LVII | Rule Breaker
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When history came to an end, Clementine felt that same angst brewing in his stomach. It was a feeling of desperation, fear, and hope. Desperation to complete his task, the fear that the plan wouldn't work, and the hope that once it was over, he'd get to spend at least a few days with Sebastien before his body gave in.
He packed his things into his backpack, letting out a heavy sigh as he flexed his hand. Professor Warren had sprung a test on the class, and Clementine wasn't sure if he scored high enough, but he didn't care. It wasn't like he was going to be here to find out.
Professor Warren dismissed the class, which now consisted of only twelve out of the initial thirty students. Clementine tried to avoid the professor's sceptical gaze, but the man eyed every student as they left. However, he seemed to glare for a little longer when Clementine stepped out into the hall and sunk into Sebastien's embrace.
"How was history?" Sebastien asked, moving his arm over Clementine's shoulders as they made their way down the hall.
"Boring, as usual. Can I ask you something?"
He nodded.
"Does your dad know about us?"
"He has his suspicions. He's asked me more times than I bothered to remember if you and I were a thing."
"What did you say?"
Sebastien shrugged. "I told him I like you."
"Did he seem mad?"
"Not really. He did catch us in the hall that one night, and we made it out like we were having a lover's quarrel."
"No, you made it out like that was what was happening."
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" he said with a smirk.
Clementine sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Anyway, where's Mathew?"
"He's gonna meet us by the supply closet I used to get you back over here that one time."
"Okay."
They continued down the corridor and past the lunch hall, but just as they were about to head into the next hall, the gramophones fizzed and buzzed.
"All students, please head to the assembly hall. All students, please head to the assembly hall."
Sebastien sighed deeply as they stopped walking. "It would happen now, wouldn't it?" he grumbled.
Clementine rolled his eyes as the gramophones continued to blare. "Should I go?"
"Would Mathew and Mavis go?"
"Uh...I don't know."
Sebastien dragged his hand down Clementine's arm and took hold of his hand. "Come on," he mumbled, heading back the way they'd come. "This is probably the percentage announcement, anyway."
They quickly made their way through the halls and corridors, and when they reached the assembly hall doors, Sebastien spotted Mathew and Mavis at the very back of the line, and hurried over to them, pulling Clementine with him.
"Oh, we thought for a moment that we shouldn't have come," Mathew said quietly.
Clementine shrugged. "It's probably best we learn how many people are left anyway."
Mathew nodded. "Are we still going ahead with it?"
"Yeah," Sebastien confirmed. "We'll head straight to the supply closet after this."
Just then, the hall doors opened, and Professor McMillan stepped out. "Everyone head in and take your seats."
Clementine attempted to count just how many students were in the crowd, but Professor McMillan grabbed his and Sebastien's arms, pulling them away from the doors before they could follow everyone else into the hall. Mathew and Mavis tried to hurry back out of the room to join them, but Professor Quincy stood in their path, keeping them from leaving while Professor Warren pulled the doors shut, cutting both pairs off from each other.
"What are you doing?" Sebastien immediately snapped, glaring up at McMillan.
"I could ask you the same thing," the professor uttered. "What are you doing hanging around with this student?"
"Why's it your business? Oh right, it's not," he sneered. "Let's go—"
But before Sebastien could pull Clementine away with him, McMillan side-stepped into their path and glowered down at them. "We have become greatly concerned with how much time you are spending with Mr Darlington."
"Okay, and do I care? No."
"Your father has become concerned, too."
"I don't care. I get to choose who I do and don't hang out with, not him."
"He is your father, and you are still a child—"
"Why's this suddenly a problem now? He's seen me hanging out with Clem multiple times before now and he hasn't said anything."
"That was before you imprinted on the boy."
Clementine frowned nervously. He didn't know whether or not he should say something, but it wasn't his business, was it?
"The headcount is in its last twenty and you can't be seen running around with one of these students, let alone help them."
"Who said I'm helping him?"
"Please, Sebastien. Do you really think we're that naïve? We've seen you both. Until the final ten students have emerged, you will head back over to the Law Institute and stay over there. Do I make myself clear?"
"No."
"Sebastien...."
"I'm not gonna abandon him."
"Look, I understand how you feel. You want to protect him, but it is against the rules! You have no idea what this sort of thing could do to Aldergrove's reputation."
"I don't care about Aldergrove's stupid reputation!"
"Well, your father does! You will see him after this assembly."
