Exposed

In the principal's office, Father Moses with the head of staff; Mrs. Caitlin, the chief librarian; Mrs. Penelope, and two other male staffs were in the heat of a very serious discussion. Just a few minutes ago they all received the stunner of their lives: Oliver mentioned that Alex; the victim of the most recent and critical cases so far, was attacked by a werewolf.

They were all in great panic, having known how fierce a werewolf was, and how dangerous it was for one to be harbouring within the walls of the orphanage. Father Moses, however, still wasn't convinced that what attacked the victim was a werewolf.

Oliver and Felicity, however, had gotten to the old library and we're now busy studying and solving numbers of problems from their trig textbooks.

The vision Oliver had while in the hallway began to replay in his mind at that moment. It was the second time he have had a vision since arriving at Melrose, and also his second vision that involved Felicity. Oliver couldn't help but wonder what this meant.

As for this recent vision, Oliver was still yet to understand what it meant, but he had a bad feeling about it. He recalled the question he heard Felicity ask him in the vision if he was responsible for the deaths of his parents.

He knew so well how both of his parents died, and was a hundred percent convinced that he had nothing to do with any of their deaths. His father; Williams Logan, didn't survive the brutal collision with the large heavy-duty monster truck, while his mother; Beth Logan, who miraculously survived with several minor injuries, mysteriously passed on right before him.

It all felt so absurd to Oliver, what he saw in that vision. Though he has had several track records of horrible accusations in the past, ones that almost got him convinced, being accused of parricide was a whole different level which he could not accept. He couldn't even imagine himself doing such. Oliver had a strange feeling something terribly heinous might happen soon in the future. The fact that he didn't hear his response to the question Felicity asked in the vision, dampened the little confidence he had.

Oliver stole a glance at Felicity, only to find out that she had stopped writing for some time now and she was staring at him. He quickly looked down at his book.

"Oliver, you've got blood… coming from your nostrils," she muttered with a thoughtful expression displayed over her face.

Just as he was about to look at her, a thick red liquid from his nostrils, drip on the page of his book. He realized now that he was bleeding really badly. It was the aftermath of seeing a vision, though this was the first time happening to him.

Felicity seemed really concerned. She stood from her seat and came closer to where he sat.

"Don't worry, this has happened to me so many times," she assured him.

She brought out a white handkerchief from her pocket.

"Here, let me help you."

Oliver seemed a bit reluctant in letting her use the white handkerchief.

"Don't worry, I've never used it," she admitted.

She held the white fabric gently on his nose, as she carefully tilted his head forward.

"Hay, don't panic, and don't try to talk, okay? You're gonna have to breathe through your mouth now, and hold the tip of your nose tightly like this," she told him.

Oliver followed the instructions given by Felicity, and just in a number of seconds, the bleeding drastically reduced. In about a minute, the bleeding had completely stopped.

"You've been through quite a lot of stress today," Felicity told him.

"Yeah, I guess I have," he replied.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them.

"So… earlier on I saw you were caught up in a conversation with Lilah again," Felicity finally said.

"Yeah, your friend won't leave me alone. Like I told you, she actually thinks the both of us are into some kind of boyfriend-girlfriend stuff," Oliver explained.

Felicity laughed shyly.

"That is high-class crazy," she said.

"Yeah, it really is crazy. And then today, when I asked her if she knew where you were, she had this really awkward look on her face, with this goofy smile, and it just made me really uncomfortable. She always has this neverending smile on her face, and I always wonder; how does she even do that?" Oliver asked.

Felicity sighed.

"Typical Lilah," she said, "She's the most jovial person I know."

"I bet you must be lucky to have a roommate that really likes you," Oliver said.

"I guess I am," she said.

"You see, unlike me who is kind of a cup-half-empty type of girl, Lilah has this highly positive mindset, that she hardly expects disappointments, always cheering me up that everything is gonna be alright. And I'm not gonna lie, having her around has really been a blessing. Most times, I can't help but wonder, how my stay here would've been without Lilah," she told him.

Oliver marveled at the kind of bond Lilah and Felicity had with each other, to the extent of knowing each other so well, and even referring to themselves as sisters.

Felicity continued.

"So… how have you been coping with your roommate; Max?" she asked him.

Oliver let out a depressing sigh.

"I hate that guy," Oliver muttered almost inaudibly.

Felicity chuckled at his reply.

"Every time the same answer. You guys are gonna have to get along someday," she told him.

"I highly doubt that," he replied.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," she said, "Max and I arrived here at Melrose together. At that time, we were like best friends."

"Best friends?" Oliver scoffed, "I find that very hard to believe." Oliver said.

"I know it's hard to believe. At that time I didn't know he was a dick," she explained.

