Discipline Academy-The Mystery of Abbey College (#NaNoWriMo2016)

Abby

*Abby*

 Tommy didn't come all day. By the time exhaustion began to weigh down my eyelids, I was worried. Tommy had never failed to come as often as he could to give me a riddle, or to tell me about Lilly.

My whole body ached. I didn't think a single patch of skin had gone un-bruised. My head spun until I vomited water, dizzy and hungry and weary. I lay on the floor, flat on my back, wishing I had a window so there was something to distract me.

When the door burst open, I sat up to see if it was Tommy, and my nose collided with a fist, sending me crashing back onto the floor. Not Tommy, then.

"Tell me what you know, what Carrington knows," the man ordered. "Tell me now! I am out of patience, and that mean that you are out of time. So talk. If you do, I'll let you live a little longer."

"I don't know anything!" I cried. His fist caught my hair, yanking me up to my knees. I screamed out in pain as he punched me once, twice, thrice in the stomach. I coughed, a splatted of blood landing on his shoe.

He tossed me to the ground. "Lying little bitch," he said. "I know you're Carrington's little pet. Talk, or you die." A knife flashed in his hand, and he scraped it along my throat.

I took a shuddering breath. "What do you want to know?" I asked. My voice was raw after days of little water, but my words were strong.

"How far will Carrington take his support of our little queen?" the man asked. "Will he force the school to fight?"

"Probably," I said, as proudly as I could. "That is Discipline's purpose, and there is precedence." I was careful not to meet his eyes, pretending meekness. If I could get a chance, I would stick him with my makeshift knife, and, while he was incapacitated, I would run for the door.

"What about the other professors?" the man asked, unaware of my plans. "Are they as steadfast in their support as the headmaster?"

"I think so," I said. "Even those who aren't English. Then again, they don't tell me much, since I'm so young."

"What about the castle defenses?" he pressed. "Are they–" He was cut off as a loud, roaring BANG echoed through the cell. I sat up, squirming out of his hold. In all my time here, I'd never heard anything like that. It gave me hope. If people from Discipline had come, then maybe I wouldn't die today. '

The man lurched to his feet. "What the hell was that?" he demanded. He ran for the door. "I swear, if they've let–" The rest of his words were cut off by the slam of the door.

I struggled to my feet, every bone loudly protesting the movement. I stumbled over to the door, fumbling with the hairpins I'd tucked away. I drew one out, split it in half, and began tinkering with the lock.

Three pins and a jammed finger later, I heard the bolt slide back with a soft thunk. I pushed the door open, and, for the first time since I'd arrived, I left my cell. The hallway was deserted. Everyone had run to see what the explosion was. A patter of hurried footsteps echoed, getting louder. I gripped my knife as tightly as I could. I was about to die. I knew it.

"Abby!" a familiar voice whisper-shouted. Sam, Will and Tommy rushed towards me, all of them armed to the teeth. "See, Will," Sam said teasingly. "I told you she didn't need us to rescue her!"

Will glared at him. "How can you joke at a time like this?"

Sam shrugged. "If not now, then when?" he remarked. "We should keep moving. Tommy, where are they keeping your daughter?"

"Next door down," he said. "But I don't have keys..."

Will grinned. "Leave that to us. Abby, those pins, please." Wordlessly, I handed him my hairpins, then watched as he strode up to the cell door and began fiddling with the lock. When it popped open, he cried, in a whisper, "Aha!"