Canaan Club - 43. Chapter 43

“Pardon the interruption, students. Froddgenskaenn, please report to the administration’s office immediately. Froddgenskaenn, please report to the administration’s office immediately. Thank you.”

The announcements went off the second Rafe, Andre, Joe, and Daeran walked into the Crystal Grotto for homeroom. As the four made their way toward the front, Frodd trudged nervously in the opposite direction. In those few seconds, a myriad of emotions passed through each of their faces. Rafe glared, Andre gazed back sorrowfully, Joe looked knowing, and Daeran stared blankly. Frodd’s face cringed, glints of shame in his eyes before he sped-walked out of the cave.

All the while, the rest of the first-years were oblivious to the brief spike in tension, merrily chatting the minutes down until the start of their first class.

As they went to sit down in the first row, Rafe pivoted toward Daeran. “Hey, man. You have a handle over that invisibility move, right?”

The brunette blinked in surprise. “Y-Yeah, I guess. Those gumball sessions in FT&S helped a whole load. What of-”

Then, it clicked.

“Oh.”

Rafe nodded. “We need to be sure we can approach him. He might lead us into a trap or something.”

Daeran blew out a breath before his shoulders lifted, resolved. “Yeah. Right.”

He tensed, and a red glow momentarily enveloped his shape before he vanished altogether. Daeran went off without another word, Rafe noticing his departure by faint crunches of pebbles underneath his friend’s shoes.

The blond then faced Andre, whose expression was pinched with uncertainty as he watched the way Daeran had left.

“Dre,” he got the omé’s attention. “At some point, text Lindsay to meet you after school for a little talk. It’ll be less suspicious if it comes from you.”

The wolf boy pursed his lips, his brown eyes scanning the rocky ground for a quiet second before replying. “Are you sure this is right? She’s been nothing but helpful ever since we got here. I trust her.”

Rafe huffed as he sat down. “Yeah, well, sometimes that trust can easily fly out the window when you don’t show your face when shit goes rough.”

Andre shook his head, placing himself beside his best friend. “Maybe she’s going through her own hard times.”

“Frodd’s going through hard times, apparently,” the blond retorted, a brow lifting, “and he’s coping by shacking up with a bunch of bastard leeches. Who’s to say she isn’t doing the same?”

Andre’s eyes narrowed slightly in a challenge. “Who’s to say she is?”

Joe, who had been watching the seemingly-heated discussion like a tennis match, interrupted. “Dudes.”

Or, at least, tried to.

“Somebody who’s had their trust literally beaten the shit outta them by the people who should’ve cared,” Rafe pointed out gruffly, ignoring the Ares superhuman. “That’s being careful, is it not?”

“Sounds more like… paranoid,” Andre had to look away the second that came out, his face wincing with regret.

He could hear his friend’s jaw grinding in irritation. “Andre-”

At that moment, Daeran appeared out of thin air, quickly parking himself next to Joe. “I’m back, and so is he. Look natural.”

The young barbarian did come back and was not in the same mood he was a couple of minutes ago. Any sign of nervousness or panic was replaced with a smug calmness, sighing in relief as he situated himself in the second row far from the four.

Rafe’s insides bristled.

“What’s the situation?”

Daeran scratched his head, eyes regarding the scenery of the grotto in front of them as he explained. “It’s… pretty weird. Remember Pratwith? The guys we faced might have been cool in the end, but the coaches turned out to be sore losers. They’re accusing Frodd of cheating because of that plant on his club.”

The others balked at that.

“You serious!?” Joe exclaimed. “How come we’re not there hearing about this?”

The reserved first-year shrugged. He seemed a little eased himself. “It’s actually not a problem. At least as of thirty seconds ago. The officials pardoned Frodd over the phone, and that was it. Issue solved.”

“Huh. Scandal avoided.”

That was one way to put it., and Rafe would have laughed if that other problem they had wasn’t nagging at him from the back of his mind. They needed to sort this shit out now.

Without wasting any more time, Rafe shot up, without warning the others, and stalked over to the red bedhead. A couple of steps in and the three clambered upright to follow almost immediately.

“Rafe, wait,” Andre called, but Rafe dismissed him.

