~ No Escape ~
“I usually eat breakfast about half an hour before classes start,” Roman told me when we climbed into the elevator to go back to our rooms. “Tomorrow morning, meet me in the same place you did tonight and we’ll go together. Then I can walk you to your first class.”
I nodded as we began going down, because he made it sound like I didn’t have a choice. In fact, I felt kind of like I was being forced into being his girlfriend, even though neither of us had brought it up. I was flattered that he liked me so much; I just couldn’t make myself like him back. It was all so confusing.
“We have reached the girls’ living quarters, destination of Kristine,” Connie said a moment later.
The elevator stopped and Roman kissed my cheek before I stepped out. “See you in the morning,” he said.
When I walked into my room, Nadine was lying facedown in her bed, dead to the world, and Sassy was lying on hers looking at a magazine with headphones on. She didn’t even notice me come in.
But Harmony was sitting in her bed with books spread out in front of her. “Hey, Bunky. I’m glad you’re here. I need a break from all this studying.”
“Final exams?”
“Killer final exams. Come on up.”
I climbed up using the boards at the edge of our beds and sat down beside her.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“The Dome Room was cool, and we went out on a balcony, which was amazing.”
“Did he kiss you?”
I could feel myself blush as I nodded.
“Wow.” Harmony closed the book in front of her and pushed them all aside. “What was that like? Are you in love?” She put her hands beside her face and batted her eyelashes.
“Nah. Roman’s okay, but...I’ll put it this way. The view was better than that kiss.”
“Aww, I was hoping you’d have tons of juicy stuff to tell me about your new boyfriend and we could stay up all night talking about it.”
“We can stay up all night talking about whatever you want, but Roman is not my boyfriend.”
“I hope he knows that.”
“Me too.” Though I doubted it.
“You know what we need to do? Set your wake-up call. It can sound like whatever you want it to.”
As I reached into my pocket to pull out my con, Miss McCree walked into the room. “Lights out, girls.” She went over to Sassy’s bed as Sassy set her magazines on top of her wardrobe and climbed under her blanket. Miss McCree did the mom thing, making sure her blankets were pulled up around her shoulders and telling her goodnight.
“Can we have a few more minutes?” Harmony asked when she came to us. “We were about to pick out Kristine’s wake-up call.”
Miss McCree smiled. “Of course, just make sure you go to bed when you’re through. Good-night, girls.”
She turned the lights out as she left the room so that the only thing keeping us from being in total darkness was the light cast by my con. It only took a couple of minutes to pick out the sound of bubbles being blown underwater. I thought it would be a fun way to wake up every morning. And, even though we both climbed into bed right after that, we did end up spending most of the night whispering about whatever we wanted to.
* * * *
Luckily, Roman was busy with practice most of the time after that night, so I only saw him at lunch and in Algebra during fifth hour. Breakfast the next morning was uncomfortable enough that I told him I preferred to sleep in and skip that meal on school days. I didn’t have the guts to tell him I wasn’t interested. Well, I had the guts, just not the heart. I’m not big on hurting people’s feelings.
The next couple of days flew by. Sassy and I picked out my dress, bundled up and walked around outside, and I helped her with some studying, which was something she really struggled with. Nadine had soccer and Harmony had activities committee, so it was mostly just us.
North Haven wasn’t like any school I’d ever been to or heard of before. It was as much the students that made it different as the castle. Everyone was so good and nice, like Harmony had said. I honestly hadn’t expected it since teenagers can be so cruel.
And then it was Saturday morning. Miraculously, my hand was nearly healed. Only the palm still had to be wrapped up and medicated. It was also time to go see Headmaster. I still had no idea what I was going to tell him. But I threw my notebook, con, and the tube of mascara Sassy had gotten me totally addicted to in the navy blue shoulder bag I’d gotten out of the secondhand room, and went downstairs for breakfast. I was the only one in our room awake at seven a.m. on a Saturday morning.
