Chapter 23: On a Hunt
It was nearing the end of ranking week and the teachers were really upping their game. The senior class was instructed to meet in the main gym and dress in black. Katelyn had on black leggings and a soft off the shoulder t-shirt with a pair of black running sneakers.
Sammy stood beside Katelyn in her black yoga pants and a tank top with a chic cropped jacket. Jane wore yoga pants and a plain black V neck t-shirt. She even had glittery black stud earrings.
Miss Bates wore a white summer dress with a denim jacket over it. Her clothes made her stand out in the sea of black.
"Tonight requires you to bring your best in patience, stealth and stamina," Miss Bates explained. "This could take all night but I expect better from a Grace Marshall senior."
The lights in the hallway suddenly went off. Everyone whispered but was quickly silenced by Miss Bates.
"We're going ghost hunting tonight," Miss Bates announced.
Katelyn chewed her bottom lip. Ghosts huh? Like actual ghosts?
Miss Bates smiled. "I hope none of you are afraid of the dark because the entire campus has become pitch black. No street lights or doorway lights. You will have a single pair of night vision glasses."
"What happened to the night vision contacts we got fitted for?" a girl asked.
"I decided on glasses for a specific reason," Miss Bates explained. "It's windy tonight so don't lose them. If you do lose them, well good luck to you then. You'll have to improvise which is good practice too."
The girls nodded.
"Okay, so now time to explain the exercise itself," Miss Bates said. "Tiny lanterns are floating around campus. Find them and bring them back to the academy. Here's the catch, the academy is not as it seems..."
Everyone filed outside and gasped. The entire campus looked haunted. Holograms and actual props were set up everywhere. Katelyn felt a shiver travel down her spine. They seemed to be in some Halloween movie. The eerie glows that seemed to have faces but not quite could appear at any given moment. The wind howled and cut through the grass and tree branches.
"The dorms have bots that will be traveling the hallways. Don't get caught by them or else points will be deducted. Bring your lanterns to breakfast tomorrow."
Miss Bates yawned and folded her arms. "Alright ladies," she said. "Good luck...I'm going to bed." Miss Bates turned on her heel and went back inside.
After a few seconds all the girls scattered. Everyone went in different directions.
"Come on!" Sammy urged, pulling Katelyn into the midst of the darkness.
Jane laughed softly. "This is hardly frightening," she said. "They're only holograms."
"Let's split up so we don't fight for lanterns," Sammy suggested. "I'll go west, Jane, go east and Katelyn, you go north."
The girls nodded and split.
"Only holograms," Katelyn told herself as she put on her night vision glasses. "This will be a walk in the park." Hopefully, she would follow through and not get creeped out.
Katelyn dashed around to the trees, hoping a lantern was stuck in the branches.
She almost screamed when a drop of cold water slid down her neck. Clamping her hand over her mouth, she continued walking on. It was only a bit of leftover rain water falling from a leaf. Nothing to be afraid of.
No one knew exactly what a lantern looked like. Katelyn examined her surroundings while adjusting her glasses. It was almost impossible to tell where she was. The campus was unrecognizable with all its special effects. Katelyn jerked to a halt as she stopped at a huge ditch in the ground.
"There are no ditches on campus..." Katelyn thought to herself.
She squatted down and touched the edge of the ditch. Her hand touched grass. There was no ditch...it was only a hologram!
Katelyn bravely placed a foot onto the ditch. She could walk over the ditch like she could on regular grass. It was just a hologram that rippled when she touched it. There had to be a lantern beyond the ditch because the ditch looked so real. Most people might not try to cross over.
Katelyn's hand touched rough tree bark. She guessed she was by the woods now.
There were screams in the distance and Katelyn felt her heart rate speed up. It's only other girls running into a hologram... "It's only a hologram," Katelyn kept repeating to herself. She never liked ghost movies to begin with unlike Jane. Jane was probably just running through the ghosts and laughing.
All of a sudden, a ghostly face appeared in front of Katelyn. A scream ripped from Katelyn's throat before she could stop it. On instinct, she scrambled into the trees with cold sweat pouring down her face.
"They're not real..." Katelyn muttered to herself. "They. Are. Not. Real."
The eerie glow started to float toward her and Katelyn was on the run. She wildly tore through the trees, knocking branches out of her way. A root caught her ankle and sent her sprawling onto the ground. Katelyn jerked up and saw that the ghost was gone. She let out a breath of relief.
Standing up on shaky legs and dusting the dry leaves and twigs from herself, she realized she dropped her night vision glasses in her panicked escape. Katelyn felt around the ground for them but couldn't find them.
"I'm so screwed..." Katelyn muttered to herself. She squinted through the darkness and tried to make out the shapes.
Just then, the campus had gone strangely silent. Katelyn couldn't hear anything. Where was everyone? Even the shrieks of exclamation were gone now.
