Faith Heights

Chapter 9

She nodded stiffly. "Well, from my window, I can see far enough to make out the shoreline beyond the forest. And just after the howling began, I went to shut the curtains." She laughed meekly. "As if that could block the noises out. I walked over to the window... and I swear I saw something running into the treeline." 

"It was probably just a trick of the light from the storm. Or a stray dog." I reassured, although I'd yet to see the faintest hint of animal life within the jungled greenery. 

Rhea shook her head, clenching her jaw to stop her lip trembling. "No- it was too big for a dog."

"Then it was probably a kid trying to sneak out after curfew." Even as I said it, I knew there was very little chance that students would be creeping off in this storm.

She groaned, drawing her knees to her chest. "No, it wasn't a student. I can't explain it. I saw shadows– people, maybe ten of them. But a minute later, I saw this thing stalking off into the woods in their direction."

I froze. "What did it look like?"

She shut her eyes. "A bear, I guess. But it was skinnier, and hunched over. On two legs. It was pretty clear under the moon, but I can't say for sure what kind of animal it was." She let out a long breath. "This is a tourist-y town, right? There has to be a zoo somewhere nearby. It was probably a bear or a lion escapee."

"A lion?" I shrieked, throwing off the covers and jumping from the bed. I ran to my window, but the tree, bent in the wind, was blocking my entire view. With each fading howl I grew more panicked.

A moment later, my legs flew me from my room and through the corridor. I heard Rhea call after me as I sprinted down the winding stairs, my bare feet slapping against the cold stone. The stairwell was lit only by a handful of dim lamps, and I stumbled down the steps twice before reaching the ground floor.

I knew that the wing's doors were shut at night, but I'd never seen the large wooden gates drawn closed before. They loomed over me like an onyx tidal wave. 

I jostled at the doors and strained to pry them open. Nothing gave way. The doors were bolted shut, not moving an inch. I jiggled with the locks that I could reach, but they didn't budge. 

They'd never been sealed from the outside like that before; it was our only exit out of here! What if someone was hurt?

I shoved against the door a few more times before growling in frustration, and dashed back up to my room. Rhea came toward me as I entered the lighter space, her dressing gown haphazardly trailing after her.

"What are you doing?" She beseeched. 

"I'm going to get help." I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and tried to pull the dial pad up. I wasn't sure who to call, but I realised a moment later that it didn't matter; I had no service. The storm must have been cutting out the reception. 

She stuttered. "I thought you just said to forget about it!"

I swiftly pulled my hair back and threw on some pants. "That was before you said you saw a bunch of kids about to get attacked by a lion!"

"I said it could have been a lion. And it also could have just been my imagination." She didn't sound convinced.

I gave her a deadpan look before turning back to the window. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

She sighed, miserably. "Yes. But we're not supposed to be out after nine, let alone two in the morning. If someone sees us, it could jeopardise our scholarships."

Her response angered me, but it was also irksomely understandable. "I know. And I'm not asking you to help. But I'm still going."

She tried a different tactic. "You're just going to run into the woods in your pyjamas? You could get yourself killed!"

I flinched at her tone. "I'm not an idiot. I'll go to Leclair's housing. Then she can call the police or whoever is responsible for working this out. There has to be a security line someone can call to help those kids."

I gave a triumphant sound when my window's glass screen finally jiggled up. I tried to pull the flyscreen off the window, failing embarrassingly. When another howl fired into the air, I grunted in panic and resorted to kicking at the screen. It tumbled down outside the building, crashing to the ground. 

I cried out as I lost my balance, falling forward. I almost tumbled outside the window- but Rhea latched onto my arm just in time. 

"Thanks." I grunted, before slowly lifting my leg out.

Carefully, I slid my foot out the window until it touched a swaying branch. I bounced it up and down a couple times to make sure it could support my weight, before shifting my other leg out. I refused to look down; it really wasn't that high of a climb, but I'd never been good with heights. I recalled the hundreds of times that Steph had climbed the roofs of the houses neighbouring ours. If she could scale bricks, then I could manage a few branches.

I let myself fall forward, grabbing another branch. Rhea shrieked. As I slowly climbed down amongst the foliage, rain slicking the tree, I felt a weight move the branches above me. Rhea was following my careful steps. She moved through the tree with a trained grace, while I practically fell through the last few branches to the moist ground.

I gave Rhea a grateful smile as she landed beside me. Hurrying to escape the storm's onslaught, we rushed closer to the building's lights, the slight overhead gutter providing a sliver of shelter. We stayed as far from the forest as the building's contours would allow. The howling was much easier to make out now, although it seemed to have moved further away.

The grass was a drenched, pine canvas beneath our feet. I wished I'd grabbed a jacket before fleeing my room, but adrenaline was guarding me against most of the cold. The wind blew across our faces, ghostly in the moonlight. The gale whipped my ponytail across my eyes and caused Rhea's trimmed hair to cling to her damp cheeks. 

There wasn't another soul in sight as we crept along the lawn. I kept my eyes glued to the few lights lining the front of the building, while Rhea kept glancing to her left into the forest. I had to give her points for coming, but I would have been moving a lot faster if we hadn't had to stop every few minutes at the sound of thunder or trees rustling.

The howling grew louder after a jolting spasm of lightning moved through the trees.