There was an excited chatter circulating around the dining hall, bouncing from table to table. I had never before realized how many students actually went to St. Margaret's, but they were all packed into the hall. Groups of girls sitting close together at tables, gangs of boys sitting on top of the tables, students arriving last-minute standing along the walls. The staff was huddled around Professor Scott. All of the professors wore solemn, pinched expressions that went unnoticed by the hundreds of students nearby.
One professor appeared more anxious than the rest. Professor Lewis stood apart from the teachers. I watched his fidgeting hands. In his suit pockets, out of the pockets, crossed in front of his chest, clasped behind his back. He couldn't remain still. Even more frantic were his eyes. They flitted back and forth, looking for someone. Looking for Jayden.
"Millie," I said quietly, "why don't you stick with Max. Stay by his side." I stood on the tips of my toes as I spoke, scanning the crowd for Jayden and Haylee.
Millie anxiously agreed.
"I won't let anything happen to you," Max said.
At the sound of his unusually low voice, I shot Max a look, my eyebrows raised. Was he flirting with her? He didn't notice me staring at him, his eyes glancing down at Millie through his curtain of messy hair.
I nearly bit my lip and smiled. They were adorably awkward and together made one of the cutest couples I had ever seen. Millie looked like a little fairy, with her wild hair and flower barrette and Max's face was so red, I thought he was about to burst. He deserved someone like Millie. I remembered his story about Missy, the girl who had cheated on him. And then there was me, the girl who hadn't given him the attention he deserved, my heart and mind too preoccupied with someone else.
"Settle down, settle down!" Professor Scott ordered. Gradually, the talking in the dining hall subsided.
I was beginning to grow worried. I saw Lucas, sitting at the end of a table with a bunch of girls. I saw Jayden's friends sitting on top of a table. McKay, the boy from the underground, who had gotten into an argument with Jayden, was standing at the back of the hall with his gang of friends. Then I found them, Haylee and Jayden together, standing in front of the door, having just come into the dining hall. I appeared to be the only one who noticed them. All other eyes were on Professor Scott.
"As many of you are aware, terrible tragedies have befallen this school. You all have a right to know what has been happening," Professor Scott's eyes darted towards Fred, standing off to her left.
The excited chatter grew loud again.
"There is a murderer loose," a girl next to me informed a nearby friend. "That's what Morgan said."
A boy behind me spoke in a booming voice so that all around could hear him. "That fire the other night? It was started on purpose, but it was meant for Cheshire Hall. They haven't caught the guy yet. He is still out there, lurking in the village." Girls gasped in response.
"Please, quiet," Professor Scott pleaded several times.
The talk subsided again.
"You will all learn everything in due time." There was a groan. "Until then, there will be an investigation into the sequence of horrific events occurring throughout the school." The students began to talk once more, upset that they couldn't add more fuel to their burning piles of rumors. Members of the staff lowered their heads, knowing fully well what Professor Scott was about to say next, something I didn't think the students had picked up on yet.
"Until the investigation is completed, St. Margaret's will be closed." A collective gasp. "Indefinitely."
For several moments, it was as if everyone had breathed so deeply, the air had disappeared from the room. Then, all at once, a roar burst forward. Chairs toppled over. Students were standing up, screaming at Professor Scott, at Fred by her side, at anyone who would listen. The students sitting on the tables were now standing on the tables, attempting to rally their friends in protest. Professor Scott did not try to calm the infuriated crowd. She stood as solid and regal as a statue in the gardens outside Cheshire Hall. So noble under such duress, I could see why Fred fell in love with her.
Out of the corner of my eye, Professor Lewis whipped past me. By the time I turned around, I saw him trailing Jayden out of the dining hall. Haylee didn't move after either one of them. She was frozen. Her arms were plastered to her sides, her hands balled into tight little fists.
"Laura, where are you going?" Max asked.
"Stay with Millie," I called over my shoulder, pushing my way through the crowd of protesting students.
"We deserve answers if you are just going to throw us out like this!" a boy I had just nudged past shouted angrily.
A girl was on top of a table, beginning to unite her friends in a chant. "Save our school! Save our school!" Fists pounded on the wooden tabletops.
Someone elbowed me in the side as the crowd surged forward, pressing themselves together, all of the students attempting to have their words heard.
Wincing at the sharp pain in my side, I followed Professor Lewis out of the hall. I feared I had already lost him. But he hadn't gone very far at all. I hid myself behind one of the statues lining the corridor.
Right down the hall, Professor Lewis had ahold of Jayden by the collar of his shirt and was pressing him against the stone wall. He was nose-to-nose with Jayden, his scrunched up face having taken on an awful shade of red.
"What did you do?" He was speaking through clenched teeth. Out of all of the professors at the school, Professor Lewis had always struck me as the most carefree. That relaxed demeanor had evaporated. He looked just as angry as the students inside the dining hall, maybe even angrier. "Answer me!" he commanded, shaking Jayden so roughly that the chains that adorned his uniform and the jewelry he wore began to jingle like a set of keys.
"I didn't think they would shut down the bloody school!" Jayden fired back.
