“Go find my file.”
Kenzo nods, and within a few seconds, he finds the folder titled “S”, opening it swiftly. He scrolls a little down, then finds the one named Sophia Sloane. He opens it, and my eyes rise to my hairline.
There are images of me, a document filled with every piece of information on me. From my birthday and hobbies, to every single thing I wore in the academy, even media images pulled out from the events I attended back during high school.
“This is creepy as hell,” I mutter. “What do we do about this?”
“We can always expose this lair,” Grace suggests. “Then again, if they have copies, they’ll just reemerge, only ten times angrier.”
“And best-case scenario, we might have enough time to copy twenty-ish of these files. So, do we just… pretend we never saw this?” Elias asks, his face puzzled.
“You know what? I say we take a chance on this,” Kenzo says, and without consulting absolutely anyone here, he deletes everything. As in every single folder, every single file and document. He goes as far as to empty the trash can, too. It all happens too quickly, and I don’t have enough time to react.
“What the fuck?” Grace groans, and even Avalon’s shoulders slump. “You realize we’re all in deep shit right now?”
Kenzo turns to face us all, leaning back in the chair. “How else do you suppose we find out who this person is?”
“No, no,” Grace scowls. “Do explain how this was the fucking answer.”
Kenzo shrugs. “I’m counting on the person making a mistake and doing something that could indicate who it is.”
“Uh, guys…” Lila’s voice shakes, and all eyes turn to her. Her own are slightly widened, shock crossing her soft features. She points with a trembling finger back to the screen, and as I turn to look, I’m left more baffled than before.
Every single folder, document, or file that Kenzo deleted not even five minutes ago, starts reappearing on the desktop. One by one, they start popping up, the cursor moving without Kenzo even touching the mouse.
Then, every single screen goes black, except the main one. It goes dark, then starts glitching. Shades of red, green, and blue start flickering all over the screen, until a message appears. It’s in a bold font, with a kissy face emoji at the end of the message.
“Better luck next time, my sinners. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
As if on cue, the printer turns on, and the papers that I see make my breath hitch.
FORTY-SEVEN
Thecafeteria of the academy is empty. Lunch ended an hour ago, and everyone’s either in class, or the lucky bunch that has some free time is nowhere near it. It’s pristine, and given how much effort goes into keeping this space clean and tidy makes it so that you could quite literally eat off the floor.
“Soren?” The annoying voice of Cassia rings within the empty cafeteria as she steps into the room, her eyes on her phone. “You texted me to meet—” her words falter when she looks up, stopping dead in her tracks, and sees me instead. “What the hell do you want?”
“I want to have a little chat with you, sit down.”
I walk around one of the tables, slowly inching closer to her. My heels echo around the empty room, and I come to a stop only a couple of feet away from her. My uniform is as neat and as perfectly ironed as always. My hair falls down my waist, the blond locks pinned straight, adorned with my favorite red bows.
“I’ll rather stand, thanks,” she says sarcastically, her eyes glancing around. “What do you want from me, Sophia?”
“I want to break your neck,” I smile. “However, that won’t happen. Not because I don’t want to, but because you’re not worthy of it. As to why I used Soren’s phone to call you here, well,” I pause, taking another step forward. “I think a chat between you and me has been long overdue, don’t you think so?”
“No, I don’t,” her eyes narrow, and she puts her phone in the pocket of her blazer. “But spit it out. Why are we here?”
“You’re a part of the Sinners and Saints club, or whatever you folk like to call yourselves.”
Her expression doesn’t change, and she doesn’t move an inch. However, her eyes narrow, ever so slightly, and the tick in her jaw is all the answer I need. She lifts her chin, almost defiantly.
“That’s a bold statement,” she says, voice dripping with disdain. “Any proof to back up the claims?”
“Let’s not waste my time, alright?” I sigh. “Astrid spilled the beans.”
“That bitch,” Cassia mutters, the facade crumbling further. “I knew she’d open her mouth at the first given opportunity.”
“Let’s leave my dearest sister-in-law out of this right now, shall we?” Sarcasm drips from my tongue. “I do want to talk about your hatred towards me. Why? I mean, if it’s jealousy, it’s one thing, but this just doesn’t seem like something as insignificant and as petty as jealousy.”
