Last night was chaos, Orchid thought. After stealing Stanley Crawford's student file from Roux's office, she rushed straight to her dorm. Passing by, she saw the bloodshed that Bailey created, it was terrifying. Ivory's blood on the floor of the hall... It wasn't a pretty sight. At last, she had managed to escape the cops and hide out in her dorm, sitting on her bed.

She flipped through the file, though it was short and orderly. She stopped on his medical file, seeing the words Mental Health Disorder on a page. Did Stanley have mental health issues? On the file, it stated that S. C. had undiagnosed schizophrenia. Orchid thought back to the registration forms that the Silverleaf Gothic Literature Club had, it asked questions about their mental health, didn't it? And Stan's journal entries that were found in the secret room in the Cleaners' Quarters.

What if the club was accepting members with mental health problems? Wait no, that didn't make sense, she didn't have any of that. Right? She didn't know about Tommy Asterion either, but looks could be deceiving. Orchid's mind lingered on Tommy, thinking about that cocky smirk for a few minutes before emailing a message to Stoll.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Hey, I was wondering if you could meet me up at the secret room at 4:00 AM tomorrow. I think it's early but it's to assure that no one will get in our way. Also, I'm pretty sure Gil the security guard is half-dead at this point lmao.

Orchid knew that this email was more playful than usual, but decided to send it anyway. Hiding Stanley Crawford's file in her mattress' slit and went downstairs to face the music.

There were cops crawling around everywhere and the area where Bailey bashed Ivory's head into the wall was closed off with caution tape. Shit, Silverleaf is actually a crime scene now. Orchid averted her gaze, not stopping until she reached the nurse's office.

She knocked on the door and Helen, the office lady, greeted her. She had medical credentials, so she doubled as the school's nurse. "I'm here to see Bailey," Orchid said meekly, keeping up the mousy-and-quiet-girl act.

Helen sighed. "She's... not well at the moment."

Orchid widened her eyes innocently. "W-What? Oh no, is she okay?"

"Yes, she suffered minor injuries, she's resting right now."

"Can I please see her?" Orchid begged, sniffling. Bring out the fake tears. Helen softened as she explained. "You see, Bailey's just been so alone and if she gets so lonely, well, it'll be bad for her mental health and—"

Helen pinched the bridge of her nose, slightly aggravated. "Alright, go visit her, she's at the corner of the room, you have ten minutes." Helen left and Orchid dashed towards Bailey.

"Bailey!" Orchid cried out once she saw Bailey in a hospital-like bed, her wrists bound to the rails. She looked as if she was in a psych ward, having to be tied down. Bailey blinked, unsmiling, but sighed weakly. "Oh, thank God, it's just you, Orchid. I hope you were Officer Saige, grilling me for another question."

"Are you okay?" she asked, settling in a plastic visitor chair.

Bailey blinked back tears, having a black eye, bruised knuckles, and a few scratches from Ivory's sharp nails. "No," she muttered. "I just found out I-Ivory Kee screwed my boyfriend, who's dead."

Orchid flinched. "Oh right, Rob." His death seemed a lifetime ago with everything going on. "It must be hard to lose someone, especially a lover. Sorry for your loss."

"He was a cheater, he slept with Ivory, you know. I fucking love Robert, Orchid." I fucking love Robert. Bailey used the present tense, it was almost as if he never died. The girl tilted back her head, her eyes void of any emotion. Orchid was anxious, she knew Bailey Preston—at least, she hoped she did—but she was still a threat. She was just so violent when attacking Ivory. "I killed her, Orchid."

Orchid's blood went cold as she widened her eyes. "What?" No, no.

Bailey started to cry, her voice raspy. She gripped onto the bed sheets as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I-I killed Ivory Kee. I was so angry that when I bashed her head into the wall—she couldn't take it. Her s-skull cracked and the bleeding was too much for her poor heart." She choked out a sob. "Ivory is dead, she bled out, and now I'm going to go to jail for the r-rest of my life..." She trailed off.