"What did you do, Jayden?" Professor Lewis sputtered again.
"I just meant to scare them-"
Professor Lewis was no longer speaking through his teeth. "What did you do?" he shouted so furiously that the suits of armor decorating the manor's hall rattled.
Jayden started to cry, to whimper like a wounded animal. Under any other circumstance, I may have felt sorry for him.
"I know what you did, Jayden." Professor Lewis's tone softened. "But I want you to say it out loud."
Jayden closed his eyes.
"You attacked Millie the other night." Professor Lewis said it so matter-of-factly, as if he was teaching one of his lessons. I was about to take a step forward. If I could catch Professor Lewis's attention, maybe he would hand Jayden over to me. Then all we would need would be Haylee and the names of any other students. Max, Fred, and I could go finally home and the school wouldn't have to be closed.
Professor Lewis continued. "You attacked Emily. You killed Tommy and the other boys." His suddenly relaxed tone caused me to shiver. The way he could switch his emotions on and off so suddenly and the way he could lure people in, someone troubled like Jayden, and get them to trust him, reminded me of someone else. I couldn't take another step forward. I froze. He reminded me of someone like Madeline.
"You and your friends started this little club." Professor Lewis's grip on Jayden was loosening, but he still had a hold on him. "You all hung out, smoked a bit, drank a lot, and complained about how unfair it was that all these wealthy kids were coming to the school and tuition was going up. You thought you would give them a fright. You burned some buildings, you played some pranks. When that didn't work, you started killing the students, making it look like they killed themselves so that parents would stop sending their kids to St. Margaret's. You tried to use the power of fear."
He slowly removed his hand from Jayden and brought it to his side. Jayden wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"You know how I know all of this, Jayden?"
Suddenly, Jayden pushed Professor Lewis back. "Because you are the one who told me to do it all!" Jayden shouted. The veins pulsed in his forehead and neck.
Professor Lewis's red face went pale. "Now don't you ever say that again." His voice shook. "I did nothing of the sort."
Jayden lunged for the professor, who moved out of the way just in time, before Jayden's hands wrapped themselves around his neck. "Liar!" he roared. "You took advantage of me! Brainwashed me! You talked to me, told me to stick up for myself! To do whatever it takes to make things right! You acted like my friend and I trusted you! You acted like..." Jayden brought his hands to his hair and screamed.
"I never meant to replace your father Jayden and I never did anything to make you think so." Professor Lewis was backing away from Jayden.
"I trusted you," Jayden said again. "You were the only teacher that ever gave a care about me! You said this school needed a revolution. I went and started that revolution for you."
"That doesn't mean killing people, Jayden!"
Jayden choked out his words through his tears. "You said drastic measures had to be taken."
Professor Lewis turned even paler and brought his hand to his throat, the realization of his involvement sinking in. "My God, Jayden." He rushed at Jayden and gripped his shoulders. "You need to get out of here. You need to get out of the school. I will help you find a place to hide until this blows over."
I pulled my badge from the pocket of my uniform's skirt and darted towards them. "Stay where you are! Both of you!"
"Why do you keep following me?" Jayden screamed. He had broken away from Professor Lewis and was springing for me. Before I had time to move, I was seized in his tight grip. "I am so sick of you following me!" Spittle rained down on my face.
"Look at her badge, Jayden." Professor Lewis ripped my badge from my hands. "Then you will see why she is following you."
Jayden's tear-filled eyes widened and then became hard.
"I'm going to kill you," he warned.
"Don't you dare, Jayden!" Professor Lewis was attempting to pull me from Jayden. Every muscle in my body was beginning to ache. I worried that the two men, afraid for their lives and willing to do anything to save their skins, would tear me right down the middle.
"I've killed before! It makes no difference now, does it?"
I watched the doors of the dining hall, but the commotion was still as loud and chaotic as ever. I could still hear the students' angry cries and pleas, drowning out Jayden's and Professor Lewis's voices.
"You get out of here while you can." With one final tug, Professor Lewis had me in his arms. He placed his hand over my mouth. "I'll get rid of her."
"What about Haylee and the others?"
The professor stiffened. "How many others?"
"Three."
Professor Lewis cursed. "Get them all together and then flee to Haywick Cottage. I will meet you there."
Jayden bolted, taking the steps to the dormitories two at a time.
I struggled to pull myself away from Professor Lewis as he dragged me out of Cheshire Hall. He pulled me outside, night beginning to fall and the stars twinkling in the sky far above the English countryside.
I dug my feet in the ground, making it harder for him to take me away.
He removed his sweaty hand from my mouth. "Be a child throwing a tantrum all you want, you aren't getting away!" He continued to drag me. My feet cut through the damp ground, pulling up clumps of mud and grass.
"Jayden really is a good kid." Professor Lewis continued to tug on my arm.
"Oh yeah," I agreed sarcastically. "He's ideal."
In response, Professor Lewis pinched his skinny hand around my arm even tighter. "He's only troubled." He led me into Marble Manor. The classrooms were all deserted, the hallways dark. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked one of the doors. "Get in." Using his knee, he pushed me into an empty office, barely large enough for even a teacher's desk.
