Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 24

Life, Education

In an attempt to make their life a little better, Rue enrols with a local maths tutor for some private lessons, but they quickly come to worry that there may be more to their new teacher than at first meets the eye.

It's during one of Rue's periodic visits to Arthur, down at Chapman's Bargains, a few days later that they receive a message from an unfamiliar number.   "Hi, Rue. This is Ava Greenwald. Rani tells me you might be looking for some private tuition, is that right?"   ''Oh wow,'' Rue says when they see the text. ''It's that teacher I mentioned, I didn't think she'd actually be willing to tutor me.''   They send back a quick response, still feeling a bit surprised, ''Hi Mrs. Grenwald, that's right. I'll be honest, I've never attended an algebra class in my life. I don't suppose we can start with algebra for dummies?''   "Well, looks like you're in luck," Arthur says, taking a sip of his coffee as Rue receives another message.   "Please, Rue. Ava is fine," she says, her sunny disposition coming through loud and clear even over text, "I'm happy to start with the basics and build from there. My usual rate is £30 an hour including all materials, but Rani mentioned how much you mean to her, so I agreed to knock £5 off. I usually see students at my home just inside the industrial district. Do you have a free evening that you'd prefer?"   ''I hope she knows what she's getting herself into,'' Rue huffs, taking a sip from the hot chocolate Arthur made them, savouring the sweet taste as they write a response.   ''Rani said you were amazing, she didn't mention you're a saint. I appreciate the discount. I often work night shifts, but as long as it's before 21:00 that shouldn't be an issue.''   "Funny," comes the reply again, "She did say something to that effect about you. I can be home by around half four. So how about 5pm and I'll send you the address?"   ''5pm would be perfect, thank you so much, Ava.''   That evening, Rue makes their way towards the industrial district, going down the rows of apartments. They go up the steps, their ears picking up on babies crying, dogs barking, and other noises that they actively try to tune out. The smells inside the building are not much better, and Rue can't help but remember seeing a news article about the teachers' protests for a higher salary - something they now fully support. They check the message from Ava once more before ringing the doorbell to apartment number 302.   The bell rattles gratingly inside the apartment, and a few moments later, the inside latch unhooks and the door opens. Behind it stands a petite, blonde woman with her hair tied back in a professional bun and a wide smile etched onto her features, "Well, hello there," she says, giving Rue a quick look over before holding out her hand, "You must be Rue. I'm Ava."   “Uhh, hi,” Rue says, hesitating for a moment before shaking her hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ava.”   The young teacher smiles in a way somehow reminiscent of Rani and leads Rue into the apartment, "Please, come in. Can I get you a glass of water or something?"   Stepping inside, Rue is astonished by the place. Had they not seen the woman living there already, they'd have been tough to convince that the place even had a resident. There was almost no furniture, just a dining table and two chairs, no decorations and nothing covering the walls but beige paint. They couldn't even tell what Ava did to keep herself entertained on her evenings as there was no television, books or even a jigsaw puzzle. It seems like a distraction-free environment for working in, but not a home.   “Uhhh nice place you got here,” Rue deadpans, frowning at the lack of furniture or any kind of personality in the apartment. They had seen tents in the Railyard with more personal belongings in them than this, “Very minimalistic…”   "Huh?" She says as she steps into the kitchenette and begins pouring glasses from the tap, "Oh yeah, I got on that zen tidying trend. Y'know the one? Does this item bring me joy, and so on. Soon I found that I'd only kept what I really needed," she meanders out, offering Rue a glass as she moves over to the table, glancing around her living space, "It works for me."   “Not a lot of joy, then…” Rue mutters under their breath, accepting the glass and taking a small sip. They follow Ava towards the table, sitting down at one of the chairs. “So how do we start this?” they ask, “I haven’t exactly… I haven’t really had a tutor before.”   "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," she says, sitting down and pulling a few textbooks out of a bag on the floor, "What exactly are you hoping to achieve at the end of this? Rule number one is always to set clear and realistic expectations, and then we can work out the steps to reach them."   “Well…” Rue shifts nervously on the chair, “I doubt I’ll ever get a proper education, but realising that I didn’t understand year 8 algebra was a bit disheartening… Also, not so good for any future employment options.”   "Oh?" she asks, raising a brow, "Were you not enrolled in a school as a child?"   “I- was a Railyard kid…” Rue admits as manner of explanation, looking downcast.   "Ah," Ava deadpans, keeping her sunny demeanour despite the awkwardness, "Well, why don't we take it from the top and see how far we get?"   Over the next couple of hours, Rue and Ava go through mathematics concepts covering the first few years of school and, while a few things trip them up a little, Ava is nonetheless impressed by Rue's level of understanding. Before their lesson is over, Ava has introduced them to the very basics of algebra and it quickly makes their head hurt. Though, throughout the whole thing, Rue can't escape the feeling that Ava seems somehow familiar.   ''Thank you for today.'' Rue says once they wrap up for that evening, taking out the agreed upon fee and holding it out for Ava to take. They glance at the woman again, that same sense of familiarity still nagging at the back of their mind, though they can't quite put their finger on it. ''I've clearly got a lot to learn and I doubt anyone else would have the patience for this, so I really appreciate it.''   "You're too hard on yourself, Rue," Ava says, reaching for the proffered cash. There's a brief moment when their hands touch and Rue feels suddenly cold, before the blonde begins talking again, "It'd better all be here, Ralph."   "What?" Rue mutters as they look up, finding themselves outside in some sort of parking lot in the dead of night. They glance over at Ava and her demeanour is completely different, jittery and serious, her eyes flitting around the area as if looking out for something as she quickly counts the notes inside an envelope.   "Alright. Looks good," she says pulling a small flash drive from her pocket and holding it out, "Alright, here's what I got during the France trip. I'm sure you'll be pretty pleased with them," she says, grinning with a dangerous edge to her, "You picked up the new concepts really well, and managed to pay attention. I'd be happy to teach you again."   With that, Rue blinks and is back in the minimalistic apartment with the teacher smiling warmly at them. The headache from trying to comprehend algebra was nothing compared to the throbbing ache that followed what they now knew to be a memory.   Rue quickly retracts their hand, instinctively taking a small step back. They're not entirely sure what to make of what they had just seen, but the hairs on the back of their neck are standing upright and their senses were on high alert as they overwhelmingly know just one thing: Ava Grenwald is dangerous.   ''I, um...'' Rue says, clearing their throat as they try to regain their composure, ''I should get going, can't be late for work.''   "Oh yeah, no problem," Ava replies, watching with a raised brow as Rue quickly makes their way back to the door and out of the flat, "See you later..."   Moving downstairs two steps at a time, Rue bolts out of the apartment complex and further away, their head continuing to throb, ''What the fuck...'' They utter, turning down an empty alley. ''What the fuck was that?!''   They start looking around frantically, half expecting to see one of the spirits that they met several months ago . When nothing appears, Rue closes their eyes, gingerly rubbing their temples. They take a deep breath, carefully reaching inwards towards the memory that sparked up, wondering if they can somehow urge their brain to give them any clearer idea of what they'd seen.   They think back over the brief glimpse they'd seen. Ava looked younger, maybe in her early twenties, the parking lot they'd been stood in definitely looked like it could've been for the school, and the name. She'd called them, whoever they were, Ralph. It felt similar to the visions they'd gotten of Kate's life a year ago. The imagery was faint, but the feelings were real. Fear, nervousness, and even a little guilt. They felt like the bad guy, but knew deep down that she was worse.   Opening their eyes again, Rue pulls their phone out of their pocket. Though it takes them a while to figure out the search function, they soon are scrolling through a list of local schools, checking the photos to see if any of them match what they'd seen. They weren't sure what they were looking for yet, but their gut was screaming at them that this was something they couldn't ignore.   ''Come on,'' They mutter to themself, ''Which school is it?''   They quickly realise that the school they'd seen was definitely not one of the ones located in Bathala, quickly surmising that Ava must have moved. They expand their search a little to include the nearby towns and, in a stroke of remarkable luck, actually manages to make some progress, likening some of the more eclectic buildings in her memory to those of Salanas Central High School over the bay.   Rue takes a note of the address, determined to pay the school a visit when they can. They start to walk out of the alley, casting another glance in the direction of the woman's apartment, and type in their next search, looking for anything on Ava Grenwald.   The search comes up empty. Or as close to it as Rue could ever expect. The only results being the Mary Brennon High's staff roster, and a fairly recent Facebook page, Rue is forced to confront the idea that Eva is either chronically offline or, quickly seeming more likely, using an alias.   Copying the link for Ava’s minimalistic Facebook profile, Rue writes a text to the only person they know in Salanas, “Hey! Weird question, did this woman ever teach at your school?”   They hesitate for a moment, pondering if they should be getting him involved in something they can barely make sense of themself. They nervously chew their lip - what if they were making a big deal out of nothing? What if Julius mentioned it to his father?   They weren’t sure if Creel knew what they texted about - Rue hadn’t worried about it because they hadn’t spoken about anything substantial - but this was different. Still, there was this lingering feeling that they needed to find out what they could about this woman, so with an added “please don’t tell your dad about this, I’ll explain things later.”, Rue sends the text and link.   They wait for a response that comes through a few minutes later, "It kinda looks like Miss Foster. She was a TA here back when I was in primary school. Looks like she changed her name though, why?"   ''Thank you, I'll explain it later'' Rue sends back, putting their phone away as they continue in the direction of The Six-Nines.   They're grateful for the somewhat mundane task they get assigned that night, their mind continuously wandering back towards the suspicious teacher and the memory they saw. They linger around the small kitchen in the club when they get back from their errand, knowing that Doug will be finishing his shift soon and they'll be able to catch a ride back home with him.   As they sit with a forgotten hot chocolate on the table besides them, Rue pulls out their phone once more, putting in a search for 'Foster + TA + Salanas Central High School'.   A few results pop up, many of them fairly old. From what Rue can gather, it seems a young woman named Grace Foster, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Ava, was announced as a new cohort of teaching assistants inducted into the Salanas Central Primary School back in 2005. Searching through the results, Rue eventually finds another bare-bones Facebook page with a single message posted towards the end of the school year.   "Following the disappearance of little Adam and Gina, I have decided not to return to Salanas Central Primary next year. I thank the school for the opportunity they've given me and wish all my colleagues and friends all the best for the future."   Rue takes in what little information they can find, the guilty feeling which had accompanied the initial memory still fresh on their mind. With a frown, they continue to search for more information, their heart racing as they take note of the names of the children Ava, or Grace, mentioned in her Facebook post. Typing ‘Adam and Gina + Salanas Central Primary School + 2005-2006’, they feel a chill creeping up their spine as they hit search.   There's plenty of internet traffic from around the time, but it all becomes white noise as Rue sees a string of archived news articles from the Salanas Salute that tell a bone-chilling story.   To be continued...