They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 14: Where Is Else?

Gray POV:

Song for the start of the chapter

Over the next 12 hours, I opened gates, pulling bodies through to Churchwell Academy. Egrick commanded me where to find them and a team of infirmary specialists stood, ready to help. As Egrick stood by my side, I thought about what Else told me. She didn't believe I could trust him. She believed he was a fake, but I wasn't sure if I could trust her.

After I opened that first gate, Egrick quickly instructed me to save as many people as I could. He guided me to the location of everyone on our team through tracking on their vests. If he was really not to be trusted, would he even risk his skin to go through those gates to pull the bodies out?

As hours passed, both Egrick and I were filthy and exhausted. We had been up all night long, and I wasn't sure if I could do this any longer. My body ached with every spell I cast. But I kept going because I knew Else was out there. Each person we pulled through to Churchwell Academy, I wanted it to be Else. As much as I couldn't stand her most times, I felt a connection to her I couldn't deny. She was like a mother to me, and that battle couldn't be the last I saw of her.

"One more, Gray. Then we are done," Egrick said as he looked at a hologram image.

I nodded as I imaged the scene on the hologram and opened a gate to that location. I recognized the location as the alley Else and I ran into Beth. Frantically I jumped into the alleyway and looked around the scene for any sign of Else. My eyes spotted a corner of her vest under a pile of rubble.

I ran to get it but when I pulled the vest out from the rubble, Else was not attached to it. I looked back at Egrick with a frown, which he returned.

"Where is Else?"

Egrick frowned as he looked at his tracker. "That was supposed to be her."

The lack of sleep and exhaustion got the better of me as I stepped through the gate and closed it behind me. "This is just a vest, Egrick."

"Hell, do you think I know that?" he snapped back as he threw his hands into the air.

"Where could she be?" I asked as I closed the gate from the alleyway to the school.

He frowned as he looked around, questioning if he should tell me or not. "I think Graywick took her."

"But why would he take her?"

"Grayson, there is a lot about Else you do not know."

I had grown up with Else for years. She was practically a mother to me. But his statement rang true. I knew there was a lot I didn't know about her. She was full of secrets. She always had been. There was a time I tried to know her better, but after she constantly shut down the conversations, I eventually gave up.

"I know that," I replied, getting defensive for reasons I didn't understand.

He rose his eyebrows. "You do?"

I nodded as Birch came up to us. She cleared her throat to make her present known. "Hi, um, we just wanted to know, any more survivors?"

Edrick shook his head as he looked at his map one more time. The look on his bloodied face was full of defeat. We both knew we had lost. We tried to stop him but failed. That thought would lay heavy on us for a long time. Maybe even forever.

I didn't know how many people we lost in the battle and honestly, I preferred not to know the details. There was a lot we lost, not just soldiers but students as well.

I shook my head as I tried to clear that thought from my mind.

"No. That is all."

She nodded, then walked away without another word.