Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3: The Hearing

ELIZABETH’S POV

Marian left the same evening she came. Just like that, visitor’s pass returned, a smile was still on her face, and now, she’s gone before I could figure out what to do about any of it.

I lay in bed that night going over everything. The corridor footage was edited, I could see it clearly when she showed me the screen, but clearly wasn’t enough. Clearly didn’t mean I could prove it. 

Marian has always been smart about the things she does to me. She has been doing them since we were twelve years old and she has never once been caught.

I closed my eyes and told myself to sleep. The hearing was in the morning.

The formal hearing was held in the east wing conference room at nine o’clock. I wore my cleanest uniform and got there five minutes early.

The room had a long table with four staff members sitting on one side. 

The vice principal in the middle, two senior teachers on her left, and a vampire elder I didn’t recognize on the right with a silver chain around his neck.

Jasmine Donid was there, sitting to the side with her two friends. She had a faint bruise below her left eye that she had made no effort to cover. 

She looked at me when I walked in and looked away like I was beneath a response.

I sat in the single chair facing the table and put my hands in my lap and kept my face still.

The vice principal opened the file. “Elizabeth Siege, a first year scholarship student. Has gotten two reported incidents within your first twenty four hours at this institution.” She looked up at me over her glasses. “That is a record, Miss Siege, and it’s not a good one.”

“I understand.” I said.

“We will hear from witnesses before we make any decision.” She said, “You will have the opportunity to speak.”

The first witness was one of Jasmine’s friends. She described the corridor outside the dormitory the evening before, which was the Jasmine incident, and by the time she finished I sounded like someone who had been looking for a fight since I arrived. I sat still and said nothing.

The second witness was one of the vampires who had been in the corridor during the first year girl incident. She said she saw me standing over the girl. She said the girl looked frightened. 

Both of those things were technically true and both of them meant something completely different from what she was implying and I kept my hands in my lap and breathed.

“Miss Siege.” The vice principal looked at me. “Your response.”

I explained both incidents clearly. I told them about Jasmine slapping me first. I told them I reacted without meaning to and that I didn’t understand what happened when she fell. 

I told them about the first year girl in the corridor, that I found her already on the floor, that I asked if she was okay and she left frightened. I told them about Marian and the edited footage.

The vampire elder leaned forward slightly when I mentioned the footage. “You’re claiming the evidence was fabricated?”

“I’m saying the footage was edited.” I said. “There is a visible cut in the middle of it.”

“By whom?”

“My stepsister. She had a visitor pass yesterday. She showed me the footage herself.” This made the room quiet for a second.

“That is a serious accusation.” The vice principal said.

“Yes.” I said. “It is.”

She wrote something down. “We have one more witness.” She looked toward the door and nodded to someone.

I heard the chair scrape behind me, then footsteps walking towards me from behind. Then came Kae Armstrong, who sat down in the witness chair to my left.

I looked at him surprisingly but he didn’t look back at me.

“Mr. Armstrong.” The vice principal said. “You indicated you were present during the first incident involving Miss Siege and Miss Donid. What did you witness?”

Kae had his hands on his knees and his eyes on the table in front of him. He was quiet for just a second too long. “I was in the corridor.” He said. “I saw Miss Donid on the floor.”

“And before that? Did you witness what caused Miss Donid to fall?”

Another second. I was watching the side of his face and I could feel something was wrong before he even opened his mouth.

“I saw Miss Siege strike her.” He said. “With a significant force.”

I stared at him with utter shock. What was he saying? He’s clearly lying. I screamed in my head.

“That was the extent of it.” He said. Still not looking at me.

“And in your assessment, was the force used by Miss Siege proportionate to the situation?”

He paused. “No.” He said quietly. “It wasn’t.”

The room moved on. The vice principal asked two more questions and Kae answered them and the whole time I sat completely still and said nothing because I just felt something go very cold inside my chest.

Yesterday morning at breakfast he sat across from me and ate like we were friends and told me he saw what happened and he knew I didn’t do anything wrong. He said it simply, like it was just a fact. So why is he doing this now?

The vice principal was speaking in a warning tone about disciplinary probation for the remainder of the term. And that any further incidents would result in suspension and a review of my scholarship.

I heard all of it. But I was still looking at Kae. He finally turned and met my eyes when the hearing was over and everyone was standing. 

And I noticed that his expression was complicated in a way I didn’t have the energy to read. So I looked away first.

I picked up my bag and walked out and didn’t look back at anyone.

“I know you.” That was what he said to me this morning.

But now he has changed it to. “I saw Miss Siege strike her with a significant force.”