Chapter 15

"What do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Miss Cavendish?"

Diana flashed her best dashing smile. One typically reserved for adults, showcasing her sweet good old nature. "Hello Madam, I came to see the clinical documentation of some students."

"Oh dear," the matron of the academy's infirmary caressed her cheek. "Are there students giving you lots of troubles? You shouldn't do this yourself, Miss Cavendish."

"I actually find it less troubling if I do their forgotten jobs rather than scold them of printing a copy of their clinical records before they apply for a new club to me."

"Oh my, what a tedious task, if you do everything for them, certainly they will abuse your power."

"This is just one time, good madam. I won't do it again."

"Oh good!" the matron immediately sat on her desk to type the student's name in the computer. "Whose record do you need a copy of?"

Diana's smile perked up, "Sucy Manbavaran and Atsuko Kagari."

It took Diana a long while just to get those files because the matron was concerned with her entire wellbeing. If she has enough nutrients, sleep, and fun outside of school work and responsibilities.

The matron had studied her distrustfully when she said she was resting and eating well in between mental and physical exercises. So when she was satisfied that Diana was actually just extremely tired, and not sick, she finally let Diana read the files in peace after handing the Student Council President a dose of vitamins throughout their exchange.

After fleeing the matron's trusting gaze, Diana headed for the exit, pacing along the path towards the Student Council room. Her entire body was on edge despite being in a relatively safe environment.

Diana had no idea where this shiver and fear came from. She had established Frank's death was her fault, but ever since she had lunch with the two misfits once more, she felt she was walking on a sword's pointy edge.

Especially after she saw Sucy's face after she saved Avery from that spider. Before the spider came into view, Diana thought for sure that Sucy was going to hurt her. Sucy Manbavaran was a force to be reckoned with; even her seemingly innocent movements caused Diana's heart to be ripped from her ribcage.

Nothing escaped Diana's power of observation, she was certain Avery had no arachnid hanging around her head. Yet, Sucy went for it. Did the spider escape Diana's sight? It was unlikely that Sucy had a spider on her all along.

Unless it was a specialty the Filipino girl could do until it shed light on Diana's list of possibilities.

Diana couldn't remove the thought of it being a ruse out of her mind. She has to make certain that Avery will be safe in the next few days.

"I can't believe you have to undergo through that intricate lie just to have a peek at Manbavaran's clinical documentation," Andrew said, as she entered the room. The other members were out on errands and he was alone with Avery who helped him separate approved and disapproved papers. "I also can't believe you looked into Miss Kagari's as well."

"One lesson I learned in life," Diana started. "If you act really self-assured and confident you can get away with anything. Also, the system's hacking method changed and it's a hassle to try to decode everything when I can just waltz in confidently to retrieve her health information myself. I asked for Akko's so as not to arouse suspicion from the matron." She began articulating her thoughts. "Sucy Manbavaran is adopted by an English Doctor and therefore is under the Data Protection Act, but I must say the act itself is bloody useless. The code of practice isn't even properly reinforced and I am able to breach it just like that."

"You managed to learn even the classified information?" Andrew regarded her. She possessed no papers or electronics. "Don't tell me you read her papers and commit it to memory just like that."

Diana paid him no mind, waltzing around, relaying what she had read. "In definition, a murderer gets labeled a serial killer after his third victim. Sucy Manbavaran is mistreated in the orphanage, even in her foster home, and she didn't have any father figure in life. For a psychopath killer, the genetic load is enormous. 80% or more and there are no shared environmental factors while normal killers are a combination of bad genes and bad environment. Amongst serial killers, we often observe a combination of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, but in Sucy's case, the combination isn't there. It's mostly psychological."

"A piece of advice..." he paused, "Never equate trauma with motive. So, she doesn't possess the likelihood of a serial killer like you thought she was?"

"Not all serial killers have that motive and profile," Diana interjected. "And besides, these are all idle speculations. I have a lot of free time if you haven't noticed."

"Oh I have, trust me." Andrew crossed his legs. "We're just entertaining your sudden fascination on psychology. Like that one time when you said that it was a performer who made that strung of murders on the news when we were like six."

"The reason why they still haven't caught the killer is that they never look at other possibilities. I wager my lunch that the killer 10 years ago is a performer."

"Isn't your Chariot a performer?" he asked. "So based on that logic, it means Chariot resurfaced after all those years and started killing again."

Diana crossed her arms. "And you're the one telling me I make assumptions without proof."

