The Hunter Academy

~Çhapter Fįfty-Sįx~

I didn't even care about not leaving a trail in the dust at that point. How often would they really visit this place to even notice.

I searched the shelves the shelves going over to B before heading backwards into A.

"Aylle. Ayflie. Atterton. Ashdon. Archer - got it.

I grabbed the file and pulled it out before opening it. I froze. I grabbed the wrong file. This was my file on my mission but my first name wasn't on it just my last.

I put it away and was about to take the other two files that I assumed was Mason and Leila's when a question formed in my mind.

How did it get in here?

I looked around and there wasn't any footprints in the dust that suggested someone had come in here.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, by chance I looked at the ceiling and released a deep breath through my nose and I saw it.

There was a pulley system of sorts and she followed the machine to the entrance but then why were there footprints leading to the N shelf.

I looked walked over to the other set of footprints and crouched down. They were quite big and women's feet were generally smaller than men and the footprints were definitely much bigger than mine.

I was about to stand back up when I saw... frost? I though it was dust at first, a thin layer of dust, but after some examination it turned out to be frost.

The file had been cold too but I had been too busy snatching up the file I hardly noticed. I quickly stood up and grabbed the file again, this time holding it flat in my hands.

And this time I actually saw it. There was specks of frost scattered across the file.

As far as I was concerned there was only one Forster in the castle.

I did the equivalent of a growl as I felt an inferno of rage beginning to build up inside of me.

I quickly threw open the door and ran out, ignoring the voices whispering lies in my ears - betrayed, lied to, deceived - before exiting the library and running to my room, dropping my camera and the photos, trying to calm myself down and think of something.

I ran to Julian's room.

I grabbed onto the handle and yanked the door open to find Julian sitting on his bed with a spear in his hands, polishing the head.

He looked up and his face brightened. "Chase! Come on I was thinking that you, me and Artemis play a game of Flame Chaser. What'd say?"

"You knew," I breathed and he furrowed his eyebrows, his smile dimming slightly.

"... knew what?"

"About Zac's dad!" I snapped suddenly and he flinched before laying the spear down on the bed.

"Chase, breath. Don't do something in the heat of the moment that you'll regret," Julian stated calmly and went to rub my shoulders but I was so mad at him now.

I slapped his hand away and he looked hurt, not from the physical pain since a slap wouldn't hurt but by the fact I had rejected his help.

"I-I can't believe you Julian!" I shouted and I could vaguely hear the door opening but in that moment I'd forgotten everything except how Julian had stuck his nose in places he didn't belong.

"Chase calm dow-"

"I am perfectly calm!" I shouted back. "Did he tell you?"

I knew the answer to that already.

He sighed and looked down at his hands. "Lucas saw something was wrong and we discussed it-"

"Lucas," I murmured. "Telepathy, he- he used Telepathy on Zac!"

"Chase-"

"I'm so disappointed in you Julian! You had no right to go looking into how Zac's dad died! You had no right to see that file and you had no right to even start digging in the first place."

My chest heaved as I scorned Julian. I didn't press Zac for details because it was painful for him to lose a family member like that - so abruptly. I knew that Zac would either open up in his own time or he wouldn't open up at all.

He should've have looked for the file that held all the information about how he died, when he died and why he died because Zac should've told Julian of his own free will instead of... how did Julian know? Zac had made me swear not to tell anyone.

"How did you know?" I asked quietly in a low voice. "How did you know to go snooping around?"

He looked away and started massaging his temple. "Zac... Zac likes to hide his feelings even though her can feel everybody else's and if you know him well enough you can see if he's hiding something or isn't sleeping."

Someone who really knew Zac, I've known him for long enough to call him a close friend but...

"It was Lucas, wasn't it?" I deduced, asking a question but knowing the answer. "He's been best friends with Zac for a long time, of course he knows."

Julian didn't answer and instead chose to stare at the pattern on the bed sheets.

I shook my head slowly. "I can't believe you guys."

"We thought it would've been easier to comfort him if we knew what was wrong," Julian whispered but that didn't excuse that fact that they openly violated his right to privacy. His intentions were good but unfortunately his were not.

"Julian," I said tightly. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe he didn't want people to know and that maybe he wanted to find a way to deal with himself or maybe he just didn't feel comfortably telling you yet."

He sighed. "Only after," he said dejectedly.

I sighed. "Julian just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I could pitch myself off a cliff if I really wanted to but I don't."

"Please don't tell him," Julian pleaded. "I would hate for our friendship to get hurt just because I didn't think before I acted."

"Julian I won't lie to him - mainly because he can read my emotions and tell I'm lying - so if he asks me I will tell him the truth but I won't go out of my way to tell him."

He nodded. "Okay then."

I quickly kissed him on the cheek, still mad at him but knowing he didn't mean to hurt anyone, before answering his first question.

"Sure we can play Flame Chaser."