Clementine wasn't sure what to make of this. He knew what the professors were, and he was also aware that Sebastien was one of them, so seeing him talk to McMillan like this wasn't a total shock. But what had him feeling anxious was the fact that McMillan could lose his patience any moment, and Clementine didn't want to know what that might lead to.
McMillan scowled at Sebastien, who had fallen silent and adorned a stubborn pout. When the professor's sceptical eyes shifted to Clementine, a cold shiver shot down his spine. "You aren't doing so well in art class, Mr Darlington. You will come to my classroom for revision lessons after classes every day this week. I will help you improve your technique. Understood?"
If today wasn't the last he'd be spending in this building, Clementine might resist and argue, but it didn't matter. So, he nodded. "Yes, sir."
Then, McMillan glared at Sebastien. "Your father will see you after assembly."
As Professor McMillan stormed off, Sebastien pulled a mocking face behind the man's back and then rolled his eyes.
"Come on," he mumbled, pushing the hall doors open.
"What are gonna we gonna do? Are you gonna see Huxley?" Clementine whispered as they sat on the closest pair of chairs.
"No. We don't have time for that. We'll listen to this, grab your friends, and head for the storage closet. We might have to be quick about it, though."
"Don't worry, I'm ready."
"Good afternoon, students," Professor Huxley called over the room of quiet murmurs. "I apologize for calling you all here during your lunch hour, but I have done so to inform you that there are now only twenty percent of you left. Half of you in this room will be travelling to the New World at the end of the semester, and half of you will not."
Excited and wary voices filled the silence.
Huxley held up his hand, and as the voices quietened, he lowered it. "There is no need to rush as forty-five days remain of this semester. But remember, be cautious, be smart, and good luck to you all."
As Professor Huxley left the stage, the students began murmuring again.
Sebastien took hold of Clementine's hand. "Come on."
Clementine didn't hesitate. As Sebastien hurried out of his seat, he followed behind him. He glanced at the remaining crowd, searching for the three Ravenblood that remained, but he couldn't see them, which meant they had to be with Lucinda. Were they even attending classes at all? Or were they with their leader every moment of every day?
"We gotta go," Sebastien said to Mathew and Mavis as they reached them.
"What's wrong?" Mavis asked in panic as Sebastien immediately led the way towards the doors.
"Huxley's seen Sebastien hanging around with us and wants to put an end to it," Clementine explained.
"Why?" Mathew asked. "Do you think he knows he is helping you deal with the people who are after you?"
"Maybe—"
"Well, he's not going to get in my way," Sebastien snarled, reaching the doors.
As they pulled the doors open and hurried out into the hall, Sebastien immediately darted to the right, pulling Clementine with him—
"Sebastien!" came Professor Huxley's bellowing voice.
Clementine looked over his shoulder to see a look of fury on the man's face, but Sebastien ignored his father and continued rushing down the hallway with Clementine as Mathew and Mavis followed.
"Sebastien," he breathed, his body starting to ache already.
"We're almost there," he uttered, turning left down the hall and abruptly right into a narrow corridor.
Professor Huxley's voice echoed down the hall behind them, but Sebastien kept running.
"Won't he just follow us over to the Law Institute?" Clementine asked.
"He wouldn't expect me to take you over there," he answered, approaching the supply closet.
"Why not?"
"Because it's dangerous. But we'll all be fine, I promise."
"Surely, he will figure it out eventually," Mathew said as they all stopped in front of the door.
"Not until we've killed Lucinda and had time to get back over here," Sebastien said confidently. He pulled the door open, and once Mathew and Mavis stepped inside, he pulled Clementine in with him, and hastily shut the door. "Do you all remember the plan?"
They all nodded.
"Mavis, you're gonna be on professor look-out, too. If you see a single one, we're gonna need you to create some sort of diversion to keep them away from us until we've finished," Sebastien explained as he placed his hand on the back stone wall.
With an anxious look on her face, Mavis nodded. "Okay. I'll think of something to get them away."
Then, as a door began to appear in the stone, Sebastien looked over at Clementine. "Are you ready?"
His heart was racing, his limbs were trembling, but the thought of killing the last three Ravenblood gave him such an exhilarating feeling, and as it began to outweigh his worry, angst, and dismay, he nodded. "I'm ready."
Sebastien nodded. And then, as he pushed the door to the Law Institute open, he led the way through to what would be Clementine's final murder in Aldergrove.
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