The Blood of a Nightlock

Chapter Fourteen

"But you're the most positive and confident person I know, Wren." Grace said.

I feigned awe. "Grace, I really like you." I said as I turned back to Hamilton. "I blame the trauma."

"Ohhhhh the trauma." Raven said dramatically beside me.

"If you got it, flaunt it." I said as Grace laughed.

"But wait," Emmet was still clearly confused, "you're getting them from Dr. Hamilton?"

I waved him off. "Yeah, he's obsessed with me. It's fine."

"Helping." Dr. Hamilton said. "Not obsessed."

"Why not Dr. Harden?" Emmet asked.

"The world may never be able to afford to know, young grasshopper."

Emmet nodded understanding. "Got it."

"Wren is a brave and positive role model. I hope to be like her when I grow up." Grace said, giving Hamilton a fake smile.

I lifted my hands and pretended to whisper, "my fan club. You're the only one not part of it. We're getting jackets." I sighed like it was no big deal. "Just saying."

Hamilton leaned forward. "And you call me a narcissist?"

"I've never been gaslit so hard in my life." I said standing by my accusation.

"Alright, I think everyone is here." Dr. Harden cleared her throat, eyes on me. "How is everyone doing?" She smiled.

Mumbled responses carried through the room. Some okay. Some good. My group? Silent.

"Good. Some mixed reviews, but quite a bit of positivity in there." She said. "I know this looks pretty odd today, there's a few extra people in here that you probably are surprised to see in a psychology lesson." She put a hand on Mitchel's shoulder. Why was she always touching him? "Chief Mitchel is here today. You guys all know him." She said and gestured to Hamilton. "This is Dr. Hamilton. He's a world-renowned psychologist. He travels a lot to different schools and different hunter facilities around the world helping people cope with loss and injuries, and he even excels at psychological evaluations."

Emmet threw his pen down. "It's a psych eval. I knew it." He confirmed as I turned and smiled at him.

"Mr. Mason, please." She said with warning eyes on him. "Dr. Hamilton is a great asset to our staff this year, especially as some of you have been selected to join The Chosen early. He'll be a good person to turn to for any kind of help. Also, he is here to help me get to everyone with their needs after the attack. If you're having any concerns, no matter what it is, he can help as well." She turned a little to gesture to Vaughn. "This is Vaughn Chase. A lot of you might know him from his time as a Dragon. He attended Briarwood and is great friends with Chief Mitchel. He's going to help with some of your questions and hopefully bring you guys some clarity about going forward. This is going to be a great day of healing and building our future back up from the rubble it's currently in." She smiled. "I asked these gentlemen to join us in our lesson today. I wanted them to help shed some light on what happened at school and I want them to address some of your concerns so you're not feeling alone or worried about returning. This is not a psych evaluation This is..." She thought about it. "A healing arrangement. I know you've lost some people you care about or even just people you know. We want to see where your head's at and make sure you feel like you're in a good spot going back to school."

The room was silent.

"I'm afraid to go back to school." Leslie Brewer said from the back of the room as we all turned to look at her. Her future was to teach and she was going to spend her life at school and in that academic building. She couldn't be afraid to go back. We all knew that.