The Wanderer

Double Trouble

Pressing my head against the wooden door I listened for footsteps. The creaking of the floorboards grew distant as the young boys walked past my hiding spot. The halls grew quiet and I assumed they regrouped somewhere else. I left my hiding spot in the storage closet sneaking down the hallway looking for the captured four and Lloyd.

I found a door and tried to open it. I growled and slammed my body against it "Guys, are you in there?" I asked.

"Asteria!" The four exclaimed from inside the room.

"Can you see if you can open this door?" Kai asked and I tried opening the door from my side.

"Is Lloyd with you?" I inquired having not heard from the young green ninja that has yet to be found.

"No, he's with the other kids" Cole replied to me.

I continued to try to open the door as the others inside tried to help.

"If we don't get out, they're going to brainwash Lloyd and undo all of the lessons we tried to teach him." Kai groaned.

"Not to mention never taste cake again!" Cole retorted with just as much urgency in his tone.

I growled and kicked the door down, the others flinched.

I looked at the four. "Lloyd is smarter than that. He won't fall for their mind games and he knows right from wrong" I growled defending the young green ninja.

Zane turned his attention to the teachers "How well do you and the teachers know this building?" He inquired testing a hypothesis.

"We barley know it at all, actually we're new. The old teachers were highly committed to teaching evil and quit in protest when the school went good." The principal explained shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

"So if the school building was originally built for evil, don't we have to assume there are hidden passages which none of you would even know about?" Zane thought aloud looking around the room.

Cole walked up behind Zane patting him on the back "You're right, it just wouldn't be an evil school without hidden passages."

"Okay everyone, look for a hidden switch. It could be anything, a book, a tile, a fixture" Kai ordered for everyone to take a look around. The four plus the teachers checked the room looking for a switch or something out of place.

"I'll go find Lloyd" I told them and left the room from beyond the door.

I walked down the hall and then heard the ninja's screams echo from down the hall. I looked back the direction I came.

"...Their fine." I said to myself hearing Jay's excessive frightened screaming continuing indicating they were still alive.

I picked up the pace checking each room for Lloyd. Overhearing some noise I dove behind some lockers barley peaking my head to look out. I spotted the four except something was off about them as they knocked over a trash can.

I noticed Brad and the other boarding school boys emerged from a room to investigate the noise standing opposite to the four. I could immediately tell these were imposters.