Chapter Twenty
"Oh, no, what's this? A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle," -Coldplay
Breen was dead. Time was running out. Medication was running low. Patience was wearing thin.
Dr. Lucian was confused. Nothing was making sense. His friend and co-worker was dead and he was being threatened. He didn't know who was behind Breen's murder and he didn't know who was out to get him. He didn't know where to get more of the specific ingredient he needed for the production of the new medication. He found himself questioning his life's work and purpose. Lucian's life was falling apart.
He also found himself worrying over the patients. Now that Breen was dead, there was no one to report back to Lucian about each patient's wellbeing. So many things were going wrong. Lucian was worried about his family too. He had abandoned a family for his job so many years ago that he doubted they even thought of him anymore. However nothing in the world could make him forget them. He had left a beautiful, loving wife and a son behind all for the greater purpose. Now he questioned if the greater purpose was worth all the sacrifices he had made. If he could turn back the clocks of time, he'd go back to a time when he was happy with his family. He would have made different decisions had he known the outcome of the choices he had made.
However the past was gone and now he had to live with the product of the seeds he had planted.
Lucian had a plan. He couldn't just sit in his office and wait. He had to do things himself now if he wanted results. His investigation depended on the trustworthy feedback he received from Breen. Now that Breen was gone there was no one else he could trust. He had to take matters into his own hands. He had to find out who had killed Breen, for what purpose, who was after Lucian himself and what was going on with the patients. He wasn't sure if the boss would be happy or not but he was going to pay a visit to the patients himself.
He had notified his secretary of his short absence and had left the boss a letter informing her what he planned to do. He had told his secretary to deliver it to her after he left, that way there was no chance of being stopped.
He was packing his things, organizing his papers and getting ready to leave. He had everything set. All he needed to do now was dial a taxi and exit the building without calling any unnecessary attention to himself because he needed time. He grabbed a hat, sunglasses and a large coat to disguise himself a bit. The only person he had told of his plan was his secretary because he needed someone on the inside to know what he was doing in case something happened to him. Yet he had avoided telling her where exactly he was going. She had been sad to see him leave but had cheered up when he'd told her she would get an extended paid vacation over the holidays.
The doctor packed his laptop, closed his brief case and unplugged the cheap disposable phone he had bought for his trip from the wall. The only person who had his new number was his secretary.
Lucian took hold of his briefcase and heard a honking outside the window of the building. He looked out and spotted the yellow cab waiting for him. He left the office and took the elevator down. He was thankful he hadn't bumped into anyone he knew on the way out. He exited the building successfully and entered the taxi cab.
"Where to, sir?" the cab driver asked looking at him through the rearview mirror. Lucian's reflection started back at him.
"Oak Wood High School in New York City."
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"Scar?" Sienna asked in doubt. She had suspected her but she just couldn't face that kind of betrayal. She hated the thought of her best friend hurting her that way for no particular reason.
"Yes. I'm positive. Who else would have an interest in messing with us?" Tristan asked.
My stalker, Sienna thought to herself but reserved her thoughts.
"I don't know but it could be someone else. I mean why would Scar do all this? We're friends." She couldn't hide the hurt in her voice.
"You forget, Sin, we're in a mental institution. We're dealing with crazy people here. Friendship means nothing here," he explained grimly.
"Right," she muttered looking away. Did he know about her? That question kept spinning in her head. "So what do we do now?"
"Now we keep going with the plan. We can't afford to get distracted with Scarlett's petty little games. We have bigger issues to deal with. Have you made a decision yet?" he questioned looking right into her big eyes.
"I...I thought you said I had until full moon," she whispered.
"I did. Look up, Sin," he told her. She did as he said and gasped in surprise. Night had fallen and the sun had gone down. In its original place was now a bright looking moon that lit up the entire sky like the fourth of July. Sienna noticed it was a very picturesque looking moon. It was so beautiful it almost didn't even seem real. Was it real? Or was everything an illusion? It was big and yellow. Somewhere wolves were standing on a cliff howling at it, she was sure. It was a strange thought to think that people all over the world were looking at this same moon. One world, one sun, one moon and yet everything was so divided on this earth.
"I don't want to pressure you but time is running out, Sin. I need to know your decision," Tristan told her choosing to look at her rather than the moon.
"So the people I thought were my friends are not, the boarding school I thought I was staying at is actually a mental institution, everyone who surrounds me is crazy, my parents don't want me and this place is about to be destroyed. I guess I don't have much a choice to make. It's all very clear now. Stay behind and perish or leave and strive for a better future. I have nothing left for me here. Everything you've told me seems to be true and even if it wasn't there's nothing left for me in this place. I don't belong here. I'm going with you," Sin pronounced the four words that would determine her fate for the rest of her life.
"Excellent," Tristan said. "We leave in a week."
