The Masqueraded

10

Kira sat on her couch with her leg propped up on a pillow. Bella Quinn kept the cup of hot coffee next to her on the makeshift table and sat down on the beanbag chair next to the couch. She was feeling very unsettled. Just like Ru, she couldn't help feeling it was her fault that Kira was hurt.

Being a 29 year old Detective and having worked with multiple Police Departments since she was 22, she was now fairly experienced. She had been quite ingenious at figuring things out in so many of the cases she worked on. That's what frustrated her the most, the fact that she couldn't make sense of this one case.

Maybe we aren't trying enough.

Kira noticed the freckles on Bella's forehead and felt sorry for her cousin. Her parents had had a difficult talk with her about involving them in something dangerous earlier and they'd only let it go because she promised she would make sure they were no longer involved in anyway. She spoke to Alan on the phone earlier and told him firmly that students would no longer be involved. That it was just a risk she wasn't willing to take.

Now, she'd just have to work things out with the police. With two threatening emails and Kira's injury, she was really in it deep.

Kira patted her on the shoulder, 'listen Bels, it's not your fault. We went on our own and I got hurt. We won't do that again, I promise!'

Bella looked at her little sister and smiled softly, 'you're nice', she said, patting the girl on her head, 'now drink your coffee and take a rest. I'll have a talk with that young lady in a while', she said, referring to Ru.

'No need, I think she's already feeling terrible as it is. It's not her fault either. If there's a person following us around it means he knows we are on to him. My problem is why does he think we are on to him?' Kira reasoned.

Bella was about to respond when she got a call from Alan Reveira. She picked it up. There was a voice speaking quickly on the other side of the phone. Her eyes narrowed intently. After a few minutes, she kept the phone on the table.

'What's wrong?' Kira asked, concerned. Bella Quinn looked at her cousin gravely.

'Alan reported that someone might have entered his office. He called the police. I need to go there, will you be okay here by yourself?' She asked the girl softly.

'Yes of course', Kira responded with a smile, 'it's home'.

'I need to go my darling', with that she took her coat and headed out in a rush.

Sometime before Bella Quinn got the call from the Dean, Mel and Stefan were silently sitting on the floor next to the large mahogany table in the Dean's Office.

After what had happened to Kira, Mel was willing to take the risk and help Stefan. The two of them had crept down to the Office after it had closed for the day. Mel had opened the lock with a hairpin, which was something she was extremely good at since she was a kid, and the two of them had slid into the room. Ten minutes later, sitting there on the threadbare carpet, she was wondering if this was such a good idea after all. Stefan closed the laptop with a sigh of relief.

'I got it, we should get out of here!' He said, almost pulling himself up to his feet.

Suddenly there were sounds of footsteps outside. Mel looked at Stefan wide-eyed.

'Someone's coming! What are we gonna do?' Mel hissed.

'Sir, looks like someone unlocked the door. It's open!' a man shouted.

They heard the Dean's panicked voice, 'well you know what that means Roger, call the police!'

The two looked at each other and frantically looked about them. Stefan noticed that underneath the huge mahogany table which they were sitting next to , was a huge hollow. He grabbed Mel's hand and signaled her to get under the table.