Katelyn leaned against a thick tree to catch her breath. After a few moments, she was treading lightly across the ground. Her footsteps were silent as she looked around. Tonight even the stars and moon were covered by a cloudy gloom. Everything was black.
Suddenly, Katelyn saw a tiny ball of light floating around in the distance.
"A lantern!" she thought to herself. Yes! She had finally found one. She moved faster after it but the lantern was floating away faster too, probably from the wind. She felt herself go from a jog to a sprint.
Katelyn gasped as she felt her foot sink into something hard and painful. Her entire body went sprawling onto the grass but it was too dark to see anything without her glasses. Her ankle felt on fire. Katelyn finally mustered up the courage to gingerly touch her ankle. It hurt but she could tell her foot was caught into the root of a tree.
"Alright, don't be a baby," she told herself. On the count of three, she pulled her foot from the hole, gritting her teeth and swearing a few times in the process.
Katelyn forced herself to stand up and go after the lantern.
"There it is..." Katelyn thought to herself as she quickly jogged to it. The lantern had drifted to a branch and gotten caught. Katelyn grabbed it, feeling a rush of victory but it was interrupted by a light zooming through the air. Katelyn dove behind a tree.
"What was that...?"
A branch cracked underfoot. Katelyn decided to just get out of there. She had the lantern after all. She ran back out into the open but crashed into something. A glowing face was inches away from her. This wasn't a hologram.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Katelyn screamed on the top of her lungs. There was a real ghost! She could feel his body!
A physical hand covered her mouth and Katelyn felt light headed. Her knees buckled and she fell forward.
"Katelyn!" a voice exclaimed.
Katelyn felt a pair of arms support her. "D-Derek...?" she asked in a small voice, recognizing the voice.
"Yeah, it's me," Derek said, wide eyed. He had never seen Katelyn look so terrified. Her breathing was in ragged pants. "Sorry, did I startle you?" he asked, softly.
To his surprise, Katelyn wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"Oh my god," she said, squeezing him. "You're not some creepy thing lurking around campus."
"Um...that is true," Derek said, rubbing her back. He knew the girls were on a ghost hunt today but he definitely didn't think Katelyn would get scared. It made her seem less invincible.
"What are you doing here?" Katelyn asked, quickly pulling back, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"We have a hunt too arranged by Mr. Belikov," Derek explained. "Kind of like you guys."
"Oh," Katelyn said. "Did you find it?"
"No, but who cares," Derek said. "Do you have a flashlight or night goggles? It's pitch black here."
"No, I lost them..." Katelyn admitted, feeling like an idiot.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to the academy," Derek decided.
"It's okay, I can go by myself," Katelyn said.
Derek ignored her and took her hand and pulled her back toward the academy.
"Derek..." Katelyn complained. "Someone might see. Let go of my hand!"
Derek sighed. "It's pitch black. I can't even see where I'm walking without a flashlight. Plus, I don't want you to trip."
"Fine," Katelyn muttered.
Derek began walking but he felt Katelyn's pace much slower than usual.
"You okay?" Derek asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
Derek turned and shined his flashlight at Katelyn's feet.
"Hey!" Katelyn exclaimed, trying to pull back.
"Oh my god..." Derek said. "You have a nasty cut on your ankle."
"It's not a big deal-"
"You're bleeding onto your sock!"
"Am I...?" Katelyn said, nervously. She was way too pumped with adrenaline to feel pain.
"Let's go get you a first aid kit," Derek said, shaking his head. "Can you walk? I can carry you-"
"I'm fine," Katelyn said, unsure what to say. "There's robots in the hallway," she added. "You should just walk me to the door."
"You're in no shape to compete," Derek said, flatly. "I'll walk you inside."
"But-"
"Just let me make sure you're in your room?"
"You don't have to-"
"Katelyn Hathaway, please give me the honor to just walk you back to your goddamn room before you bleed to death."
"Okay."
Katelyn didn't know why she just agreed. Derek was so insistent today...and she just went along with it. What was wrong with her? She could feel the blush creep onto her cheeks. Katelyn busied herself by securely tying the lantern to her belt.
At least there were no more ghosts, just a bunch of bots. Four feet metal things that moved around with motion sensors.
Katelyn and Derek peeked around the corner. The three bots zig zagged around the hallway.
Katelyn studied her route. Down the hall and up the stairs.
"I just wonder how they react to motion..." Katelyn wondered out loud.
"Here, I got it," Derek said, pulling out a quarter.
Katelyn nodded.
Derek silently crawled onto a crate and flung the quarter into the bot hallway against a wall. All the bots immediately turned to the movement on the wall and all rolled over. Camera flashes went off, meant to take a picture of the student but there was no one there.
"What's the game plan?" Derek asked.
"I say we cause a distraction with the quarter and run for it."
"Your ankle is in no shape for a 100 m dash."
"I'll pull through-"
"You're going to get caught," Derek stated.
Katelyn glared at him. "What do you suppose we do then?"
Derek kind of just looked at her. "I don't know," he said with a shrug.