"You will be charged, you know," I tried to warn. "Maybe for conspiring. Definitely for harboring them."
I clasped my face after he had slapped me. Blood filled my mouth.
"Stupid girl," he spat. "All of us will be out of England before anyone even realizes you are missing." He cracked his knuckles. With his foot, he kicked the door behind him shut, engulfing us in darkness. Only several beams of moonlight shined through the room's small window. I could barely see Professor Lewis's face, but I could sense him closing in on me. "Once I get done with you, you won't remember a thing."
I ducked when he swung his fist towards me. He staggered to the side and I seized the opportunity to strike him in the stomach. He moaned. I thought of my short self-defense lesson with Zach and smacked Professor Lewis again, this time across the jaw.
"You really shouldn't hit girls," I said, watching as he clutched his stomach and blood dripped from his mouth. "It isn't very attractive."
He stood upright, his face pinched in pain. "You aren't a girl," he wheezed. "You are some ugly little pig in a skirt."
I kicked his shin, knocking his legs out from under him. He collapsed to the floor. He had attempted to grab hold of the rickety teacher's desk on his way down. Piles of books and papers flew off of the desk. While the books slammed to the ground with a thud, the papers fluttered slowly like fallen leaves.
Before I knew it, his hands were around my ankles. With one tug, I was on the floor and all of the wind was knocked from my body. My vision was fuzzy.
I blinked several times until my eyesight cleared. Professor Lewis was standing, looking down at me with a large grin. "Have fun."
I cried out when his shoe stomped on top of my right hand as he made his way out of the office. I heard the sickening crunch of my bones.
He slammed the door behind him once again, leaving me alone in the office.
I struggled to sit up and fought even harder to stop from crying. "You can do this, Laura," I told myself. I whimpered as I attempted to move the fingers on my right hand. Broken.
I wobbled as I stood and made my way slowly towards the door. I shook the handle and pounded on its wood with my good hand. It rattled and shook, but it never came loose. I made my way towards the window. I was able to open it, but only an inch or so, barely enough room for my one hand to fit through.
I would just call Max. He could come over here and let me out. We probably wouldn't catch up to Jayden, Haylee, Professor Lewis, and the rest, but we could try. I reached my unbroken hand into my pocket.
"Oh no. No. No. No." My pockets were lighter. My phone was gone, probably still with Max after I had given it to him earlier in the day.
I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "You idiot," I said out loud.
I slid my back down the wall, until I was sitting on the cold ground.
I let them get away. I had known it was Jayden the entire time, and when there was finally a confession, finally enough evidence to arrest him, I had let him and everyone else slip right through my fingers. I was definitely going to get fired. Max was going to get fired. Fred was going to get fired. Professor Scott's school was already closing.
I had single-handedly messed everything up. I couldn't make the grade. I had failed.
Jayden and the rest were probably already on the train out of town. I could almost see the train pulsing along the tracks, Jayden, Haylee, Professor Lewis, and the rest in their own booth, wiping their brows, winded from the quick getaway.
My broken hand was throbbing, my mouth still tasted of blood, and I had hit my head on the floor. Pathetic.
What was I going to do? I couldn't warn anyone about Jayden and Haylee. I couldn't tell everyone that Professor Lewis had suddenly turned tides, desperately trying to protect the young student he had forged a twisted and manipulative father and son relationship with.
I sat upright. There was someone I could tell. But...it might not even work. It was so silly, so stupid. But when was the last time I had done something not stupid.
I blinked hard so that my contact lenses turned on. Then, I reached up towards my earpiece and twisted it on. The empty sound of static almost made me lose hope, almost made me twist off my earpiece and forget the entire thing, but after several silent seconds, I spoke out loud.
"Hey," I said before cringing. How was I supposed to introduce myself? I hadn't exactly sought out my mysterious helper's guidance before. "I don't know if you can hear me. I don't even know who you are, but you have spent a lot of time trying to help me these past few days."
There was still nothing but static, yet I persisted hesitantly.
"I've screwed up big time." I paused. "You probably knew I would and I don't blame you. I mean, nearly everyone I have ever met has always said the only reason I got this job was because of who my parents were-" I cut off my ramblings. "Anyway, you seem to know what you are doing and for some weird reason, you seem to care about what happens to Max and Fred and me."
My voice faltered. This was so stupid. But what other option did I have?
"I'm asking you for help one last time. I'm locked in Marble Manor." I let my eyes scan the room, so that whoever may have been helping me could see. "I'm a little bloodied and bruised. It's nothing serious," I added, as though I was afraid of worrying the mysterious person. "What I need you to do is to warn somebody. Fred or Max or Professor Scott. Even Pillington, if you know him. Tell them that Jayden is with Professor Lewis, on their way out of the country."
I was beginning to hear the desperate pleading in my voice.
"Please," I begged. "Catch them before it is too late."
"And when I'm doing all that," a low voice said suddenly through the static, "use those Louis Vuitton heels and kick down the freakin' door."