The cafeteria was pretty empty when I got there. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and a banana to eat before I took the elevator up to Headmaster’s Tower. I was early. Hopefully, that would help make up for the fact that I still didn’t have any answers for him.
As soon as I stepped out of the elevator and heard the voices, I froze. Somehow, I knew they were talking about me.
“But sir, no one’s even tried. Someone should at least talk to her about it; try to convince her to do it. She’s a guaranteed win.” I recognized that as Coach Beckham.
The responding voice belonged to Headmaster. “Come now, Charles. You know she only just got here and wants no part in it. It wouldn’t be right to deprive her of finding her place in our school. She needs time to settle in. Why try to pressure her?”
“To win. Isn’t that what all this Winter Competition stuff is about? You haven’t seen what she can do, Headmaster. It’s not just the fifty-yard sprint. There are a number of sports her speed could help us win. The girls’ tennis team could use her. Unless the Cinders are worse than us, that’s a guaranteed loss.”
“I want to win as much as you do, but the well-being and happiness of the student comes first. For now, Kristine isn’t ready. And she’ll be here any minute. You should probably go down and have some breakfast before the students begin waking up. It can get pretty hectic in there on a Saturday morning, as you know.”
A pause was followed by a, “Yes, sir,” and then Coach Beckham was walking toward me.
I didn’t want him to know I’d heard them, so I hurried down the curved hallway away from them. I waited around the corner for him to climb on an elevator, but his footsteps kept getting closer. He would see me any second.
My hand moved over the door I was pressed against and turned the knob. Sliding through the slightly open door, I shut it very carefully behind me.
My adrenaline was pumping full speed. I turned around, praying I hadn’t entered someone’s bedroom. But no one was there. In fact, it was completely empty except for a stone fountain that was at least a foot taller than me. Made from the same icy material as the walls on the lower levels of North Haven, it had three tier bowls, the one on the bottom being the largest.
As I moved closer to it, smoke began to fill the top and spill over the edges to the lower chambers. But something strange happened when it rolled over the lowest one. A purple hand wrapped itself around the edge and seemed to pull a person up. And then a ghostly figure was crawling out of the basin, hair drifting in and out of her wild face. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any more terrifying, one wide eye fixed itself on me through an open space between her hair.
My muscles refused to move. My voice wouldn’t work.
Then she threw her head back and screamed a terrible scream that echoed all over the room, as if several women were there, all crying out in terror. I covered my ears as she proceeded to climb out of the fountain. The way her body bent back as the awful cries continued was enough to get me going.
I bolted back to the door and reached for the handle. It wouldn’t turn. I twisted with all my might. Nothing. I was trapped, with no escape.
Looking back, I saw two very scary things. One: Another hand belonging to a second and equally bloodcurdling woman wrapped itself around the fountain’s edge and began pulling up her body. Two: The first body, still screaming, took a labored step toward me.
That was it. I didn’t care if Coach found out I heard him or not. I started pounding against the door and calling out for help. “Can’t anyone hear me?!” I screamed desperately.
I looked back. The first woman seemed to be rooted to the spot. The second one threw her head back to let out a new series of wretched cries. Both stared threateningly at me. Whatever they were, I was sure they wanted to hurt me.
With shaking fingers, my hand dove into my purse and searched for my con. When my finger touched it, it rose from my bag and began to unfold. “Call Headmaster, CALL HEADMASTER!” I screamed, not caring if I got in trouble for being in there. He was right down the hall, waiting for me. He could be there before anyone else.
It was difficult to breathe as I threw myself into a corner with my back to the horrifying figures, my con moving with me.
“Hello, this is Headmaster.”
I looked up into his kind face. “I can’t get out! I’m stuck in the first room past the elevators. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here, but—”
The screen went black. “Headmaster?” I shrieked. “Call Headmaster!”
Connie appeared on my con. “He is temporarily unavailable. Sorry.”
“What?”