Chapter 25: February 14

Daniela scoffed and stepped back, but her shock had turned into delighted surprise.

"Well, this is just perfect…"

Lito moved out of the closet quickly, nearly tripping on a mop. He righted himself, and was looking up and down the hall within seconds, Hernando close behind him.

"'Perfect?' What do you mean? Daniela, listen to me, you can't tell anyone, okay? Nunca."

Daniela paced back and forth while muttering in Spanish. "What do they call it, your beard? I can do that, and no one has to find out."

Hernando watched her from afar, unsure as to whether she was trustworthy or not. "What do you want in exchange?" he asked, and the pacing stopped. She came closer to him, and placed her hand on both his and Lito's shoulders.

"I think we can all agree," she started, her voice almost a purr, "that sometimes three is company…"

/

The pulsing beat of music created a throbbing sensation in Kala's head, and she sat down on the bleachers to rest.

Nearby, Riley was shouting at Will.

"I can't believe you let her go up there!" She went to sit next to Kala, and Will followed her, exasperated. "You know that Lito doesn't want anyone to find out!"

"I didn't just 'let her go up there!' She's stubborn, there's no way she wasn't going to go find Lito anyways!"

"Well, we need to go and make sure everything's sorted out. Daniela gossips about these sorts of things. Loudly." Riley stood up once more and tapped Capheus on the arm, motioning for him and Will to follow her out of the gym.

As they left, Sun sat down on the bleachers, and looked at the sea of people. The fluorescent gym lights had been turned off as soon as the music had started, and they could only see with the help of glow sticks, lava lamps, and all the other decorations in the dance area.

"Do you miss him?" Sun asked, and Kala almost jumped at the question. She moved closer so that Sun would hear her over the crowd.

"I don't know. I think I must. Wouldn't you know, anyways?"

Sun smirked but shook her head. "I'm not sure what I should know. I can't control the feelings and emotions I get from all of you. It just happens, like flowing water."

"And what happens when you build a dam?" Kala wondered aloud, aware of a sudden buzzing from her phone.

Sun seemed to think about this for a moment. "I suppose you do what he did. Cut off the flow. The emotions…"

Kala squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the bright screen, and read the text message Riley had just sent her.

Found them. Daniela knows, though. It was quite awkward.

Another text popped up, this time from Nomi.

How's the dance? As bad as Am' and I thought?

Kala shut the phone off and stuffed it in her purse, looking around again. On the opposite side of the gym, high up on the bleachers, was a figure. It was sitting, and she had an inkling of a feeling that it was somehow watching her.

"I'll be right back," she murmured in Sun's general direction, and made her way through the crowd, trying to avoid the mosh pit that had formed near the DJ's stage. She finally broke through the large body of students, and held on to the metal rails. The figure noticed that she was getting nearer, and it slowly backed away to an exit at the top of the bleachers, which lead to the offices on the second floor.

Kala jogged up the last remaining benches, and pressed through the door, wondering why it was open this late. She turned into a narrow hallway, and then entered an office with large windows giving view to the party below.

The door closed behind her and she stifled a scream with her hand. Slowly turning, someone grabbed her arm, and held it so that she wouldn't strike out with her fist. Looking up slowly, Kala saw Rajan's face in the dim reflection of the lights.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," he replied, and he dropped her arm to her side.

"It's f-fine," she muttered, and massaged her wrist. "I wasn't sure you were really back from Iceland. I haven't actually seen you since you left."

Rajan nodded, but Kala felt as if something was off about him. As if he wasn't the same person he'd been before winter break, and this was due largely in part to his acting in a strangely surreptitious way.

"I wanted to ask you something before the year was over," he said.

Kala laughed, but it was only to ease the tension in the room as he stepped closer to her.

"Kala Dandekar, will you marry me?"

Kala's eyes widened, and she felt her mouth open in shock. She tried to formulate words, yet it was very difficult to do so.

"I- Rajan, I'm eighteen. This is not how one normally proposes…"

"We're not in India anymore, Kala. We're leaving school in a few months. We can move to Iceland, and I can have a job there after I graduate from a university-."

Kala felt herself grow hot, and she frowned. How could he ignore how hard she'd worked for her education? Did he just expect her to leave her family and country?

"I've already told you. I'm not marrying you." She tried to move around him, but he stepped in front of the door. She refused to look up at him, and focused her gaze instead on a bookshelf in the corner of the room. "Rajan. Please let me leave."

He thought about this for a moment, and finally moved away from the door. Kala walked out into the hall in a hurry, but felt him grab her arm again.

Anger seemed to boil up at the back of her mind, but this time she realized it wasn't hers. She heard steps coming down the hall, and didn't notice that Wolfgang was there until he'd stepped in between her and Rajan.

"Let her go," he seethed, and held Kala behind him as Rajan did so.

Rajan shook his head, looking from one sensate to the next. He strode out of the hallway and back to the bleachers, slamming the door shut. Kala let go of Wolfgang's hand, and moved away until her back touched a wall. She slowly sat down.

