In Too Deep

Chapter 12

I took a slow walk down the road to the shop, my mind whirled over the events of the day so far. Let’s hope this lead provided us with something helpful. I wasn’t waiting long when Smithy pulled up in his Land Rover, not exactly what you’d expect a police officer to be driving, but they don’t exactly have the standard issue police cars. I climbed in and fastened my seat belt. Smithy studied me for a moment.

“Freya, are you ok?” He asked questioningly. I so did not want to talk about it.

“Yes, I’m fine. What have you found out?” I asked. He shrugged off his suspicions, probably chalking it up to the files on all the deceased students that I found, that would be enough for anyone’s nerves to be on edge. He started driving as he filled me in.

“I contacted as many of those numbers as I could, some must’ve changed their phone numbers, or just don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. None of them were particularly helpful, they were unwilling to divulge any answers once they heard who I was and why I was calling.” He told me.

“Sounds like they’re hiding something.” I stated.

“Possibly. Or they just don’t want to talk about their dead child.” He suggested, he had a point. “The only answers I could get from them stated that as far as they were concerned, their children died in a terrible accident.” Smithy said.

“That’s it? That’s all they would say?” I asked, he nodded.

“Mrs Adams was the only person willing to meet with us.” He told me. “Her daughter, Scarlet, died two years ago.” He pulled up in front of a small house, with an unkempt garden, overgrown weeds wound their way over the rusted patio furniture left in the front garden. Smithy knocked on the door and after a brief moment we heard soft footsteps approaching.

Mrs Adams was a petite lady, with long greasy blonde hair, and tired green eyes. She invited us in and offered us a drink. We both refused. From the look of Mrs Adams and the property, she really let things slip after Scarlet died. Clearly her grief took over, nothing else really mattered to her after that.

“What can I help you with?” She asked, her voice was rough, like she doesn’t speak much.

“Mrs Adams, I know it must be difficult to talk about, but I was hoping you could tell us about what happened to Scarlet.” Smithy said to her. She looked down at the floor.

“I got a call from Fair Lake. I remember I was baking a pie ready for Scarlet to come home that weekend. It’s strange isn’t it? The things you remember when you get a call like that.” She wiped at the tears coming out of her eyes as she continued.

“She was involved in an accident, an accident that took her life.” She kept glancing at me whilst she was talking, but I couldn’t think why, I’ve never met her before, I hadn’t even met Scarlet.

“What kind of accident?” I asked.

“Scarlet and her friends had been drinking. They don’t know where she got the alcohol, she was under age. Mr Jackson believed Scarlet had obtained a fake ID. After drinking too much, she stumbled in to the woods, tripped on some tree roots and hit her head.” She paused as she blew her nose in to a tissue.

“Fair Lake has magical healers, surely there’s something they could’ve done to save her?” I asked incredulously. Smithy shot me a warning look, telling me with his eyes to be gentle.

“By the time someone found her and they got her to the onsite nurse, there was nothing they could do to save Scarlet.” Mrs Adams sniffled as more tears fell.

I shot a glance at Smithy, to see if he believed this story. If it was just a one off it almost could be the truth, but I doubted it. I could tell Smithy didn’t believe it either.

I heard the front door open and heavy footsteps came down the hall. A heavy built man come stumbling in to the room, the stench of alcohol burning my nose.

“Who are these people in our house?” He demanded.

“Honey, they were just asking about Scarlet.” Mrs Adams addressed who I’m assuming was her husband.

“It’s none of their business. She’s dead and gone, I don’t want anything more to do with that place, they can shove it if they want any help from us. Out! Both of you, out of my house right now!” He shouted at us.

After thanking Mrs Adams for her time, Smithy and I made a hasty retreat. Back in his car, he started driving before either of us said anything.

“It looks as though Mrs Adams has accepted the death of their daughter.” Smithy said.

“But Mr Adams clearly blames Fair Lake for something. He couldn’t wait to get rid of us when he thought we were from the Academy.” I told him and he nodded. “What could he possibly think the Academy would want his help with?” I asked.

“I don’t know, and for what reason could there be to cover up all those deaths?” Smithy asked.

