✓ | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒, larissa weems

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗
𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕

i woke up from my two-day slumber and found myself immediately dragged to principal weems' office. her stern and aggressive facial expression told me she had been waiting for forty-eight hours to scratch her itch and unleash her anger on me.

"winona, i am absolutely furious!" principal weems roared, her voice echoing off the walls of her office. she paced back and forth, her frustration palpable as she circled around the room like a predator. "really? i hadn't noticed," i muttered under my breath, my voice barely above a whisper. the anger in her tone made me feel like a mouse caught in a trap, afraid to move for fear of being caught.

i was jolted awake two hours ago, having passed out from the glamour i'd created at the raven. the pressure of maintaining the illusion had destroyed my bones, and the pain i endured while creating it was so intense that i thought i might never wake up again.

"listen, winona. i am graciously offering you one chance to own up to everything," principal weems stated firmly, her piercing gaze locked onto me. i shifted uncomfortably on the velvet sofa, my palms rubbing nervously against my knees as anxiety coursed through me.

after a moment of silence, she let out a heavy sigh. "okay," she said, closing her eyes. it seemed like she was disappointed in me for not taking the opportunity to clear my name. but deep down, i knew she had built quite the case against me. lying to her wouldn't be the smartest option, especially since i had done enough of that lately.

principal weems sat and leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers together, her gaze piercing through me. "whenever you enter a room, things tend to mysteriously appear and disappear moments later. your classmates have reported feeling disoriented and confused"

my breath quickened and my heart raced as she began to unravel all of my crimes. i remained quiet, feeling trapped with no idea how to escape the situation. every word she spoke only served to confirm the severity of the situation, and i couldn't shake off the feeling of impending doom.

"as an example, the missing files, the burn mark on your arm, medication from the infirmary, the fire in miss thornhill's classroom, and the chaos during the raven dance." principal weems listed all of my offenses in chronological order, leaving me feeling trapped and speechless. i clenched my jaw in frustration as i realized I had been caught. until that moment, no one had ever questioned my powers, not even my parents.

my vision kept blurring, and i had to blink a few times to clear it. my head felt foggy, and my words were barely audible, almost like murmurs. the weight of my exhaustion caused my eyelids to droop halfway closed, but principal weems didn't seem to care about that. all she wanted was the truth.

i knew that leaving the room unscathed was impossible, so i mustered up the courage to confess to everything. a part of me believed that principal weems could be trusted to keep my secrets safe, and she had never punished me before. it was her wrath that frightened me, but i couldn't keep living in fear of being caught forever.

"the illusion was paint, i could never glamour real blood, it probably would've killed me," i whispered out so nervously that my lips quivered. after a few seconds of silence, i very slowly gazed up at her with worried eyes. her now softened face stared back at me, somewhat surprised that i'd admitted my involvement. the second my focus reached weems, i broke, letting out a quiet huff from holding my breath.

"why? why on earth would you do that?" she asked, her voice stern. i could see how hard principal weems was trying to keep her anger in check, but the extent of her outrage made it seem like an impossible task.