17 Chapter 17 - Retribution
Bella noted that Xavier was following her usual route to class – a route he never took because his class was in the opposite direction.
Sadly, Xavier's mind was too preoccupied to notice Bella's concern, and when Rosalie realized where Xavier was heading, she also grew instantly concerned.
The Eternal stared at the sheet of paper in his hands.
The abandoned building at the back of Forks High School was an investment he made relatively early, and it brought in a couple of hundred dollars every week.
Weekends were more profitable.
It was a safe space where the richer students could buy monitored storage space, and the poorer students with little money could pay the minimum for a safe environment to explore their sexuality.
Of course, there was a list.
Xavier, even before transmigrating, had a talent for distinguishing bad apples, potential bad apples, good apples, and great apples from each other.
Hence, every name on the list flowed through his mind.
It was one of the absolute rules of the place – every name must be approved by Xavier, less something happens in the abandoned building that would force him to take extreme action.
And something did happen.
Xavier examined the list and notice the gradual addition of two names per week – names that he would have never approved, names that shouldn't have even been considered.
"Someone is fucking with me!" He growled.
"Xavier!" Bella yelled, bringing The Eternal back to reality.
Xavier immediately noticed that a dozen or so students had stepped out of his way, eagerly avoiding being the target of his infamous wrath.
Bella jerked Xavier aside – only she was brave enough to do it at these times.
"What's wrong with you?" She inquired.
"I am fine," Xavier shifted his attitude quickly, hiding his anger at its deepest depths – there should never be intent before actually doing something. "I am just a bit hot-headed today because one of my ex's found a new boyfriend, and he may be better looking than me."
"I doubt that," Bella muttered uncontrollably before immediately recanting. "What I meant to say is – just keep your thoughts to yourself, if a teacher had heard you curse. That's suspension."
"Where are you going by the way?" She inquired.
"I have business with your next teacher," Xavier replied.
Rosalie, secretly eavesdropping from twenty feet away, finally breathe a sigh of relief upon finding out that Xavier had business with the teacher and not with her.
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Xavier entered the class and took the seat next to Angela.
The girl simply rolled her eyes and scooted over so they could share the same chair – it was hardly the first time he had pulled the stunt, so she mistakenly thought he had come to see her.
But when he actually paid attention throughout the entire lesson, Angela could tell that something was wrong. Especially when Professor Thorn wouldn't as much as a glance in Xavier's direction.
"Calm down!" Angela voiced.
"These are matters beyond your control," Xavier warned with a harshness to his tone. "There are some things that you must see to understand who I am – when the bell rings, you follow behind me."
Bella overheard the conversation, but a harsh glance from Xavier stopped any thoughts of following from entering her mind.
Rosalie's eyes narrowed, and she quickly convinced a boy in a seat near Xavier to switch.
"Are my interests protected?" She inquired, endless blame in her tone.
"Everything is fine with the place," Xavier replied. "What I am about to fix has to do with people – it's a people problem."
Rosalie nodded in relief.
The longer Xavier examined Professor Thorn, noting the telltale signs of someone who had fucked with his business, the more he noticed it was his mistake more than anything else.
Winning Angela back was a full-focus effort.
Keeping an eye on Bella causes his focus to permanently drift.
The start of the plot made him lax in mundane matters, and that indirectly led to the injustice Blake had experienced.
Xavier deeply regretted that he couldn't take care of a girl that meant so much to him. Of course, she was no longer his girl, but there was a certain protection given to those who bore the title of Xavier's ex.
And people had lost respect for the title.
Xavier already knew who the culprit was – bits of rumors and hushed voices replayed in his mind, but without conscious thought, even an Eternal would miss the details.
As for Professor Thorn – he was one of the teachers Xavier paid rather handsomely to stop exactly what had happened from happening.
Most of all, Xavier believed in a redundant system, so he hired two teachers but Mrs. Beckham's daughter had emergency surgery over in Mason.
DING
DING
DING
Three rings signaled the end of the class.
"Follow me," Xavier instructed, startling Angela.
She knew that she wanted nothing to do with what came next, but it was mostly due to cowardice on her part. In the end, Angela decided it was finally time for her to know the business Xavier as well as she knew the romantic and sex-crazed Xavier.
"Let's go…" Xavier brushed Professor Thorn's shoulder.