“I suppose that depends on how they died. Or if they were killed.” I added.

“Did you notice she kept looking at you?” Smithy asked me.

“Yes I did.”

“Could you find anything in her mind?” He asked me, I shook my head.

“She has been self-medicating since her daughter died, drugs make people’s minds so cloudy, it’s hard to make any sense of her thoughts. And clearly Mr Adams hasn’t stopped drinking for the past two years, so his mind was very much the same.” I told him.

I remained silent for a moment, thinking, something was niggling at the edge of my mind, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I took out my phone and started swiping through the photos I took of the files.

“What is it?” Smithy asked, clearly noticing I was close to figuring something out. He had pulled up by the shop near the campus, and turned in his seat to look at me. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Smithy, they’re all girls. Every single one of the dead students are girls.” I told him. His brow furrowed whilst he processed this new piece of information. We stared at each other for a moment, neither of us knowing what this new information meant.

This somehow made the situation even more suspicious. Someone at Fair Lake was killing off girls, and the Academy was covering it up. But why? Everything we found out just led to more questions. I rubbed my hands over my face in frustration.

“Hey, we’ll figure this out.” Smithy tried to reassure me. “But we need to keep digging. Are you sure you want to stay there? We can find another way.” He asked me.

“I have to, even more now that I know this information.” I told him.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to convince you otherwise, just be careful ok?”

“I promise.” It was my turn to try and reassure him this time.

I turned to open my door when Smithy put a hand on my arm.

“Freya, is everything else ok?” He asked me. “You seemed a little off today.”

I looked down, I didn’t want to lie to Smithy, but I didn’t really want to tell him the truth either.

“It’s kind of complicated, but I’m ok.” I said, he nodded.

“Is it something to do with Ryan?” He asked. “He seemed off the other day after the two of you met.” Damn, Smithy doesn’t miss much. I sighed.

“That’s part of what’s complicated.” I stated, he nodded in understanding.

“I won’t pry, but I’m here if you need me.” Smithy told me sincerely.

“Thank you. Will you keep me updated if you find out anything to do with Fair Lake?” I asked.

“Of course, will you?” He asked, I nodded.

I said goodbye and got out of his car, walking back to campus. I headed back to my room, just wanting to sleep.

When I got back to my room I slumped down on my bed, my eyes started to droop when I heard the bedroom door open. My eyes shot open again but it was just Violet.

“Hi.” I said sleepily.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t mean to wake you.” She said apologetically.

“It’s ok, I was only drifting off a bit.” I said.

She studied my face for a moment.

“Are you ok?” She asked me. “You weren’t in classes for the rest of the day.” She added.

So much had happened since I saw her earlier. I didn’t even know where to begin. I wanted to tell her everything, to make sure she was safe, but I didn’t want to tell her something that could put her in danger. I decided with what I could tell her.

“Bastien and I kind of had another moment this morning.” I told her. Violet’s eyes widened and she sat on my bed next to me. “And Mr Bentlen caught us.” I added. Violet’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh my. What happened?” She asked. I told her all about our kiss, Mr Bentlen standing in the doorway, and my chat with him after my Maths class. We both sat in silence for a moment after I had finished.

“He’s probably going to get fired. It’ll be all my fault.” I said. Violet shook her head vigorously.

“Freya, you have got to stop being so hard on yourself.” She said sternly. “He’s the teacher, and he could have stopped it at any time. It almost sounds to me like he keeps seeking you out. At the gym and now the music room? He’d have no reason to be there unless he knew that you were there.” She added.

Violet might have a point, why was he in the gym so late? I guess I may never know.

“He’ll probably just get a warning.” I could tell Violet was just trying to make me feel better.

“Maybe.” I said.

We were both silent for a moment.

“How about we go and get ice cream, to cheer you up?” She asked.

“Do you know what would cheer me up?” I asked. She raised her eyebrow in question. “If we could talk about you instead of me, tell me about your day.” I said to her. Her brow furrowed as she frowned.

“We could, but my day was very boring and uneventful.” Violet told me.

“That sounds perfect, tell me all about it.” I said to her eagerly.