Due to the ongoing exams and the absence of Chris and his clique, Dominion High’s hallway was somehow much quieter and more peaceful than usual as students checked their lockers and headed toward class—either speaking in low voices as they walked or murmuring in terror about the news of Kelvin’s death.
His sunken, pale body had been found on the school premises early this morning before the cops came and took him away.
At one end of the hallway, Miles’ group had gathered, along with their girlfriends, as they lamented the sad passing of one of the most skilled basketball players on the school’s court.
All wore grim expressions at the thought of what if they had been the ones kidnapped. Among them, Miles wore a solemn look for a completely different reason.
One being that his prey had been stolen, and the other being the fact that Kelvin had died far too peacefully, putting an end to his torment.
"What’s with the saddened faces? I honestly don’t get why you guys feel sorry for them after all we’ve been through," Simon uttered with an annoyed look, rolling his eyes at a few girls who were actually shedding tears.
"I second that. I heard it’s some kind of revenge theory. This will serve as a warning to the rest who take pleasure in traumatizing others. I’m already looking forward to senior year," Theo said with a bright smile.
Meanwhile, Oliver shook his head at the two, refuting what had just been said.
"They’re human beings. Teens like us. Too green to understand what they were doing. In a couple of years, they’ll probably gain some sense and realize the gravity of their actions. Besides, even though everyone says it’s revenge, who knows if it’s just a perverted kidnapper targeting students?"
Oliver’s words caused the boys to pause before bursting into laughter.
"Oh, wise, forgiving sage."
"I never knew you were a masochist. Tell us, Emily, does he make strange requests?"
Theo and Simon sneered while Miles shook his head with a subtle smile.
"You guys..." Oliver tried to speak again, but Simon quickly cut him off.
"No need, bro. If you enjoy being a punching bag so much, we might as well do you the favor."
Theo cracked his knuckles and waved a fist at Oliver, who just shook his head, deciding it wasn’t worth saying anything more.
"Whatever. Dead or not, I don’t care," Miles said, finally dropping his thoughts on the matter.
"May his soul rest in peace."
"Hahaha." Theo and Oliver laughed.
"Let’s go."
With that said, they all headed to their classes—Simon, Oliver, Chloe, and two other girls branching off along the way.
Upon entering his classroom, everyone turned their heads toward him. Miles subconsciously filtered out their faces, meeting the eyes of Britany, Jazmín, Alice, and Beatrix instead.
As he walked to his seat, it didn’t take long for the supervising teacher to enter, wrapping the entire school building in a wave of silence.
Everything went smoothly. After the first paper, they were granted thirty minutes to go to the cafeteria. The school bustled once more, and the sad news of Kelvin’s passing was briefly washed away by the pressure of exams.
However, while eating, a certain figure stared coldly at Miles, malicious intent perfectly hidden beneath his eyes as those beside him fawned over him as usual.
Nothing else happened during this time, aside from the people surrounding Celeste making a lot of noise.
As soon as they returned to class, the supervisor distributed their English paper. To Miles, it was as easy as eating a snack.
In his previous life, he had majored in literature and was far from an idiot. Combined with his advanced intellectual talent, completing it was as effortless as writing the alphabet with his eyes wide open.
In less than twenty minutes of the allotted hour and thirty minutes, Miles raised his hand, leaving everyone shocked as the teacher walked over.
"Any problem, Miles?" the middle-aged man asked, curious as to why he had raised his hand so early.
"No, sir. I’m done. Can I use the restroom?"
Miles handed over his objective and theory answer sheets, leaving a wave of abrupt silence in his wake.
Thinking he must have misheard, the teacher quickly scanned the answer sheet and compared it against the question paper.
"This..." he muttered sharply, astounded as he checked Miles’ work.
Thirty seconds later, the man stared at Miles in disbelief before giving a firm nod.
"You may go."
The moment he said it, the class erupted into quiet murmurs, but Miles ignored them, hurrying out to relieve himself.
