He looked solemn. He must’ve been worried about the fit I’d had yesterday and about how I’d collapsed last night. Perhaps all those lively questions were just his way of cheering me up.But it wasn’t needed. I looked at Cal’s uneasy face and spoke.“Cal, I wonder if you’ve really grasped the seriousness of this.”“…Of course I have,” he replied, all trace of a smile gone.“I mean, do you truly understand? Cal, thanks for offering to help—but as I said yesterday, you could go through the same thing I did. Do you know what that means? Being beaten, abused, and raped.”“That might happen. Or it might not,” he answered, surprisingly composed.“I thought it over at length after you passed out like that… You didn’t fall asleep easily. Yes, Raymond. You’re right: I could suffer what you did. But # Nоvеlight # now…”He trailed off and stared at my face. In his eyes I sensed an unbreakable resolve. Cal spoke calmly, his gaze clear.“I can’t back out now. I know everything that happened to you, so I can’t just pretend I don’t and run away. I’m not helping you only for your sake—if I left you to it, I’d live with guilt forever. I’m helping you for my own sake, too.”Cal faltered, then added in a mumbled voice that at last earned my trust.“I can’t help it, Raymond. It’s like spilled water.”Silence followed. Once we’d fetched our meals, there was no more grave conversation. Neither of us had morning exams, so we relaxed and ate in peace. The talk turned to everyday topics.Cal, as if he’d entirely forgotten our solemn exchange, cheerfully brought up the tests. I played along, but Cal’s words from moments before kept circling in my mind.He’d vowed to help me for his own sake, and those words gave me a strange mix of trust and deep sadness. Someday Cal would realize he should’ve run. I couldn’t bear responsibility for his choice. He’d thrust himself into my mess—now we had no choice but to walk this path together. I still suspected he might be as hypocritical as George, but unlike George, Cal had proven somewhat reliable.George—yes, he was different. George’s actions never made sense. On one hand, there were things he did that made it believable he was a predecessor:He had the same bundle of photos as I did.He’d been raped by Hugh while Jérôme and Simon watched.The pills he gave me to kill Jérôme were real—if the pills were real, the key probably was too.But there were also facts that proved he was complicit:He lied about six predecessors. They never existed.He let my abuse happen and even took part in the rape.He lied about the fourth person in the photo bundle. George’s story was full of contradictions.That clarified my top priority: I had to expose George. To fight, I needed to know my enemy. But to unmask him, I’d have to gamble by plunging headfirst into their trap. I sensed our game was nearing its end. They wanted to test my limits—could I endure the next abuse? I’d already had one fit in the library.If I broke, it would be over. They’d never given me a real chance. Each assault aimed to crush me, and only by surviving did I gain precious chances of my own. But the moment I succumbed to abuse, the hunt would end. Then they’d tear me apart without hesitation.“When the term ends, I’m going to France.”Even as I brooded, Cal chattered about trivial things.“I have to watch the World Cup final—my parents got tickets. We’re all going together. And after the Cup, I’m spending the break on the southern beaches. Thanks to Bluebell, I’m sick of the cold.”His mention of the break snapped me back to reality.“Summer break?”I asked dumbly.“Yeah. After this week’s exams end, break starts next week.”“So… we can leave the school?”I repeated stupidly.Cal’s eyes lit, and he nodded as if he understood exactly what I meant.“Right. If you don’t want to call the police, just make it through this week. Break won’t last long—only about a month, with college prep and all. But after break, you don’t have to come back, right?”A break! It felt like a punch to the gut. I blinked like an idiot, staring at Cal’s earnest face. I’d completely forgotten about break—I’d hardly set foot on campus in five years.When break begins, everyone scatters home. Jérôme and the others would be gone too. I might even return to Julia’s in California. If that was true, an escape route from Jérôme’s gang stood wide open.I felt ridiculous. I didn’t need the police at all. After nearly a month enduring abuse from Jérôme and the three others, I could certainly endure one more week.My tension drained; I almost slid off my chair. Laughing at Cal’s bewildered look, I said:“If it’s only this week, it’s a cinch, Cal.”I still had a smile on my lips as I spoke gently.