“Oh. Shit. Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “It’s actually related to the party I went to tonight. But I have to tell you the backstory first.”
“Shoot.”
“Okay, so, not long after I started at school here, I was invited to a meeting with the Medusa Society.”
“Uh-huh.”
“They were all really nice. They made it seem like the society was some sort of empowerment club for lower-income female students. A bunch of rich people sponsor them—a group of guys called the Network. All members get gifts, money, and free rides through college after graduating from RFA. In return, they have to keep their grades up and sign a contract stating that they’ll work for a Network-related company after college graduation. So it seems like a win-win. The girls benefit from someone else’s money—money they wouldn’t otherwise have access to—and they also get a future career out of it. At the same time, the Network guys make their companies look good by sponsoring and hiring so many young women who might’ve never had those opportunities if it wasn’t for them, because of their disadvantaged backgrounds.”
“Huh, okay. I had no idea about any of that.”
“That’s because they’re very secretive,” I said. “But anyway, they asked me to join. They thought I’d be a good candidate, because I don’t have the same money and connections most of the other students at RFA have.”
“Right.”
“They also told me their club has a sort of unspoken deal with you and your friends. Everyone else, too. They can’t be blacklisted or bullied.”
Hunter nodded. “That’s true. But I didn’t start that tradition. It’s always been that way at this school, even before I started here.”
“Do you know why?”
“Yeah. The Medusa club has a lot of pull with the RFA staff for some reason, and it’s always been made clear to everyone by Sanders that they have to be immune to any of the usual high school politics. Anyone caught being nasty to them risks instant expulsion. Even the kids who can normally get away with anything because they’re from the most powerful families in town,” he said. “It’s never really bothered me. The Medusa girls have always seemed nice and cool, and they’ve never caused any drama or problems.”
My lips tightened. “I bet they have so much pull with the school because of the Network. They’re a bunch of rich, powerful guys.”
“Makes sense.”
“Anyway, they told me they could help me stop the bullying,” I said, twisting my hands in my lap. “Because if I joined them, no one would be allowed to harass me anymore. They also said they have access to a lot of resources via the Network people. So if I wanted to get revenge on anyone who bullied me, they could help me out.”
“I bet that was tempting,” Hunter said, brows rising.
“It was. But I turned them down.”
“Why?”
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Something just seemed a bit off to me. Like it was too good to be true,” I said. “It’s just weird when you come from nothing, get treated horribly by almost everyone, and then suddenly someone offers you a shit-ton of money, free stuff and unconditional support. Do you get me?”
“Yup.”
“I didn’t want to keep secrets from Adam and Trina, either. They were my first friends here, and they were the only ones who supported me while I was blacklisted. It didn’t feel right for me to ditch them for another group.”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I get it,” he said. “Anyway, go on.”
“Adam and Trina said that if the bullying got so bad that I couldn’t handle it anymore, I should go and join the Medusas. They said they wouldn’t mind, because they wanted me to be happy.”
He let out a short sigh. “So when that video went up at the assembly, you did what they said.”
“Yup. When I ran out crying, Camila Valmont and some of the other Medusa girls came up to me and told me the offer was still open, and if I accepted, the bullying would go away like that,” I said, snapping my fingers.
“I see where this is going now,” Hunter said, lips twisted into a grimace. “You think it’s them behind all of this bullshit. The assembly video, the abusive texts, the threatening emails.”
“Yes. They probably didn’t expect me to turn them down the first time. But they really wanted me to join, so they hatched a plan to essentially force my hand,” I said, eyes narrowing. “Like I said before, they have access to a ton of money and resources because of the Network, so they could’ve gotten their hands on that video from the court.”
“And they’re the only people at this school who aren’t afraid of crossing me and my friends, so they wouldn’t give a fuck about me telling everyone to leave you alone,” Hunter added. He exhaled deeply and leaned forward. “Fuck. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
“Me neither,” I said. “But it makes sense. They pretended someone else was bullying me so that I’d want to join them, and I fell for it and ran right into their waiting arms.”
Hunter cocked his head to one side. “But why the hell would they be so hell-bent on getting you to join them?”
“That’s the second part of the story,” I said. “Tonight was meant to be my initiation. They made it seem like it was a cool, fun ritual based on ancient Greek stuff, and I had to dress up in a costume and drink red wine from a golden chalice to represent the blood of our enemies. But I don’t drink alcohol, so they replaced the wine with red juice instead. That turned out to be a mistake for them.”
I filled him in on the rest of the story, and by the time I was done, his face had blanched. “Are you fucking serious?” he said, eyes wide. “All of that shit really happened?”
I nodded firmly. “Yes. I was drugged, but I wasn’t that out of it, because I didn’t have the wine, and I’m pretty sure whatever they gave me becomes a lot stronger when it’s combined with alcohol. So I remember it all pretty well, and by the time Camila chased me and confronted me, I was already sober enough to know exactly what was going on.”