His attention didn’t waver as he made his way in front of Frodd. The peers sitting in front of him flinched in the face of the blond superhuman and hurriedly scooted themselves down the stone step. A couple of weeks in and he already had a reputation that struck fear and awe into others. He’d enjoy it but now was not the time. Instead, he slammed a foot down on the previously occupied spot, gaining the barbarian’s attention, and glared into penny-brown eyes.

Frodd graced him with a shaky grin. “Hey, mate-”

“We need to talk.”

“Rafe,” Andre tried again to no avail.

Rafe was determined to get this done.

Frodd’s expression slipped for the slightest of seconds before unsteadily returning to feigned cordiality. “I, uh, heard what happened to ye th’ other night an’ all. Those gobshites seriously need a good kick in the arse, don’t they? I say we-”

“Last night. You were with that bloodsucking creep Caid digging for him. The same guy who’s pretty chummy with Deyja, correct? Who’s also… close with that piece of shit Zoel, right?”

The redhead’s face and shoulders fell at that, rubbing the back of his head with his club. “Y-Ye’re a straightforward lad, aren’t ye?”

“Frodd,” Rafe nearly growled.

While Joe and Daeran were vigilant statues on the blond’s right, Andre was a jittery fusspot on his left. “I don’t think we should be doing this here.”

No. There was no other time to do this. If they played the waiting game again, Rafe had no doubt Frodd would make scarce appearances.

“We can start a fight right here and right now, but it’ll only confirm my suspicions. I almost fucking died for what I discovered last night,” the blond sneered, his anger at remembering those moments of blistering fire roasting his skin beginning to boil, “so I’m not waiting for answers anymore.”

“I-I-” Frodd stammered, blanching when he heard of his teammate’s near-death experience.

Joe sighed and took a tentative step forward, hands lifted placatingly. “Just talk to us, man. Did they force you or what? What’s going on?”

“I…” the barbarian stuttered, his brain most likely racking for a viable excuse. Though, when none came to him, he eventually sighed, lowering his head in shame. “I just wanted… to get stronger.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m… I’m weak!” he hissed in a whisper, tears already rolling down his cheeks. “I’m a runt. A shrimp. A stick amongst a forest o’ trees! But when they- er, Caid approached me with this, it was like a golden ticket t’ godhood bein’ waved in me face. I swear… I swear on me life and th’ lives of me clan that I wouldn’t have snatched it if I’d known everything! I fecking swear it!”

A bitter chuckle escaped him as he stood. “It’s funny, though. The clan was watchin’ me fight on the telly, and Master gave me a good talkin’-to about using items for strength that isn’t mine. Boy, was he raging with me.”

Andre, looking close to tears himself, stepped closer to the redhead, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We understand, dude. He didn’t… hurt you or anything, did he?”

“Nah. Master doesn’t need to get physical t’ deal out a heavy blow,” Frodd sauntered out of his row, then stood before the four prior to bowing in a perfect ninety-degree angle. “I-I’m sorry for everything. Truly, friends. You won’t have to see me for th’ rest the day.”

The sincereness and genuine honesty were enough to shock Rafe and the others still, which gave Frodd a head start on taking his leave, pivoting toward the exit with slumped shoulders and a dragging club.

Andre was the first to snap out of his awe. “No, don’t-”

Then Joe. “Bro, wait-”

But their attempts were futile. Frodd was already gone.

Rafe and Daeran kept silent.

“Shouldn’t we go after him?” The omé looked to the blond superhuman pleadingly.

The latter hesitated.

They could run after him, but then what? It didn’t take much to get the barbarian to talk, and he was willing to reveal his secrets in front of a live audience. Their club-wielding teammate was never truly working with their tormentors.

He was just another victim.

“No, leave him alone,” Rafe finally answered as he turned to go back to his seat. “Give him some time to think.”

“He’s not on their side. He really was just desperate to step out of the shadows,” Daeran blew out a breath.

“Looks like I was right.”

The blond’s eye caught Andre’s expression. One that hasn’t been directed toward him in years. The disappointment on the wolf’s face made his stomach clench with something he refused to acknowledge, so he settled for rolling his eyes and staring straight ahead for the rest of homeroom.

-POI-

The rest of the day consisted of Andre’s protests, and Rafe easing or brushing off his friend’s worries. The blond could not even guess why the omé didn’t want this to happen. Andre didn’t have a single bad bone in his body. Rafe knew that, but he had to feel some kind of indignation for the unwarranted shit that’s been happening.

