Chapter 14: Previously...that night....

The night was young, promisingly so. Lucy snuck round the back of her boarding house and into the open night. Beyond the cluster of student residences, was a short expanse of open land, an almost garden of sorts, after which there was a thin row of huts belonging to the schools’ well-keepers (essentially just caretakers of the school: cooks, gardeners, maids, etc). In the gloom of the night, Lucy could just about make out the fringes of a forest looming behind the huts, stretching out for miles all around. No doubt exploring it would make for a fine adventure, but it would be one which would have to wait for another day, as surely there was no way of making it past the well-keepers’ huts undetected - not tonight at least. Lucy headed off in the opposite direction.

~

Zaki flopped back onto his bed, and rolled himself up into a blanket. Just as he made himself comfortable, he heard a knock on the door, and reluctantly got up to answer it. Who would disturb him at this time of the night? The first thing he noticed when opening the door to find Aisha, is that she was dressed as though she was about to go climbing. The second was that she appeared to have a sly grin on her face. Thirdly, the tired expression he had seen earlier had vanished, and she seemed lively enough to fly across a forest. Not a good sign. Then she started talking: “Meet me on the outskirts of ab, at the large oak tree, in under 5 minutes - after you’ve gathered your gear of course”. She slammed the door, and her footsteps trailed away.

~

Lucy continued her expedition, strolling through the empty hallways, past rows of vacant classrooms (she had never seen any that empty before) and the first floor bathrooms. She briskly made it out the other side of one building, and moved on to the rest. More classrooms, a few restricted rooms, two meeting rooms, many paintings depicting famous landscapes, and one staff room later, she found herself outside the head teacher’s office. She hesitated, debating whether she should enter, and her thoughts slowly quieted as though waiting for the night to answer. The entire premises were silent, dead almost, as though no one was inside, let alone 12000 people…

~

Zaki leaned against the tree, and surveyed his surroundings for any sight of the one he was supposed to be meeting. A slight creaking of a branch above his head caught his attention. He discreetly glanced up; Aisha was perched upon a limb around 3.5m above him. Half a second later, realising she’d been noticed, Aisha nimbly leapt across to a neighbouring tree, before beckoning for him to follow. “Zaki, son of Sulayman. I hereby challenge you to a race, across the entirety of the premises, and if I make it to the other end before you then you are to reclaim every single one of your duties which you dumped upon me!” Zaki pondered over this for a moment, and began climbing the tree Aisha had just vacated. “And if I win? What is left for me to gain from you?” For a fragment of a second, a frown crossed her face, then it was replaced by a slow grin, “Bragging rights!”. The girl’s laughter at her own guile was followed by silence, and then the soft chirping of a distant bird. A quick nod between the two, and they readied to depart. Another bird responded to the former’s call, and the race began. Plunging into the air, Zaki jumped from tree to tree, and soon began running across rooftops too. At no point did he pause to glance over at his opponent, for he knew doing so could set him back in the race. He could not afford to lose his concentration, and hence was oblivious to the soft pitter-pattering of the rain. Under a minute had passed, yet the duo were already about halfway across the school when lightning struck. Zaki’s focus faltered, and he began to slip…

~

Lucy stepped a few paces back, and slipped into the restricted room. It was lined with rows of shelves, of what appeared to be old textbooks. Lucy edged closer to the row of books in front of her and ran her finger along their spines. They appeared to be history books, yet their topics were unfamiliar - she couldn’t remember them being taught at any of the schools she’d previously attended, not this one for that matter. Lucy turned her attention to the table in the centre of the room, which was decorated with a few vases of all different types of flowers: roses, daffodils, sunflowers, tulips, and even a water lily! Lucy felt the coolness of each vase as she walked around the room. Crash. Thunder clapped. Clatter. The vase with the water lily fell down on the ground and spilled everywhere. Lucy dashed out of the room in fear of being caught and couldn’t save herself from tripping onto the floor of the carpeted corridor…

~

The roof tiles were slick with rain, and it was difficult for Zaki to form a solid grip, especially as he had already lost his footing. The grainy cement of the bricks grazed his leg, as he began to fall. Aisha halted - she could no longer hear Zaki’s footsteps running alongside hers. She twisted round in time to see his fingers slip off the edge of the roof, and swiftly lowered herself to the ground alongside him. Zaki landed on the concrete hard. The impact jarred his legs, and where he’d been grazed during his fall began to bleed. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to his feet, and fixed a glare at Aisha. “It’s your win this time it seems.” Aisha was just about to respond, when a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Hudhayfah.

~

Lucy picked herself off the floor, and dusted herself down. At least she had tripped outside of the room and thus had not injured herself on any shards of glass from the broken vase. Three pairs of footsteps approached from around the corner, and Lucy began to panic - the door to the restricted room was wide open behind her, with the smashed vase clearly visible. The fall (along with her lack of sleep) must’ve affected her more than she’d thought, as her eyes seemed to close for a moment, and before she knew it she was face to face with a furious 18-year-old headteacher.