Chapter Twenty Four
The hot day was ending with a cold breeze in the evening, and a sky filled with soft clouds was what she was staring at
Isabell stood in the corner of the hallway at the top of the stairs to their building. The wind made her dress sway with it. Not many students were in there as lectures had already finished long ago but Isabell stayed, waiting for something.
A few minutes later her phone vibrated and her eyes ran to check it
Sebastian: I've adjusted the device.
Sebastian: I can hear them talking now.
Reading those messages, Isabell was already on her way to his office. She was walking swiftly and suddenly her legs stopped in the middle of the hallway as she ran passing someone
"Isabell" A voice called and she slowly turned in its direction. Her face went numb as she saw a guy standing at some distance. He seemed to be around her age, his hair dyed silver, eyes deep blue framed with long lashes, a glimmering chain, and earrings matching the color of his hair adding sparkle to his appearance. He was wearing a fancy emerald jacket over a simple white shirt along with skinny white jeans
"Ethan," she said in an awkward tone of voice, "I thought I saw someone else" The boy walked towards her "It's rare to see you in university around this time" he stood some steps away from Isabell
"I had some business" Her face never went near a smile
"What business?"
"You don't need to know," she said. Isabell sounded nervous while trying to stay confident
"Don't act stranger with me, Isabell. Remember? We are friends" he smirked, his eyes got sharp by a slight moment of his lips "We were friends, Ethan"
"Are you still angry about that thing?" Her hands moved back, and they trembled holding onto the phone with a tight grip "No, I'm not angry about anything, and neither do I have any reason to talk with you" Without waiting for him to speak Isabell took her steps into the opposite direction
"Ah! I'm gonna knock that freaking attitude out of you!" Her steps paused, brows clenched, eyes narrowed, her blank face raged with anger
"Leave me alone, Ethan!" Isabell yelled, retaining herself from looking at him "Don't play with me like this. I don't like it this way" he strode towards her "We should sometimes, maybe grab a coffee or something" Ethan placed his fingers on her shoulder from the back, he moved his hand forward, the ruby from his ring traced on her collarbone
The heat got its way up in her body. Isabell clutched her fingers around his hand and tossed it, causing him to stumble on his feet "Stay away from me" Isabell spun around, staring directly into his eyes "That is hard to do, you are way too stunning for me to ignore you" Ethan got his legs straight and then he smirked again
"What do you want from me?"
"Listen, Isabell. I need nothing from you" he said, walking closer to her again "And for how long are you gonna behave like this with me? You have literally destroyed an entire year of mine"
"Your suspension was the result of your own actions, don't blame your mess on me" she breathed heavily "You did it, bitch! You sent the email to the university spitting shit about me and because of this damn suspension I was disqualified from the competition"
"How dare you! After everything you have done, how dare you come to my face and bark?" Isabell didn't seem herself, she was different, she was behaving differently
"It was your fault, Freak. I failed to compete in that damn festival because of the dump you created!"
Ethan looked annoyed but Isabell's face crossed every level of irritation "You stole my work, Asshole! You locked me into the freaking room!" Her voice thundered "I was just stopping you and the hell you died staying in the room for a night!" he yelled back and suddenly her mouth was saying nothing
"I'm back and I'm telling you it won't end well for you this time," he said and the fear from her face disappeared
"Get the way hell out of here. Do whatever you want and don't bring this freaking face of yours in front of me ever again!" Isabell shouted louder shutting his mouth and she took angry and fast steps away from him
----
She didn't cry, her body was shivering, and unstable but Isabell didn't shed tears. She clasped her hands together hard,
Don't think about it, she said to herself
Do not think about him as we decided, as we decided as we handled thisforever! Okay, We won't think about him
Okay
She replied to herself and seemed to hear herself on the first try. Isabell looked around
Where were we? Where was I? What was I doing?
Her phone buzzed in her hand
Sebastian: Are you coming?
Sebastian's office
And she ran till she was at the door of an office saying Sebastian Lightwood. She took a deep breath, practiced a normal face, and knocked before entering.
"Come in"
Sebastian was on his chair.
There is something wrong with this office
Isabell said to herself as she darted into his office
"Take a seat," Sebastian said, pointing at a chair in front of him across the table. Isabell forgot being sad when she laid her eyes on it
This is something. This is wrong, This is wrong, I mean Amazing and not okay. This is…
The usual black chair in front of Sebastian had changed its color to a bright red shade. There was not everything black in the dark office now. The red chair looked like a drop of blood in the black night.