"Um… speaking of roommates, Lilah told me you've not been in a good mood, and I also sensed that you haven't quite been yourself since today," Oliver said, "Is everything okay?" he asked her.

She slowly lowered her gaze to the desk. There was silence now. Neither Felicity nor Oliver uttered a word. Oliver was patient with her.

After what seemed like an eternity, she took out a square folded paper from the center page of a thick brown book she had and slid it towards Oliver. Curious about what was on the folded paper, Oliver took it up and carefully unfolded it. It was a single page from a newspaper. As Oliver took his time to go through it, he noticed what looked like a family picture; a father, and a mother, with their female child in the middle, but while the image of the girl was in the normal multicolored form, the images of both the man and the woman were in black and white monochrome form.

Even without reading the paper, Oliver could already tell what the picture meant. He, however, took a closer look at the picture and found out that not only was the name written under the girl Felicity's, it was hers. The man and the woman beside her were her late parents. The date of their deaths as written in the newspaper, was 11th May; exactly the same date as that day.

Oliver remained silent now, totally void of words.

"I've been trying to cheer myself up, trying so hard to forget all about it, but it just… only gets worst. I couldn't even sleep at night, because when I close my eyes… I see their faces staring back at me, bringing back the full details of our horrible last moments," Her voice cracked, and her eyes strained wide, heavy with tears she was trying to suppress.

She sniffed.

"Today makes it a year since they were taken away from me. My parents didn't die deserving deaths. It's true they were freaking outlaws, but they weren't killers, yet they had them shot dead right before my eyes," she said. Unable to contain her emotions, the tears she had been trying to hold finally escaped her eyes, watering her book.

"Felicity, I… I'm so sorry," Oliver managed.

"No no, don't say that," she said, quickly dying her eyes, "It feels really selfish crying now since I'm not the only one here who've lost their parents."

"I don't think that's being selfish. Your parents were killed in front of you, believe me, not many can bear such an experience," Oliver told her, placing his arm gently around her shoulder to console her.

She threw her arms around him, in an impassioned embrace.

"Thank you," she said to him, as she sobbed silently.

Oliver slowly put his arms around her back. Just at that moment, a sound was heard at the door, and they both quickly refrained from each other's embrace.

Someone had come to inform Oliver that the principal had sent for him. Oliver left afterward for the principal's office.

On getting to the principal's office, he met the principal seated there alone. He asked Oliver to sit, as he spoke.

"Your case is still on the front desk of the HCI, Mr Logan. Believe me, I am commiserative to your matter, but that doesn't mean overlooking the reality of things," the principal said.

"What you said earlier on about a werewolf being responsible for the attack of your fellow orphan, is that true?" he asked Oliver.

"Sir, I meant what I said about the werewolf. I know you didn't believe me, but I have proof. If you could come with me, I…"

"The HCI already had their best men investigate the woods," the principal interrupted, "they didn't detect similar claw marks or paw prints with the likeness of a werewolf," he said.

"That can't be possible. I did see the paw prints, sir, you've got to believe me," Oliver persuaded.

"Mr Logan! There never was a werewolf in those woods. Perhaps, you weren't sure of what you saw," the principal said.

"I know what I saw. Believe it or not, there's a werewolf in this orphanage, and if something isn't done quickly, someone else might get hurt or worst. You never know who might be the next victim," Oliver sounded really serious, as he desperately needed the principal to understand that he meant what he was saying.

"I believe you're aware that being in Melrose is a life-changing opportunity, hope you're not planning to put up some self-sabotage," the principal said, after a brief moment of silence.

"I'm not," Oliver's face changed to a puzzled expression.

"Your stay here hasn't clocked one month, yet I'm already receiving complaints about you," the principal said.

Oliver was a bit surprised. He wondered what other reports about him the principal had gotten, apart from the Alex case. He never expected he'd ever hear such comments about him from the principal, despite his desperate efforts to avoid getting blacklisted.

"Your roommate; Mr. Max Robert, reported detecting certain suspicious movements since moved in, including sneaking outside at night. Also, your therapist; Doctor Driscoll, has also brought up a series of complaints of you refusing to cooperate with him, constantly shutting him out. There's also reports of four sleepwalks, and six attempted fights," the principal said.

Oliver was totally lost for words at this point.

"You see, the detective claims you've had this series of horribly appalling records in the past, which I never believed," the principal told him.

Oliver's heart began pounding so hard and so fast as he heard what the principal had just said. At this point, he was in a high state of shock and terror. He kept on praying that this wasn't what he was thinking.

"He said you did really terrible things that actually resulted in countless school suspensions and expulsions over the last couple of years. He also made mention of you having something to do with the deaths of your late parents."

"What?" muttered Oliver in disbelief.