“Fuck.” Hunter leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. “I can’t believe this.”
“Well, it’s all true.”
“Sorry, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. It’s just fucking crazy.”
“Yeah, it is. If I hadn’t just gone through it a few hours ago, I probably wouldn’t believe it myself. It’s like a movie or something.”
“A really fucked-up movie,” he said, upper lip curling contemptuously.
I sighed. “This is going to sound weird, but I actually feel sorry for Camila and the others,” I said. “I mean, I’m fucking mad at them for trying to trick me into joining, but at the same time, they were all tricked too. If they don’t play along and convince other girls that it’s amazing and fun, they risk losing everything and having their tapes leaked.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Hunter straightened up again. “Hold on. You’re saying that the Network guys get the Medusas to recruit more girls for them every year, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is it just seniors they recruit?”
My stomach flipped. “Oh. Shit. I didn’t even think of that,” I said in a hollow voice. “It’s not just seniors. A bunch of the girls are juniors, and I remember Camila saying at the first meeting that some of them even join the society as freshmen or sophomores.”
“So they’re tricking and blackmailing underage girls into sleeping with them. Some as young as fourteen or fifteen.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“We need to go to the cops, Laney. Right fucking now,” he said, jumping to his feet. “You have to tell them what you saw tonight.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I have no proof, so it would be my word against theirs,” I said. “The girls would probably all claim their society is just a school club where they discuss women’s issues, and they’d paint me as some crazy bitch who’s trying to smear them because they rejected me, or something like that.”
<
br /> Hunter’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t have anything you could take to the cops at all?”
“No. And even if we go in and try to get them to look into it without any evidence, it won’t go anywhere. Camila told me that some of the most powerful men in the state are in the Network. They’d step in and shut down any investigations into them right away, because they probably have the power to do that, and without any real evidence, the police wouldn’t have much choice but to go along with it.”
Hunter frowned and scratched at the back of his neck. “That might be true,” he said. “But I’m not gonna stand around and let them keep going with this shit. Especially when they hurt you so badly.”
“They didn’t do anything physical to me, apart from the drink spiking,” I replied. “I’m more worried about the girls. They put on a brave front, but deep down, they must feel totally powerless.”
“The society might not have physically hurt you, but they still released that fucking video of you,” he said, jaw clenching. “And now that you’ve seen what they get up to and rejected them, I bet they’re gonna keep coming after you. They’ll want to make sure you keep your mouth shut about them.”
I swallowed thickly. “Well, what can I really do to stop them? I’m a nobody compared to them. I don’t have money and resources.”
“But you have me. We can try to scrape together some real evidence,” he said, taking my hands and squeezing them in his. “If we get enough, it won’t matter if these pricks try to get the police investigations shut down. We can just post it all online, make it go viral, and let everyone decide for themselves. If there’s enough uproar, the cops won’t be able to ignore it. Not without revealing their obvious corruption and getting themselves fired.”
My brows dipped in a frown. “Where would we even start?”
“I think we need to try to figure out who the Network guys are. I’m just not sure how yet.”
“Well, they obviously have their tentacles all over RFA, so they’re probably alumni, right?” I said, twisting my lips. “Or they at least have some sort of link to the campus.”
“Probably. So I guess we could start by looking at the school. But we can’t just go and ask Sanders. He probably knows all about it and lets it happen. That would explain why he’s always made sure the Medusa girls are protected.”
“Yeah, the whole administration is probably corrupt,” I muttered. My breath suddenly hitched, and I sat bolt upright. “Oh! I have an idea.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “I know exactly who we need to talk to.”
8
Laney
I knocked on the door in front of me. It was already open a crack, but I didn’t want to be rude and waltz right in. “Ms. Flores?”
She looked up from her desk. “Yes?”
I pushed the door open and smiled. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure,” she said, motioning toward the chair across from her desk. “Come in.”
I put my bag down and took a seat, pulse pounding with excitement. I’d been waiting almost three days for this. Ms. Flores wasn’t at RFA on the weekends—apparently she commuted home to Concord on Friday evenings—so I hadn’t been able to chat to her and try to glean any information from her about the school and its history until now.
She leaned forward. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about the school.”
“Oh. Sure.” Her head tipped to one side. “Hang on, aren’t all the seniors meant to be in study hall during last period on Mondays?”
My cheeks flushed with warmth. “I’m supposed to be there, yes, but I think this counts as study. I’m working on a sort of… project.”
“And it’s about the school?” she replied, lifting her brows.
“Yes. I only wanted to talk to you about it, because I want to keep it on the down-low, and I’m pretty sure you’re the only trustworthy teacher or staff member at this school.”