"Why?" he queried. "Is there a special instruction for guessing?"

"There's a difference between a guess and a hypothetical guess!"

"Okay chill for a second." Andrew raised his hands in defeat. "So why do you reckon the killer a decade ago was a performer?"

"Actors, Andrew." She laughed. "Performers cannot fool me. They're deceitful, ambitious and ruthless."

"Didn't you used to perform for a year?"

"My point exactly," Diana said, placing a hand on her hip. "You need somebody to understand their language and I speak fluent thespian."

"Not lesbian?" he wiggled his brows.

"Oh shut it."

"Diana Cavendish's a lesbian?" Avery gasped, putting a hand on her chest in mock surprise. "What a good day for girls who fancy you."

"There are girls who fancy me?"

Andrew and Avery both burst out laughing, one of them even chortled. "I reckon Chloe does."

"She does? Oh! She does! How delightful! She's straight with a homosexual tendency."

A blushed formed in her features as she tried to contain her embarrassment. "Avery, I will double your paycheck if you would keep your mouth shut and not entertain him."

"You can't sway me like that, Diana." She waved a finger sideways.

Andrew still hasn't finished laughing. He hadn't had a good one such as this for a long time so Diana let him be.

When he was done, Andrew wiped away his tears and decided they must return to the previous topic. "What else does Miss Manbavaran's record say?"

Diana coughed, clearing her throat. "A whole catalog of antisocial behaviors: she's been flippant, conniving, and uncouth. At the age of seven, her teachers and nuns describe her as lazy, arrogant, and demanding. A bully with using mushrooms and other chemicals, and from there, things just continue downhill. At age 12 she tried to strangle one of her adoptive sisters, and she was fascinated with uncanny types of pet and killing them afterward."

"Ahh..." Andrew said. "Remind me how she managed to enroll at this prestigious academy?"

"It was due to her foster mother's influence," Diana said. "So the reason why we dismiss her antisocial qualities for simply asocial is that she's been taught to behave in a certain acceptable way."

"But you can't just make people stop being antisocial—not unless she went under a brain rewire."

"The paper stated she underwent rehab for five years."

"Oh," Andrew crossed his legs and formed his hands into a steeple. "But was that enough? I have an eerie feeling she was not diagnosed and treated properly. It seems to me as well that Miss Kagari is like her support dog."

Diana chuckled. "Oh yes, nervous cheetahs being given emotional support in the form of dogs. But the question remains, how come her foster mother adopted her when she has those psychopathic tendencies? Avery, how's your sleuthing coming along?"

"I found some dirt on Dr. Ophelia Adams." Avery slammed two photographs on the table.

One photo was of an old woman with long tangled hair, there was a scar on her left eye indicating it was sliced by a knife. The other was still of an old woman, yet her hair was slicked back, no scars on her eyes, her nose was a little turned up, and her face was overall generally improved than the other.

"She is a widow who used her husband's resources to change her appearance and her name. Before who she is now, she was known to be Ramzan and maltreated all the children who were unwanted in the orphanage during her care in the Philippines. She's blind on the left and replaced it with a glass eye for appearance's sake. She used starvation and brutality as punishments to misbehaving children. Sucy Manbavaran is the first foster child ever since her name-change."

"Do you think she is maltreated as well?" Diana asked.

Avery blew a raspberry. "Why don't you go ask her?"

"Ah, still a mystery, I see."

"So you found a psychological backup," Avery shrugged. "But you haven't found any proof that she is a serial killer."

"Baby steps, my dears. We're getting there." Diana said in a sweet song, "How about Miss Kagari?"

"Well, Atsuko Kagari is a happy go lucky girl. She's aspiring to be a Magician like that one loony Chariot you keep talking about. She's carefree; she loves everybody and trusts everybody, and thinks everybody meant good."

"Explains why she was bullied in the first place," Andrew said.

"She actually put up a fight against them, you know, but they were a lot stronger than her and used emotional manipulation so she became this pitiful girl that followed their every whim. On the outside, she looks like a young lady of average upbringing, but inside, she hides a darker side of her personality."

"Don't we all?"

"Shut it, Andrew. Atsuko Kagari isn't averse to hanging out with the bad crowd. And her friends are the worst crowd in all of Blytonbury."

"Alright, I'm guessing we are done with your dialogue. Let me just say," Andrew threw his hands up in the air. "Sucy Manbavaran is crazy! I agree she's part of the worst crowd!"

