24 You Are Safe.

"Wait Ari, what do you mean by that? Is there anyone that's going to eat me in here tomorrow? I mean are you guys cannibals?" Nicki asked inquisitively, rushing up to meet Ariana, who left her in search of somewhere else she had no idea of.

"No, Nicki, stop being silly, we aren't cannibals. If we were, do you think the Alpha would have rescued you and brought you here without you being dead meat?" Ariana shook her head with a sigh, sometimes the way Nicki thinks surprises her. 

"Then if it's not that, what do you mean by I should pray not to become someone else's food tomorrow? The way you said that might have made me think otherwise" Nicki pouted, Ariana should mind the kind of words she uses around her. For a minute, she really thought she was going to turn out as someone's food tomorrow. 

"Look Nicki, whenever everyone gathers to dine together every Saturday, it never ends well because it's more like the survival of the fittest. We stay in the diner hall, an enclosed place where only students are allowed to dine. No guides, no nothing at all, so you can imagine the kind of evil that goes on in there" Ariana highlighted the main details of what would possibly happen tomorrow for Nicki.

It was simpler for her to say this than when Nicki would see it herself. She won't even have the voice to speak. 

"What kind of evil exactly happens there?" Nicki specifically wanted to be cleared on the kind of evil Ariana mentioned that happens in the diner hall. Would anyone get their head chopped off or something?

"I know what is going on in your mind right now, but it's not like what you are thinking. No one would get their heads chopped off, no one would be murdered either. It's just since there aren't any guides around to watch us, the proud arrogant students who feel superior over the others uses the opportunity to be so cruel to someone they despise" 

Nicki was surprised Ariana knew what was on her mind. Seems like in these few days they became friends and started to get to know each other well was paying off. 

"So just to make this clear, they only bully the ones they don't like, right?" Nicki asked, having a feeling she might turn out to be among one of the people no one was going to like in the diner hall tomorrow. She was already popular here for no reason than she defied the Alpha and went unpunished for it.

Some if not many are going to envy her for that. 

"Yeah, most times I think so. The victims get bullied in the most gruesome way ever. Some aren't allowed to eat while the bully gets to sit on their so-called throne and then use their victim as a doormat. Ugh, I can't even go further with this, it's just so cruel" Ariana gagged, she could already feel the taste of the bitter treatment on the tip of her tongue that would happen to some students tomorrow.

"Wait, don't anyone report or say anything against that? No one deserves to be belittled" Nicki was dumbstruck by what she heard, she imagined how someone who was treated with the little description Ariana gave her must feel. And even though she wasn't the fierce type, she can't ever stand anyone treating her that way and do nothing about it.

"There's nothing you can do about it, Nicki. There are no guides, nobody will be in there, just us. And no one reports anything if they want to be able to survive to see another day. Look, even with all the strict rules and punishment here, a lot of corruption still happens and no one is willing to do anything about it" 

Ariana made Nickj know there was no solution, she was not the first person to ask why there wasn't any end to the cruel treatment done to some students. Ariana has asked and tried too but since everything she did was to no avail, she decided to keep her mouth shut and mind her business.

After all, she was no one's victim.

"Well, that's pretty messed up. Guess not even the Alpha could do something about it too. Forget about that, just a quick question, Ari. Will I get picked on tomorrow? You know I seem to be a little popular here since after that incident?" 

Something dawned on Nicki and it quickly made her realize just as concerned as she was for the other bullied students, she could also somehow turn out to be a bullied victim tomorrow too. 

"Well, I don't know. I'm not a bully, I have never been, so I don't know the way they roll but I think you are safe. Since you defied the Alpha and went unpunished, I'm pretty sure no one would have the guts to want to pick on you. They might be scared the Alpha will punish them. Your guide Astrid isn't the only one who thought the Alpha has a thing for you, you were given the Luna's lounge room, what do you think everyone has been thinking lately?"

Ariana completed her statement with a polite shrug, but she wasn't thinking the same as the other students were. She has been around Nicki to know the rumors are just made up. The Alpha being extremely nice to her has nothing to do with the rumors made up that he likes her.

"I don't know, Ari. I'm kind of scared now, I think I'm going to skip the meal tomorrow. You've made it pretty clear that I'm likely not going to survive in the diner hall, so I'm not taking any risks" Nicki had her mind made up and there was nothing else Ariana could use to convince her except it involves assured safety.

"You can't do that, Nicki. You will get punished and before you say you will find a way to hide. You can't, because every single nook and corner of this place would be searched and not even your guides could keep you hidden even if you were to run to them for coverage" The secret ability Ariana had that makes her able to read what was going on in Nicki's mind bewildered Nicki. It was as if Ariana could read her thoughts before she could even start thinking about it.

"Hmmp" Nicki protested with a grunt. Everything she had in mind to do seemed impossible. Now, she was left with no other choice than to be present at the meal tomorrow. She can't run to her guides for help, that would be like asking them to help her perform a faulty act that comes with punishment.

And Nicki doesn't want to put someone else in trouble just to help her get what she wanted. 

"Come, let me show you around a little more before we head back in. There are still a lot of fine places here that are going to blow your mind. Just stop worrying about tomorrow, it's only going to give you headaches if you do. As long as you are with me, you are safe, Nicki. There's no way I would stand by and watch you get hurt"