Chapter 3
795 Words
Ten minutes later. The Academy Security Office.
The large screen on the wall replayed the staircase footage.
The video was crystal clear. Chloe threw herself backward. Selena reached out and caught her by the collar. Then, once the crowd gathered, Chloe clung to the railing, cried, and accused Selena of pushing her.
The video ended. The office fell quiet.
The security director paused the screen and tapped the desk. "Chloe, the footage is very clear. Your accusation has no basis."
Chloe stood before the desk, tears dripping onto the floor.
"I'm sorry..." Her voice trembled. "I really thought my heel caught on something. I was so scared my mind played tricks on me. It was a misunderstanding. I made a mistake."
Selena leaned against the door frame without saying a word.
Damon stood to one side, his expression dark. He looked at the screen, then at Chloe's dust-covered jacket. Logic told him this was a clumsy frame-up, but the memory of that bloodstained pocket watch and the scar on Chloe's shoulder forced him to swallow his anger.
"Since it was a misunderstanding, make sure it doesn't happen again," Damon said coldly, then turned and walked out.
3:00 PM. Outdoor Tactical Training Ground.
The mechanical engineering department's hands-on class was distributing mechanical components.
Chloe stood at the edge of the crowd, whispering something to her best friend, Mia.
Selena had just picked up her set of tools. As she turned toward the workbench, a harsh chemical smell drifted through the air.
Years spent dealing with chemical waste in junkyards made her recognize it instantly. High-concentration silver nitrate waste. Highly corrosive.
Selena stopped.
Mia approached quickly from the side, clutching an unmarked gray plastic bottle. She twisted off the cap and hurled the liquid straight at Selena's face.
Selena threw herself sideways. Most of the liquid missed, splashing across the metal workbench and instantly hissing into a cloud of acrid white smoke.
In the next instant, Selena struck Mia's wrist aside, locked it in a vice grip, and twisted upward.
"Ah!" Mia screamed and dropped the bottle.
Selena's left hand shot out and caught it midair.
Damon happened to be walking over from the instructor's area. Seeing the splash, he instinctively stepped in and threw up an arm.
A few stray drops flew over Selena's shoulder and landed squarely on Damon's back. His white uniform jacket burned through at once, the acid searing his skin and leaving raw, swollen chemical burns.
The medical instructor ran over at the commotion. One look at the bottle in Selena's hand and the smoking workbench, and his face drained of color.
"High-concentration acid? That kind of strong acid will cause severe chemical burns the moment it touches your skin. It's a banned controlled substance. How did it end up at an outdoor training site!"
The crowd scattered in alarm.
Chloe stepped out from the back of the crowd, staring at Mia in apparent shock.
"Mia, why would you bring something so dangerous?" she cried. "I only asked you to get me some antiseptic for my scrapes!"
Clutching her sprained wrist, Mia was so pale with pain she couldn't get a word out.
Selena set the bottle on the table and said nothing.
The medical instructor pulled out his tablet and logged into the warehouse system to check the hazardous materials record.
Seconds later, a digital receipt popped up.
"Thirty minutes ago. Checkout record," the instructor read, his voice turning hard. "Reason: rust-removal experiment. Signed by: Chloe."
He looked up, fury in his eyes. "By regulation, this substance is never to leave the ventilated lab. How dare you bring it out here?"
Chloe opened her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes, but panic locked her throat. She couldn't squeeze out a single word in her defense.
Damon frowned. Heat pulsed through the burns across his back. He glanced at the receipt on the tablet, then at Chloe, and turned away without a word.
"Get the injured to the infirmary, now!" the instructor barked. "Damon's burns can't wait."
Damon followed the instructor. The hem of Selena's windbreaker had caught a few drops as well, so she followed them, expression unchanged.
A few minutes later, at the infirmary, Damon sat on the edge of the bed.
While the nurse prepared to cut away his ruined jacket. Selena stood near the door, about to toss her damaged tools into the recycling bin.
Suddenly, the infirmary door was shoved violently open from outside.
A shabby middle-aged couple burst in, waving a stack of yellowed photos and printed documents.
"Who's Selena?!" the man shouted, pointing straight at her. "Look closely, all of you. She's not some proper young lady from a noble house. She's a killer who just walked out of a prison in the Exile Zone!"
- Writer