"Something happened while I'm gone?" Avery glanced at both of them.

Diana turned away with an uninterested look at her face. "You deserved it."

"Very well," Andrew crossed his legs with a sinister smirk on his mouth. "You have fun with Miss Kagari tomorrow."

Avery choked on air. "Diana? You have a date?"

"Why does everyone keep calling it that? I am allowed to have other friends."

"Diana!" Avery shook her head. "If you really like this girl than what you let on, you should reel them in with your great personality. You didn't have to have me ask around about your crush for you!"

"With looks like that?" Andrew pointed a hand from her head to toe, chuckling. "All she needs is to give them a smile and they will swoon."

"No," Avery said. "Diana should be herself... only fun and less tightly-wound."

Akko was beautiful—so incredibly beautiful.

The observation was so powerful and immediate that Sucy can still remember the feeling of surprise when she felt when it hit her. And it seemed long ago, yet the memories are vivid and clear. Sucy was walking on a cobbled bridge, looking for the bus stop towards Luna Nova School.

A few hundred feet away, descending some steps in her usual blind and clumsy way, someone jostled and knocked her over. Sucy turned her head to make sure she didn't miss her footing and fall on her face like the idiot who bumped her.

And there she was—Akko. The contents of her bag spread across the floor of the bridge.
Of course, Akko must have been there before Sucy chose to look upon her; no doubt for the first 15 years beforehand she had been living her life, despite the fact that Sucy had had no idea of her existence. But at that moment, Akko was born in Sucy's eyes.

Their meeting was destiny interweaving the threads together.

Sucy rolled her eyes at the girl who can't seem to shut up. She went on and on about the famous Magician Shiny Chariot and all of her life's dreams to become exactly like her. Sucy tried to get rid of her, but all those attempts were in vain.

They arrived at school together and since then had become inseparable. Sucy even considered her world was ending when she comprehended that the Japanese girl lived in the same flat building as her. And everyone around them would call them Akko and Sucy or Sucy and Akko. One name is supposed to come with the other.

Her train of memories departed as soon as she and Akko arrived at their flat building.

"Sucy," Akko said. "I'm sorry I failed you earlier. I don't know why maybe I lost my touch."

Sucy refused to have her flashbacks be ruined with the thought of Diana Cavendish so she gave Akko the sincerest forgiving look. "Hey, it's okay. Maybe her senses heightened. She's a dubious little cat after all."

"I'll try again this Saturday, okay?"

"Don't try. Do it."

Akko briskly nodded as they approached her flat. "Well, here it is." She said, beaming at her. "I had a lot of fun living with you for a few days. We should have another sleepover next time."

"As long as you don't spill some blood on my futon," Sucy acted indifferently but deep inside she couldn't wait.

"Hey! That was once!" Akko screamed, blushing at having her period last night. "I told you I will wash your sheets tonight."

"No, let me do it. You might bleach my colored ones."

"Hey! I can at least do decent laundry!"

"No need, you should practice more on your sleight of the hand tricks. Also, I'll get your stuff and deliver it to you tonight."

"Eh, you don't have to. We're having another sleepover next time, aren't we?"

"I guess."

"Then I'll just leave it there!" Akko bumped her hips at Sucy who yelped at Akko's suddenness.

"Okay, bye."

Despite the constant troubles Akko endlessly gave her, still, life continued on. Regardless of whether one has fallen in love at first sight or fallen in love gradually over time. It's pretty cruel like that. With another affectionate nudge from Akko, Sucy somehow forced her feet to move onwards, past the object of her devotion, and towards a place she less desired—her flat room.

Sucy had long known that love-stricken people never forget the moment they fell in love with someone. No matter if they never see that person again, or how many times they have loved others. The mere realization that it's possible, the frightening strength and unexpected occurrence of the surge of emotion are enough to give such a jolt to their body and their mind that they never forget. Not really.

She was relieved Akko wasn't residing with her any longer so she can continue her killings. The only downside to it was losing Akko's heat that embraced her in their shared space.

Sucy found herself a quiet corner to stand by, wallowing in self-pity. When there was no sign of Akko around, Sucy turned in to the wall and pressed her forehead against it, feeling the loose particles of dust dig hard against her skin, maybe breaking the surface. The pain at her leaving had terrified Sucy.

