Was he not scared? Eugene only stared at Claude's shaking figure. Of course, he was terrified. However, that thing was still his best friend. He probably couldn't say he was afraid of Claude to his face.
"…I'm surprised you didn't say something like… don't say anything." Eugene laughed a little and ended up sitting beside Claude. "Man, my body aches so bad. Are you really going to carry me? We should leave before someone starts looking for these guys."
Claude looked at the multiple bodies around them. "…tell the police what happened. Don't bother about covering for me. It doesn't matter what they did. I still killed them."
Eugene glanced at him. "Yeah, they'll believe me. Are you planning to look like that furry monster when the police pick you up? Dude, let's just leave. No one will know we were even here. Ah, shit… my bag's all over the place."
With a sigh, Eugene forced his body to move. He took off his jacket and gave it to Claude. "Wipe off the blood on your face. Don't worry. That's just a cheap imitation."
"You like this one, though." Claude still took the jacket. However, he wore it instead. He just used the sleeves to relieve stickiness on his face. His smile lessened as he stared at the mangled bodies. He hung his head. "How many years do you think I'm looking at? Death row at nineteen? That gotta be some broken record, right?"
"You want to talk insane? Okay. How about self-defense, bruv?" Eugene consoled his bruised cheekbone. "Those guys tried to kill us. That bitch fucking shot you five times! You acted to protect us."
Claude turned to his friend. Eugene didn't have to stay beside him for this. The logical move was to escape, but he refused to leave. Right now, it didn't matter what he said. If Eugene inserted himself in the crime, they might have to sit in jail together.
Running footsteps echoed toward the place. Claude and Eugene were alarmed since the noises belonged to more than one person. When the chapter president showed up at the corner, the two froze. Didn't Gracie's boyfriend say Psi Saint Alpha would protect its members? What if these guys attacked them again? Would Claude have to kill more people?
It was just that… the chapter president froze just the same before turning to the side to vomit. He then held onto the person who came next. "Prepare yourself. Fuck, it's like they got run over…"
"It's all right." The senior VP caught the president and helped him through another round of puking. It didn't help that the other people walked in as well. However, they were as unbothered as the senior VP when they saw the scene.
"Shit…" Eugene wanted to scream at these guys, but Len entered the scene last. He glanced at Claude, who felt like running away this time.
Len didn't even stop walking until he reached Claude and Eugene. The beaten-up guy tried to protect Claude with his arms. Eugene growled. "Don't touch him. It was their fault this happened to them! You want to avenge them? You'd have to get through me!"
The rich guy only glanced at Eugene before getting on one knee beside Claude. He swatted Eugene's arm out of the way before rubbing Claude's farther cheek. Len said, "Hey, are you hurt?"
Eugene yelped when his arm was swatted, but he didn't fight Len's touch on Claude. He just glared at Len. "If you really like Lavallee, don't blame him. Those guys started the fight. Gracie shot him five times. If he got angry, it was on her."
"You were shot five times?" Len flinched and stared at Eugene instead. His eyes seemingly glinted in danger. "Look at me. Did you see it happen?"
"Yeah…" Eugene trembled at the sudden glare. However, he could only muster the courage to glare back. "Why are you glaring at me?"
"Len, what do you think happened here?" Another guy, a lower-ranked VP, looked around. He then used a stick to move Gracie's severed head. "Whatever it is, it's not even hungry. Six people in an alley, huh? How did it find them here? It even killed Gracie. Can you track it?"
Len didn't glance at the man or look back at Eugene. He busied himself with taking out a handkerchief and cleaning Claude's face free from the blood. At the silence, the VP looked at Len.
The senior VP finished assisting the chapter president. He walked over to the student whose back caved in from one slap. His hand reached down and picked up a phone from the student's loose grip. He saved the recording and played it from the start. His brows furrowed. He looked at where Len was, catching a glimpse of Claude.
When the lower-ranked VP asked, the senior VP answered, "He didn't have to track the culprit. It's Lavallee. One of the victims was recording when he transformed."
Claude and Eugene froze at those words. Eugene looked at the senior VP with fear, but Claude only hung his head lower. Evidence… It sounded scary.
"Irving, bring that guy." Len kept his handkerchief and carried Claude like a princess. He looked over his shoulder, speaking to the senior VP. "If you plan to look for trouble, find me. Wait for James and the others to arrive. They're new, so tell them what to do."
"I don't think those guys will listen to us." The senior VP frowned at Len. "How about we take Lavallee back to the dorm and you wait here?"
"It's okay, Keller. They already heard from me." Len turned away and walked off with Claude in his arms. Irving followed him shortly after getting Eugene on his back.
Keller, the senior VP, sighed and pocketed the bloodied phone. He looked at the other guys in the area. "Survey the scene for any object of interest. Those kids won't listen to particulars. We might have to reserve that training when Len is around."
…
Claude didn't know how Len sneaked him inside the General's dorm without anyone seeing them. Even Irving, who was with them, didn't look around to spot anyone. On his back was Eugene, who had already passed out from the pain and stress of getting beaten up. Claude stopped looking over Len's shoulder and stared at his profile instead.
"Len…" Claude only needed to say his name for Len to smile at him. However, Claude still looked concerned. "Aren't we going to take Eugene to the hospital? He got beaten up. His body might not be all okay just because he was awake and talking earlier."
"Don't worry. We got the nurse waiting for him in the dorm's sick room." Len said so when Irving didn't climb the stairs and ventured deeper into the first floor. He continued, "As for you, let me clean you up. We should also get those bullets out before they start poisoning you."
Claude looked over his shoulder again. "Aren't you going to ask me what happened? You shouldn't be caught sheltering a criminal."