"I can't even..." Orchid murmured under her breath, feeling queasy. Bailey as a murderer? No, she couldn't fathom it, Bailey wasn't that kind of person. "It doesn't make sense, Bailey. You're not a violent person."

Bailey's breath was ragged as she glared at her wrist restrictions. Her nostrils flared in frustration and she eventually gave up. "I don't understand, I can barely remember where all that anger came from," she wailed. According to Orchid, Bailey seemed fine at the moment, all that previous craziness vanished. "I'm being driven down to the police before dawn."

"Tell me everything that happened in Headmaster Roux's office," she said.

Bailey tilted her head back, tired. "Well, Roux called me to talk about Robert's death. He asked me if I wanted anything to drink and I asked for coffee since I barely got any sleep since Rob passed away. He gave me a huge mug of coffee and I basically chugged it while the headmaster talked about how the cops were coming to investigate Rob's murder but I suddenly got a text.

"It was from an Unknown phone number, but I still obviously checked it, right? It said that Ivory was sleeping around with Rob and I could even confront Ruth or Lizzy if needed. That was all the proof I needed to go nutso on Ivory." Bailey closed her eyes. "Jesus, I'm so stupid."

"Stop it, you're not," Orchid retorted. "Although...why did you believe that text message? It could have been fake."

"I don't know! I just don't know! I was feeling so 'out of it.'" Bailey used her fingers to make air quotes. "I got so furious that I stormed out of Headmaster Roux's office and lost my shit. I went absolutely feral on her."

Orchid winced. "I wouldn't say feral."

"I heard the other students who witnessed the fight go down; I was feral for sure." Even if Bailey's tears dried up, she looked so miserable. "My mom and stepdad are going to be so upset, I fucking murdered a girl." She wept again.

Orchid stood up from her chair, walked over to the bed, and gave Bailey a hug. Bailey sobbed, soaking Orchid's blouse. Thoughts spun around her mind—Ivory Kee wasn't on the hit list. In fact, it was actually Bailey's name.

Maybe I'll be better if Bailey goes away from Silverleaf, she thought. Of course, Orchid didn't want Bailey to go to prison, but the murderer couldn't possibly harm her if she's gone from the school. "You'll be okay," Orchid whispered, but mainly to herself.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, it was Helen. "Time's up, sorry." Orchid nodded, waving goodbye to Bailey. She brushed past Helen, exhaling a breath she didn't even know she was holding, and checked her messages. Stoll replied to her, agreeing to meet up at the Cleaners' Quarters.

Orchid was so invested in her phone that she bumped into someone, sending her phone flying onto the floor. "Shit!" she yelped as she fell back. The person caught her by the wrist, pulling her back up. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry—" She realized the person who she bumped into was a familiar redhead. "Tommy? Crap, I really need to look where I'm going."

"No worries." Tommy bent down and picked up her phone, flipping it to show her the screen, grinning. "No cracks? Damn, lucky, aren't you?" Orchid let out a nervous laugh as a blush crept up to her cheeks. She didn't exactly remember having a crush, there was Jackson Millers, but he was a creep by wrapping his arm around her waist despite dating Navaeh.

Navaeh.

Forgot her, her mind snapped. Cute boy alert.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Tommy asked, smirking. "Let me guess? Secret dorm visit to your boyfriend?"

Orchid blushed, feeling too warm. "I-I don't have one." She hated how she stuttered, especially in front of Tommy Asterion. Ugh. Despite all the hectic things in her life at the moment, boys still caught her off-guard.

Tommy's lips quirked upwards. "Seriously? Oh, okay, cool." Shoot, was that a signal of flirting? Or was he just being friendly? Overly friendly, Orchid cursed in her head. "Are you coming to the gothic literature club meeting tomorrow evening?"

Orchid blinked. "Uhm..."

"Madeleine sent an email." Tommy glanced at Orchid's phone and she immediately scrolled through her email, spotting Madeleine Xing's name. How did she know her email? She's a professor, obviously. "So...?"