With great reluctance and fear on his face, Professor Thorn followed behind the student he feared the most. Of course, he knew judgment was coming – he just didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Xavier was in front, trailed by Angela at a steady pace. Professor Thorn followed with an unsteady pace, constantly debating if he could risk losing his current job and just depart Forks.
Finally, Rosalie wanted to check on her investment so she followed a considerable distance behind everyone else.
'There will be some blood…' Xavier whispered into the wind.
Rosalie's ears perked up, and she signaled with a discreet nod, simply stating that a little blood would mean nothing to her. After all, if she was unable to handle teenagers getting paper cuts every five seconds, she wouldn't be coming to Forks High School.
Xavier was the first to disappear into the seemingly abandoned building, followed by Angela, Professor Thorn, and finally, Rosalie.
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The moment the building was entered, the atmosphere changed considerably.
"HA HA, bitches!" Emmett's loud voice roared from the pool table. "Give me my money!"
Rosalie couldn't help but roll her eyes as she caught sight of her mate, but of course, she still crossed the chaotic hall of dice, kissing, and video games to arrive at his side.
Emmett shot Rosalie a questioning glance, and she simply relayed the message Xavier had whispered in the wind earlier – there will be blood.
Of course, neither mates were surprised to see the other at Xavier's hangout spot. It was the only place in the school where Emmett could gamble, and the only place where Rosalie could tutor aspiring designers. Everyone in The Cullen family had hobbies that contributed to the family's wealth.
Rosalie, for her contribution, was particularly gifted with dress designs, so every new move she would inspire a group of designers and when they graduated, she would send them occasional designs.
The proceeds from the dress sales would be deposited into an account controlled by Carlisle on her behalf.
Edward dealt with the family's investments – super easy given his talent.
Jasper owned mines all over the world, specifically in the Southern States where he fought as a Confederate Soldier – a dark history Alice didn't like mentioned much.
Carlisle owned many businesses and had multiple sources of income.
Esme acted as the family accountant in most cases, but her passion was the dozens of charities she ran worldwide, and a hundred others she donated to regularly.
Alice contributed most to the family accounts through means Rosalie couldn't even begin to understand.
Finally, Emmett contributed the least since his investments were limited to resorts, wildlife sanctuaries, and a moderately popular wrestling company.
Slowly, everyone noticed that Xavier had entered the building, and the atmosphere turned tense, quieting down automatically. Xavier had the mystique of a boss who rarely checked on his business.
He tended only to show when something major had gone down, and a few of those gathered knew exactly why Xavier had come. Actually, they expected him to come to a lot sooner.
They would have reported the incident to Xavier themselves had it not been noticed after another day.
What everyone was surprised to see was Angela standing behind Xavier, as if silently supporting what he was about to do. It was the scene of a queen ready to take her throne.
That meant they would soon have to treat Angela with as much respect as Xavier himself.
"You all know why I am here…" Xavier's words were light, blaming no one in particular, but everyone shifted their gazes in guilt. "This place was made for everyone to safely explore their pleasures, their banes, process their stress, socialize, make money, and most of all, protect each other."
"Many of you guys have failed in those duties when you allowed it, to slip beyond your notice, that someone had taken Blake – my Blake, into a room here while she was drugged and incapable of making adequate decisions on her own."
There were many gasps from those who did not know.
"We need not your sympathy or pity at this time," Xavier's voice turned distinctly Scottish, and that only tended to happen when he was very angry, but luckily, he quickly controlled his accent. "When I opened this place – I personally vetted everyone that would come to call this place their clutch… no one was approved without my say so. You all know me, and most of the time I survive by being cruel – it protects me. So, I can see the cruelty inside people, and people with a darkness inside of them are not welcomed here…"
Brandon stood in the corner, smoking a blunt as he listened to Xavier's speech – he almost choked when Xavier referred to him next.
"Do I like Brandon? Hell fucking no!" Xavier gestured to Brandon. "The kid is trying to bone my girl, but just because I don't like him doesn't mean he isn't welcomed here. He is a good person, and being good is the price of admission, but as I was checking the list on my way here today… I notice names that shouldn't be here."
The twenty new additions to the club glanced at each other, hoping beyond all hope that they weren't the ones about to be kicked out.
Many of the football team were equally panicked after the brawl in the cafeteria two days prior. Needless to say, the only reason they could pass math was thanks to the tutoring of the geeks in the club.
And of course, the geeks were paid handsomely – it was a safe haven where they could never get bullied.
"For example," Xavier's eyes scanned the room, landing on a new face whose name he had only learned a few days earlier. "Luis Madison from Neah Bay where his parents are dominant in the shipping and fishery businesses, and of course –" Xavier paused, and grabbed Professor Thorn by the shoulder, shoving the man to the ground in front of him. "The man who allowed this shit stain from Neah Bay into my fucking club."
Luis hopped out of his seat upon hearing the insult, and dashed towards Xavier, thrusting a fist forward that even Brandon – fast as he was – would have trouble dodging.
Angela's eyes widened…
Most students had the same reaction, wondering if Xavier had finally kicked a rock harder than his feet could bear…
Some people welcomed the scenario of mutual destruction…
Nobody was exactly sure what happened, but those with sharper eyes saw the moment Xavier leaned away from the punch, opened his hand, and simply smacked Luis across the face.
PAS
A sizzle rang through the room, and Luis's body smacked into the floor as if his strings had been cut.
Alas, Xavier was far from finished.
PAS
Everybody winced as two teeth and blood flew into the air, but surprisingly, it came from Professor Thorn – nobody could understand how Xavier had the audacity to hit a teacher.
Luis and Professor Thorn rolled on the ground, groaning in pain as they did.
"Brandon, can you please escort these guys out of the club?" Xavier inquired.
"I'll help him," Jessie made an appearance and acted with Brandon to remove the trash.
Brandon moved in a robotic manner, but he moved nonetheless, and several of the football players also joined him.
"Tell your brother I will be seeing him soon," Xavier's voice broke into Luis's ears.
Angela embraced Xavier from behind, aware that he went easy on the two guys because she was currently with him. Little did she know that Xavier stopped for another reason entirely.
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After escaping the crowd of students, Xavier slipped into a private room with no cameras – this was the only room aside from Rosalie's private room that held no camera.
It was a daily job – deleting The Cullens from the footage, but it was common to protect future allies to a degree.
"Blake… why are you here?" Xavier inquired, a solemn expression on her face.
Blake looked up from the gun in her hands, a complex expression on her face as she wondered what came next – would Xavier abandon her too, or would he protect her as he promised?
"I came to kill him, but Luis is not the person who put his hand on me," Blake admitted, hatred marring her once-beautiful face. "I was gonna shoot anyway, but you stepped between me and Luis. I couldn't get a clear shot… you did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Does it matter?" Xavier inquired. "I promised to take care of you and I will…"
"Your promise isn't worth much," Blake spat.
Xavier strode towards the girl, gripped her by the throat, and braced her against the wall. "Don't mistake my pity for guilt – you decided to drink on a maniac's tab, you decided to impair your judgment, and you decided it was fine to enter a room with him."
The Eternal released the emotional girl.
"But it was on your watch!" Blake yelled, unperturbed by Xavier's show of brutality. "It was on your turf so you bear the responsibility. I still remember how this relationship works, Xavier! You must protect and sponsor the needs of all of us on your grounds… whether counseling, physical intervention, or any other matter…"
"What do you want?"
"The Madison Family dead…" Blake replied without any hesitation.
Xavier wore a surprised expression. "And you think I am capable of such a thing?" He questioned.
"Don't fuck with me, XAVIER!" Blake mocked, tears leaking down her face. "While I was lying on that bed, getting fucked! I thought about you, and… a lot of things clicked into place. So, I want them dead – the entire family…"
Xavier frowned. "Luis and Greg are their names. They have bullied exes to suicide and been cleared from hit-and-run charges, and some other minor offenses. Their parents helped them get away with it – that's not even considering how many girls they have… offended."
"It's fine," Blake's attitude did a one-hundred-degree change. "Rape… you can say rape!"
"Consider it done, and you will be leaving Forks," Xavier set forth the condition. "And you're never going to come back or see me again. Agreed?"
"Agreed!" Blake closed her eyes in acceptance and relief, and by the time she opened her eyes, Xavier was gone from the room.
She felt comforted by the fact that everything had been handled – now, there was only a question of whether or not Xavier would deem her a liability after the fact.
