Bab 68: Chapter Sixty Eight
Principal Brown gave the young hunter a warm smile when he realized what she intended to do at the moment, "Alas, I will be spared the trouble of reporting events that I also just heard from the Hunters. On behalf of the hunters, the head of security has decided to step in to explain the unfortunate events that occurred during the week," the man said before walking off the podium, giving Katie a tap on his way to the back where he'd watch the rest of the speech that she was going to give. "Good luck, Katie," he whispered.
Once Katie was up and close to the microphone, she spotted a distinct pair of bright blue eyes and froze, remembering the state he was in the day before. She couldn't tell what he'd do now that he'd seen her. 'Have I come to care this much? Of course, I have and it's only going to get worse… or simply more intense after today. I wonder… Cole, was I a good friend?'
A smile from the blue-eyed Royal got her heart beating again with confidence. She was glad he was back to his normal self even though the warmth that spread through felt like overkill. She could then proceed with the speech she was tasked with giving now. "As you all know, there was a murder that took place in the school of recent. Slightly before that murder, there was an attack in the forest that put the lives of many innocent students and citizens in harm's way. Thankfully with the help of the junior hunters and the werewolves, we were able to repel the attack and even detain one of the invaders.
I shall be brief as most of this is going to appear in the newspaper tomorrow. Most of this falls on my shoulders as you all know that the murder weapon was indeed a blade that was supposed to be in my possession," there were gasps as she revealed this, but that was to be expected, "The victim was someone who was among the rogues that attacked the students on that same day. This, however, means that the wolf went through a Prometheus evaluation and was deemed worthy of being welcomed into society.
Most of you knew Ash Myster as a fifteen-year-old boy that was struggling to keep up his grades, but that was not all that we should have known about Ash. Ash was indeed a girl…" gasps erupted from the crowd and she allowed a moment of thought for the people present to go through the information, "Yeah, I was also surprised by that after the autopsy. What makes me seem more likely to be the victim was the fact that when I arrived at the crime scene, Ash had written something in her own blood in an attempt to spell the killer, or so we suspect. However, she was only able to write one letter and that was a 'K'… Not a good look for me, I know, but that's what I found at the crime scene when I arrived."
Katie was getting more comfortable with narrating the tale of her investigation even when she continuously made everything seem like she was the one who'd done it, "Furthermore, I was at a loss of who the killer might have been. Usually, when there is someone behind something, I can tell. Come on, I know every face in this school and a name to match it. I continuously interrogated many of you who could have done it, but as I suspected, none of you could have done it. I'm not saying that knowing each and every one of you guarantees your innocence because the rogues that attacked the students a few days prior were also students whose names I knew.
However, Ash was able to reveal that there weren't any more that she knew of. Chandler, the rogue that we had in captivity was also able to confess that there was one more rogue in the school at the time and that he'd be leaving soon. We made a background check on every student to prove there wasn't any other rogue amongst us. Thankfully, every single one of you is clean and we are sure that there are no more spies amongst us. The details of the check will not be given for security purposes.
There is only one person who could go through all these security precautions and still not be discovered after all this and that was none other than Kyle Dwyer." Gasps and murmurs went through the crowd as she said, "Now the rest I have to say is nothing more than useless information that the rest of you don't want to hear. I don't deny that Kyle was my best friend almost since I got into this school. He was someone I deeply trusted and couldn't think would betray me. That is also why it took me so long to figure it out."
"Where is Kyle now?" one of the students yelled out, a few others yelling in agreement with him, 'Yeah, where is he now?' they asked. They'd already skipped the fact that Katie was still a suspect in this murder which even made it harder to reveal the answer to the question. She found herself seeking Cole's eyes from the crowd. She finally found them and allowed them her eyes to stop darting about.
"Well, Kyle escaped as soon as he realized he was soon to be discovered. By the time we found out the true culprit of the crime, there was nothing of him left at his house and he was long gone…" there was silence in the crowd as she said this, most of them simply afraid to voice the doubts they were now developing in her entire explanation. Katie sighed before continuing, "I'm not going to bow to all of you and ask that you believe what I'm saying just because I was a tad bit late and didn't catch Ash's killer, but I will say this… There is no rogue left in this school… and it will stay that way."
"What makes you so sure?" Cole was the one to ask this time.