“I’ve done brilliantly so far.”He said a week, but today was already Wednesday. The mornings were gone. Counting today, just five more days remained. And I didn’t even have to spend the weekend here—maybe I could leave Friday. Thinking that, my heart felt as light as a feather.After breakfast, on the way to my afternoon exam, we began planning the week. Cal offered me the living-room sofa, no hesitation. And if I asked Eric’s permission, he said I could lock my door and sleep on the floor under blankets. Again, I had no reason to refuse.We agreed to stick together whenever possible—except this evening, since Cal had an exam until dinner. I only had this afternoon and Thursday morning exams left. While Cal was in his exam, I’d spend time in the workshop with the club members.Cal said if nobody was in the workshop, I should go to his dorm common room—there would always be two or three people there. But I preferred waiting in the courtyard or the café, where there were more people. After discussing this and that, we reached the school.Cal walked me to my exam room.“Good luck, Raymond. You studied?”“No—don’t care about the grades, anyway.”He stopped in the hallway and stared at me.“You didn’t just breeze through the exam, right? You at least did the bare minimum?”“I breezed through it.”Cal spoke seriously.“If your grades are bad, you’ll have to do remedial classes over break. That’s really rare, and the cutoff is low, so you’ll probably be fine, but…”He trailed off, giving me the smallest grin.“I’ll be fine. I didn’t breeze that much.”I laughed and answered, but couldn’t help asking:“I’ve never heard of remedial classes canceling break. Or even heard the break schedule. Nobody told me.”“No way. They tell you everything at the orientation. And when you transferred in, the staff explained it all.”Cal brushed it off.“You just don’t remember.”He shrugged. I was certain I’d never heard of it. I headed into the classroom, bidding Cal farewell. Thanks to Cal, I took the exam with proper care—it was English lit, my favorite subject, so it wasn’t hard. When it ended, I went straight to the workshop as planned. I chose the most crowded route and reached it without incident.Inside were several club members: a few girls, including Judy, and two or three boys I didn’t recognize. They turned when I entered with a clatter. Judy stood surrounded, tears streaming down her face. A cold foreboding ran down my neck.Judy saw me and seemed about to greet me, then burst into tears and buried her face in another girl’s shoulder. I stood by one boy and quietly asked what had happened. He looked troubled and replied:“After the morning exams, Judy went back to her dorm, but someone must’ve broken in—it was a total wreck. But that’s not the worst of it…”He added in a low voice:“They stole her uniform… and even her underwear, apparently. They reported it to the matron right away and decided to call the police…”I couldn’t hear beyond that. My heart dropped. The culprit was obvious.The police arrived and investigated, but found nothing—because the crime happened during exams, when nobody was in the dorm and the matron was away. Luckily, a staff member guarded the entrance instead, but she testified that no one returned while she was on duty. Judy finished her interview and decided to rest in a friend’s room.Watching all this unfold, I realized how foolish Cal’s idea of calling the police was. The police were useless—just as they’d been arranged to be. Whoever was behind this had orchestrated it cunningly so the police could never help. Was there anything they couldn’t pull off?For me. Only for me.Their insane actions were nothing less than fervent courtship…but the moment I accepted that courtship, all their passion would cool like a corpse. Their advances were most valuable when rejected and hated.After the police car disappeared, I turned around—and ran into someone behind me. Looking up to apologize, I faltered at the face before me. Simon—the one who’d haunted me like a ghost these past days—was finally standing right in front of me. He said:“Can we walk a bit?”“Are you insane? Get lost.”I snapped and walked past him swiftly. But Simon, uncharacteristically, followed me. He didn’t look angry—just indifferent—as he walked beside me and said, “I have something I want to confess.”“I don’t want to hear it.”I answered icily without slowing my pace. Simon grabbed my arm. His hand, always warm, gently closed around my forearm. He stopped walking, looked at me seriously, and confessed:“I love you, Raymond.”We stood in the monastery’s arched corridor, staring at each other. A few students wandered by, and in the small cloistered garden beyond, groups of boys and girls gathered in the sunflowered sunlight. Simon’s face, bathed in golden light, looked honest without a trace of deceit. His dark eyes studied me earnestly.There was none of Jérôme’s biting humor, none of Hugh’s false passion, none of George’s calculating gaze. Yet I could clearly read the madness lurking underneath. Simon was earnest. He seemed to truly confess love—but if those eyes were sincere, Simon was a madman.His eyes were not the typical ‘eyes of the lovestruck.’ In their perfectly controlled, calm gaze was not hidden passion, but undeniable obsession.I didn’t pull away. I quietly spoke.“You say you love me.”Simon answered calmly.“Yes. I love you, Raymond.”If that line were poetry, it might have sounded sweet. But Simon’s dry confession was anything but. I was more curious than outraged, so I asked:“In what way?”

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