19. Summoned...

"Erina, we can still report this, I don't see any reason why you'd want to keep shut about this." Roxy insisted.

She's been trying to convince the girl since the day of the incident. It happened on Monday, today is Wednesday and Erina still refuses to take the case to the school board.

"Roxy, just let it go already." She calmly states. "It's been two days now, and people have already forgotten about it. See... No one is pointing or laughing. It means no one cares about it anymore." She slightly points at the other students who passed by them, and she was right. No one was pointing or laughing at her.

Rather, they seemed to be avoiding her. Roxy felt there was something wrong with the way they stared at them. This wasn't the usual look, almost every one of them tried not to meet their gazes, and the ones who did looked terrified.

"So let's just drop the issue, and..." Her words were suddenly held back as they turned a corner and walked into the huge hall, where mortifyingly horrific pictures were plastered all over the wall.

"OH_ My_ Gosh!" Roxy's eyes widened with horror. Whispers of fear filled the place, and both girls just stood there. They could only wonder who the bruised and naked people in the posters were.

"What is happening in this school?" Roxy blurted. "I mean what are the security guards doing? How are posters like these even on the inside walls of an educational institution??"

This was a horrible way to start a day. Seeing something like a slasher horror movie early in the morning was so wrong.

"R_Roxy..." Erina calls in a shaky breath, as she points at one of the posters. "I think that's Gray,"

Roxanne follows the direction her fingers pointed at, and now that she looked carefully, beyond the blood and the bruises, she saw it too. "Oh my goodness" she trembled at the realization.

"Erina, I_ I don't think it's j_ just Gray," she points at another poster, "T_that's Tom, and Jimmy,"

"And Stella," They both say in a syncing breath, their heads turning to meet the petrified look on both their faces.

"Miss Barret," A voice suddenly calls from behind. "You've been summoned to the Dean's office." and she stood there, confused and perplexed.

What exactly was going on???

...

Now seated at the center of a room with all six pairs of eyes on her. Erina could only imagine why she was summoned. Never in her three years in college has she been invited by a lecturer, or professor, let alone the Dean. And now he had five extra people who she recognized as professors, seated sideways to him.

Behind her stood two other men with hands crossed in front of their chests. She could tell from their stance and appearance, `detectives`.

"Miss Barret, it came to our notice that you had a little spat with Mr. Gray Hundurin. Is that correct?" asks the Dean who sat, an elderly half-bald man, with freckles reaching his neck.

"Uhm," she was befuddled. How was she supposed to give an answer to such a question? The reason she didn't want to report it in the first place was that she wanted to avoid these kinds of questions.

"Miss Barret?" The man calls again.

"To put it more simply, is it true that Mr. Hundurin placed indecent pictures of you in the college premises without your consent?" asked Professor Hexe who was one of the committee.

She was so blunt that Erina felt the humiliation all over again, but she knew Professor Hexe just put the question in the most decent way possible, so...

" Y_ Yes ma'am" She managed to say with her head down.

"Now, I'm sure you've seen the posters on the walls, and I want to assume you already figured out who was on those posters. Am I right?"

She nods a yes.

"Good. Now you see those gentlemen behind you," the Dean points behind her, and she turns her head slightly. "They are detectives," The man confirms her previous thoughts.

"We've received a report this morning that Mr. Hundurin and three other students are in a critical situation in the hospital as we speak. All four of them have suffered internal and external injuries that would take nothing less than a month to heal, and that is for Miss Stella who seemed to have had it easiest compared to the rest. As for Mr. Gray, he'll be in the hospital for at least three months."

All the information, all the words, they were just too much for her to accept at once. Trying to process the fact that Gray and his crew were really the ones in the posters. Also the fact that they had somehow sustained such gruesome injuries that would take months to heal.

It was all too much for her head.

"Now, Miss Barret, I know how it would have felt when what happened to you on Monday happened, that's why I would totally understand the reason why you'd do..." the man's words was trailing off into smokes and bubbles as Erina tried understanding the whole thing.