"Now who can tell me who is responsible for this?" asked Mrs. Hale.
Nathan and Scar looked at one another before looking back at the lady. The scared guy on the right simply stared right at the floor.
"Well we aren't certain about who-" Nathan started when all of a sudden Scar interrupted him.
"Tristan and Sienna did it, I'm sure of this." She said surprising everyone in the room. Nathan stared at her incredulously but said nothing.
"Tristan Bellicose and Sienna Maddison?" Mrs. Hale double checked. She knew the names well. Tristan had caused enough trouble around here to make a name for himself and Sienna was a peculiar new student. Mrs. Hale knew all of her students but she kept a close watch on those particular two.
"Yes."
"Well do you have evidence for this? Did you see them do it? We can't just go by your word Miss. Blaze," she said adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose.
"I didn't see them but I did hear them talking about their plan to burn Nathan's room down" Scar lied smoothly.
"I see. What exactly where they saying and when did you hear all this?" she questioned sounding like a judge.
"They were plotting to burn his room. Tristan was telling Sienna he would get the equipment needed and Sienna was setting up the date. I heard all of this about a week ago."
"And where were you when you heard all of this?"
"I was heading out of the library and decided to go sit in the back where the garden is to enjoy my new book when I heard voices. I was surprised seeing as hardly anyone ever goes back there. Anyway, I approached silently and saw them sitting there. I thought nothing of it at first but then I hears Nathan's name and stayed to listen." Scar was impressed with herself.
"So you were eavesdropping on their conversation?"
"You could say that," she admitted.
"Did they say anything else?"
"I didn't stay that long. I only heard that part of their conversation."
"I see and what reasons, might I ask, could those two have for destroying school property in such a harmful way?" Mrs. Hale arched a well-groomed eyebrow.
"I don't know. They dislike him. Maybe they were jealous of him. Nathan is the star of the school."
"Well I can understand Mr. Bellicose' involvement in the matter. What had me perplexed is Miss Maddison's involvement," she admitted.
"Well she is in love with him. Maybe he asked her to help and she agreed," Scar said.
"I suppose that's very possible. What do you think of all this Mr. Wood?" Mrs. Hale asked him.
"I just want whoever did this to pay for this. I want whoever was responsible punished. How can anyone feel safe in this place after something like that? What if I would've been in the room? I could have been burned alive in there!"
"I understand, and do you have anything to add to this?" Mrs. Hale asked the scared guy. He shook his head and kept staring at the polished floor.
"Very well. I will take matters into my own hands now. We will proceed to relocate you into a new room Mr. Wood. I will also inform your father pf what has happened. He won't be very pleased. I will also check the surveillance cameras for further clues. I will need you to fill out these forms so that I can fax them to your father. Mr. Bellicose and Miss Maddison will get what they deserve," she said as she handed them the forms. Scar smiled to herself. This was perfect. Everything was going according to her plan.
Scarlett. She was responsible for the notes. It all made sense now. She had been desperate to get revenge on Nathan so she had set everything up to kiss Tristan in front of Nathan's jealous eyes. Sienna understood the reasons behind her plan she just didn't understand why Scar had used Tristan to get what she wanted. Why him out of all people? Scar knew Sienna liked Tristan a lot, maybe more than friends, so why would she purposely hurt Sienna that way? Like always there were too many questions and doubts swirling in Sin's head and no logical answers. At least not answer she wanted to believe.
She wanted to believe Scar was her friend. Sienna never had many of those in her life time. She didn't trust people and people didn't like her. Everybody who thought themselves to be normal thought she was crazy when in reality the only difference was her consciousness. Sienna was conscious that she was crazy, the "normals" weren't.
Sienna didn't know what to do now. Scar had been one of the people she wanted to talk to about the information of the school Tristan had found out. Now she didn't know if she could trust Scar. She didn't know who her friends were. Did she even have any friends?
Right now she felt like her world was falling apart all around her. The careful walls she had built had caved in a bit when she had first arrived at the school and began socializing and opening up to new people. Her walls were under attack now and Sienna found herself wondering if she should try and rebuild them once they collapsed altogether or if she should just let them fall down without restraint. She felt under attack from all directions. Her parent's abandonment was an attack, Scar's intentions were a canon hitting her walls, Tristan's new found information was a bomb that had been dropped on her unexpectedly and the fact that she had developed strong feelings for Tristan didn't help one bit. If anything, it complicated matters even more.
She couldn't imagine leaving behind all these people to suffer that way. She didn't want to feel responsible for so many deaths if everything Tristan had said was true.
So far it seemed real. The experiments, the plans and the lies all fit together. She had understood everything a bit more once she had finished reading the documents Tristan had printed for her. It seemed legitimate.
Now Sienna only had left one other important matter to deal with; her stalker.
