Adelaide DuPont
The next few days approach and pass quickly without many interruptions, while the five of us finalize our plans and prepare to depart for France by this evening. My personal rucksack already sits packed atop the neatly-made bed, anticipating the moment I'll sling it around my shoulders and quit the room for the last time.
Sapphire returns to Nine after a while, her schedule delayed slightly by Ruby's tense request for help in the gardens this morning. I help her search for her leather briefcase, buried as it is beneath three years of books and bagatelles. Then, I watch from aside while she sets herself upon the exigent task of determining what to pack and what to leave behind. In the end, she settles on three of her favorite annotated paperbacks, a generous handful of charcoal pencils, some warm woolen sweaters, and a small pouch of coins she stowed away in the top drawer of her dresser three years ago. Her invaluable blue sketchbook and the copy of 'An Archive' I stole from the library weeks ago are among the final things she secures in her case.
After tidying her over-crowded half of the room as decently as possible, Sapphire offers me a wistful smile and extinguishes all the candles. We retrieve our bags and leave the room together, though I know our departure holds much more sentiment to her than myself. She says little as we venture downstairs to the commons, where we all agreed to meet. Only Emerald looks up when I approach, but his smile holds enough kindness to offset the others.
"You're both prepared? This anticipation is eating away at me."
"I'm more than ready to leave before something worse happens. Just give me twenty minutes — I'll be right back."
Emerald glances toward Sapphire in question, but she shakes her head, equally unaware of my intentions. I don't wait around for them to request an explanation, weaving westward with certainty through the dim corridors. Adrenaline sears like a fever in my veins by the time I finally shoulder open the heavy ornate door to the headmistress' office, not bothering to knock. The world muffles around me, and I observe the spacious room. Portraits of past headmasters line the rounded walls, except for one portion dedicated to a tall shelf housing hundreds of elegant texts.
"Envious of my collection, Miss DuPont?"
I turn slowly towards her voice, a smile etching across my face.
"How could I not be?"
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?"
Before answering, I let my gaze trail over her face. Her graying hair is disheveled, and exhaustion gathers in the shadows beneath her glossy eyes, which remind me a bit of James' — blank and unfeeling.
James — the archangel of death certainly loathes me now for what I did. 'Where are we going, my love?' Vivid reds and oranges stood out against the cloudless autumn sky above us as we meandered through the park. The cold always faded from his pale eyes when glanced toward me, though not even my presence could truly bring him warmth. 'Just for a walk.' I never quite forgot the way he looked at me as the two male attendants in white dragged him away. He struggled not once, simply staring straight into my soul with a mien so gelid it froze my heart.
"Hortus," I continue, wrenching myself away from the past, "He's dead."
"Yes — such a terrible occurrence."
Her expression warps with faux-sadness.
"I don't understand."
"What do you mean?"
"He threw himself from the tower out of guilt, because you coerced him into murdering Marcus Ludo."
"You dare to suggest that I killed one of my own staff?"
she exclaims, but I glimpse the terror filling her eyes.
"Yes, I'm suggesting exactly that. You have a complex, headmistress, if you believed for a second that someone wouldn't find his body rotting in the dungeons. The smell alone could kill someone."
"I hardly think this is an appropriate way to talk to your headmistress, Adelaide. Don't forget: I know why you're here."
Laughter rasps in my throat.
"How is that relevant?"
"You fell head over heels for a murderer, yet you come here and accuse me, as if I'm such a monster."
"I turned him in," I retort, impulsive anger churning in my stomach, "Either way, everyone here is a little unwell, and I assume you to be just the same. Goodnight, headmistress. I do hope no one else uncovers your secret."
With that, I invite myself out the door. Whether I stay and attempt to force a confession hardly matters; she'll never concede. Besides, dusk nears and the others are expecting me. Ascending the stairs two at a time, I wind through the corridors leading back to the commons.
YOU ARE READING
Adelaide
Mystery / Thriller"My parents heard about James' mental state and worried it was a contagious disease that I would eventually succumb to as well. So, they sent me here, before I could end up where he is now. That certainly would've damaged their reputation." "You've...
