JANE'S POV
Not to lie, hanging out with Andrew is quite nice.
Although, at the hospital,
Jane!
The voice called again and immediately, I opened my eyes. I looked around, I saw Miss Sharon, the school's head doctor standing right beside me.
"She is awake." She said talking to the nurse beside her.
She brought out a pretty small flash light, shined it on my eyes then ear like she was searching for a bug. After a while, she asked me to list out things….
"Cat, dog, camel…..wait why am I to list different animals?" I asked but she did not respond. A few minute later, Nafisat entered and hugged me so tight. I looked around I saw Vivian and Andrew together standing close but Jason wasn't there.
"I will leave you to it." The doctor said then left.
"You scared us." Nafisat said finally letting go of me.
Nafisat practically hovered over me like worried mothers. Andrew stayed too, though he pretended he wasn't worried, but I have heard the story of how he carried me to the clinic. Every now and then, I would catch him glancing at me before quickly looking away whenever our eyes met. A part of me kept hoping he would say something,
not about the chaos swallowing the school, maybe ask me out.
But, sadly, he didn't.
He just talked about us having to meet with Jason and then left.
Maybe I am just overthinking things. I thought.
Eventually, the nurse allowed me to leave. Andrew and Vivian left together while I went with Nafisat who wouldn't stop talking.
After a long plagued of talk by Nafisat, I was able to go to the meeting site with Andrew. Once we got outside, we quickly made our way toward the hall. The moment we arrived, he removed his disguise and exhaled deeply.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
We eventually climbed to the top of the building and sat there, staring at the stars spread across the night sky.
"When will Jason be here?" I finally asked, breaking the silence that had settled between us.
"I don't know, but he should be here in a bit," Andrew replied.
Then he turned toward me.
"Also, how did you know about Jason?"
I gave a small smile.
Then sighed.
"I fell into a trance."
His brows immediately furrowed.
"A trance?"
So I told him everything.
The vision about the old version of the school, Mr. Caleb, Mr. John, basically everything. Vivian story was not wrong, it was not so accurate but she was right. I think she really do deserve the title of the Queen of Gossip.
The more I spoke, the more confused he looked. Honestly, if our positions were reversed, I probably wouldn't have believed me either.
Still, Jason had appeared in school and that alone proved something strange was happening.
"I have a competition very soon. I am so scared to go for it." Andrew asked somehow changing the topic.
"Why?"
"The last time I went for one, it didn't end well." He said looking so down.
I moved closer to him….held his hand and then said…
"You know what, sometimes I wish I was as brilliant as you are so I can get to leave the school through the back gate for competitions and make everyone proud...like a celebrity role model. " I said and he chuckled.
After a while, footsteps approached us. A familiar figure emerged from the darkness wearing a black hoodie.
"Hi guys."
"Jason!"
He sat between us casually.
"No one. And I mean absolutely no one can know I'm in this school." He said in a very serious tone. " I have a letter too. A letter from the culprit, from d**th itself. Till we find out who is behind this we have to remain quite and non suspicious. That includes you Andrew. Go for the competition."
I exchanged a glance with Andrew.
Jason turned toward me.
"Thank you, Jane."
"For what?" I asked.
"For trusting me." He smiled faintly. "You're the only person I knew I could trust. That's why I showed you the visions."
I leaned forward immediately.
"How?"
"I have watched you and I see your passion for the truth, so I summoned you and then led you through the trance."
Before I could argue further, Jason continued.
"You both need to prepare yourselves for the worst." The seriousness in his voice immediately caught my attention.
"And trust nobody."
A chill ran through me.
"The person responsible for everything happening in this school lives here and to be honest, I wish this was a movie where the future can be predicted because, this school is dangerous and this is only the beginning. ."
Silence followed.
Then suddenly…...
"What are you two doing here?"
All three of us jumped.
I turned immediately.
The Principal stood several feet away holding a flashlight. My heart nearly stopped.
Why must this man be everywhere I go? I thought.
Then I turned back toward Jason just to see that he was gone.
Completely gone.
The only thing left behind was a folded piece of paper resting where he had been sitting.
How was that even possible?
The Principal eventually escorted us downstairs and warned us never to return to the rooftop again before leaving.
Once he was gone, Andrew looked at me.
"I'll walk you back."
I nodded putting the paper that Jason left there inside my pocket.
As we made our way through the darkness, I noticed a figure dressed entirely in black and moved quietly walking pass us.
I paused….
Exchanged glances with Andrew, neither of us needed to say anything, we both smiled and then we followed.
Carefully and as silent as possible.
