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Rafe? Trevor signed, nudging the girl next to him. They were almost at their classroom, and even if they didn't want to admit it, they were both terrified.
Yeah?
Do you know where we're going after this?
No.
And you didn't think about that?
Rafe sighed. We'll figure it out. But first we had better find the first candle. She held her breath as she contained her fear.
Are you sure?
Rafe shook her head. No.
Trevor grabbed the door handle, letting out a deep breath before turning it. They looked around the room and weren't surprised when they saw that nothing had changed since they had last been there. Their textbooks were still laid out on the table where they left them, Mr. Barla's writing on the chalkboard saying "Welcome New Students!", even if the only people that truly felt welcome were Ella and Jessica.
Rafe's eyes scanned the room, excited when she saw what she was looking for. She pointed to it, running over and grabbing it faster than Trevor could comprehend. For some reason, she felt really proud to have remembered where one of the candles were.
Let's look around some more, just in case, Trevor signed, and Rafe nodded in agreement. They each took opposite sides of the room, checking in every possible spot.
It took a few minutes before they found anything. Trevor opened another cabinet, ecstatic when he found a white candle, completely new. Trevor cleared his throat so that Rafe would look over his way. She did, and saw him pull one of the candles from one of the cabinets. Why was it hidden?
He probably just didn't need it then, Rafe told him. He already had one out.
Trevor nodded, not really buying it. They both stood up after looking for a while, sure that there weren't any more in the room.
Now what? Trevor asked. We can't just look all around the academy, hoping to find something.
We still need to check the room we got locked in earlier, remember?
Are you insane? No way!
Look, I'm not jumpimg for joy either but it's the only way to get out of here.
He sighed, not wanting to give in but doing so anyways. But right as they started walking out of the door, they noticed a note on the closest table to them. It caught Rafe's eye and she nudged Trevor, trying to show him. It took a moment for him to see, so Rafe walked over to the table and picked it up, holding it up for him to see. They both read it in their heads.
"If you are looking for candles, I keep a collection of them in each one of the dorm rooms inside the walls, behind the bricks. Two in each dorm.
-Mr. Barla."
Another Barla note, Rafe signed. Hadn't got one of those in awhile, not since Fox died.
But how did Mr. Barla expect us to look for this? He asked, confused. He left two days ago.
Maybe lots of spells need white candles.
Maybe, I don't know.
Let's just go. We shouldn't waste much time. And with that she started out of the room, Trevor by her side.
They hadn't visited the dorms since Jessica had died, so they didn't know what to expect. Where there going to be clues there that they never payed attention to? Was there going to a key lying on the ground that they didn't think was important at the time? Would it be completely trashed? They thought of the worst in their minds, but Rafe was surprised that once they stepped into the girl's dormitory, it looked exactly the same.
She looked around at all of the empty beds, at Jessica and Marisa's luggage and remembering how happy they were to first arrive. She remembered fighting Raven and Marisa for the beds by the window, and smacking Raven with a pillow once she lost. Rafe almost laughed at that memory, feeling like much more time had passed than two days.
Trevor nudged her, and Rafe noticed how long she had been staring into space. He motioned for them to start looking and she nodded.
It didn't take them long to find the two candles. They were exactly where Mr. Barla has said they would be; the walls. They were exactly like the other two that Trevor held, not too big with nothing special about them, really. Rafe didn't look back on the room once they left, not wanting to be reminded of the past and instead focus on the present where they are about to be given another clue, another answer to their problems.
They walked into the boy's dorm, Trevor expecting the worst as well but, like Rafe, was wrong when he saw that nothing had changed. Fox, who had slept near the bathrooms, still had his sleepwear on his bed from the time constraint he had in changing into his normal clothes, and Jackson's luggage was opened a little, a black hoodie peaking out of it. