The Forest's Secrets

Chapter Fifteen: Him and Her

As Fate and Jaden walked into the classroom the next day, Fate immediately noticed Eli. She was sitting in her seat again, reading a heavy-looking book.

"She's back", the girl whispered towards her best friend.

Jaden followed her gaze and as soon as she saw the white haired girl too, she grabbed Fate's hand and dragged her towards the other student.

"Where were you, your stupid sister annoyed us", Jay announced in front of the whole class, as she and Fate came to a stand in front of Eli.

The girl slowely looked up. "She's not stupid, just a bit anxious all the time", she replied quietly to Jaden's insult.

"Whatever", Jay groaned and put her hand on the pages of the book, as Eli wanted to go back to reading.

The white haired girl looked back up and sighed. "What do you want?", she asked, still in a quiet voice. She noticed the glances everyone was giving the three teenagers, and didn't seem all too comfortable with all of the attention.

"You to just admit what you've done", Jaden hissed," Fate was there, so stop lying and just admit it!"

It took Eli a few moments to reply:"Actually, Fate. Brooks asked me to tell you to come along to the station today."

Before Fate could say something herself, Jaden kept talking:"If she has to, we're coming along too. I won't leave her alone with you, and the others don't trust you either."

"Suit yourself. We'll go right after school", Eli mumbled as she pulled up Jaden's hand from her book.

Fate pulled her best friend back to their seats, she also wasn't comfortable with the attention from everyone in the class. The two didn't talk about what had just happened, but a lot of other students did. Eli wasn't invisible anymore, and as Fate threw glances over every now and again, she noticed the girl to feel very unwell with that.

A few rumours-filled hours later, it was lunchtime. Fate and Jaden met up with Gabriel and Karin at the cafeteria again, just like every normal day. But unlike every other day, it was very clear where Eli was. She and Sally sat at a table near the four friends again, this time people seemed to be crowding around them.

Whilst Sally seemed to be happy to talk to others, Eli looked sicker with every second that past. She didn't even touch her food, just stared down at the tray filled with chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and baby carrots. Fate couldn't look away from the weird scenario, there were people nudging Eli softly, trying to talk to her and get her attention. The conversation between the three girls seemed to have spread throughout the school, causing a lot of curious people to seek answers.

Eli suddenly stood up, pushing her tray a bit away, and just walked through the small crowd of people. Some followed her over to Fate's table, where Eli sat back down again, next to Karin.

"What do you want here?", Jaden growled threatening. She obviously disliked Eli.

"Fix this", the girl demanded quietly.

"No way in hell, that's impossible", Karin responded and laughed.

"Fine", Eli replied as she stood back up," We're leaving now. I don't care that we have four more subjects."

"No", Gabriel tried to argue," you can't just leave in the middle of the day."

Eli growled quietly:"I'll pull Fate along by her hair if I have to. This is ridiculous, I will not deal with this any longer."

Fate stood up too and said:"She's right. It's mine and Jaden's fault after all. Does anyone of you guys want to come along?"

Gabriel immediately jumped up. Fate smiled at him, then Karin said:"Jay and I will stay, and explain to the teachers where you two are. Right Jay?"

Jaden nodded, and so the three teenagers left, being followed by a small and confused crowd until they left the building.

As they did, Eli seemed to visibly relax. Her jaw unclenched and the way she walked changed too. It was almost as if moving now was easier to her.

"Why do you need to go to the station again? And when did she talk to Brooks?", Gabriel asked loudly behind Eli, as they turned a corner and the school was out of sight.

"'She' is here", Eli hissed, without bothering to turn around," I talked to Brooks yesterday, he seemed to have noticed something. So we have to go."

"Why did you talk to him yesterday?", Fate asked shyly, holding onto her boyfriend's hand tightly.

Eli sighed and replied:"We met in the forest two days ago and had a nice chat yesterday. And then he asked me to bring you along today."

"Why were you in the woods?", Gabriel laughed after the girl had finished her sentence.

"It's nice to be there at night. Would have been a nice idea for a date for you two, but I assume Fate doesn't want to go there, am I right?", Eli replied, she seemed different than just moments ago. She seemed more human.

"Not really", the other girl sighed.

As the three walked through the metal detector at the station a few minutes later, Eli immediately talked to the first cop she saw:"Hello, excuse me?"

"Yes?", the older looking man asked and smiled at her. But then his expression changed to disbelieve.

Before he could say something, Eli chimed back in:"Where can we find Jamie Brooks?"

"Breakroom three I think. I can bring you there", the cop replied cautiously.

"That'd be really kind of you", the girl said and smiled at him.

As the officer started to walk deeper into the building, the three students followed along. Just a few moments later, the man asked:"Kid, you look like the killer of that one girl. Why are you here?"

"I know", Eli laughed," Brooks said we should come. I'm apparently a suspect and Fate is the other victim. And why Gabriel came along, I still don't know."

"Because I don't trust you to be around my girlfriend", the boy growled from behind.

The elderly man opened a door, and there was a small breakroom with a table and a coffee machine. Brooks sat there, drinking out of a red cup with white dots.

"Hi Kids", he greeted them, then thanked the other man for leading them there.

As the door closed, he said:"Fate, I think Eli might be both people you described and more."