by Dylan Steel
“I’m not sure if you’ve been told this before, but Mrs. Bennick has an alibi for the time of your abduction. And given her position…” she trailed off, a faraway look in her eyes.
“I get it,” Sage mumbled bitterly. “You need real proof. And my word’s not enough.”
Ms. Verdan’s mouth twitched. “No, Sage. It’s not.”
“Then take me back there.” Anger flashed behind her eyes. “I can show you—I can show you the room I stayed in, how I tried to get out, the—”
“—The Peace can’t even examine her property for clues without further evidence that backs up your story. And they certainly can’t allow you to go traipsing through what you believe is your former kidnapper’s home,” Ms. Verdan said slowly and, for the first time, almost kindly. “And without you being able to narrow down the specific location you were held…” She shook her head. “Right now, the only thing you have going for you is the consistency of your story. And as I’ve said before, that only takes you so far.”
“But I—”
An unexpected knocking on the door interrupted them.
“It seems clear to me that we’re not going to make much more progress today.” Ms. Verdan looked at the door in annoyance. “You’ll be escorted back to your room shortly. In the meantime, please wait here while I take care of whatever this is about.” She stood and swiftly made her way to the edge of the room. “And don’t touch anything,” she added just before closing the door.
Sage made a face at the door and then slumped dramatically in her chair. “Don’t touch anything,” she mimicked mockingly under her breath, then cringed. In her irritation, she’d forgotten that she was probably still being monitored. Oh, well. With everything she’d been through, they probably wouldn’t hold it against her.
Shifting in her seat, she stole a peek at Ms. Verdan’s databook. It was just sitting there on the desk in plain sight. She wondered if her interview results were open—if she could figure out if the woman actually believed everything she’d been saying.
Leaning forward a bit more, she craned her neck until she could get a better view of the screen. It was blank. She sighed in annoyance. Ms. Verdan must have turned it off before she left. And it was probably palm print activated.
The door flew open, and Sage nearly fell out of her seat in surprise. Ms. Verdan’s heels clicked through the room as she walked over to her desk and retrieved her databook, turning to leave again without so much as a cursory glance in Sage’s direction.
Sage furrowed her brow as she watched her walk by. The door slammed closed behind her.
Perplexed by her strange behavior, Sage continued staring at the door for a moment longer before the sound of muffled voices carried over to her seat. Curiosity piqued, she stood up and crept over to the door, pressing her ear to its smooth surface, straining to hear.
After listening for a few moments, she could make out the voices of Ms. Verdan and the headmaster, as well as another man. She couldn’t identify the man’s voice, but it sounded somehow familiar.
They were talking about her. She tried to quiet her breathing so she could hear them better.
The headmaster’s blustery voice rang out clearly. “But if she’s lying—”
“She’s not lying. But that’s not to say there aren’t still warning signs. In my professional opinion, she’s holding something back,” Ms. Verdan interrupted, a hint of impatience permeating her tone.
“That could mean anything. Being kidnapped has to be a traumatic experience. It’s a wonder she’s functional at all.” Sage wrinkled her brow as she mentally sorted through the people who had a reason to be involved in her unusual situation. She was frustrated she couldn’t seem to figure out who this man was or why he was defending her—though his defense was a bit insulting.
“That’s true. In fact, that’s the main reason I haven’t been able to draw a final conclusion. This is a highly unusual case. I haven’t seen anything like this in years. Not since…”
Sage frowned as Ms. Verdan’s voice grew softer. She pressed her ear against the door harder, hoping to hear the rest. Had something like this happened before? Had another student been kidnapped?
“… and anyhow, annoying as it is, I don’t think we can expect the girl to share the entirety of her experiences with us,” Ms. Verdan’s voice had grown louder again. “Her trust in Eprah has to be shaken. After all, we allowed this to happen to her. She was taken right from under our noses on a sanctioned Institution excursion.”
“Now, see here, Ms. Verdan. I don’t exactly appreciate your insinuation that my faculty had any—”
“Really, now, Headmaster. It’s a reasonable assertion,” the anonymous voice agreed. “And we know it wasn’t the Institution’s fault, but we can’t expect a student of her age to have the same logical reasoning that we’ve acquired as adults.”
“Exactly,” Ms. Verdan agreed.
Sage’s nostrils flared. While she appreciated the fact that someone was standing up for her, she couldn’t help but think that there had to be a less demeaning way of going about it.
“Keeping a few secrets of her time there could be the only thing keeping her stable—functional. Surely, we can allow her a few unimportant details to call her own.” The unidentified voice spoke again, coming to her defense once more. “After all, you said yourself that it’s clear she wants to enact justice against her captors.”
“I did. And as I mentioned before, I believe her faith in Eprah is at risk right now. This is a critical time in correcting that deviation—”
“—I already said—”
“—through no fault of your own, of course, Headmaster.”
The other man spoke again. “Do you have a recommendation then, Ms. Verdan?”
“In fact, I do. But I don’t think either of you will be entirely happy with it.”
“Well?”
“I recommend full reintegration with a special emphasis on ongoing therapies. While I haven’t been able to confirm her loyalty, I haven’t been able to entirely rule it out either. Not with confidence.”
“I see.”
“It is my belief that, in time, reintegration would establish a degree of normalcy that would allow the truth to better come to light.” Ms. Verdan paused before continuing more quietly, almost as if she were speaking to herself. “Yes, reintegration, therapy, and periodic interviews with myself. That would enable us to best monitor her progress without the unfortunate bias of extreme adolescent trauma.”
“Diminished bias, at the very least.” The other man’s voice held an edge of caution. “It seems like a dangerous assumption, thinking she could completely compartmentalize the trauma, even given sufficient time.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps your own relationship with the girl has clouded your judgment about this situation. Why else would Mr. Gaztok have sent you in his place over this matter?” the headmaster said scornfully.
“Not that he needs to explain himself to either me or you, but he has other priorities to attend to at the moment. And I’d hardly call it a relationship,” the man said icily. “Unless you similarly consider yourself overly attached to any students at the Institution with whom you’ve dealt punishments. In which case, you and I have quite a similar relationship with the girl.”
Sage pushed herself away from the door, stumbling backward. Her eyes grew wide with understanding. In that moment, she realized two things. First, and much to her relief, she was going to be given the chance to rejoin her level. And second, her defender was none other than Kai Abeldra.
***
End of preview.
Continue reading The Outcast: Sacrisvita Book VII.
READ MORE BY DYLAN STEEL
Sacrisvita
THE PRODIGY: A Sacrisvita Prequel
(FREE and only available HERE.)
THE INSTITUTION: Sacrisvita Book I
THE ARCHIVES: Sacrisvita Book II
THE RELIC: Sacrisvita Book III
THE ESTATE: Sacrisvita Book
IV
THE VANISHED: Sacrisvita Book V
THE CAPTIVE: Sacrisvita Book VI
THE OUTCAST: Sacrisvita Book VII
THE TRIALS: Sacrisvita Book VIII
THE ROGUE: Sacrisvita Book IX
THE CITIZEN: Sacrisvita Book X
THE SURVIVOR: Sacrisvita Book XI
***
Third Earth
SLEEPER: A Third Earth Prequel
(FREE and only available HERE.)
ALONE: Third Earth Volume One
***
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