She still had no idea who was tormenting her in secret and she was afraid because the person had been very quiet lately, too quiet. She hadn't heard from her stalker since the writing on her wall. She hadn't found any mysterious notes anywhere and nothing strange was happening at the school. Was the stalker waiting for her to forget and relax before the next attack? If so, what would the person do next? Would they go after Tristan too?
Something else that had been very silent these days were the voices. Besides the thoughts in her head, everything seemed at peace inside her mind. No one was telling her what to do or arguing with her.
It was a peaceful feeling but it also felt kind of lonely. When she wasn't in class or with her friends she found herself missing the voices. Had they disappeared for good? And if so why? Where had they gone? Were they bothering someone else now? Did they not want her anymore? She wondered.
Sienna also found herself thinking about her parents. How were they? Did they think about her? Why hadn't they called? Had they forgotten her? Did they even want her to come home for the holidays? They were probably much happier without her. They had shipped her off to boarding school to get rid of her. They didn't want her near them. She was too difficult to deal with. They couldn't handle her. Besides, she didn't think they could ever forgive her for what she had done. She knew they wouldn't miss her if she disappeared. They would probably celebrate. She had no family to worry about, no friends and no lover to come after her. She was a free spirit ready to roam the earth with Tristan by her side.
She wanted to tell someone about their plan but she didn't trust anyone enough. She wished the voices would appear again so she could ask them what they thought. She wanted to hear someone else's opinion on the matter.
She couldn't talk to Scar but maybe she could tell Parry about her plans. Could she trust him? Would he keep quiet? Would he try to stop her? Would he think she was crazy? Would he want to come with her?
She considered telling Ana. She seemed more trustworthy. Maybe she would decide to follow them. Maybe she would bring Enrique along as well. Jessica was certainly not an option. That brunette hated Sienna more than anything. She would do anything to sabotage her if she found out. She would probably tell the entire school.
Before Sienna made any rash decisions she would think about it. Maybe it was bets to leave in silence without attracting any unwanted attention from anyone. The less everyone knew the better.
Sienna was laying on her bed thinking about everything when a knock was heard on her door. She sat up and glanced at the doorway. Who could it be? She slowly approached the door like a scared animal and panicked when she heard three rapid knocks again. She looked through the peephole and saw no one. She asked herself if she should open the door or not. She sighed, put on her brave face and unlocked the door.
As she had suspected, no one was there to greet her. She looked around the hallway to see if she could catch a glimpse of the person who had knocked on her door but she was too late. The person was long gone. She considered chasing after them but realized that would be a waste of time. She would never catch up with them and even if she did she would have no way of knowing which person had knocked.
She tried to convince herself that maybe the noise had been something else. She went back to her bed and sat down. What she really needed now was some Coldplay to distract her from all these crazy thoughts and mysterious knockers. She took her ipod and searched for the song she felt like listening to. She'd seen on the internet the other day that Coldplay was coming out with a new CD and she couldn't wait to listen to all the songs. She would bet Tristan would like it too. He was a Coldplay fan as well.
Just when she was about to play Trouble by her favorite band when she heard the knocks on the door again. Am I going crazy?
Without thinking twice she rushed to the door and opened it in a flash hoping she would have time to see the face of the culprit. However the face she saw was very familiar and not at all who she expected. It was the ward, ape lady.
She sighed in relief. It was only the ward. Nothing to worry about. Maybe that had been who had knocked on her door before. Unfortunately her relief was short lived.
"Can I help you?"
"Sienna Maddison?" the ugly lady asked.
"Yes,"
"Come with me. The headmaster wants to see you in her office."
"Now?" she asked in surprise.
"No in a couple of weeks. I just came all the way up here to give you time to come up with a cover story Ms. Maddison. Of course now," she growled back. Sienna nodded in submission and began to close her door.
"Hey Can I ask you a question Miss?" Sienna asked ape lady. Of course she would never call her that to her face. She didn't want a week of detention or whatever other punishment they would come up with.
"What?" she said in an unpleasant voice.
"Did you knock on my door before?"
"No, Miss Maddison." A shiver went down Sienna's spine. Sienna was about to follow the lady when she saw a white piece of paper next to her door. She bent down and picked it up.
"Well come now Miss, she doesn't like to be kept waiting. Mrs. Hale is a very busy lady,"
"I'm coming," Sienna replied not really paying attention to her. Her mind was focused on the piece of paper in her hand. She slowly unfolded it and gasped. It was a drawing done in black ink of a spider web. Inside the web was a big black spider drawn in beautiful detail and next to it some kind of insect. The insect seemed to be trapped in the web, about to be eaten by the huge spider. There was no message on the paper, simply a scary drawing of a spider and a prey that seemed like some kind of warning.
A/N: Finally! Sorry guys, I had writer's block but I'm back in action. Comment and vote away!