Headmistress Vale paced impatiently outside the coroner’s office, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her lips pressed into a thin line, and a worried look on her face, different from her usual demeanour, which I was used to.
I could tell she was worried—and who wouldn’t be? With the induction ceremony just a few hours away, a dead student was not a good look. If this gets out, many parents will withdraw their children by the end of the day.
Marcus, Peter, I and Kael, alongside three staff members, including the admission specialist, were sitting nearby, hiding tired yawns behind their hands. Most of them were dragged out of sleep.
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed... this was the fastest autopsy I’d ever witnessed at the academy and the most quietly chaotic morning I’d ever lived through.
Since the moment I raised the alarm about the body, both official and some staff have been scrambling to find out what happened.
It had taken them nearly an hour to identify the dead student without alerting the rest of the school. Now, Headmistress Vale was insisting on immediate autopsy results so we could determine the next course of action and understand what had truly happened.
My eyes scanned the hallway again, taking note of the sleepy expressions on everyone’s faces—everyone except Kael. He looked like his day started five hours ago.
Sidling up to where he was, I leaned toward him and whispered. "Hey, bro...did Eamon crash at yours last night?"
Instead of answering, Kael deliberately moved away from me, creating distance between us.
Right. Message received.
I knew what that meant—Kael didn’t want to talk, especially not to me. The first impression I formed of Kael as a newly admitted student was the kind you have of someone you instinctively know you won’t like, but also won’t hate.
Aside from his superb fighting skills, which made him stand out among everyone at the academy, Kael had earned nicknames like ’Brooding Kael’ and ’The ruthless strategist’.
He’d earned those titles in our first year because of his coldly analytical approach to everything. He was terrifyingly honest, unapologetically private and brutally fair. Kael didn’t care about your emotions unless they interfered with logic.
He didn’t bother with other people’s feelings, didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. For Kael, everything he did had to have some benefit.
He was morally upright in his way—the guy never lied and wasn’t pretentious—but he also carried grudges and didn’t forgive easily.
But I had seen the way he looked at Charis. I’d caught him multiple times staring at her, and it bothered me that even disguised as a boy, Charis was still drawing that kind of attention to herself.
From none other but Kael and that...that messed with me more than I wanted to admit.
Before my thoughts could spiral, the door to the coroner’s office swung open. A man in a blood-smudged plastic apron emerged, tossing it over his head to a nurse who followed behind him with a tired grunt. His face was drawn, and the lines around his eyes were deeper than usual.
Headmistress Vale stopped pacing.
He turned towards her and murmured. "If you could follow me to my office—"
Headmistress Vale shook her head firmly. "Unless your office can accommodate all of us, just give us the results here. Everyone present is reliable and has clearance for this kind of information."
The coroner gave her a strange look, clearly uncomfortable with sharing such details in a hallway, but shrugged in resignation.
"The wounds were definitely from rogue wolf attacks," he began. "Based on the bite patterns and claw marks, we’re estimating that at least four different rogues were involved in the assault."
He paused, consulting his notes. "We also found a high percentage of alcohol in his system—enough to make him drunk, which could have slowed down his ability to defend himself. Additionally, biological evidence confirms he had intercourse shortly before the attack. We found both seminal and vaginal fluids on the lower portion of his body."
There was an awkward silence before Headmistress Vale spoke.
"And that bluish tinge?" she asked quietly.
The coroner shrugged. "That’s the part I don’t understand. It’s not bruising, not frostbite, nor chemical either. We’ll need more time to run tests, but we had to prioritise identifying the cause of death for now."
Headmistress Vale placed a hand over her chest and took a deep breath. "So basically, we need to issue a rogue warning to the academy?"
"Yes." The coroner nodded gravely. "These appear to be snow rogues, based on the attack patterns. They’re significantly more vicious and unpredictable than regular rogue wolves. They travel in smaller packs, move silently and show no mercy to their victims. Most academies down south have never dealt with them, but here—"
"—We’re in their territory," Vale finished for him. Her voice had gone cold.
The coroner gave a solemn nod. "The weather’s changing. They’re moving closer to civilisation."
"How did they get past our security perimeter?" Kael asked suddenly, drawing attention to himself. "Our school’s security perimeter is ironclad; nothing gets past it."
"I don’t know," the coroner replied, shrugging. "I don’t work in your school, but snow rogues are cunning. They’re capable of breaching defences that would stop ordinary rogue wolves."
"What about the ceremonial attire?" I interjected. "Why was he dressed for a formal occasion?"
The coroner gave me an exasperated look. "That’s beyond my expertise. The when and why of his activities before death are questions for the administration to investigate."
"Are there any immediate safety recommendations?" Headmistress Vale asked. "Tonight is our induction, parents are already on their way here, it’s too late to send them back."
"Well, whatever you do, make sure no one is allowed outside the main buildings after dark." The coroner said with a shrug. "Snow rogues only have night vision, so they prefer night hunting, and they’re drawn to isolated individuals. Group activities only and maintain constant communication with security."
"What about the blue discolouration?" Kael asked again, speaking for the second time. "Could it be connected to any substance or conditions we should be aware of? Like a flu or some infection?"
The coroner met his gaze warily. "I already said I have no idea what that is. I’ll need to run toxicology screens and tissue analysis. It could be a reaction to something he ingested, or it might be related to whatever drew the rogues to him in the first place. Listen, I don’t have all the answers right now..."
"That’s okay, Doc," Headmistress Vale said with a smile. "I’ll be waiting for the full report."
The coroner nodded with a deep sigh, flashing a glare at Kael. "I’ll get back to work then. There’s still a lot of analysis to complete."
As he disappeared into an office down the hallway, Headmistress Vale turned to address us.
"We’ll return to the academy grounds now and discuss what to do next," she announced. "No one discusses this incident with students or unauthorised personnel. We’ll decide how to handle public information once we have more facts."
Everyone slowly dispersed. I didn’t move. My eyes remained on the spot where the coroner had stood.
Why was the student wearing his ceremonial uniform?