"I've never seen him so angry," she said, and gripped her purse tightly.

Wolfgang stood at the opposite wall, but she avoided his gaze as she had for the past month. He said nothing, and seemed fine with the gap in conversation.

"Why were you here?" Kala asked after a few minutes, finally daring to look at him. His expression wasn't cold and emotionless as it had been the last time they'd spoken. Instead it was blazingly furious, and he clenched and unclenched his hands several times. She wasn't sure which Wolfgang she liked more, at the moment.

"He shouldn't have done that. If he'd done anything I… I wouldn't. No, he wouldn't have done anything." He seemed to be fighting certain thoughts in his mind, and the wall was there once more.

"But why were you following me?" Kala persisted, and felt herself clawing at the wall, wishing she could tear it down.

Wolfgang sighed and gave up as he walked over to her side of the hallway and sat next to her. He shrugged and looked at his watch, seemingly lost in a different time.

"Do you remember that night?" he started, and Kala was surprised by how soft his voice was. "The night when the rain was terrible, and there was a thunderstorm. I told you that I was selfish."

So it wasn't a dream, Kala thought to herself.

"It's because of you," he whispered and looked over at her. "You make me selfish because I want you. You don't know the things I've done, Kala."

Kala shook her head and slowly held his hand. He didn't move away, and she strengthened her grip. "Wolfgang, I don't know what happened to you. I'm not sure you'll ever tell me, but I know that you're not evil. You're not a monster."

Wolfgang chuckled, but it was a dry and humorless sound. "Please stop, Kala. Just stop. Stop trying to act as if I am good. I'm not."

Kala frowned and turned sharply towards him, so much so that he almost seemed broken from his trance-like state. "You are good. You saved Lito when he was in trouble. You stood up to Camille. You helped us find Taika, and you stopped Rajan. I still wonder why you act as if you don't care about any of us."

Wolfgang turned towards her, and she saw him sad for the first time.

"I don't know. I used to think maybe I could protect you from myself. But I hate staying away from you. It hurts, Kala. It hurts like… like someone beating me." He trailed off again, and his gaze seemed to wander over her face, until it rested on her lips.

"You hurt me too, you know. In your own way," Kala whispered.

Wolfgang said nothing. He knew he'd hurt her. He knew that better than anyone, since he felt her pain everyday, even when he blocked the others from his mind.

Kala leaned forward and kissed him softly. It was a sad and bittersweet kiss, and Wolfgang ignored all impulses to stop, to pretend that he didn't care anymore.

Kala's phone buzzed once again and she felt Wolfgang sigh. Turning to open her purse, she read the message and held her breath in surprise.

"What?" Wolfgang asked, and he looked over her shoulder as he sensed her urgency.

Kala stood quickly and she felt the blood rush to her legs from sitting for so long. "We need to go."

/

Nomi heard an urgent knock on the door, and she went into the entrance hall to open it. Kala and Wolfgang entered, throwing their coats on a nearby chair.

"What happened?" Kala asked, jogging alongside Nomi to the living room.

"I don't know, it was on the news, something happened, but it's on the news now and-." Nomi seemed flustered, and she latched on to both Kala and Wolfgang arm. "Didn't you feel it? I knew I'd felt it, I just didn't really know last year, why…"

The trio finally made it to the living room, where a large crowd of students-some in formal attire and others in pajamas- was surrounding the flat screen T.V. on the wall. A Prefect nearby turned the volume up, and the voices shushed as news was repeated. It was in Icelandic, but there were live subtitles in English, most of which were hard to read.

"What is it, what are they saying?" Amanita asked aloud. Riley stepped out from behind her and started translating slowly.

"…Was found earlier today by a jogger near Reykjavik, Iceland. The body seemed to have suffered many lacerations before decomposition, although it has been confirmed that the initial cause of death was most likely cardiac arrest. Reports say that the remains of the woman suggest she died late last year, possibly in October. Icelandic police are currently investigating." Riley stopped, and everyone was silent. Myra, who had somehow appeared next to Kala during the news, was the first to speak.

"That's her, isn't it? That's Alvira. Why… how is it that..." She seemed to choke on the words, and held her hand up to her mouth.

Will shook his head. "It can't be her. We don't know that it's actually her."

"Oh shut up, Will, shut up! Something sick is going on here, I can feel it! It's sick, I feel sick, oh my God," Myra began wheezing, and held on to Kala for support.

Everyone in the House was shouting and screaming now, and the Prefects were hopelessly trying to calm the younger students down.

Kala heard none of this, only Myra's incessant, nervous chattering.

"She's dead. Oh my God. She's gone. They're here. They're going to kill you. They're going to kill all of you. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead."

A/N: I feel like I haven't posted in forever, but it's only been eight days. I told you guys, "hearts and flowers, hearts and flowers!" That was kind of a bad joke, but there's the last chapter of the Valentine's Day Special. Next chapter coming on the 11th. If you have any questions about the story/plot at this point, PM me! I hope all of you have an awesome week!

~C.o.D.