CHAPTER 289: 289-ANOTHER GATE TO NORTH

Clementine:

"What is this place?" I asked Miss Rue as I followed her in silence. I knew we had stepped beyond the academy’s border.

There was a large gate, and Miss Rue used her key card to let us out.

"This is part of the woods you’ve probably never visited," she replied instantly. "Let’s be honest, it isn’t part of the academy you know."

After she returned, we didn’t talk much about the diary.

She only gave me food and medicine, telling me to finish them so we could discuss reality later.

Everyone else, including the two ring leaders, was busy with the bucket task.

Even the ringleaders had to make sure the exact number of buckets was poured over the herbs.

The principal and the others were so cautious about the academy, they had asked Miss Rue to stay behind with me.

That gave us both a chance to have this conversation.

She had let me out, saying she wanted to show me something.

After a while, we reached our destination, and I could already feel the negative energy in the air.

Barbed wires stretched as far as I could see, and a tall metal gate stood ahead.

"It’s filled with energy, vibrations that protect the mainland," Miss Rue explained as I inspected the area.

"What do you mean, protect the mainland? What is this place?" I asked her.

"The land beyond that gate is not mainland," Miss Rue said, pointing toward the other side. "It’s worse there, similar, but twisted."

Suddenly, something appeared that made me gasp and step back in fear.

"A fleshmingo," I whispered. "This is a fleshmingo." Seeing a monster here on the mainland was shocking.

"That other side of the door is part of the North, Clementine," Miss Rue said and My eyes widened.

"I thought the only way to reach the North was through the train station," I muttered in heavy breaths.

Miss Rue laughed softly, almost uneasily.

"That’s what they want you to believe," she replied.

I stood and walked toward the main gate, noticing how the Fleshmingo stared at me.

It suddenly lunged at the gate, but the towers released energy that threw it back.

"They can never cross this line," Miss Rue explained. "Remember the towers you helped secure? That’s what they’re for, keeping the mainland protected."

And it made sense. The North was part of our world. Of course, its borders are connected to ours.

"I’m guessing it must mean a lot. Otherwise, why would you show me this place?" I asked, stating the obvious.

I figured it wasn’t much of a secret that the North connected to the mainland through different borders.

"That’s what I like about you, Clementine," she said. "You’re intelligent and always straight to the point." She touched the gate as if remembering something. "And yes, there’s a big significance to this particular gate."

"This is what we used to sneak through into the North," she continued, her tone softening. "We had meetings at the headquarters there."

And then, in the calmest way, she pulled the ground out from under my feet.

"A headquarters in the North?" I asked.

"I thought you all might have figured it out," Miss Rue remarked, her hands tucked into her pockets.

"I mean, I knew something was wrong," I said. "When we were in one of the apartment complexes, I noticed a warm bed, like someone had just been there. That’s when the Wendigos attacked us for the first time."

She pursed her lips and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, maybe the lurkers were there doing some work," she replied, giving me goosebumps again.

"So everyone just goes there like it’s another normal place to visit, while we’re told the North is too dangerous for anyone but us?" I asked, watching her shake her head.

"The North is dangerous, Clementine," she told me. "But we go there to control the narrative, to oversee most of the operations and the tasks we assign you. You didn’t ask what the headquarters is for." She raised a brow and smiled faintly.

"And I’m guessing you’re not going to tell me," I commented.

She laughed quietly, not mockingly.

"It’s just that I don’t know how to explain it," she uttered. "We go there to decide which task comes next, which areas have monsters gaining too much control, where we need the Crusaders to step in and calm them down."

Her words explained our missions to the North and the monster hunts. That part didn’t surprise me, it was what they always told us.

Sometimes, they’d warn us that a monster was growing too strong, and we’d be sent to slay it.

But the fact that there was a headquarters in the North itself was frightening.

"I have a better question," I said, and she looked at me with sharper interest. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren’t you part of the Academy?"

Her eyes softened as she looked at me. She wasn’t angry. There was sadness instead.

She drew in a sharp breath, exhaled, and smiled faintly, though her eyes darkened.

Her posture told me there was a deeper reason, one she wanted to share.

"I’m new here, as you know," she began quietly. "I only came here for my sister, to find out what really happened to her."

Her confession left my jaw hanging open.

"Your sister? Your sister used to be part of the academy?" I asked, confused and completely lost.

She nodded slowly, a faint smile forming as tears gathered in her eyes.

"She was part of the Crusaders as she was younger than me," she said softly. "But I only received parts of her body."

She held my gaze, her expression tightening.

"So I came here to find out the truth about the academy," she added quietly. "And it seems they don’t plan to let me in until I’ve earned their trust."

That was when I finally understood why she had given away my secrets.

She wanted to earn their trust, to become part of their inner circle.

It felt clear she was never truly on the academy’s side.