~Chapter 33~

The next post was made in the evening. It was a video. At first it'd seem like a normal party video made by a random drunk but as the video progresses, the camera is taken to a room which seems like a basement, illuminated poorly with a dim red night lamp. A boy with ginger hair laid on his back with his hand tied on his back, his face beaten up and a funnel is attached to his mouth. A group of boys encircled the ginger head boy and they started to pour alcohol inside that funnel making the victim thrash and wriggle around. For the rest of the video the boys kept on pouring bottles of alcohol, cheered for the victim to drink on, throwing insults one after the other.

"The boy's name is Luke Coswell. You may know him. At present he's at hospital, fighting against alcohol poisoning." A knock was heard on the wooden door of the room. Upon principal's permission, two blonde individuals entered the room closing the door behind them. "Ah sit down, Mrs. Fleabagh and Mr. Fleabagh."

Both the other individual whipped their heads at the actual perpetrator who was responsible for Luke's poisoning as they saw in the video. Daniel was always a bully but there was a line that was maintained by him, what made him to go to such extremes on poisoning someone just to satisfy his own violent self? Rio couldn't believe how much of an awful friend he had been for not even contacting him for the last few days. Luke was always a friend to him, always stuck to him, always worried about his well being, but he….he....turned out to be a horrible friend. Yes, it's true that they didn't get the opportunity to speak to each other for the past few days but…

While Rio was beating himself up mentally, the principal showed the two posts that were made by Daniel and clearly voiced out her decisions; "Mrs. Fleabagh, your son's reputation and his activities have been reaching my ears for quite a time period. I had called him to my office previously but he never bothered to show up, he escapes his detentions too. Therefore I had to send you a mail this time because the matter has become that of life and death. Not only is your son a bully but also will turn out to be a murderer if something tragic happens to Luke Coswell." Mrs. Fleabagh looked shocked at the principal's words. Daniel had flipped up his head at the older woman on the chair when she called out to him as a 'murderer'. For the first time in his life, his hands started to shake visibly. "The family of the boy are already considering filing a case against Daniel and if that happens," she paused, hesitated and then spoke; "I'll have no other choice but to expel Daniel from my school. See, Mrs. Fleabagh, I cannot lose the reputation of my school just because of one arrogant, stubborn student."

"I-I-I d-di-didn't mean to—"

"Of course you never mean to do anything at all Daniel. When you bully someone at school, you never mean to do it, when you beat up someone outside school you never mean to do it, when you push someone at the brink of death, that too you never mean to do, and studies?....oh that also you never ever mean to do. YOU'RE FAILING DANIEL! You are failing! Have you ever checked your test papers?" the principal who seemed visibly angry now glanced at the mother; "Have you ever seen his grades? His test papers?"

"No." the blonde woman slowly shook her head. The principal sharply looked at the 'bully' who couldn't dare to look up. She then slid a file towards the mother who had an unreadable expression on her face.

All through this entire fiasco, Rio was beating himself up mentally of how he couldn't be a good friend to Luke and how the room where Luke was ragged gave the exact same vibes of that room where he was imprisoned all those years ago. That same moldy room, same dim red light, the only thing was lacking were the rustic, metal chains and him being hanged from there...…

An audible sound of smacking flesh resounded in the principal's office. It made Rio look up from his trance and both Emilia and principal to whip their head at the direction from where the sound came. A flurry of papers along with a file remained strewn on the floor with a shocked Daniel clutching his left cheek stared at his mother. His mother's shoulders were shaking as her grey eyes were pooled with tears that threatened to fall out. Daniel's similar grey eyes remained wide, both from shock of getting slapped by his beloved, gullible mother who always loved him and spoiled him with innumerable number of gifts whenever she returned home from always scheduled business trips.

The principal ushered the three students out of her office and made the bully's mother stay behind. Emilia was on guard as came out on the hallway that Danny might try something but he was oddly quiet. He didn't jeer or yell or blamed Rio now. He was calm and quiet.

Too calm and quiet.

Maybe the slap from his mother was quite a shock for him. They left him alone waiting for his mother in the hallways as the couple proceeded to attend their respective classes. No words were exchanged between them.

Emilia felt a tinge of sympathy for him. Though they share no relationship now, but once upon time, they did date. Although she did had a small conversation with the principal in whispers while Mrs. Fleabagh was going through the file of his test papers and Rio was out of his element, probably beating himself out of guilt.

"Ma'am, I know my opinion really doesn't matt—"

"No no Miss Johannes, it does matter. You see sometimes students figure out many things way more quickly than we, adults do. And of course I wouldn't mind getting an opinion or two from the 'queen bee' herself."

"Ma'am you know that's just—"

"I know I know. I was just pulling your leg."

"Uh haha um, ma'am I think that Daniel is not the person who caused Luke's alcohol poisoning." The principal quirked an eyebrow at this, she continued; "because, because Daniel might be bully, he might be an insensible prick but he is very prone to dancing at other's tune with logically reasoning about it himself."

"You mean—?"

"Yes, I think this incident is instigated to him by someone. Daniel alone couldn't do it. He simply doesn't have the guts to do so—"

Had it not been for the interruption from Mrs. Fleabagh, she could've continued. But she had already told the necessary insights in the beginning itself so she hoped that Daniel won't be suffering much. She never supports bullying or what had happened to Luke at all, but after dating Daniel for one and half years since the beginning of senior year, she knows this much that Daniel doesn't have balls to do something this big just on his own until and unless he is highly provoked.

Yes, Daniel is guy full of muscles and pride so he gets easily provoked. Yet till now, he had limited his bullying in school and maybe in the outside premises around the school but has never taken bullying back to his home. That time when he spiked her drink, it was due to the provocation of any one of his cronies but unfortunately for them, those cronies' discussion in the washroom was heard by Rio who, in turn informed Emilia out of his good heart because neither of them knew each other at all even though they shared a class and studied in same school.

Rio's face remained grave all throughout the day and after departure they decided to visit Luke in the hospital.