Fort Oakley | Part One

18 | It's Cool To Work With The FBI

3 March 2022 - Thursday

Jacey's locker had been vandalized. The word 'killer' had been carved into the metal with something sharp, and there was no indication that the teachers were going to do anything about it except expel Finley.

Because he went after the person who had given Jacey's locker a makeover - the person who was now recovering from a broken nose, and a black eye.

With each passing day, I was beginning to think that The Order had a bigger presence in Fort Oakley than we thought.  First, it was the doctors, then the cops, and now, I had a suspicion some of the teachers were part of Club Cult too. These were all people who were supposed to protect us, and they were doing the most damage.

''Charly Priace, you are under arrest for the murder of Ned Ortega. You have the right to an attorney...'' The officer's voice faded away as I was bound in handcuffs.

Just like yesterday, everyone who had been in the hallway, on their way to their next period, had their eyes trained on me. Most of them looked shocked.

But there were a few of them who knew something was amiss here because they were the ones who had stood around me that night I was taken.

They knew that Jacey had been framed, and clearly, no one had informed them that I would be getting arrested as well. So even if it was the twisted YA version of The Order and not the real deal, we had the upper hand. Not them.

And the look on Elvin's bruised face?

Priceless.

He had not been expecting this, and neither had Willa, who was at his side yet again. He thought that Jacey would be taken out of the picture and that no one would do anything about it since Jacey had no one.

But Jacey was my friend. He had been my best friend for years—years I couldn't remember.  But I was determined to get my childhood back in one way or another, and that included Jacey.

''Guess I'm trash now too, huh, Elvin?'' His jaw clenched as the officers escorted me out of the school, and then he was tearing through the crowd in the opposite direction, clearly about to go throw a tantrum since things didn't go his way.

I only hoped that we could get Jacey (and myself) out of police custody before whoever he went crying to came to rectify the situation.

↟↟↟

The door to the interrogation room opens, and Sherrif Lucien walks in with an exhausted look in his eyes.

Fort Oakley had always been a quiet, peaceful town. And now that murderers and criminals were crawling out of the woodwork, the sheriff was trying to solve everything, to no avail.

Sheriff Lucien places a thin file on the cold metal table, taking a seat across from me.

''What the hell is going on here, Charly? I don't know Jacey Andino that well, but I know he isn't on my list of potential suspects, despite the evidence pointing to him. And now there's evidence against you...make this make sense, Charly.''

''Has Jacey been released?'' I ask the sheriff, remembering the protocols they had to follow that Vance told me about.

''Since the evidence is now pointing towards you, he's been released, yes. But he's not out of the woods. We still have questions for him. He was escorted home and will remain there until he is cleared to leave.''