She was trembling with fear because she was so sure that she was truly losing her mind. That had to be it. This girl had driven her crazy. No sane person could feel this way. Sucy had spoken to Akko for hours and hours and merely lived with her for a couple of days and when Akko had walked away to return to her flat, Sucy had wanted to die.

She had long gone mad.

"Sucy."

She gritted her teeth. Even with the countless of times, Sucy reminded Loa not to talk to her in public in case of another distraction, the doll persisted. Loa had to wait until they are within the safe confinement of their flat. It didn't take much resolve to continue ignoring the doll as she grabbed and keys once she has gotten close to her room.

"I don't want to cause you alarm, but... you're being followed."

Sucy froze. The key was merely an inch away from the keyhole. "What?"

"Excuse me, Sucy. May I have a word with you?" Professor Ursula stepped behind her, her face grim and stern.

Sucy fidgeted, and then the professor placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing a little. "Oh sure, what is it, Professor? Does Akko need her stuff back immediately?"

"Sucy... help..."

Not now, Sucy grimaced. It was becoming infuriating that Loa was pulling a boy who cried wolf again.

"It must have been hard," Professor Ursula said, removing her glasses to reveal her fiery red eyes. "Doing what you do in your own room, hiding your demons from Akko."

"Huh?"

"I have an assumption of your certain proclivities. It involves witchcraft and voodoo."

Unaware if Professor Ursula had seen through the facade, or was completely joking, Sucy stared at her blankly. "Isn't that a little chauvinistic coming from you?" she asked, reaching for Loa inside her pocket. A breeze of terror rushing down over her upon comprehending the doll wasn't where she should have been.

"Oh Sucy," Professor Ursula stretched her arm; she was already holding the voodoo doll that she might have snatched from her. "Do you really think you can fool me, a renowned deception specialist?"

"Loa?" Sucy saw that her doll was wrapped with a holy rosary. Her hairs on her skin stood up, and her eyes widening. It was too late for her to grasp Loa had been trying to warn her of a possible confrontation.

Professor Ursula fished for a necklace that she hid inside the collar of her shirt and revealed a triangular golden pendant with an enchanted stone in the middle.

"Agimat?" Sucy whispered. Shocked at how the French woman obtained a Filipino amulet to ward off evil and magic. Her breath caught in surprise as Professor Ursula took a step into her personal space, "H-how?"

The Professor fixed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "My objective was to merely have a chat with you without you trying to use your magic on me. Why do you reckon I left my previous profession?"

"So the real reason why you went to my birth country, to begin with, was to research about me." Sucy contemplated with pulling the amulet from the woman's neck but wouldn't risk it since she's powerless without the doll anyway. "Did you somehow involve yourself with black magic in the past?"

"Yes, I encountered it. This doll is the darkest of arts, Sucy. I'm glad I was able to find out about it before you spiral yourself deeper into this mess. How did you manage to get your hands on it?"

Sucy swallowed, expecting to have more resolve for a fight, but she dropped her chin, almost nodding. She chewed her lip and formed the words in her mouth. "She's an heirloom."

"An heirloom?" Professor Ursula asked. "She had a child?"

"You know the woman who gave birth to me?"

Professor Ursula's eyes glistened over a distant past. "Then so, the reason why your mother left you—"

A flash of anger appeared with Sucy's darkly beating heart. "Having me wasn't among her plans at all and left me to rot at the orphanage. When she died, I'm the rightful master of that doll!"

Professor Ursula took in a deep breath as if stopping herself from opening her mouth and afraid to speak her mind. "So I'm too late. You've succumbed to the curse long before. Regarding your mother, I'm pretty sure she has her reasons, perhaps to stray you off the path of evil."

"Yeah sure whatever, she denied me my heritage. I personally don't believe that mothers love their children so much."

"I can't agree to that," Professor Ursula said, with how orphans go, some of them searched for their mother while some despised them growing up. The French woman herself was one of those who searched for her mother, seeking for answers. "But I do know a curse shall befall on me when I try to divide the master and her doll. The amulet of protection around my neck could only do so much." She removed the holy rosary around Loa and tossed the doll back to Sucy.

Sucy caught her beloved friend. Never before in her life had she seen Loa so weak and fragile. "Loa, you're easily defeated by holy relics?"

"My powers can be contained for a short while. She is right. She can try to hinder and contain my power, but if something happens to me or to you, she will be cursed! Upon her old age, she will not die, but her body will continue decaying."