So, when the school day ended, the group split up in their search for Lindsay. The blue-haired second-year was a lot more slippery ever since the cafeteria incident.

“I don’t get it, man,” Rafe shook his head in annoyance as he and Andre neared Dalhia’s Diner. “Why’re you hounding me about this? We’re looking for facts and we’re gonna get them one way or the other.”

The wolf boy pursed his lips. “Yeah, but I don’t think being aggressive is gonna get us anywhere. Lindsay’s helped us a lot since we came here and-”

“Purposely hid shit from us that could really help us, I don’t know, fucking survive!?” Rafe didn’t mean to snarl that last part, but he could no longer help it.

The guy just wasn’t getting it.

Andre was quiet for an anxious second before he responded. “Rudy and his friends. What about them? If Lindsay decides to stop helping us because we pushed her too far, then they’ll be in the line of fire.”

“Which is why we need to get that satchel from her,” and if suddenly at his wits’ end, which he was, the superhuman sighed deeply, giving the omega a tired, somber glare. “That can’t be what this is about, can it? The humans?”

“You say that like you aren’t one,” Andre snorted.

“But I can handle more. What the hell are we even arguing about? This is stupid.”

“I’m just-”

Then, out of the blue, Rafe clocked on to azure from the periphery of his right eye. He stiffened when he spotted Lindsay sauntering into the diner, seeming eased and relaxed as if there wasn’t a problem in the world.

It irked him.

“There she is,” he briefly placed a hand on Andre’s chest. “Quiet until we get close.”

“Please be nice,” Andre said before following.

The two trailed after the second-year, silently trudging through the entrance of the diner for a few moments before Rafe decided to call out.

“Hey, Lindsay!”

Andre kept quiet for now, waving at her in greeting.

Lindsay’s expression immediately brightened at the sight of the duo. “Oh, hey guys! It’s certainly been a minute, hasn’t it? Sorry, I haven’t been around as much. The workload typically picks up near the end of the first month, so expect to be washed with assignments until Christmas.”

She strained to lift her backpack with one hand, which was practically bulging from the bottom from the heavy, combined weight of textbooks.

“Too late,” Andre chuckled. “We’re up to our knees in books now, but we appreciate the warning.”

“Though, that’s not the only thing that’s been keeping us on our toes lately,” Rafe interrupted before they could stray too far into irrelevancy.

A proud smirk adorned her face. “Oh, I know. Heard you guys wiped the floor with those Pratwith folks. Awesome job, by the way-”

“That’s not it. It actually has something to do with you.”

Well, that wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Huh?” her eyes widened. “Me? What-”

“The satchel. You know the one a certain jerkass ninth-year has been on our asses about since we got here? The thing with the plants they need as ingredients.”

“Ssh! Woah, woah! Pipe down, alright!?” Lindsay motioned for the blond to stop as she frantically pivoted her sight around them. There were only a few people present spread throughout the eatery. Luckily, it wasn’t a full house until the evening. They were still by the entrance, though, so anybody suspicious could come in and catch on. “No need to let the rest of the world know about that.”

“So?” Rafe shrugged.

“I…” she sighed, suddenly weary, “had a feeling you’d ask about that eventually. Let’s just take this somewhere more private.”

Rafe searched the area and spotted an uninhabited corner of tables pushed together. A large group of people must have occupied it before they got here. “Empty patch of space over there.”

“I’m- We’re real sorry about this,” Andre started when they sat down, “but we just have to know.”

Lindsay just shook her head, seemingly confused. “I don’t understand. It’s being taken care of, guys. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“That would have been the case if I hadn’t decided to go… digging last night and almost got myself killed,” Rafe spat.

That had the second-year balking in disbelief. “Wait. What!?’

The superhuman groaned as he prepared himself for another round of explaining his brush with death. Although, there was a deep part inside of him preening with satisfaction as he watched the color disappear from the girl’s face.

After he was done, it was quiet on her end for a minute or two as she digested the information of last night’s events.

“Holy shit…” was the first thing she breathed out after that moment.

“Is right. Now, we need to know everything you know so we can make our move against them.”

“I can’t believe those bastards. He’s always been slimy but murderous, too?”

Rafe gave her a dry look but didn’t say anymore. He figured it was obvious bastard gamma would resort to such lengths. He was a high-ranking wolf.

And, apparently, Andre agreed. “I’m mean. It’s not that surprising. I don’t like it. Really, I don’t, but a pack member’s got to do whatever it takes to protect their pack even if that means being a schmuck.”