"Definitely going."

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Orchid was waiting outside the Cleaners' Quarters for Stoll, yawning a bit. It was 4:00 AM, and she was tired and sleepy. She had heard about Lizzy Connors' death shortly after encountering Tommy, and Orchid couldn't wrap her mind around it. Her name wasn't even on the hit list. Either was Ivory's.

The more she thought about the names in Stanley Crawford's diary, she thought about Bailey. She was feral and violent, but something made Orchid's head think. Roux gave her a mug of coffee which Bailey said made her sluggish. What if he drugged her? Added some aggression pills to the coffee to spite her. Why? It did not add up.

But who sent the text? The message that pissed Bailey off in the first place.

"Boo!" All of a sudden, Stoll jumped out behind her. Orchid gasped loudly, clutching her chest. She slapped his arm and he winced. "Ow! Goddamn, Gray, you can pack a punch just like Levine."

"You scared me," she retorted, huffing. "Let's go, Stoll." He shrugged as they entered the Cleaners' Quarters with the key that Stoll provided. He unlocked the cabinet door, looking over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I took down the footage of us in the halls during these past weeks while chit-chatting with Gil, the security guard. I used the fake loop method I mentioned, just swapped the loops a couple of rounds in between."

"How is Gil? Haven't seen him around much."

Stoll grinned. "He's getting more annoyed and tired with students, I think Gil basically gave up on doing his job properly." The secret door clicked open, revealing the tunnel. "Whatever, less work for us."

Orchid and Stoll both crawled through the tunnel until they arrived in Stanley's secret room. Orchid dusted her knees as she squinted in the dark, holding up her phone light. The room looked the same, no sign of anyone else in there.

"Huh, it still looks like Stan hasn't returned yet even though it's been almost three days." She was worried—what if Stan was truly the murderer? He's even connected back to the gothic literature club... But where was he now? He clearly wasn't a daily member. Maybe he was the grand mastermind behind it all.

"I set up a GoPro that I got for my eleventh birthday in here, it's hidden though." Stoll went to the desk and knelt down to remove a taped camera from the underbelly of the desk. "Ah, now we'll see for sure."

Orchid walked next to him, leaning on his back to peek over his shoulder. As Stoll sped up the video, she realized how close she was to him and backed away a few steps, flustered. "Gray, come here," he said, not minding it.

"Was he here?" Orchid asked, coming forward again.

"I sped through the entire footage, there's no trace of him, no one has been here for days," Stoll sighed, throwing back his head, groaning. "Now we might actually have to turn him in to the police. This is their turf now, Gray."

There was an undefined silence between the two. Without consulting Saira first? "Let's just consider our options when we get back with Levine," Stoll added quickly as they leaned back against the wall.

"Everything has been so crappy," Orchid grumbled.

"Agreed." He rubbed the back of his neck. They didn't really know what to do now, did they? There were only two sides the Originals could pick—hand Stanley and the rest of their findings to the police and risk exposing the three of them too...or...

Keep quiet about the murders.

"Flower?"

"Hm?" She snapped out of her thoughts.

"I need to talk to you about something—" Suddenly, his elbow hit the wall, and Stoll howled in pain as a hatch opened, built into the wall. "What the heck?" They both turned around as Orchid curiously peered inside.

"It looks like a hidden storage placement," Orchid said, cautiously reaching inside. She patted around until her fingers brushed against an object. She took it out as Stoll took her phone, shining the light. "It's a necklace?"

It was a silver necklace with a leaf charm—Silverleaf. It had a silver clasp as well and Stoll gently took it from Orchid's hands into his. "Actually, it's a locket," he explained, clicking on a little button to open the locket. He shone the phone light for Orchid.

She squinted, pushing up her glasses. "Wait..."

In the locket, S. A. was etched on the inside of the silver. "S. A. must stand for Samuel Anders," Orchid realized, turning to Stoll, wide-eyed. "One of your ancestors, he co-founded Silverleaf Academy along with Maya Bell."

