<h4>Chapter 97: Whispers in the Dark</h4>
<strong>Evaline:</strong>
The morning sun was filtering through the tall windows of the Council headquarters as I walked down the familiar corridors.
The building always looked so grand and cold with its white marble floors, high ceilings, and that distant hush that never quite left, even when people were talking.
It was Saturday again. A full month since I had started my internship.
I received my first month’s pay just two days ago, and while it wasn’t arge sum, it felt... satisfying. Empowering, even. It was more than enough to give me some independence and the feeling that I was finally building something of my own. I hadn’t grown up with money or resources. Every bit I earned now was mine and mine alone, and that gave me a quiet sense of pride.
Since I didn’t have many expenses - no rent, no food, no clothes obsession, no constant need for new gadgets - it was easy to put eighty percent of it aside as saving.
I needed to earn and save money, and I needed to do it before the end of first term.
River didn’t show up at all throughout the day and arge part of me was relieved. I didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with him, especially not in the very ce where I was trying to build a professional identity.
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Without him, my workload was light. Too light, in fact. I spent more time organizing old reports than handling anything real, which would have bothered me if I hadn’t been in desperate need of a quiet day.
But something else was nagging at me.
The reports fromst week... the missing warriors... it was as if none of it had ever happened.
There was no mention of the incident. No whispers in the hallway. No tense nces exchanged between employees or even the Alphas who appeared at the headquarters. It was like the whole thing was wiped clean.
I didn’t ask, of course. I knew better than to bring up something that someone in power clearly didn’t want spoken about. And I had a feeling that it had something to do with River.
But I couldn’t help the chill that crawled down my spine.
Had I imagined it?
Had it really happened?
The memory was too clear to be fake. I remembered how tensed Jasper looked and how urgently River had reacted. And yet... there was no record, no update, not even a casualment.
It made the silence feel loud.
Too loud.
I clocked out earlier than expected and asked Kieran’s man, who had been driving me back and forth from Academy to council headquarters, to drop me at Lakeshire Town where my friends were waiting for me.
They all were waiting for me at a small but cozy diner. The ce was warm with amber lighting, and the smell of seasoned fries and grilled sandwiches was filling the air.
It seemed like we all enjoyed snuggling up in corners as Kyros had picked a booth at the very corner near the window. Noah was busy arguing with Selene about which dessert was superior -va cake or cinnamon rolls.
"Don’t start with me again," Selene groaned dramatically, nudging Kyros with her elbow. "You are just bitter because you can’t handle chocte."
"Excuse me," Noah gasped and ced a hand over his heart. "That’s nder."
Iughed as I slid into the booth as Mallory sided with Noah. "He’s not wrong though. You nearly died after eating that dark chocte bar two weeks ago."
"It was <i>too</i> dark. That’s not even chocte anymore, it’s emotional trauma in a wrapper." Selene depended herself.
I chuckled as Kyros ced the menu in front of me. "Help me order. These maniacs are just too busy arguing."
We ordered a massive tter to share. It had seasoned fries, onion rings, tiny grilled sliders, and grilled chicken.
It was perfect. The food. The atmosphere. Everything.
Until it wasn’t.
I was on my way back from the restroom. I took the long route around the diner, avoiding the tightly packed central tables. That’s when I heard it - low voices, urgent and hushed,ing from the far corner where a small group of warriors were huddled together.
I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I wasn’t even that close. But one sentence froze me in my tracks.
"-the missing group fromst weekend-"
I stopped breathing for a second as I instinctively stepped closer.
One of the warriors, a dark-haired man with a jagged scar across his cheek, leaned closer to the others. "Still no sign. It’s like they vanished into thin air."
"Alpha River has sealed the report," another replied. "Only his brothers and a few of the top-ranking officers know anything. If you hadn’t been on duty that night, you wouldn’t even remember it happened."
"So that’s it?" a third voice said bitterly. "We give up? Like thest time?"
There was silence.
Then someone murmured, "Just like that kid from the Academy. One day here, the next... gone. No exnation. Just another secret swept under the rug."
I pressed my back against the wall, making sure to stay hidden from their sigh. My theart was thudding in my chest.
They didn’t know I was there. Didn’t know I was listening.
The words echoed in my mind:
<i>Missing warriors... sealed reports... just like the kid from the Academy... gone without a trace.</i>
My palms were cold.
The cheerful diner noises suddenly sounded far away, like I was underwater. I didn’t imagine it. The warriors indeed went missing.
But it had already been a week and no one was talking about it. No news, no search alerts. The warriors in that corner had already resigned themselves to defeat.
Like it was normal.
Like people disappearing into nothing was just another Sunday around here.
I slowly backed away, careful not to make a sound, and returned to our booth with a practiced smile on my face.
But the food tasted like ash in my mouth. And my milkshake was suddenly too sweet, too thick, too much.
I kept ncing at the corner, at the warriorsughing now like they hadn’t just spoken of hopelessness and missing lives.
And that one word - <i>gone</i> - kept circling in my mind like a storm waiting to break.
<i>Just like that kid from the Academy.</i>
What did they mean by a kid from the Academy going missing?