancing at the both of us. "Well," I started, trying to come up with a decent explanation. "I'm in, let's go," Alex said, interrupting my lousy attempt at explaining. "What?" Xavier stuttered. Alex cracked his fingers before walking straight past us and out the door. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow, waiting for us to follow, which we ended up doing.

Expectedly, people stared in shock at the three of us as we'd barely been outside of Xavier's room in months. Perhaps we gave some people false hope that Alex would finally stand up to Xylan like some hero, but ultimately, there was nothing Alex could do to take Xylan's position as the leader. It seemed as though some people shared an idea that Alex could simply snap his fingers and become the leader within a short time. Those people were living in the past, holding onto ideals which never got fulfilled. Admittedly, I'd questioned the election too as I recalled more people voted for Alex than Xylan. Nevertheless, I knew criticising the voting system would be pointless. Xylan would see it as a personal attack; as a prolonged protest against him. Alex has always had a tensed relationship with Xylan as well as a troubled past, so provoking him wouldn't be the best idea.

When we reached the stairs leading up to the third floor, Alex abruptly stopped in his traces. "There's something I should tell you before we go up there, Valerie," he said. I exchanged glances with Xavier, who seemed as confused as me. "I've told you that Xylan has spies, but they're his personal ones. There are spies working here on a general level. That means they don't serve anyone specific. Their job is to observe and document occurrences in journals which are stored in the library that we were in months ago," he said. "But someone must have access to those journals, right? Or else this would make no sense," I frowned. "Well, yeah. The leader has access, but only if there's a special need. Xylan can't freely read the journals. He has to fill out tons of forms and go through several meetings with others in the castle, such as our parents." "I suppose that makes sense, but why are you bringing this up now?" I questioned. "Because they might be watching us do this, so we better not get caught by Xylan. Trespassing could qualify as a reason to check journals for this week or so," he explained. "Technically we're not trespassing, though. Your room is still up there, right?" I said. "Yeah, but Xylan introduced a new rule stating that past candidates have to stay away from the third floor for half a year at minimum. He based it on vindictiveness, which is bullshit, but he got away with it. According to Xylan, I must keep away so that I can control my bitterness from losing the election. He's afraid that I'll try to strip him from his power, basically."

Xylan's new rule sounded ridiculous, but it made sense that he would want to keep Alex away. To be frank, though, I've found Xavier to be more nosy and sneaky than Alex. I suppose Xylan thought he'd already scared Xavier enough, but in all honesty, I believe Xylan lost the ability to affect Xavier after discharging Jace. If anything, Xylan had only increased Xavier's desire to sneak around and cross all kinds of boundaries. Xavier had become slyer than ever, which made me think the note he kept was of a high value of some sort. Also, since he'd been so cautious about the note, he must've gotten it in some shady way. I had no clue whether he still had it or not, but I still felt a strong urge to find it and read it.

Alex was right; there were observant eyes on us everywhere. Distinguishing who were secret spies and who were solely curious became too difficult of a task, and so we went on with our plan. We figured most were either too scared to tell Xylan themselves, unbothered, or spies who observed in secret for the sake of the journals. Xylan's personal spies were likely sent to Vera's practice since that was still a thing. As a result of the election, I'd quit participating in the group, though not out of discouragement. I wanted to step out of the spotlight as a way of distancing myself from Xylan. It paid off well for following situations such as spying since Xylan no longer expected me to take an interest in him. Or at least it was likely that he'd moved his focus away from me after several months of silence.

Thankfully, Alex knew his way around the third floor, and so he led us toward one of the meeting rooms without problems. It turns out he was a greater liar than I'd remembered, which almost managed to impress me. "Chances are Xylan will keep no meetings of significance in the smaller meeting rooms as the doors aren't soundproof. If I were to guess, he's secretly sharing the most sensitive information inside his own room. That way he won't have to tell too many people, and so his secrets are safer. He's always preferred to keep the number of well-informed people limited," Alex whispered. "No wonder Jace has trust issues. Having Xylan as a teacher must've been awful," I answered. Xavier swallowed oddly, his eyes averting mine. "That's an understatement. Xylan terrified Jace enough to keep him silent even when they were in different countries. I'm telling you, Xylan's the main source of evil," Xavier scoffed frustratedly.

Xavier suggested we ought to split up to cover greater parts of the third floor simultaneously. Naturally, Alex was hesitant at first, but he agreed eventually. Alex had thoroughly gone through places to hide in case any of us were to run into Xylan abruptly. Numerous times he specified how important it was for us to avoid attention and pay attention to our surroundings, which I figured I ought to remember. Typically I'm the one who ends up in trouble by being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

During the late hours, everyone on the third floor was usually in meetings or occupied with something. To my advantage, the darkness fell over the castle as well, making it easier to sneak around unnoticeably. Stealthily, I moved around in hopes of finding anything. For each room I passed by, I listened intently, cautiously trying to find Xylan or perhaps some of his personal spies. I mean, how ironic would it be if I spied on his spies? Perhaps I was underestimating those spies by believing I could turn the table on them, or perhaps Xylan was overestimating them. There was no way for me to know, but I allowed myself to hope for the second alternative to be true. 

As I reached a room close to Alex's bedroom, I overheard a person saying Xylan's name aloud. I swiftly realised he'd announced that some monthly meeting was finally over and that they were all free to leave. At first, I hesitated as it wasn't Xylan announcing it all, but then I heard him loud and clear. My head twitched to the side, desperately searching for the closest hiding spot as I heard chairs moving inside the room. I backed up against the wall, my hands searching for a door handle as I kept my eyes fixed on the door which Xylan would exit from shortly. I cast a glance at the wall, spotting a door approximately two meters from me. In large steps, I moved closer quietly. Right when I figured I'd reached the door, I felt a hand grabbing my wrist with excessive strength, pulling me closer determinately.