Stoll flinched. "Uh, yeah, I sort of forgot about that."

"That your ancestors used to own and co-founded this place?" Orchid snorted, bumping hips with him. Stoll laughed, handing back Orchid's phone. "I think it's a love locket, you know? Maya Bell must have worn it so she could be reminded of her husband. This one must have been Maya's while Samuel wore another one with M. B. on it."

Orchid watched Stoll blink blankly. "What's wrong?" She saw hints of his hidden temper again, but it died away. He shook his head, trying to smile a bit. "I just thought of someone," he said softly. "You know what? Take it, Flower."

Orchid stared at Stoll as if he was crazy. "What? No, of course not. It's a family heirloom, right?" She did not expect that from him. "Think about it.

"I already did. If I give it to Sam, he'll pester me about where I got it from and go on a witch hunt to find out if there's any more heirlooms that were left behind by Samuel or Maya. Then he'd probably sell them for quick cash." Stoll closed his eyes, unsmiling. Greed is a destructive sin. "And, if I'm honest, I don't trust myself either."

"I mean...if that's what you want."

"Do you want me to help you put it on or...? I don't have to."

"Uh, sure." She turned around as Stoll put the locket around her, though he fiddled with the clasp, cursing under his breath a few times. She laughed as she lifted up her black hair. A few seconds passed by and Orchid's heart almost skipped a beat. Finally, Stoll stepped back, looking quite proud.

"That stupid clasp gave me hell by the way, so you owe me, Gray."

Orchid grasped the locket, feeling every curve and groove. "Thanks," she said, smiling slightly. All of a sudden, she remembered something. "What did you want to tell me before?"

Stoll's face became flushed as he cleared his throat. "It's just been on my mind for a bit, don't worry about it. It's not important." Orchid arched her eyebrow, puzzled. What does he want?

"If it's been on your mind, it must be important."

Stoll's leg started to bounce up and down as he fiddled with the zipper of his hoodie. "Gray..." He inhaled sharply. "I like you. Like-like you, if that makes any sense. And that sounds stupid and I'm foolish for saying all of this—" His breath hitched as he turned away. Orchid's heart seemed to slow down as she felt stuck in place. Her breathing quickened as her head whirled.

Flashes of Jackson Millers still roamed Orchid's mind and for a split second, she felt frozen in the past. Stoll isn't Jackson, she tried to reason with herself. But the anger? Still, they were very different people. Stoll rarely became furious—at least when Orchid was around—but when he did, it felt like he was a blazing fire.

Stoll's face fell. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Forget this happened."

He turned to leave, but Orchid grabbed his wrist. "Wait, Stoll, don't go. Let's talk about this." He looked over his shoulder, unsure. Orchid gulped, her eyes pleading. "Please?"

Stoll shoved his hands into his pockets. "Alright."

Oh God, what do I say now? Orchid thought helplessly. Did she like Stoll back? She stayed silent for a few seconds, wondering. She didn't know how or what to feel. Everything in her mind warned her of the risk of getting close to someone again, it warned her of how Stoll was a liability.

But her heart...? Well, that wasn't very easy to navigate either. Orchid looked at Stoll, their eyes boring into each other's. Had she always admired his black curls? Or the way his lips would quirk into a grin? Maybe even how he always goes beyond for her? Whether it be for the Shades of Gray Project or her own safety when receiving a threat.

Had Orchid's heart been tricking herself?

"I'm sorry," Stoll repeated again. "This was a dumb idea."

"Stoll, I—" All of a sudden, her phone pops with a notification. Seriously, right now? Orchid was about to ignore it when she realized it was an email from Saira. "Wait, Levine needs something."

"What?" Stoll came to Orchid's side, peering at her screen.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

COME TO THE SILVERLEAF GREENHOUSE ASAP, FAREEDA IS DEAD.

Orchid's eyes widened. "Holy shit."