“And I guess we’ve long since trespassed on their territory,” another sigh escaped the bluehead before she stared back at Rafe. “Look, I’ll start hanging around more often until Zoel confronts you guys again, then I’ll simply tell him that I have the satchel. That should get him off your back for the time being.”

The blond’s shoulders dropped as he huffed in frustration. “There’s a lot of problems with that plan, you know.”

That made Lindsay blink. “I… don’t follow. Don’t you want him out of your hair or not?”

At this point, Rafe was a pinch close to cursing her out. How the fuck wasn’t she getting this? He swallowed and explained himself.

“Sorry. It’s just that I’m not hearing a permanent solution to this ongoing problem. A problem that might result in our deaths if we let it fester. We came to get away from shit like this in the first place!”

“And I said I’m handling it,” she replied with a bit more indignation. “I will handle it.”

“Not fucking fast enough,” a blue haze came over Rafe’s vision when he hissed darkly, and he knew his eyes were glowing a threatening, bright cyan.

Both Lindsay and Andre flinched. While the former edged away from him, the latter placed a hand on his shoulder, but it did nothing to pacify the incensed superhuman.

“Rafe. Calm-”

He cut off the omé with a slam of his fist on the wooden table, cracking a spiderweb into it. “No! Fuck that! I wanna know why you won’t tell us what your role in all this is, Lindsay! I’m sick and fucking tired of seeing my friends get needlessly hurt by those assholes!”

Rafe was well-nigh screaming at this point, and an argument of this magnitude was sure to get some onlookers, but nobody present batted an eye. Figures. If a bloody, destructive battle between a vampire and a werewolf didn’t do anything to perturb the patrons, then this exchange was next to boring.

The cynicism was clear in the atmosphere, and by the looks of Lindsay’s bitter smile, she had definitely picked up on the fact that it was about her.

“I’m guessing I’m not included in that group?” she spoke lowly, her voice shaking at the end.

Andre whimpered faintly beside him

“A friend wouldn’t leave their newbie peers in the middle of the jungle filled with bloodthirsty predators. They wouldn’t leave them in the dark without a map so they can plan a clearcut path in advance.”

Every sentence was vindicated with a wince from the blue-haired girl, breaking through her walls until there was nothing left but a blank expression. “Wow. You really don’t trust me, do you?”

Andre shot up from his seat, sweating bullets. “We do! H-He does! He’s just angry.”

“Damn fucking right, I’m angry,” Rafe growled. “That day we found you in the library being hassled by Zoel. You guys knew each other real well beforehand, didn’t you? He wasn’t just the big creep on campus.”

At that, Lindsay blanched.

Got you.

“And Hecuba,” he continued, spitting out the name like a bad taste on his tongue. “I doubt we’ll get any answers before she teleports her ass half across campus and have us run around like headless chickens. But I don’t think it was a coincidence when she suddenly handed us off the satchel, which led to Zoel thinking that we were in on a plan we had fuck all to do with. But we knew you, and that was good enough for her.”

Lindsay now began wringing her hands, eyes darting across the table fretfully as if a gun was being pushed to the back of her head. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

She was backed against a corner, and her next reaction would spell out how things went forward. Was she the enemy or not?

“So,” Rafe leaned in. “Wanna spill?”

It was silent for a whole sixty seconds before Lindsay started digging into her bookbag in a frenzy. “I need to go.”

She was quick to pluck out her WardNav and generate an orb of green magic on her fingertip.

“Are you fucking serious!?” Rafe snarled as started levitating, readying himself to speed over to her and snatch the device out of her hand. “Don’t-”

However, a solid shove from his left had him taken back down to earth, hitting the table with his hip and cracking it further. The blond glared at Andre in shock and rage. The omé said nothing, returning the glower, fearful but resolved.

Their standoff was more than enough time for Lindsay to press upon her WardNav and vanish in a flash of emerald, no trace of her ever being across from them.

Rafe cursed and sneered heatedly at his friend. “You’re letting her get away! Again!”

“No, Rafe. Not…” the omé gulped. “Not like this.”

“What do you mean? We’re-”

“Making more enemies, Rafe. That’s what we’re- that’s what you’re doing. And if not enemies, then people who won’t want to have anything to do with us.”

For the first time in a while, Rafe was truly stumped.

