Chapter 71: We fell out
Andria’s POV
"Let us hope she is not yet roped into Tracy’s spell," Arlo said with a shrug that gestures that he didn’t really trust Mel.
I wouldn’t blame him for not trusting Mel at all; a friend to my enemy can also be regarded as an enemy, as you can’t play both sides.
But now I need a disguise in the enemy’s territory, and only she seems like the best candidate for that role.
"I need to hurry back to my dorm before it’s dark. I wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened last week," I said while moving towards the door.
"Be safe," Arlo called out.
"Be careful," Becca said, waving her hands at me.
The walk back to my dorm wasn’t so long, but because I was doing it alone, it felt like I was walking a thousand miles.
It was a quiet walk, save for the pounding of my chest and echoes of my thoughts.
As I approached my apartment door, I tried to twist the knob, hoping Mel was home, and if she were, the door would be open.
But to my greatest disappointment, the door was locked.
I searched for my keys and was glad I had even bothered to take them with me to class today.
When I got inside the apartment, it was unusually quiet.
Something must be wrong. Why wasn’t Mel back from classes yet?
"Is somebody home?" I called out, but there was no response. But I heard some noise coming from the direction of Mel’s room.
I walked stealthily to Mel’s door and tapped on it.
"Mel, are you in there?" I called out again from behind her room’s door, yet no response.
I leaned towards the door to know if something was actually wrong with her, and I heard whimpers.
Something has to be wrong with her.
A bile rose in my chest, and I gave in to the collision of my hybrid strength.
I pushed the door open, knocking the doorknob to the floor.
"Fuck, now I have to find a replacement," I muttered to myself.
I turned around to see her snuggled against herself in the far end of her bed, like a frightened pussy cat.
Her duvet was pulled so close to her face with her back to me. She was trembling and sobbing as well.
When I got close enough to where she was, she didn’t just look scared; she looked very sad as well.
She rushed to me and hugged me warmly, her tears staining my shirt.
"What is wrong? Why are you shaking? What is the matter?" the questions poured frantically from my mouth.
"It’s Larissa, she is something else, I can’t believe she can..." Her words cut in her throat in between sobs.
"Calm down, Mel, say the words one after the other and clean your eyes," I soothed her, while patting her on the back.
"She was the one..." Her words were cut again in between hiccups.
"Ok, maybe we can do something interesting and you can tell me all about it, when you are not a sobbing mess," I told her.
Within me, I was happy about the turn of events. Larissa must have not just hurt her but also frightened her so much to the extent of making her locked the apartment doors and her room doors as well.
Either way, I have her loyalty for this short time before Larissa reclaims her attention. Additionally, they have been best friends since a very young age.
"I’m glad you are back. I thought you were Larissa when you knocked on my door. You know," she said, peering into my eyes.
"You have been away for a while since the night you were abducted."
"I had to be safe, besides..." I started, but she interrupted me.
"I know, the alpha successors’ saved your ass and decided it was safer to stay at their place, which I think they weren’t wrong for thinking like that."
Ok, now this is getting very interesting. Why did she just blurt out those words, instead of jumping to conclusions, or maybe to satisfy my curiosity? I need to determine the reason behind her sudden outburst.
"Why do you think so?" I asked her.
"Because Larissa isn’t who you think she is, we had a major fall out, a big clash earlier today, and because of that, I couldn’t make it to classes today. I’m even scared of stepping foot in school now," she explained, looking lost and helpless, but at least her sobbing had stopped.
"You have not yet told me what the issue was all about, but I understand. I hope you are alright. Besides, I’ve never trusted Larissa either since the bonfire night incident," I told her firmly without batting an eyelid.
"Yes, the day Zade and the Alpha successors brought you back home marked the beginning of this strife. She has an eye for Zade, and she has been telling me that she noticed Zade has only eyes for you, and that triggers her. I didn’t know she could be envious of you to the extent that she plotted to take your life," Mel paused to catch her breath.
"You said she plotted my death?" I asked in a perplexed tone, although it didn’t surprise me at all.
I knew she must have been involved in the abduction; I just wanted to be sure.
"She is the one behind the abduction. Tracy isn’t involved. She capitalised on the rivalry between you and Tracy to frame Tracy, who appeared ambitious but lazy, and then made her get a charm from the vampires to help her win the election.
In return, she gets to have a say in the leadership tenure, and she gets to annihilate you faster, too. Then the vampires would be given free access to the Academy "
"And she laughed sinisterly when narrating her evil escapades to me, which enraged it. She has more evil up her sleeves.
Almost every student and even staff in school now is spell-struck, and we need to act fast to break the spell, or she might win from the detention room, and justice wouldn’t prevail."
How shocking that Tracy wasn’t actually the one behind the abduction. In fact, she wasn’t even an accomplice.
Her business with the vampire was only personal; she was just so unlucky to have listened to Larissa, who never had her best interest at heart.
I bet Larissa thought the outcome would be that I’d end up dead, Tracy would be framed and thrown into the underworld, and then she could become the next council president.
"Yeah, I’ve got something up my sleeve, I hope Larissa doesn’t know that you feel this way about everything she told you," I asked in a concerned tone.
I didn’t want Larissa to spread the word to the other minions that Mel was an enemy, so that she could keep the disguise.
"No, she doesn’t. I’m the only one who feels like we can’t be friends anymore. Her disclosure made me so scared to even argue with her for fear of being her next victim, and you know that I don’t have any mate to come to my rescue," Mel said in a low tone that sounded unsure.
"I’ll leave you to rest now. I need to rest before school tomorrow." I stood up to leave, then remembered the reason I came to her room in the first place.
"I’ll need you to pretend like you feel nothing, act like you are also under the influence of the spell. We need an insider informant, and you are the only one suitable for that."
"Me? I don’t think so, besides, Larissa isn’t back from classes yet, she must have probably found out that I’m no longer by her side since she told me she took Tracy’s side," Mel explained in an attempt to escape the role.
"Is there something that you aren’t telling me? You sound defensive," I stated, noticing her non-committal attitude.
"I don’t want anything to do with Larissa or her group of enchanted fools or the school politics. If I’m to support you, I don’t want to support you as an undercover agent; I want to support you like Becca or the princess would. I don’t want you to treat me like your second-hand friend," she burst out in tears.
"I’m tired of every wolf thinking that they can ride on me. Larissa handled her evil plans in secret, despite being childhood friends, and then returned to tell me when she felt she might be in trouble. Who the fuck does that?" she yelled, crying uncontrollably.
"I never knew that you felt this way. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel this way. I really couldn’t trust you, and you wouldn’t blame me, considering you were best friends with Larissa for a long time and remained friends with her to this day. It wasn’t safe or smart to tell you anything," I exhaled and then continued.