LAMIAE

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: FOLLOWING NIKOLAI

Casper spoke maybe once or twice, then dropped her off at the intersection, right next to the school.

A carefree, smiling Arleta was waiting for her in front of the building.

"It's the end of the week again," she squeaked, grinning from ear to ear.

Dagmara really didn't understand why Arleta disliked going to school so much. Their schedule was too loose for her anyway. As it turned out, the gaps in the lesson plan were caused by the absence of one teacher. These gaps were, of course, supposed to be filled with other classes or substitutes, but in reality the entire class was sent home. However, when December came and there were still no more lessons, Dagmara wrote down the number of hours out of sheer curiosity. As it turned out, almost half of the classes were missing. However, no one was too concerned about this fact, so she promised herself not to worry about it too.

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" Dagmara asked her friend.

The girl smiled mysteriously.

"I probably won't do anything tomorrow, but on Sunday, the twelfth, I have a family meeting."

"Uh huh," she said, although her thoughts were more interested in the case of Victoria's and Sandra's boyfriend murder than in Arleta's family meeting. "Can I ask you about someone?" she finally blurted out bluntly. It was so cold that steam was coming out of her mouth, but at the moment she was too worried to go into the school and talk there.

"I know what you want to ask," replied Arleta. She adjusted her beret with her free hand and cleared her throat. "I know from auntie that you are asking about Victoria, her death, even Gratian's death."

Dagmara bit her lip, she didn't even have a reason to protest.

This is why older people shouldn't use cell phones, she thought resentfully. They work faster than the gossip website.

"Gratian was Sandra's ex-boyfriend?" she asked. Somehow she had never been interested in what this unfortunate boy's name was. She always described him in her mind as Sandra's ex.

"Yes, but I can't help you."

"Why?" she almost whispered.

"I didn't know Victoria for long. She was two years older and more mature than me. You should talk to Sandra, they were close."

The girl felt like rolling her eyes. She already imagined her honest conversation with Sandra. It might have started off decently, but the girl constantly looked at her as a mortal enemy, and there was no point in deepening this already unhealthy relationship between the two of them.

"I thought the three of you were friends," she said, sniffling. She felt as if the queen of winter herself had wrapped her arms around her. "I saw a picture at the mansion."

"Because we were, we liked each other," Arleta smiled. "I've almost forgotten about this photo. It was made two years ago, also in December."

"A few days before Victoria's death," Dagmara noticed, remembering the girls' faint smiles, as if there was something that took away their desire to pose. But there was, actually. A few days later, the worst-case scenario that Victoria had expected came true. She was murdered by members of the Council, and from that moment on, Casper would forever remember the fateful event, regretting that it happened.

"Auntie also said that you were in possession of Victoria's diary," Arleta interrupted her thoughts. "It's good that it was found, and you know... I read it too."

"Whole?" she was surprised, but the girl smiled.

"No, just the first note. During the hype about Victoria's funeral, it disappeared somewhere, so it's good that it's been found. It was Sandra who advised Victoria to write it down. She also reportedly advised her to limit its notes.

Arleta took a deep breath, frowning. She was probably wondering if she hadn't said too much, because she made a miserable face and then suddenly changed the subject.

"Let's go to the school," she suggested, and Dagmara gladly agreed. They had already started walking towards the entrance when Nikolai, dressed elegantly, came out of the building. He was wearing a dark jacket and corduroy pants of the same color.

"Are you going somewhere?" Arleta asked, but Nikolai just glanced behind the girl, at the place where Dagmara was standing, and answered evasively:

"I'm heading back to the apartment. I don't want to sit in class," as soon as he announced this, he didn't even say goodbye and moved on.

Dagmara turned towards him, it was too late to shout to him, so she asked Arleta instead:

"Nikolai lives in Alan's building, right?" unfortunately, she didn't hear any yes or no. She turned her head to the expression on her companion's face. Her eyes spoke instead of her lips; that this information was confidential left no doubt.

"Come on, I could have guessed that," she growled, and then moved as if hypnotized, not towards the school, but following the boy, who had practically disappeared from her sight.

"What are you doing?!"Arleta shouted with great panic in her voice.

"I'm going to Alan's apartment," ​​she replied truthfully, which unfortunately was not accepted by her friend.

"You can't, Alan doesn't go to school."

"I noticed, that's why I am going to him," it seemed so simple. She finally understood something, even though it took ninety-one days to figure it out. Alan was the only person who didn't care if she knew the truth or not, so he was happy to give her any answer. He couldn't hurt her grandmother with this, because since she herself had demanded it, her grandmother should respect it. Genevieve had time during these thirteen weeks, but she did nothing to make it easier for Dagmara to learn the withheld information. It was high time she started acting on her own.

"I can't let you do that," Arleta moaned, and from the corner of her eye, Dagmara noticed that the girl had taken out her cell phone. She was about to take it from her when Arleta's face went pale. "The battery... I could have sworn it was full..." she looked reproachfully at Dagmara, who stopped for a moment, looking around for Nikolai. "But... you didn't do it, do you?"

Dagmara stared at her in disbelief. How was she supposed to discharge the cell phone in someone's pocket?

"No, although I admit it suits me," she replied brusquely.

Even though she lost Nikolai, she decided to go to the bus stop. Arleta followed her like a shadow. Fortunately for Dagmara, on the opposite side of the street, she saw Nikolai again, leaving the store with a package of candies in his hand. He didn't notice them, especially since his bus, which he boarded, arrived immediately.

Dagmara had a moment. She was in a pedestrian crossing, but since there was no traffic at the moment, she ran across the street to get into the vehicle. Arleta must have done the same, because when she heard the beep that signaled the door to close, they were both already inside. They sat at a safe distance from Nikolai, so he wouldn't see them. Arleta suggested they should approach him but Dagmara disagreed. Something told her that Nikolai, like Arleta, wouldn't agree to show her Alan's apartment unless it was too late.