Meanwhile, under the guise of investigating the Kelvin murder case, Natalie, the head of the homicide department, walked down the hallway. The click of her ankle boots echoed like the splash of koi in a pond. She intended to take a quick peek at Miles, but suddenly stopped, clutching her stomach with a pained expression.
"Crap!" she cursed, hissing softly while holding her midsection. Beside her, the lieutenant stopped in his tracks, looking at her in surprise as he reached out to help her stand.
"Get your hands off me," Natalie growled under her breath, and the lieutenant instantly pulled back.
"Sorry, ma’am. What’s wrong?" he asked.
Natalie shook her head. "Go on without me," she said, her eyes spotting the staff restroom in the distance.
"Understood." The lieutenant asked no further questions and did as he was told while Natalie hurriedly walked toward the restroom.
Principal’s Office
"Welcome, ma’am," Principal Hayes said solemnly, looking at the beautiful, middle-aged woman sitting before him while trying his best not to lower his gaze to the impressive pair of curves resting against her chest.
If Miles were here, he would have recognized the woman immediately.
Despite wearing an extremely modest, baggy dress that would make almost anyone lose interest, Helen still couldn’t hide her natural allure.
"Thank you," she replied, her voice weary and exhausted from countless tears and constant worry over the past week regarding her mentally ill son, Daniel.
"I heard about what happened to your son. It must be a lot to handle. I hope you’re holding up okay," Principal Hayes offered with a look of concern.
Nodding in response, Helen pulled out a small blue handkerchief to dab at the corners of her eyes before speaking. "Thank you, Principal."
The principal nodded, giving her a moment to compose herself before asking, "How can I help you today, ma’am?"
Helen looked up at him, a pleading look in her eyes. "Since my son won’t be able to finish out his time here, I was wondering if I could get a refund for the remainder of his tuition," she pleaded, taking the rotund principal by surprise.
Is she stupid? he thought.
Despite his internal reaction, the principal forced a pleasant smile, though he instantly turned cold at the mention of money. "I’m sorry, ma’am. That isn’t possible."
Helen’s face fell into deep disappointment.
Assuming she was about to beg and considering taking advantage of her desperation given her simple appearance, the principal began formulating a conditional solution. But before he could act, Helen stood up, retrieved her bag, and offered him a polite nod.
"Thank you anyway."
Before the principal could recover or utter another word, the door clicked shut. Helen stepped out into the hallway, nervously scanning her surroundings as she walked past the main office.
Reaching the intersection of the corridor, Miles—who was just returning from the restroom—came to a sudden halt.
Helen froze in her tracks as if she had seen a ghost, her eyes widening in sheer shock.
They both stood frozen for three seconds before a smile broke across Miles’ face. Glancing to both sides of the corridor, he stepped toward her.
"Well, well, well... look who we have here."
His voice was dripping with smug satisfaction, his demeanor shifting dramatically from his usual cold, quiet, cool-guy persona. If any student had seen him right now, their jaws would have hit the floor.
"You... you... I know what you did to my son. It was you!" she stammered, her face flushing with anger as the memory of Daniel’s shrill screams at the psychiatric ward flooded her mind.
"Mrs. Helen, whatever are you talking about?" Miles asked, taking another step closer with an innocent, clueless expression that belied his sharp, playful grin.
"You!" she snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Just then, the distant sound of a door sliding open made her tense. Reacting on instinct, she grabbed his hand and yanked him along with her.
"Mrs. Helen, what are you doing? I need to get back to class," Miles teased from behind her, quickening his pace to match hers effortlessly.
"Let’s see if you’re still acting this way when I tell the cops what you did to Daniel!" she snapped, shooting a furious glare over her shoulder as she kept pulling him along.
"Oh? Are you also going to tell the cops what we did? I made it so you could walk again, didn’t I?"
Helen only fumed at his words, taking a sharp turn into the staff restroom and pulling him inside behind her.