The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 25

25

How to get rid of a rare potion that I didn’t even know was a poison. If it killed Oda, why was I still alive?

I rushed through the winding castle halls, avoiding the most common ones so I didn’t run into someone I knew. I could feel the vial burning in my pocket, glowing, beckoning. It could’ve been my imagination, but students were staring at me as I passed.

Perhaps it was the frantic, hurried half-run. Maybe they could sense the desire to get rid of the damning evidence on me. Even if it had nothing to do with Oda’s death, I didn’t think I’d be able to explain why I had it.

But where to hide it, where to hide it?

My room?

No, if someone found it, it would be obvious it was mine. Stupid idea.

The infirmary? It could hide with Doctor Wagner’s other potions and medicine. But if he accidentally found it, he’d known that it wasn’t his… I’d be able to get it there, but retrieving it would be a lot harder.

As I turned the corner, an idea sprung to mind.

The library. That was where Oda was found dead, if someone stumbled upon the vial, they would suspect it was what killed her. Checking a book out wasn’t suspicious, so I’d be able to get it whenever I wanted.

Perfect!

I rerouted and made it to the library just as a big group of Shinigami left. Apart from the receptionist at the front desk and a couple of scattered other students, the library was empty.

Perfect, the fewer people here, the better.

To ensure I didn’t draw any attention to myself, I calmed my breathing and strode in as if nothing was up. I let my finger travel along the thick spines of the books, pulling one out every now and then to look less suspicious.

Just as I thought I found an empty row with a lot of boring books to hide the vial in, a Guardian student joined me to return a book. The next row had two giggling Angel girls and the next, a Reaper guy writing a paper.

Damn. Even if there weren’t that many people, the desire for solitude had them scattered throughout the entire library. Even the most remote and dusty rows had someone near them.

Growing progressively paranoid, I travelled across the red carpets and through rows of literature until I found an abandoned section. The books looked old and boring, which was perfect.

I choose a random spine with loose bindings and after making sure nobody was watching me, I hid the small vial in the gap. As soon as I put the book back, a weight fell off of me.

Good riddance.

“What are you doing?” a sharp voice asked.

“Astrid,” I stammered, taken off guard by her presence. I was so sure I was alone. “Were you following me?”

“No.” The girl narrowed her eyes, studying me with great scrutiny. “I just happened to see you rush in.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I came to get a log of everyone that checked books in or out on the day that Oda died,” she responded, looking at the row of books I was standing next to. “You didn’t answer my question.”

I rushed past her, pulling her away from the hidden vial. “I was here to look at potential clues and inspect the crime scene.”

“This is not the row Oda died in.”

“I was inspecting every row for evidence. Duh.” Satisfied that we were far away from the book, I finally let go of her arm. If there was one person I didn’t want snooping in my business, it was Astrid. She’d rat me out to Flavia, no doubt. Anything to get in the good graces of the Heir, even if neither of us lived in the East district. It was never bad news to carry the favour of someone as influential as her.

Astrid glared at me. “You’re acting weird.”

“Don’t I always?”

“Hmmm… I guess so.”

“Weren’t you getting records from the secretary?” I asked, gesturing to the desk. “Let’s go do that.”

“But—”

“We don’t want to keep Flavia waiting, right?”

Astrid followed me to the front booth, a suspicious frown threaded between her eyebrows. “Right…”

In an attempt to distract her, I drummed my fingers on the wooden desk, gaining the attention of the old woman.

“Yes?” she croaked.

“Hey, you’re the administrative lady,” I noticed. “You did enrollment when I arrived.”

A single eyebrow was raised. “And?”

Astrid shoved me aside. “Hi, we’re looking for a detailed log of anyone who was here in the past month.”

“Month?” I echoed. “I thought we just needed the logs from the day Oda died.”

“Shush.” Astrid held up her hand to silence me and returned her attention to the librarian. “The logs?”

The shinigami smiled politely. “I’m afraid I can’t give you access to those records. They’re confidential. I’m sorry.”

Astrid frowned and started talking. “But—”

“We need them,” I finished. “Remember the girl that died a couple of weeks ago? She was a friend of mine, of ours. We just want to figure out who was in the library when it happened.”

“Surely, it’s not a secret who comes and goes?” Astrid shot the librarian the politest smile I’d ever seen from her. “The only person that might protest to the records being seen is probably the culprit.”

The old woman hesitated. “I’m not sure...”

I nodded. “We just want to talk to the people that were there that day. See if they remembered something”

“Yes. You’d really help us out. And a grieving family. Oda’s parents are so distraught,” Astrid jumped in. “They’d really appreciate hearing about their daughter’s last moments.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” The librarian looked over her shoulder. “I can’t let you take the records.”

Disappointment constricted my stomach.

“But—” The old woman pulled a binder from behind her desk. “I’ll let you have a look. You can copy what you need.”

Astrid and I exchanged a triumphant look. Victory.

“We really appreciate it,” I said, taking the binder from her. We rushed to an empty table and quickly flipped the pages back to the day that Oda died.

“There are a lot of entries here,” Astrid noted, running her finger down the list. “Anyone one of them could’ve poisoned her.”

“Let’s copy the entire list down. We can go over the names with the rest, see if one of them rings a bell.”

“I’ll do the first half of the month,” Astrid said, clipping open the binder and gave me a stack of paper. “You do the last half.”

She pulled her pencil case from her bag and I handed her one of my notebooks. If we were writing an entire months worth of records down, we best get started.

We worked in silence, copying down the names, dates, and timestamps. There were mandatory sign-ins from students doing research, people checking out books and others returning them. Some only stayed a minute, others spend their entire day here.

My wrist hurt from all the writing, but I just had to power through. I kept going, until I realised Astrid had stopped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She pushed one of the sheets of paper to me. “Oda. She signed in at 11:45 AM.”

A lump formed in my throat as I stared at the signature. “She never signed out.”

Astrid sighed. “I didn’t know her very well, but she was nice. She was a middle child, just like me. On the day before, we joked about doing something crazy to make our parents notice us. I don’t think dying is what she had in mind…”

I let out a soft chuckle. “I don’t think so either.”

“Who dies at school?” Astrid’s fist tightened around her pen. “What a s**t way to die. Just when the best part was to come.”

“I know…” I brushed my finger over Oda’s name. “I don’t think she liked me very much in the beginning. But when I needed assistance with my… You know. She didn’t hesitate to help. Maybe she did it just for Flavia, but I’d like to think she wanted to help.”

“That sounds like her,” my classmate agreed.

We let the silence hang between us for a moment, before Astrid returned to pencilling down the rest of the name.

I did the same. The sooner we found the bastard who killed Oda, the sooner we could put this to bed. Justice would find them, but it was Flavia they needed to fear. They would regret the day they messed with her friends.