Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 101

Erika Lewis had mixed feelings about her job as principal. It was a prestigious position and looked at with great respect by others, however dealing with spoiled children and their rich parents was akin to Hell on Earth — on a good day.

Today was turning out to be one of the not good days.

The morning had been fine, perfect even, but then just after lunch had finished Mr Carter had shown up and everything was downhill from there.

Mr Devreaux arrived and that meant one of his children was into something. From experience, that usually meant Laurent, but Mr Carter wouldn’t have been acting as he’d been if that was the case. Which meant this was about the daughter.

The moment Erika set eyes on the girl shaking on the floor she feared her career was over. There was no way the Devreaux family would let this slide. Punishing the person responsible would only go so far, and chances were good the guilty party was also from a prominent and wealthy family.

This was a lose-lose situation for someone in her position.

After leaving Miss St Peters in the infirmary with the big, black man to keep watch, Erika ushered everyone into her office, where she had Ms Gardener fetch more chairs so everyone could have a seat while they discussed what to do next.

The four students were quiet for the most part, letting the adults discuss what would be the best course of action.

“If calling the police causes Miss St Peters so much distress, it might be best to attempt handling this in house for the time being. Getting her to divulge who perpetrated the affair might be the best course of action,” she offered, hoping to keep the police out of it. The only reason she’s brought up the police was because she’d been caught up in the moment; seeing the girl in such a state had the principal blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Now that she was over the initial shock, the last thing Erika needed was for the parents to learn something happened that required calling the police. There would be no end to those phone calls and meetings. 

“Why did none of her teachers report she’d missed her morning classes?” Mr Devreaux demanded, changing the subject without warning.

“Students skip class all the time, Mr Devreaux,” she explained, her gaze flicking to Laurent, who was typing on his phone. “I’m sure you understand we can’t call every student’s parents when this happens.”

“Except Vivian has never skipped class before, has she?” He countered. “She missed first period once, last week, and her teacher was informed of the situation. This should have set the precedent that she wouldn’t simply not show up without reason.”

Erika tried not to sigh. Every parent thought their child was above reproach and this time was no different. Yes, Vivian St Peters was, on paper, a model student, but that didn’t change the fact that teenagers were prone to sudden changes in mood and behaviour; peer pressure played a large role in it. God knew some students skipped their morning classes because they wanted to sleep in. “I understand this is frustrating, Mr Devreaux, but we can’t—“

“There are specific notes in her file,” he interrupted, voice calm. “That you are to keep a close eye on her due to her past circumstances; that her teachers are allowed to contact me if they think something is off.”

Pressing her fingers to her temple, Erika tried to keep the headache that was threatening to turn into a migraine at bay. “Like I said, I understand this is frustrating, but you have to understand we have hundreds of students and it can be difficult to single one out like that.”

Before he could say anything more his phone rang. Shooting her a cold look, Mr Devreaux answered the call and said nothing, hanging up after all of five seconds. “Excuse me,” was all he said as he stood and left.

If Erika dared do what he’d just done she’d be fired on the spot.

Privileges of the rich.

Feeling more at ease now that only the students were present, she finally let out the sigh she’d been holding back.

“Why does Vivian have a note in her file about past circumstances?” It was Miriam Wilson who spoke, one of the few students who never caused trouble. “What past circumstances?”

Two of the students, Theodore McCullough and Ms Wilson herself, were looking at the youngest Devreaux, who’d finally put away his phone. Mr Carter looked relaxed as he sat back in his chair, simply looking on as everything happened around him.

“Vivian’s past is complicated,” Laurent explained in an off handed voice. “No one really knows anything about her childhood because she’s never talked about it.” He took a deep breath, shifting in his seat just a bit. Erika’s ears were perked as she, too, didn’t know the specifics on why those notes were in the student’s file. “She’s very organized and thrives with solid, but lenient, structure. Give her a schedule and she’ll stick to it. The only times she’s ever deviated from the norm were because something happened to force the change.”

“What kind of things happened?” Mr McCullough asked this time as he leaned forward in his chair, looking expectantly at the Devreaux boy.

Laurent shrugged his shoulders. “Usually problems with her foster families. Either the parents or the other siblings were going through something, or trying to enforce a rule she didn’t agree with. Nothing horrible or whatever, just usually drama for a kid. Anyway, even through all that her school records show a near spotless attendance. The only times she’s ever not made it to class were due to illness or a change in foster family. It’s why Dad is mad no one clocked her missing class as more than just a teenager skipping.”

“You thought that’s what was going on, too,” Mr McCullough countered.

The Devreaux boy shrugged a second time. “Don’t worry, I’ll hear all about that later.”

Erika blinked. Did that mean Samuel Devreaux actually punished his sons when they broke the rules? With the amount of times Laurent had been in her office over the years, this was surprising. It always felt like the father had no control over the son, that he’d given up and just let Laurent do as he pleased. Perhaps there was more to it than that.

“But what about her childhood,” Miriam prodded. “What do you know about that? Like … was she homeless on the street? I know your mom disappeared, and somehow had Vivian, but…”

“Beats me,” he sighed. “Like I said, she doesn’t talk about it. Ever. Never has, probably never will. We don’t even know if she was raised by our mom or what.”

Wanting the boy to divulge more information, Erika chose to remain silent; if they forgot an adult was present it was possible they’d keep talking. The more she understood about the situation and the girl in the centre of it, the better she could navigate it.

Her phone had a different idea and began to ring loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. Picking up the receiver, she said, “This is Mrs Lewis speaking.”

The call lasted less than a minute and she didn’t need to say anything, only listen and nod — not that the caller could see — before hanging up. “Looks like we now know who the culprits are,” she told the students.

This was turning out to be a really, really bad day.