Unpaused: Dwell of the Past

Chapter Ten - The New Adventure

The instructions said that for skipping forty-five minutes, she had to wait at least five seconds before opening the door. Using the stopwatch from her phone, five seconds later she pressed the button and the doors opened.
​The time showed on her phone screen was 5.15 p.m., so it should be at least 6 p.m. now. She went out of the lift and closed the door. There was no headache, no nosebleed, or whatsoever. She wasn't hurt or feeling any pain at all. She had never thought of how to get out of the school since the security always closed the gate at 6 p.m. She was screwed.

​Thank God the backdoor wasn't locked yet because it seemed like the janitors were still cleaning the school, which she assumed from the broom and the mop standing nearby. The field and school park were completely empty. She knew she had to make lots of excuses once she saw the gate was closed and the security officer was guarding in his office. Her eyes were fixated on the gate while thinking a way out until her phone started ringing. It was a call from her mom. She must be home by now.

​"Hi, sweetie, just want to check out on you,"

​"Umm.. I'm fine, Mum,"

​"Look, I've got a big case, you probably have heard about this murder in lower Seattle, well the trial's tomorrow," she said with her sorry tone. "I won't be home tonight, I can't promise you that I'll be home tomorrow either, but I will take my recess to visit you and bring you food,"

​Alexandra smiled to her ears. "It's alright," a light bulb popped out of her head.

​"I'll have our neighbor, Mrs. Caters, to watch after you, alright?"

​"Kay, bye," she said and hung up.

​She thought that if she skipped time until school tomorrow, no one would notice. It would just be the same day like any other days. She had things she might need with her, so she was sure that she would survive. After calculating the hours she should travel until the first class tomorrow, she was ready and went back to the basement.

​She pressed the buttons she needed to skip thirteen hours. The instructions said she should be waiting at least fifteen seconds before pressing the open button. She did just like how the instructions said.
​She prepared herself for the side effects of long travel. She pulled a few sheets of tissues and held it tight on her hands in case of a nosebleed. Too bad she didn't have any aspirins with her in case of a massive headache, but a few minutes of sleep would probably help reducing it, she thought. She was ready.

​During the fifteen seconds of the travel, she felt like she blacked out for a moment, because those fifteen seconds felt like only five seconds. When the doors opened, she walked out right away. The sunlight broke through the space below the basement door made her happier than ever. It worked.

​She didn't hear anyone though, so she thought that it was still very much early in the morning. Carefully, she opened the door and walked out of the basement. The broken padlock was still hanging there so no one probably noticed it yet. Just when she was about to close the door, something caught her eyes. There was a glimpse of red light reflected on the rusty door; she thought someone else was here.

​Her anxiety rose up until she looked up to the ceiling and realized that the cloth covering the CCTV fell off and the red light indicated that it was on. "Shoot!"

​There was no use of hiding anymore because she was already exposed to the CCTV. She walked out immediately and was glad that she saw couple of students just entered the lobby.

​"Alex?"

​"Emily! Thank God there's someone I know!" she said, still gasping for air.

​"Where have you been?" Emily asked.