She was anxious seconds ago, her mind was disturbed by the interaction she had with Ethan but now her lips stretched into an unpracticed smile and the smile widened showing her teeth as she saw it
Isabell flew towards the chair, her eyes not accepting it even when she positioned herself on it. Her face glowed, her heart bounced with happiness, and she swayed her hands over the red fabric on the handles
"They haven't talked about anything important yet," Sebastian said and Isabell suddenly zoned in, her teeth went in, smile vanished upon listening to a voice from the device in front of her
'Knight hasn't sent the CCTV footage yet' Heavy steps were audible to their ears 'Did he tell you the reason, Spy?' Another voice said 'That's the problem, Giant. Knight said he would handle it on his own' Isabell's eyes met Sebastian's, and they opened wide
"I have heard this voice somewhere," she told him "The voice of Spy?" He asked "Yes, but I don't remember where—" A thunder from the recording hurdles Isabell
'HE WAS BEHAVING LIKE A FUCKINGLUNATIC THAT DAY AND NOW HE IS GOING TO HANDLE IT HIMSELF?' Isabell recognized this voice as well as so does Sebastian
"Stev- Lethal" her face fell
'Don't break things in here. If you have the damn guts behave like this in front of Knight'
'Shut your mouth, Spy'
'What the fuck will you do if I don't?'
'I'll kill you'
'You're good at that, Lethal'
'Do you want to feel how good I am at it?'
'Shut your filthy mouth—'
They heard a glass breaking and the voice of every single piece scattering on the tiles was audible from the machine
'Can you guys talk freaking normally at least for once?' A heavy voice asked
'Tell him to mind his own damn business, Giant'
'I am not fond of talking to you either, freaking Spy'
The silence covered both of the rooms. Isabell and Sebastian stayed quiet,
'Where are you going now, Lethal?' The heavy voice asked
'To hunt'
'Don't kill those innocent animals, Youfuckingbeast' Isabell's mind appeared to be struggling still trying to recall the face of this voice
'You don't like it when I kill the humans too, Spy'
'What the hell did you just bark? Do you freaking think murdering people is a joke?'
'The hell it is! but not as great as Murdering your chick from last year'
'What the fuck did you just say, Lethal?'
'Exactly the fuck your ears just heard'
'I'm going to kill you, Lethal'
'You can't even kill a mosquito–-'
'STOP FIGHTING! OR I'M GOING TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF BOTH OF YOU' Isabell's entire body jerked to the scream
'I'll freaking leave you with this chicken'
A voice of door smashing came from the device on the table and it was followed by a long wave of crushing leaves from feet. The voice echoed louder as the steps seemed to be running now
The device vibrated again, louder this time
'Come here, My deer, let me take those legs of yours' a husky voice shouted
'Don't make me run for you' Stomping of hooves filled the office, feet running the sound of leaves got louder, anxiety rushing in their eyes, the voice thrashing the entire room and in a moment it all stopped
Everything went still in its place and then they heard an animal crying in pain,
'HAHAHA I got you' Wailing from pain the deer made a high-pitched sound
'IT'S FUN! IT FUCKING FEELS LIKE PEACE!'
The voice screamed the same words again and again, Isabell covered her ears stopping the shrill roars of the deer from reaching them. She squeezed her eyes, hands digging into her ears
'Give me yourlegs' he shouted and the voice of a blade attacking a rock was heard making the whines of deer louder and louder. Sebastian turned the device off noticing the fingers of Isabell forcing in her ears, her entire body shivering
He stayed silent for a moment glancing at her, he got up from his chair
"It's okay," he said, her eyes were still pinched, tears dropping from them, she rested her head on the table
Sebastian walked to her side of the table, his legs stopped two feet away, and placed a soft hand on the back of her neck
"It's okay, Isabell," he said moving his hand over her hair "It's gone now" Isabell stopped shivering, her hands slowly removed from her ear and her face lifted
"Stev-" she whispered "He- he used to be the kindest person I have ever known, someone who selflessly did everything for me" Anguish dissolved into her voice "No matter what I needed or when I needed it, Steve would come to help me, he would make every worry disappear. And now this- this is not the Steve I know, this is some sort of monster, I don't know him. I don't know who he is. I don't know what happened to Steve. He is gone" A tear rolled down her cheekbone, and his hand moved to her shoulder
"You don't know him, you don't know any of that." her eyes looked at him "You have to stay strong if you want to hold Steve accountable for his crimes" She moved her face up and down slightly
"I- I will- I'll be stronger and I will make him pay" Isabell whipped her tears vigorously
"You are strong," he said, Isabell forced an unfamiliar smile on her lips "Not kidding, Smartie" he smiled himself and sis did she
"Hey, Isabell" he called, she stared
"You need rest" he stood upright "We have had numerous hectic days in a row and we don't know how many will we have to encounter in the future" She nodded for one more time in agreement
"You should go home and rest now" she replied with a moment of her head and got up from her chair.
