A few days later I was at work. It was around midday, and I was sitting in the breakroom scrolling absentmindedly through YouTube Shorts when my text alert sounded. I clicked off of YouTube and opened my messages. I smiled. It was from Octavia.
OCTAVIA: OMG! You are never going to believe this!
ME: Believe what?
OCTAVIA: Ethan, Brandon and Gage were arrested.
I peered at the phone in confusion and typed, Who?
OCTAVIA: The little creeps that assaulted you! I've been texting Augie back and forth the entire lunch period. She has Trig with Ethan and she said that the COPS walked right into class and escorted him out! I wish I could have seen it!
I blinked at the screen. She was right. I was having trouble believing what she just said. I never actually expected the police to do anything with the report that Sissy and I filed, especially not this quickly.
I felt anxiety suddenly roiling in my stomach. Were they the police's problem now? Would they handle everything from here? Did they expect anything else from me? Would there be a court case? Would I need a lawyer? Were these children really a part of the Iron Lance? Were their parents? Would they come after me for getting their children in trouble? Would they come after Sissy? Or...
"Oh my god," I gasped my vision blurring as my heart beat erratically in my chest. I scrambled for my phone and typed, You have to get out of that neighborhood now! I had to backspace and retype several times before sending.
OCTAVIA: Ugh! Yes! You've finally come to your senses! Tomorrow is Saturday. I'll pack up my stuff and get Niki to drive me to the park near Watermill. Then you can pick me up. I'll stay with you and Sissy until I get a job and get emancipated.
ME: No. I'll pick you up from school today. You CANNOT go back to that neighborhood!
I was in a blind panic. My palms were sweating. I could hear blood pounding in my ears.
OCTAVIA: But my stuff.
ME: Text Nikolai to pack it all up. He can drop it off at the vet's office. You can't go back there.
She was silent for a long time. Nora had just come into the breakroom to yowl that my break was over and that I was needed in exam 3 when Octavia finally replied, Alright. School ends at 2:15 today. I'll be waiting in the car loop.
I sighed and got up to check on exam room 3 texting, Good. I'll be there.
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"I don't understand why I can't go back to Aunt Charlotte's house to get my clothes and my--"
"I can't look at your hands while I'm driving, O," I said as I pulled out of the car loop and onto the street. She sighed and sat back in the seat crossing her arms over her chest. We came to a stoplight, and I glanced at her. She repeated her gestures, and I turned back to the road as the light flashed green.
"It's not safe," I replied, and she began signing frantically. I shook my head and said, "Let's just discuss this at home."
"What do you mean, it's not safe?" Octavia asked as we climbed the stairs up to my apartment, "I thought you wanted me to move in with my aunt because it was safer than being here."
"That was before I found out Watermill is crawling with Iron Lance!" I exclaimed and she looked at me stopping on the third-floor landing.
"What's this really about, Chase?" she asked, and I sighed glancing up and down the stairs before replying, "When they threw the balloons at me, those boys shouted..." I trailed off suddenly unable to say it.
"What?" Octavia asked and I took a deep breath hugging my arms around myself. I stepped closer to her and whispered, "Murderer. They threw balloons filled with blood at me and called me a murderer."
"Oh, Chase--" Octavia began before I grabbed her hands and said, "The only people who know I killed your father are your aunt and cousins...and you."
"Well, I didn't tell them!" Octavia exclaimed whipping her hands out of mine.
"I know--"
"And Augie and Celeste would never. Neither would Niki. He's still pining over you," she said, and I felt my face grow warm. I shook my head and murmured, "I know, I know, but what about--"
"Charlotte!" she emphatically spelled, and I met her gaze. A moment later we continued up the stairs, Octavia saying, "I mean she's definitely anti-Mythic, but she would never do something illegal or let someone do something illegal on her behalf."
I stared at her and wondered how she could say something with such confidence about someone she barely knew. I decided to humor her by saying, "Sure, but what if, in her grief, she confided in one of her friends? Perhaps the parents of one of those boys. Perhaps a member of the IL who then decided to take things into their own hands."
We stopped by the door of the apartment, and she signed, "You're being paranoid. They saw you fly out of their neighborhood, freaked out and jumped to conclusions. They assumed you were Dark and that all Darks are murderers. You're giving them way more credit than they deserve." I smiled softly at her and said, "Maybe you're right."
I went to unlock the door and continued, "Even so, I'm responsible for them being arrested and from what you said about that Ethan kid's dad, I'm convinced..." I trailed off as I found that the door wasn't locked. I pushed it open and stepped inside. My eyes widened at what I saw on the other side.