"I fully know the consequences." Professor Ursula removed her glasses with a dramatic flair. "And I know you can kill me anytime now that I returned the doll to you."

"I won't kill you," she deadpanned.

"Why not?" Loa asked. "You saw what she did. You know what she can do. Obliterate her!"

"Akko might forgive me for what I've done so far but if I as much touch the hairs on her idol's head, she will never forgive me," Sucy said as her eyes stung from stopping the tears. It pained her to realize that Akko could never love her more than she loved Shiny Chariot, but in this case, Sucy would strive solely for romantic love. "And you're right. She is a threat. But I doubt she will inform the authorities. She will have to bear the consequence of sending Akko to jail for complicity in murder."

Professor Ursula seemed unfazed by the revelation, as she knew from the beginning. "So she did help you retrieve a strand of hair."

"Willingly and actively, I might add," Sucy said.

"It would be hard to pass that as ignorance even if it's the truth." Professor Ursula bit her lower lip. "It would be ideal to reveal you're a serial killer when you turn 18 and Akko's still 17."

"You reckoned Akko won't get indicted because she's a minor?" Sucy said. In her bones, she was freaking scared. "With a supernatural weapon such as this, Akko and I would be tried in an adult court. We could avoid the ordeal of a trial by pleading guilty to all the murders. We could be sentenced to life terms. My crimes might be bigger than hers, so she must be safe, but you do know her future will be ruined."

"How dare you try to ruin her future?"

All Akko ever wanted was to become like Shiny Chariot—a world-renowned Magician. But fame is a fickle thing. A criminal could never reach the ranks of a famous performer who can make people smile.

"I'm not ruining her future! I'm helping her achieve her dreams! And those who tried to bring her down constantly deserved to be dead!"

Professor Ursula gritted her teeth. Her face contorted into pain at witnessing a road Sucy herself was traveling.

"But what are the laws against the supernatural, Professor?" Sucy asked. "I'm only taking a guess, but... supernatural weapons like this, a murderer and her accomplice will surely be lynched. Will you prosecute us, Professor? Will you be like Diana Cavendish?"

A visible sweat trailed to Professor Ursula's cheek. "You're right. However much it pains me to keep quiet and let you walk among the innocents, I don't want harm to come to Akko. I promised her parents that I will take care of her."

"It's a death threat to know you and your enemies have the same weakness, Sucy."

"She knows more than she lets on." Sucy mumbled. "I'm sure you know what she knows, you just don't want to tell me."

"Are you suspicious of me, Sucy?"

"I'm already suspicious of everyone, you're no exception."

"I see that it's true only the master can communicate with the doll." Professor Ursula said. "I did my best to learn everything about witchcraft in the Philippines but not all stuck with me. I will help you, Sucy. Help you when you kids need to bail like last time. I will have to train Akko, harder than ever before. Being a deception specialist has helped me survive in ways you don't know."

"Then help me know," Sucy said.

"But I will never help you harm another," the French woman continued, ignoring her. "And not until I find a legit proof to the court that Akko's being forced against her will to help you."

Sucy smiled. The fact that Professor Ursula wasn't aware that Akko really didn't have a clue with the hair strands was her advantage. "It's nice of you to tell me the truth. I really hate backstabbers. But to think that you would do everything for Akko that it would put you at risk of the law of joint enterprise."

Professor Ursula frowned and furrowed her brows, a dark contrast to her dyed hair. "I made a promise, Manbavaran, and I keep them."

Sucy caught a whiff of a sweet aroma that took her years ago as a young child. "What's that smell?"

"Oh, this?" Professor Ursula fished for a fruit she kept hidden in her pocket. "The witch doctors told me the smell of sugar apple throws you off."

"I'm more fascinated with how did you manage to believe those witch doctors."

"So I was scammed?" she waved the fruit across Sucy's face.

"Be reasonable, you're annoying the heck out of me. It's not because I'm a witch."

"What about salt and garlic?"

Never in all her life had she been misjudged so much that it hurt. "Do you take me for a spice-less person? You're stereotyping me!"

"My apologies, Sucy... with the rise of your supernatural powers, I'm not even sure of what's real and a myth anymore." Professor Ursula said. "I'll be back to my flat room. I shall see you at dinner. We're having Adobo... with mushrooms."

At that, Sucy's face lit up.

A/N

Whoa, look at how so many wrong things that could happen! Even I get anxious for all of their safety. Also please if you find any misspelling or grammar errors, please don't hesitate to tell me.