Were they probably saying she did this? Were they saying as fragile as she was, she had manhandled four able-bodied people? Three men included??

Was that what they were trying to say??

"We'll find a way to settle this in the..."

"N_ No, I didn't do this." She suddenly snaps out of her head and says.

"Excuse me what?" The Dean asks.

"Sir, I don't know about this. I didn't do anything to them. I can never do something this gruesome sir." She explains in one long breath.

Now, one detective moved forward and stood in front of her, hands loosely in both pockets.

"Listen, MISS, my name is James Harvey, and that is my colleague Walter Jones." He points to the other man. "Now, we're trying to help you here. If you did this, and you come clean about it, then we can help you. But if you keep denying it and we gather proof that you ARE actually the culprit, then we won't be able to help you."

"B_But I'm telling the truth." she stutters, trying her best to stay calm and not get intimidated by the questioning looks in the eyes of everyone.

"Don't mess with me young lady, talk to me."

"I'm telling the truth, sir,"

"Where were you yesterday?"

"I_ I went to work. I_ I work a shift in the Caddel mall on moonstreet. When I was done in the afternoon, I went straight home." She quickly states, thanking the universe that she wasn't stuttering too much.

"Is there anyone who can vouch for this statement of yours?" The detective asks again. And she closes her eyes as if she had suddenly forgotten the names and faces of everyone she knew, and was slowly trying to regain memory.

"Roxy!" She flips her eyes open. "We work together at the mall. We had the same shift, and we live together too. She would tell you I didn't do this."

The man stares at her for some nerve-wracking seconds, then he glances at his partner, and back at Erina again.

" Fine, then is there anyone who knows about what happened on Monday? Maybe someone you told?"

"No sir, I didn't tell anyone. The only person who knows about it is Roxy."

"This Roxy again," the man grated his teeth at the sound of her name.

"You're sure no one else knows about this? You didn't tell anyone?" the man asks one more time and she nods a big Yes again.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to talk to this Roxy, where is she?"

Roxy, who stood outside the door for minutes roamed back and forth, over and over again as she could not help but worry and wonder what was going on inside the room.

"Erina!" She exclaimed as Erina stepped out, but then the detective came out with her.

"Miss Roxanne Johnson?" the man asks.

"Yes?"

"We have some questions for you, would you step in here for a minute?" the man asks.

Her gaze shifts back and forth between Erina and the detective. And she just couldn't understand the expression on Erina's face.

"Yes," she steps into the room, and Erina is left outside.

Erina stood there for minutes, anxiety and fear weighing her down, as she wondered who could have done that to Gray and the others. She wondered what kind of questions Roxy was being asked.

"Okay, MISS Erina, MISS Roxy," Erina bolts up as the detective walks out with Roxy next to him.

"You're both free to go. But you're still prime suspects in a criminal case. So try not to do any traveling out of Black-Crust till we get to the bottom of this." The man says.

"Are we clear,?" He asks again, and they both nod. "Fine, you two can go."

As they walked side-by-side to each other, it was like an ambience of shivering silence followed them. Every other sound was blocked out of their heads. They were both shocked beyond reason.

Just like that, they walked till they reached the college field, and Erina paused as she felt Roxy's firm grip on her wrist.

"You know what they asked me?" Roxy starts. "They asked me if I did that to Gray and the others." she explains. "And when I said no, they asked me if you could have done it," She looks at Erina closely before talking again.

"And when I told them you would never do something like that, they asked if I knew anyone who knew you, and could do something like this?" Now Erina's heart paused with anxiety and nervousness, it was like she could almost read Roxy's mind.

"I told them... No" she states, and Erina breathes out a sigh of relief.

"But Erina, someone did come to my mind. Someone who has a reason to do something like this. Someone who has the resources and power to do this... Reuel Caddel"