The figure eventually entered the Founder's Building. We hid behind a wall and watched.
The person reached behind one of the shelves, removed a black mask and then disappeared down a hidden staircase concealed behind it.
My eyes widened.
"Did you see that?" I whispered in Andrew's ear.
Andrew nodded.
A few minutes later, after finding extra masks hidden at the same spot along side some black robes. We put them on and followed.
The sight waiting below almost made me gasp.
It was an underground room that looked like a strange combination of a courtroom and a cult gathering and there were people everywhere.
At least twenty, maybe more. All dressed in black and all wearing masks. And the exciting part is that more people kept entering.
"What on earth is going on?" I muttered.
At the front sat a masked figure on an elevated chair.
Andrew and I quietly took seats among the others.
There was an empty seat beside me.
"Can we leave?" I whispered.
"Let's see what this is about first," Andrew replied sounding so drowned in curiosity.
Before I could answer, someone sat beside me.
"What on earth are you two doing here?" the person whispered sharply.
I nearly jumped.
"What do you mean?" I replied, disguising my voice. "We come here all the time. Right?"
"Yeah?" Andrew answered using his normal voice.
The person groaned.
"It's your Goddess."
"Vivian?"
She rolled her eyes.
"I followed Nafisat and I ended up here."
"Nafi?" I repeated.
"I always knew that girl was sus" Andrew said immediately.
Vivian smacked his shoulder.
"Let's discuss that later."
The meeting began shortly afterward.
At first, a short drama was performed about a man who wrote love letters to several women. After they rejected him, he kidnapped them and then forced them to become his wives.
The story was strange but maybe that is the story behind the letter.
Well, after everything I had witnessed recently, strange barely qualified as strange anymore.
Eventually, the masked speaker stood.
"I know we are all concerned about what has been happening in our school."
The room fell silent immediately.
"As protectors of the Founding Fathers' reputation, we cannot allow this to continue."
My attention sharpened.
"Founding Fathers's again?" I muttered.
"You know something?" Andrew asked me.
"I will tell you on our way out."
"Among us are traitors. Some have received the punishment they deserved. Some have not. And some never deserved what happened to them at all."
A pause followed.
"Like Nathan."
I immediately looked at Andrew, though the mask hid most of his face, but I could tell he was sad.
"But," the speaker continued, "how do we catch the culprit?"
One member stood.
"The Principal said the police are already investigating."
Laughter erupted around the room.
"It's true!" the boy argued. "We should leave the matter to them."
"Are you even a member?" A random person asked.
"Yes."
"But I barely attend meetings." Another replied.
Laughter filled the air.
The speaker nodded. "I am not surprised."
More laughter followed.
The discussion continued.
One person claimed the culprit had a mission he intended to accomplish and if they don't stand in his way maybe they will be safe. Another claimed that the main target of the culprit was their group.
Soon people were shouting over one another.
The meeting dissolved into complete chaos.
Eventually it ended.
The members left in groups, muttering among themselves.
Vivian, Andrew and I followed them outside trying to blend .
"Hey, you." Some one called out to us.
We paused immediately.
It was like my heart was about to jump out of my heart.
The person walked pass us and all together in unison we sighed
Then continued walking.
We dropped the mask and the gown after confirming everyone has left and walked back.
For several minutes, we discussed everything we had just witnessed.
The masks.
The hidden staircase.
Nathan.
The Founders.
The meeting.
All of it.
The more we talked about it, the stranger it sounded.
A secret society operating inside the school?
It was difficult to believe.
Then again, we had just seen it with our own eyes.
Throughout most of the conversation, Andrew remained unusually quiet.
"Andrew are you fine?" I asked.
"Yes. " He paused for a while before continuing. "with what they said, I think Nathan was one of them."
Vivian looked at him.
"Wait. You didn't know?" She asked
"I had no idea." Andrew replied sadly. He raised his head up, then looked down.
"It is a cult group I guess that is why?"
"So, those people know about the whole stuffs more than we do, maybe we can ask one of them about it?"
"That is a good Idea Queen Vivian." Andrew agreed.
"But we don't know any."
"We do. Nafisat."
The more she mentioned Nafisat, the angrier I got though I tried to keep it in.
"Tomorrow, we ask Nafisat, How about that?" Andrew offered.
"Great idea." Vivian said while I replied reluctantly with a nod.
Andrew walked Vivian back to her dorm since we are at different dorms while I walked back alone.
Though I looked a bit sad but it gave me time to think about all these.
What if Vivian is actually right about Nafisat? Could she be a traitor?