Isabel walked to the door and was about to unlock it when she heard his voice
"You are not going to make any crazy theory in your mind or connect dots when you reach home," he said and Isabell turned towards him for a brief moment. She smiled, a weak and pretty smile "You are going to relax" She didn't speak
"Okay, Isabell?" Sebastian asked
"Okay, Sebastian," Isabell replied
----
She never went anywhere near her study table, didn't stare at the evidence board nor did she record or play any other clip.
Isabell stayed in her bed trying to do what Sebastian told her
Relax
But this simple word seemed impossible to her. She had so many things to think about right now; the meeting with Ethan, everything related to her ex-best friend, the voice she needed to remember and she couldn't find a distraction from those things.
Just Relax
Isabell agreed to count the boxes on her ceiling
They always looked the same to her, peach and comforting. Isabell already knew that there were one hundred and twenty-five squares on her ceiling but she counted them almost every day anyway.
Isabell was at number one hundred and one… One hundred and two… One hundred and ther— and the doorbell rang interrupting her counting, she ignored it
One hundred and four… One hundred and five… one hundred— the bell rang again and she overheard it for the second time
One hundred and six… One hundred and seven— ring
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, ZAVY?" She yelled from her room. Isabell was shocked for not receiving a shout in return and it meant she would have to get the door herself.
On her way from the living room she passed by an empty Xavier room knowing he was never home
Isabell opened the door and her face fell after looking at the person standing in front of her "Jade?" She said looking exactly at him
"Oh, Izzy" Oh, Izzy? Oh, Izzy? Of course, it would be me, scumbag. Do you expect the girl of your dreams; who will be the girl of your dreams coz you are too messed up for that, to open the door for you? You idiotic fool
"Oh, Jade" she just says out loud
"I am sorry for coming unannounced" I won't let you come even if you announce it
"No problem," she said, why the hell are you here?
"Is Zavy home? He isn't answering his phone, I have been trying for so long" Jade asked looking worried
"No, Zavy is not home maybe he is out with his friends or something" She purposely forgot about offering him to come in but Isabell never liked Jade and it felt perfectly okay to her
"Oh I see"
"You can leave a message to me if it's important" Isabell offered looking at his anxious face
"No-no" his voice suddenly went high "I mean it's nothing important, just tell him to call me when he comes home" he ran a hand through his hair, appearing to maintain his face normal "As you wish," she said not caring about his expression
"I will- I will leave now"
Jade ended his visit since Isabell wasn't in the mood to let him stay and wait for Xavier
"See you around, Izzy" I don't wish for the same, Addict
"See you, Jade," she said and he left. But his words didn't leave her mind
Oh, Izzy "I've heard this voice" She had heard Jade so many times and she knew it was his voice but his words kept on knocking her head
Oh, Izzy, she walked to her room with the sound Oh, Izzy shutting the door to the room her mind clicked on one more voice
'Knight hasn't sent the CCTV footage yet'
'Oh, Izzy'
"These voices are exactly similar"
Spy.
"This is the voice of Spy!" She yelled
Her face moved around, filled with anxiety, she had known forever that Jade was somehow involved with Throne Of Demon but the confirmation haunted her and a blanket of hair covered her body
"JADE IS SPY!"
"Jade is the freaking Spy" No no no no no no no "SHIT!" Jade! My brother's best friend– Is. Spy.
"Jade is freaking Spy" Isabell did look shocked but more than that she was angry, "Ja-Jade is Spy"
Isabell was furious at him for really being a drug dealer just like she thought, "Spy" furious at her brother for choosing him as a friend but the thing she forgot was she made the same mistake
She chose Lethal as her friend too but Isabell couldn't think about that, at the moment all she knew was that she needed to do something
"What- what should I do? What should we do now, Isabell?" she said to herself angry, worried, and still confused
"Damn it! You Hellish Spy" She cursed and headed straight to her table, throwing a bundle of papers on it she began to connect the dots
"Jade, freaking Jade" she cursed
"Jade is the son of VC," she wrote on the paper in front of her "Even if he gets caught he can get out of it easily" She drew a box with having Spy which connect with the points she has "Since everyone listens to him he has the freaking ability to fetch everybody to the club and no one gets suspicious of him" she wrote and spoke the words loud just to confirm what she was saying "He was caught selling drugs two times" She flipped a page and the grip over the pen tightened "Two times"
1. By the watchman on a night before the start of our final year.
2. Last month, by the traffic police in his car
She put the pen down forcefully, she made a punch out of her hand. It all made sense to her. Everything was crystal clear
"Zavy thinks everyone was framing Jade, he thinks Jade is innocent but, dummy, he was fooling you like every damn person" Her heart ached, feeling sad about her brother and besides writing everything in her case studies, she needs to make a plan to separate Xavier from Jade and holding her pen again, she begun to work