Page 294 of A University of Betrayal

Miles’ serious voice reached my ear. “The date of his death is the second of November 1998.”

Chapter 49

Julian

Autumn Forest Ambiance

Nature Alley

My father slammed the car door shut, and Bayla and I flinched at the same time. Mia started giggling like she was twelve and not sixteen, even though she had only turned sixteen a few days ago. She and Bayla blushed at the same time and exchanged glances that I couldn’t interpret.

Sometimes I just didn’t understand girls.

“When was the last time we went mushroom picking, boy?”

My father practically slapped me on the back and I just laughed.

“Don’t remind me that I loved something that boring.”

“Don’t be like that,” Mia, in her dark green raincoat, laughed. Bayla just grinned at me, which automatically made me grin too.

Strangely enough, it hadn’t taken long for her to sayYes...tothis.

IfIhad invited her instead of my father, I bet she would have laughed at me and gone back to that creepy cemetery to examine the graves of the two students.

It still gave me the creeps that they had died on the same day and that nobody wanted to talk about them.

“Don’t just stand there looking lost. Come on!” Mia called me out. She had already gone ahead, not as far as my father, who was already a hundred meters further along the forest path, adjusting his rifle.

The joke was that it wasn’t even mushroom season, since it was December. The three of us knew that, and we weren’t surprised by dad’s suddenchange of plans, since he had probably never picked mushrooms in his entire life.

What made him think that anyone would believe that it was still mushroom season? Diana, who he had tried to fool, had only grinned at Bay and me when Dad had already headed for the car, and I had shaken my head.

I looked at Bayla, who smiled at me, then reached for her completely unnecessary basket and walked past me.

“Well then, let’s see what mushrooms I can find.”

I punched her in the side, and the jokingly meant nudge sent her into the nearest pile of leaves, where she sank in with a crackling sound. She immediately sat up again and glared at me... Then she looked briefly at my father, who was walking away from us into the forest, and then back at me to give me the middle finger.

I shook my head and came to her to help her up, reached for her hand – and at the grin, at the latest, I should have expected it, but it was her strength that I hadn’t reckoned with – and so I ended up in a pile of leaves next to her.

“Karma,Bardot,” she said, and I reached for the leaves to throw them in her face, but she was faster and jumped up, so I too got to my feet.

Bay ran off, her basket in her hand, as if she were Little Red Riding Hood, even though she was wearing a dark blue rain jacket.

She ran and hid behind Mia. Now she was giggling too, like my little sister, and pulled Mia back and forth so I couldn’t get past.

“Hey!” my sister shrieked when I accidentally rubbed the leaves in her face and grinned at her apologetically.

“Julian!” she shouted and ran after me, and I immediately jumped away as if it were a matter of life and death.

“Damn idiot!”she continued shouting, and we passed my father, who moved aside shaking his head.

After a hundred meters, she caught up with me and pulled me to the ground.

“You can do that with your friend, but not with me.”

With yellow glowing eyes, she glared at me and in that moment, I knew.

---