What the fuck?

What the fuck was this!?

“The hell are you on about!?” his fists tightened. “‘Cause I honestly don’t see what we’re arguing about. I’m getting answers. At least, I’m doing something.”

Andre swallowed down his anxiety and pressed forward. “Back then when you… when you said you’ll ‘force the answers out of her if you need to.’ I’ve heard that line back home a lot, you know. Blood, guts, and fighting get us wolves excited, especially when we’re dealing with unwanted outsiders. I’ve-I’ve never fully seen an interrogation go down, but I have seen the aftermath. Clean-up is never fun.”

Rafe’s stomach dropped.

Andre had to… what?

The omé ignored the blond’s disturbed look and continued.

“When I met you, you weren’t very… nice to be around. You were spitting mad all the time, and I could tell you wanted to take that out on someone. And I knew that, and I wanted to help, so I let you push and shove me around until that anger faded. I don’t know what truly went down during your time back at your home, but I can pretty much say that their way of doing things isn’t so much different from how the wolf tribes manage.”

Rafe was left gaping at this. “You think… You think I’ll… torture the answers out of Lindsay? Because of my past training? Is that what you’re saying?”

Andre appeared truly miserable as he expounded further. “When you get stressed, limbs go flying, Rafe. I’m not saying that you’ll intentionally torture Lindsay until she speaks. I just don’t want you to make any rash decisions that might end up hurting others and yourself.”

“Rash decisions? Like beat it out of her or accidentally laser off an arm or two?” Rafe muttered, almost absentmindedly. His head lowered. “I see.”

“Rafe?” the omega blinked worriedly.

“I saw your face, you know,” the blond spoke, his voice the softest the omé has ever heard it. “During that time after practice when Hecuba said that shit to me. When I wanted to be left alone. I was looking straight at you, and you were… scared. Of me.”

“I said leave me the fuck alone!” Rafe finally spun around, eyes now viridescent and lethal.

His scream caused a wave of hot air to blow out, but he wasn’t sure it was that that made the four flinch back. However, seeing that, especially Andre – the boy who was first to see some good in him – rear back in fear…

…because of him.

Rafe’s rage immediately evaporated, leaving behind gray orbs full of shock and horror.

I-I… I almost…

He couldn’t even think it.

Rafe had tried to forget that moment. The time that he actually frightened Andre. His best friend. He knew he wasn’t kind to the wolf the first time they met, going off unblown steam and unquestioned prejudices sticking out of his brain like unscrewed nails, Though, Andre always loved to emphasize how he was never terrified of the brooding superhuman.

And, for a while, Rafe believed it.

But that was never the case, was it?

His first friend was genuinely scared of him. Always had and always will be.

“You think I’m like… them,” he mumbled, chillingly calm. To Andre. To him. To the ghosts rearing their ugly head again. “Like my father. If push came to shove, I’d be the person my father wants me to be.”

Andre paled, realizing how his words may have gotten Rafe to that conclusion. “No. That’s not-”

“It’s fine. All this time, you were afraid of me. Keeping me close so I wouldn’t...” his mouth hang open, wanting to say more, but he shut it, finding no use in talking any more. Instead, he shook his head and looked away from Andre, waving dismissively as he gravely trudged out of the diner. “Whatever. You can figure shit out on your own, then.”

“Rafe! Wait!” Andre chased after him, wanting- no, needing to explain to his best friend that he got it all wrong.

But it was too late.

Rafe flew off into the afternoon sky.

And Andre was left near the entrance of the diner, alone.

The omé wasn’t a violent person, but right now, he wanted to smack himself for that poorly constructed explanation. Now, because of his senselessness, Rafe thought that he thought that he was a monster.

A lone tear trailed down Andre’s cheek. He didn’t bother to wipe it away. “That’s not it at all.”

“Yikes. For a second there, I thought he was gonna zap your ass with his laser beams.”

The sly voice behind him made the wolf yelp as he jumped away from the diner entrance.

“Wha-”

There behind him stood three unfriendly faces.

Caid grinned down at the omé. Flanking him were the buff guy with the blond fohawk and the dark-skinned girl with pigtails from before the first day.

Deyja’s group.

Vampires.

“Don’t worry, lil’ pup,” Blond Fohawk snickered at the growing dread Andre must be showing on his face. “You’ll be safer with us.”

Pigtails only licked her lips.