Chapter 34
On Tuesday, AJ doesn’t have any of his usual quips about Alaric’s disheveled appearance or lack of focus. Instead, he slumps in his chair beside me, staring blankly at an empty page of his notebook. I don’t know who’s in a worse state—me, him, or Alaric.
AJ’s distraught over his missing brother.
Alaric’s insistent on keeping secrets.
And I’m caught in the middle, losing my mind over all of it.
The weight of the knowledge that Mitchell’s cold, dead body is being consumed by mushrooms in the woods crushes my chest, making it hard to breathe. The guilt is eating me alive.
Tomorrow, Alaric will have to go to the administration and tell them about Mitchell. I should feel relief at that, but all I can think about is how I’ve been complicit in hiding something so tragic.
We’re halfway through class when the door opens. Chancellor Aldrich steps into the classroom, and the energy in the room shifts immediately. The students sit up straighter, and Alaric pauses his lecture, cocking his head to the side with a furrowed brow.
“Please continue,” the Chancellor says. She’s dressed in her usual severe style, with a black pantsuit and her hair pulled back into a tight bun. “I’m just doing my classroom observations for the semester. Just pretend I’m not here.”
Even as she says it, all of us know that that won’t be possible. Her commanding presence is impossible to ignore, even—or especially—for Alaric, who proceeds with the lesson with tension in his shoulders and white knuckles gripping the podium.
The Chancellor moves slowly around the perimeter of the room, her heels striking against the floor. She pauses occasionally to examine equipment or rifle through the supply cabinets in the back. Students glance back over their shoulders surreptitiously, clearly distracted by her presence.
Alaric’s jaw tightens as she circles back to the front of the room, stopping at his desk in the far corner. When she steps behind it, his posture goes rigid, but his tone only conveys mild irritation when he asks, “Is there something I can help you with?”
She waves him off. “No, no, continue teaching, please.”
“It’s a little difficult to teach when you’re snooping through my personal workspace and distracting my students.”
“I’m the Chancellor of this institution, and it’s my job to ensure that our facilities are being used appropriately.”
She moves to the cabinet behind his desk and tugs on the handle to discover it’s locked. Instead of moving on, she waves a hand over the lock, muttering an incantation under her breath, and the lock clicks.
Alaric tenses.
Chancellor Aldrich opens the cabinet with a satisfied smirk, reaches in, and takes hold of something. When she pulls it out, my heart stops.
“What’s this?” She asks, holding up a small container of dirt where black mushrooms just like the ones from the forest are growing.
“Research,” Alaric snaps.
“Shouldn’t these be in the greenhouse?” She asks. “It seems strange to have a live specimen sitting in a locked cabinet, Dr. Vale.”
“Like I said,” he states, “I’m researching them. It’s an unknown fungal species I discovered on a walk through the forest. I’m documenting its characteristics before I submit my findings to the mycology department.”
“You discovered an unknown species?” she asks incredulously.
He nods. “I believe so.”
“If this is true, then you’ll need to report your findings through the proper channels. If this is a legitimate discovery, you could be looking at quite the claim to fame. But I’m sure you already knew that,” she adds with a sharp smile.
“Of course,” Alaric says. “I'll submit my preliminary findings by the end of the week.”
“See that you do.” The Chancellor closes the cabinet and smooths her suit jacket. “And in the future, please keep me informed of any significant research projects. This could be a significant moment in your career here, and we like to support our faculty's academic pursuits here at Arcadia.”
He gives her a terse nod, and she leaves without another word.
Alaric then continues his lecture as if nothing has happened while anger burns in my chest. Is that why he’s wanted me to keep this all a secret?
So he could claim the discovery as his own and receive acclaim for finding an unknown species?
It would make sense. He keeps making these vague statements about “figuring things out” and the mushrooms being “a part of something larger,” insinuating that there may be something out there that’s cause for concern.
And while I believe that whatever is going on with that area of the forest is undoubtedly sinister, I can’t help but wonder if he’s been using my fear against me as I’ve learned more about my father.
Has it been a ploy to keep me quiet this entire time?
When Alaric ends the lecture, I’m torn between confronting him and keeping quiet.
“Are you okay?” AJ asks. Beside him, Joanna peeks over to listen to the conversation.
“I’m fine,” I sigh. “More importantly, how are you?”
He shakes his head. His forlorn expression is so unlike the typical bright, nonchalant energy he usually projects that it makes my heart sink.
“I’m hanging in there. I went to Aldrich yesterday about Mitchell being missing, but she didn’t seem to find the matter particularly pressing.
She kept insinuating he might be in a friend’s dorm room on a bender or something, but that’s not the kind of guy he is.
He rarely parties, and he never misses a class.
I’m really worried something bad happened to him on Saturday… ”
My stomach knots as the guilt intensifies. He’s worried about his brother, unaware that he’s dead, and I’m here pissed off that the professor I’ve been sleeping with is stealing credit for something I discovered.
Joanna rubs her hand over his back in a consoling gesture, murmuring platitudes about how he’ll show up eventually.
“Something just feels really wrong,” AJ says softly. “I… I don’t think he’s okay.” His voice cracks, and something inside me breaks.
I can’t take it anymore. I stand, intent on confronting Alaric and telling him he needs to go to the chancellor now, but when I look up, he’s already gone. He must have rushed out of here in the minute I’d been talking to AJ.
“I need to go talk to Dr. Vale about something,” I tell AJ. “I’ll meet you at the dining hall?”
He nods, and I storm down the hallway toward his office. But when I get there, his door is locked and there’s no light coming from beneath it. I knock anyway, but it’s clear he’s not here.
He might be running away from the problem—running away from me—but I’m not going to let him get away with it. If he doesn’t go to the Chancellor tomorrow, I will, and I’ll tell her everything.
I don’t doubt Alaric’s feelings for me, but I’m starting to question his honesty surrounding everything else.
I deserve answers, and AJ deserves to know what happened to his brother.
If Alaric hasn’t spoken to Chancellor Aldrich by tomorrow evening, I’m taking matters into my own hands, consequences be damned.