Symbols and Libraries: A Plot Discovered

"Did you guys know?!" Daphne burst out when the military officers led them to a room where Terrence and Seraphine was.

"That Ava was dead? We just found out," Terrence said grimly.

"I can't believe it," Seraphine said in a hushed voice. "She was just okay yesterday!"

Loki opened his mouth to say something when they heard voices arguing up in corridor.

"See? I told you that using my Ability would help!" Danielle said.

"Even if they didn't do it, I could have still condemned them!" That was Ada.

"You just want an excuse to punish kids you don't like, don't you? I wouldn't be surprised if you had something to do with this."

"Don't be ridiculous! And why the hell are you trying to touch me?"

Both of them broke of as they entered the room and was faced with four pair of eyes.

"And what are you doing here?" Ada growled.

"The military officers brought us here," Seraphine answered. "They said we could go after you guys give us one last briefing."

[Name: Ada Anderson]

[Race: Human]

[Strength: 23/23]

[Stamina: 30/30]

[Ability: Mind Read]

[She is able to read minds]

[Weakness: She is only able to read what you're thinking about]

Loki filled Daphne in on everything, and Daphne seemed to grow more defensive and knowing the fact that Ada could could read their minds.

"Don't go around school spreading word that Miss Silver is dead. Keep it to yourselves for the time being. The school will announce it once everything is stable again," Ada instructed. "Now leave."

The four of them quickly left and headed to the cafeteria as they had been interrogated all the way until lunch.

"Who do you think did it?" Terrence immediately asked the rest as they sat down with their plates of food.

"I have no idea," Seraphine shuddered. "Do you think it's anyone random or...?"

The implication of Seraphine's unfinished statement hung in the air. 'Or was it someone from school who killed her?'

"Well, we're getting to the bottom of this," Daphne said firmly. She pulled out a paper with a picture of Ava's dead body. "My parents sent this to me after the interrogation."

"I don't get it. What is that supposed to do with anything?" Loki asked, brows furrowed.

"This." Daphne pointed toward Ava's neck, where there was a small injection mark and a strange symbol, half hidden by her hair. "Ava died of blood loss. I think this injection mark is part of the reason. And I want to find out what the symbol means. I think it might be a clue."

"Well, if we manage to get a glimpse of Ava's body, I can Inspect her," Loki said. "In the meantime, let's head to the library and find out what that symbol means."

A couple hours later, a hurried dinner, hundreds of books and more than the healthy amount of coffee later, they still didn't have any answers.

"Ugh," Terrence groaned, burying his head in a book. "We've been at this for hours now. How is it so hard to find one damn symbol?"

"Come one!" Daphne said, trying to get everyone motivated, even though she looked as tied as they felt. "We can't give up now!"

Seraphine sighed. "They symbol was basically a coiled cobra, it's jaws wide open and ready to attack, right? My only question is, it wasn't on Ava before, so how did it appear now?"

Loki was about to throw in the towel when suddenly, he found the answer in the book he was reading. "Guys! I found it!"

"What is it? Daphne asked hurriedly.

Loki pointed at the symbol in the book he was reading. "It says here that the symbol was meant as a sign, to say that it was the work of a group of high-ranked Ability users called The Snakes."

"Where did you find that book?" Daphne asked. "We've been searching for hours!"

"It was hidded amongst other books," Loki replied. "Seemed like someone was hiding it- Hey!"

Terrence snatched the book from Loki's grasp. "The snakes were founded by a group's identity that was never fully discoverd, however, it was confirmed a woman named Lolita Anderson was one of the founding families."

"Isn't the Matron and Ada Andersons?" Daphne said, her eyes growing wide, you don't think it was them who did this, do you?"

"Maybe not Matron, she doesn't really care for things, right?" Seraphine mused. "Maybe she knew what was going on, but didn't say anything to stop or help it. But I'm pretty sure that Ada had something to do with this. The only question is, what does Ada gain, apart from being able to punish us?"

"If she managed to frame us," Daphne said slowly. "She could have expelled all of you, and the school could make my parents pay huge sums of money to stop the news from being spread. They would also have an excuse of me 'being corrupted my trash' and moving me up a few levels."

"So, do you think Ava was part of it from the start? Or they forced her into it? Hypnotized her?" Terrence let out a barrage of questions.

"It says here that Landon Powell was one of the founders of The Snake as well," Loki said softly. "Saltavore's Ability is to transform into the person's blood he drank. And Ava died of blood lost. What do you think?"

Everyone was silent.

"I think," Seraphine finally said. "We should sleep on it. It says here that The Snakes members always have the symbol tattooed on their left shoulder, right? One of us can 'accidentally' trip, and we caught on to his shirt, baring his shoulder for a moment."

"Not a bad idea, sis," Terrence nodded. "But the person who 'trips' should be Daphne, because if it's any of us, it'll just give Saltavore a chance to yell at us. The three of us won't be wherever Daphne is that time, because it might be suspicious if we were altogether. Daphne could let Loki know through their mind link, and then he can tell us."

"Good idea!" Daphne smiled. "In the meantime, keep an eye out on Saltavore and anyone close to him."

"Let's go back to our rooms," Terrence said, getting up. "We don't want to break curfew."

They all trudged back up to their dorm, feeling worn out. As all of them was sleeping, Daphne was feeling terrified, because in every scenario, Ava was dead because she had befriended them. She didn't want her friends to die. So there in the dark, while everyone was asleep, she wrote a letter to her parents about hiring her some new bodyguards.