Katie couldn't hide the smirk that appeared on her face momentarily, "As we all know, I grew up here. The rogues that infiltrated this school, all of them besides Ash were people that came here before becoming the head of security. I'm sure you've all heard of the incredible tales and rumours of the Rogue Killer."
"That's all a myth," another student yelled.
"Well, some of the tales are over-exaggerated. Quick as lightning, strong as a boar, I do not like that particular phrase when describing me, but who am I to reject such appealing praise?" she joked about, earning laughter from the crowd.
A hand came up from the crowd and she nodded to allow the girl to speak, "You claim to be the famous Rogue killer? What's your Prometheus gift… if you are even a hunter at all?"
"Well, for the license to prove that I am indeed a hunter," she said, retrieving something from her pocket. Katie raised up a red laminated card that, something the hunters that were around could not allow to be flashed around if it was fake. The hunters wore proud faces as they saw the badge on display, for this was a hunter they were indeed proud to call one of their own. "As for my Prometheus gift, that is not very important since any of the gifts can be effective against a werewolf.
However, I will say this. The Founder's festival is held every year and offers a large opportunity for many of the students here to receive scholarships that allow them to move on to follow their dreams under much better circumstances. Dreams to become scientists, engineers, doctors and so many other enticing careers and adventures.
I have a dream as well... No, I'll call it a mission because I will succeed, and that's to put an end to this war once and for all," she said, the conviction in her voice gripping the whole crowd. Some of the hunters around gasped at what she'd just said. After centuries of fighting against the rogues, this really did sound like a dream. The crowd was not going to take her seriously when she said this.
"What is your Prometheus gift?" this time Cole was the one who asked. Katie smiled at him. He'd been a big help during this speech and he'd just given her the opening she needed to go for the kill. The Royal couldn't wipe the smirk off his face when he asked her.
"Oh, both of them…" she answered innocently, "I know that I have a lot of work, but I am not about…"
"You don't have to explain yourself, Katie," a voice shouted from within the crowd. Her eyes scanned through and came face-to-face with a pair of green eyes, "We know you won't give up until you have that scumbag down."
This seemed to have the right amount of spark to rile up the audience into an uproar of praise. People continued to yell and shout out different praises. Some of them that had been present during the attack in the Junior Hunter's Training ground shouted things like, 'We saw her in the training grounds. She might just pull it off.' While those that had been ensnared by the speech from the point she spoke of dreams that the Festival was supposed to help fulfil shouted out things like, 'You can make it. All dreams can become reality.'
Principal Brown could only stare at the commotion that she had caused. The speech had gone far better than he'd expected with the Royal helping out to make it sound better every time he needed to. The duo had this all taken care of from the very start. From the way Katie spoke, everyone could finally relax and feel safe in her presence. He did not know if there was indeed a checkup that had taken place of all the students but didn't oppose it for whether it was real or not, it helped lift the spirits of those that were present.
Katie proceeded to tell everyone about how the security was going to be handled. Mentioning restricted areas and places where to approach the hunters in case of an emergency so that everyone knew the entire layout of the security system. The rules against fighting between werewolves and humans were to remain the same as expected. Most of the VIPs were to be given a tour of the projects in the afternoon and therefore the students had the whole of the morning to make sure that everything was working fine.
Katie finally concluded her speech. The second part of it had been to confirm that there was action taking place beside the words that she had delivered earlier and that everyone was indeed in the safest place at the moment. She stepped off the podium followed by an uproar of cheers and handclaps. "You exceeded my expectations, the Principal whispered as they passed each other."
"I'm glad… That was terrifying," she replied, doing her best to remain composed until there was no longer an audience. The fact that she had to focus to keep her emotions in was proof that she was becoming more emotional the closer they got to her birthday.
The Principal concluded the assembly and allowed everyone to go about their activities. Shortly after, Katie was also dismissed and she walked on with Sandra to make sure everything was running smoothly. The Head of Security didn't have a specific post and was not obligated to stay in one place, a part of the job that Katie found satisfying. This way she could also tour the festival just like everyone else while keeping an eye on what was going on.
"Hey, Katie, can I ask you a question?" Sandra asked as they walked up the stairs in search of the surveillance room. Their last location to check out before they were free to carry out whatever activities they saw fit at the moment.
"What is it?"
"Did you plan that speech with Cole beforehand?" she asked.
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