“I would say I’m flattered, but being the most trustworthy person in a den of snakes isn’t exactly the greatest compliment,” she said with a wry smile. “But don’t worry, I’m catching your drift. I won’t tell any of the other staff members about your project.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“So you said it’s about the school. Which specific aspects of it are you interested in?”
“Its history, I suppose,” I said. “More specifically, its historical relation to secret societies.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Is this because of the Medusa Society?” she asked. “I remember you saying you were going to join them.”
I hesitated. “Sort of, but not really. I’m more interested in the secret society that supposedly existed here when the campus was a university. The one all those urban legends are about.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Have you heard any of those legends?”
She nodded. “Yes. Everyone has,” she said. “I think the most common one is the story about the girl found at one of the abandoned buildings back in the nineties, and how she was murdered by a cabal of evil men. Have you heard that one before?”
“Yeah.” I nodded slowly. “Some people think she might’ve been an early Medusa Society member.”
“Yes. I thought this wasn’t about the Medusas, though?”
I straightened my shoulders. “It’s not. Sorry, I’m getting a bit off-track,” I said. “Anyway, I was wondering if you know much about what this place was like when it was still a university, or if there’s somewhere you could point me to that might hold some information about it. I’ve tried Googling it, and there’s nothing but a small Wikipedia entry saying that RFU was a university here in Royal Falls which closed down and was converted into RFA at the end of 1988. There’s no alumni website or discussion forum, or anything like that.”
“I suppose that makes sense, seeing as it closed down so long ago,” Ms. Flores mused, scratching her chin.
“Yes, but it’s annoying, because there’s so much I want to know.”
“Well, I wasn’t a student at RFU. I was only born a few years before it closed,” she said. “But I know some of the staff here attended it back in the day.”
I perked up. “Really?”
“Yes. Headmaster Sanders, for example. He got his teaching degree from RFU before heading off to Harvard for grad school.”
“So if there was a secret society for men that started at RFU when it was still open, he might know about it.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I guess it’s too bad I can’t ask him about it,” I said, shoulders slumping. I didn’t trust Sanders enough to approach him with anything related to this subject, especially if there was a chance he was taking money from the Network to allow them to exploit the girls of the Medusa Society.
“So is that the crux of your interest in RFU?” Ms. Flores asked. “Whether or not the stories about the secret society have any basis in reality?”
“Yes.” I lowered my voice. “I can’t say too much about this, but I have a theory that it was real, and I think they’re still operating in Royal Falls. I think some of their activity goes on right here at this school, too.”
“Can’t say it would surprise me if that were true,” Ms. Flores said, rolling her eyes slightly upward. “I don’t think anything could surprise me about this place anymore. But I’m not sure how much I can help you. Like I said before, I don’t really know much about RFU.”
“I wasn’t sure if you would,” I replied. “But I figured you’d still know more than me, so you might be able to give me suggestions on how to find out more.”
She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, elbows planted on the desk. “Hm. I suppose you could try asking someone who attended the university while it was still open. They might remember hearing whispers about a secret society being formed here back then. They might’ve even been a member,” she said. “But… if they were, you’re unlikely to get answers that way. There
’s a reason they’re called secret societies.” She waved a hand. “So go ahead and scrap that suggestion. Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud.”
“It’s okay.”
Her face brightened. “Ooh. I might have an idea for you.”
“What is it?”
“Bear with me for this explanation. It’ll take a minute,” she said with a faint smile. “When I was in college, I studied sociology as a minor, and I did a class on secret societies and their representations in popular culture, mostly because it sounded like fun. Anyway, I remember one of the professors saying that some secret societies like to send signals to others who are in the know. Like a private joke.”
“What sort of signals?”
Her nose wrinkled. “From what I remember, it could be anything, really. Something that they all recognize immediately, but non-members would just skim right over. Like a code word they all use, which has some sort of other meaning to them than the usual meaning. Or a certain thing they all wear. Like a signet ring, perhaps. Or a tattoo.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, my idea is: you could go and look at all of the old RFU yearbooks. If there was a secret society at the place, some of the members may have hidden some references in plain sight, right there in the books. Those references might give you some idea of where to look for more information, or just hints about members in general.”
My eyes widened. “There are yearbooks?”
“Yes.”
“In the library with the past RFA yearbooks, I assume?”
Ms. Flores shook her head. “No. The school wanted to keep them—because they’re a part of history, I suppose—but because they weren’t actually academy-related, they didn’t want them in the RFA library. So they’re kept in an archive next to the deputy headmaster’s office.”
“Oh, right.”
“Do you think that could help your research?” she asked.
I nodded fervently. “Definitely. It’s a really good idea,” I said. “Thanks!”
Shattered Kingdom: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 2) Page 8
