Lies Lies Lies

Discovered

"Spread the word."

The students scattered, leaving just me and the fake, beaten joker alone in the halls. Nobody to disturb what was about to happen. Nobody to interrupt my process.

Nobody to---

"John."

Dammit.

"Yes, Arlo?"

"You need to leave. Now."

"What makes you think I am going to take orders from someone lower than myself?"

"John. The headmaster is coming. And if he sees you here, it's not going to--"

"Shut up already! You know I'm not going to take orders from you so---"

"JOHN!!"

I stopped my protests and allowed him only a second or two to speak. I did not need him meddling in my personal decisions.

"The headmaster. John. You need to run. Or get out of here. One of the two. I can cover--"

"No, Arlo."

"What?" Arlo asked, obviously taken aback.

"It's out. Everyone knows now. I am not hiding anymore. It's what you wanted, right? For me to finally take my 'rightful place's in the hierarchy? Shouldn't you be happy I am finally owning up?"

"J-John. You don't understand. The headmaster is coming to investigate."

Arlo seemed very...Unusually desperate to help me right now.

Almost as if he cared about the outcome of this situation.

"No. I don't think I will run. I can take the headmaster if needs be. And you have no right whatsoever to be telling me what to do."

Arlo shook his head. He obviously doubted my ability to get myself out of this hole. And honestly, I didn't care a whole lot. It's my school now. I am perfectly capable of handling myself within it. Especially the headmaster. I have my ways around the normal school system. I waved him off and turned my gaze back to the bloodied student on the ground. What was I going to do with him?

I dragged the unconscious student into a small closet that I knew would remain largely untouched. I take the fake joker mask and tear it into shreds with my hands. Slowly, I could put every single one of them in their proper place. Soon, I would rule again.

Did I really want to "rule" though?

Footsteps sounded at one end of the hall. I quickly shut the closet door and make my way around the opposite direction in which the teachers were heading. Conveniently, there was a staircase nearby. I go up just far enough to block the normal view from the floor below of me but just enough visibility so I knew what was happening.

A pair of students and a few teachers rounded the corner and found the scene where the fight took place. I chuckle to myself. Oh no! The culprit has suddenly disappeared! So dumb. There are a few blood marks on the floor from where the fake joker got his nose broken. Nothing to alarm anyone. These days, it was not uncommon to find spontaneous fights breaking out in the halls. Then, I saw something I do not think I quite expected.

The headmaster and his head of security turned the corner.

"Now, thank you for notifying. There are some confidentiality matters to discuss regarding the attacker and the victim--" One of the teachers made an excuse for the students to leave. The students had more than their fair share of opinion on the matter though.

"We already know who Joker is. He finally revealed himself in this fight. He wanted us to," the student makes quotes with her fingers, "' Spread the word'".

The headmaster glances over to his head of security and nods discreetly towards the young lady who was doing most of the talking. Then, the head of security spoke, "Ma'am, I do not think that it is something we want you to be doing. Whether or not the identity has been confirmed, without proper evidence besides a witness, I think it best not to spread any rumors about what happened here, ok?"

The group of teachers send the student and her friend on their merry way. A calm, yet commanding voice then follows, "John, you can come out now."

I stay still.

SERA'S POV

My eyes reluctantly opened to the sound of heels clicking against the floor. It sounded like people running. The room was so dark that opening my eyes did practically nothing to allow me to get a better idea of my surroundings. Leilah was still soundly sleeping right beside me. Thankfully, she did not snore. We would be caught much faster if that was the case.

I get the feeling that my sleep was actually more like a nap. I felt very groggy, clumsy, and uncoordinated with my movements. Not to mention the soreness I already felt from my cramped position in the corner of this closet. My back was killing me already. I attempted to stretch it, but I ran into other objects in the space.

Gently, I shook my sister awake. She mumbled a few words before opening her eyes to the dark janitor's closet. "Sera?"

"Leilah, shhh."

I put a finger to my lips in an effort to signal the need for silence. Then I remember we can't see in the darkness. I mentally facepalm and try to whisper my next words very quietly.

Of course, the noise outside this closet makes practically anything we do in here unnoticeable. But I cannot help wanting to be cautious. Running away from a facility like this takes only one stupid mistake to mess up your entire operation. A stupid mistake like the volume of your voice is just one example of something stupid one of us could do to mess up.

"Leilah, janitor's closet, escape," I pause before whispering the next part because it is new information, "running outside."

The crack from under the door provides just enough light for me to see her eyes widen. Slowly, she begins to sit upright, small amounts of pain visible on her face while she stretches her back and legs. Carefully, we both stand up. We try to minimize the amount of heel-clicking by placing a mop under Leilah's feet while she stands up. Her hair is not even ruffled. She runs her fingers through it only twice before deciding it was time to go. She motions for me to exit first. Thanks, Leilah. Really appreciate that.

We step out of the closet quickly, so as to not draw attention to either of us. We had possibly been missing for hours. Leilah quickly fell into her normal professional walk, heels clicking and all. I stood out like a sore thumb, unfortunately.

And someone happened to notice.

"Seraphina."

*Thank you for reading. Make sure to vote and add this story to your library. I update every month on the fourth. ish. Haha i suck at schedules. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter of Lies Lies Lies. Lmk your thoughts in the comments. *

-Ghostly :)

*this got put in the wrong spot in my table of contents so I just reuploaded it. Sorry to get hopes up. I will be trying to upload a normal chapter soon, though.