The Dandelion System

Chapter 29

He bit his lips and his eyes glistened.

"And you were the first one to show me there were people in the world who would sacrifice themselves for others. For your sister, for the contestants, and maybe if we had met earlier—for me." He took a deep breath. "Please live, Karlina."

"I will."

Then he pressed something into my hand. I looked at it in confusion.

"Take it," he said. I hesitated but before I could reject, he folded my fingers around it. "Please."

I left the tower and hurried to gather with Aideen at night. I changed into my thinnest and lightest dress, then concealed myself in a black cloak, before joining up with Aideen at the corner of the Middle Class dorm, making sure to stand as far as possible from where the dim moonlight and starlight hit the floor through the curtains. Other than that, the hallway was almost entirely dark.

By the time my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see the outline of the staircases' railings.

We had decided the moment when we see a person enter a room, Aideen will go up the other staircase at the end of the hall to call for help from the upper floors, and I would call for help downstairs by this staircase.

When we heard the sound of footsteps, both Aideen and I stopped breathing, not daring to move or even look at each other. We pressed ourselves to the wall and twisted our head to look at the person.

It was a lithe figure, a female, who came up from the other staircase. However, she didn't seem to be in a hurry. In fact, she seemed afraid as she peered around the hallway warily before going to a room. Once there she quickly opened the door and bolted inside, closing it silently but quickly.

"Do you think she is a contestant?" Aideen whispered to me, voice small.

"I don't know," I said. "But go to Oda and tell her. Don't return until I go to you and tell you whether or not it's a contestant."

She nodded instead of speaking, and scurried down the hallway to go to the further staircase without the figure noticing.

The moment she left, I felt a weight off my shoulders.

The figure from before could not be the murderer; I recognized it to be Nicolette and her room. She was a Middle Class contestant and had just returned to her own room. She had probably came up from staying at Viola's room. They were often together at nights. I had checked with Oda and both of them had alibis at the time of the murders. The truth was I wanted Aideen to stay with Oda and stall time.

I had to be alone. The murderer would, no matter what, come up the stairs. The murderer was not a contestant, I was sure. Therefore they would come by the staircase I was closer too, because if you came into the Grey Castle, that was the closest staircase. The murderer wouldn't waste time to go to the further one.

When the second figure ascended the stairs, my breath got hitched.

It was a figure dressed in black like me, and they move with stealth and confidence. Like how a cat stalks a prey before pouncing. Their movements blended into the dark and I wouldn't have even noticed if they had not stopped and walked into the hallway.

There was no doubt. It was the murderer.

My heart raced and I bit my lips. I prayed that the figure does not see me. No, they cannot. I could barely see anything but the cloak they are wearing and I had been in the dark for some time. I could only see the cloak's movements, not even the height or built of the person under it. They surely couldn't see me, as I was crouching and hiding in the dark corner.