Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - Missing Person

[Sylvia Dorn]

Friday, 22 August, 11:45am

The faculty lounge wasn't Sylvia's favorite place on campus. When push came to shove, she was more tolerated by her fellow educators than accepted, and had been for her entire tenure at Dalton. After the first year of what amounted to an organized cold shoulder, she had taken to returning the favour.

But it was the one place on the grounds where she could get a good cup of coffee.

So it happened that Sylvia overheard, while stirring a generous bit of creamer into her cup, a worried and slightly hushed comment from Faith Morning, the house-mother for Juno.

"She hasn't been seen since everyone got sick."

"Are you sure?" The reply, over his own cup of caffeinated courage, came from Weitz, the brave soul who wrangled the boys of Mars. "I mean, she's the Stu-Co President, a regular princess. Wouldn't the kids notice if she was gone?"

"That's the weird part. Nobody's so much as mentioned her all week. Not a peep."

"Ahhh... ok," Weitz said with a knowing grin. "Then you know what's happening. C'mon, they're covering for her. She's probably been sneaking off with one of the boys."

Sylvia frowned at that. Running through her own mental accounting of her morning lecture, she remembered the empty seat... and wondered why on earth she hadn't noted the absence until now. Clearing her throat, the history teacher offered a rare contribution to the lounge conversation - so rare, in fact, that both Weitz and Morning started. "You don't know Ms. Blake very well, if that's what you think. And now that I think about it, she's been absent from my own class since the start of the week as well. Tell me: when have you ever known Ms. Blake to be truant?"

The only response was shocked looks that turned thoughtful, then concerned; her two colleagues nervously left the lounge, leaving Sylvia to consider the disturbing revelation.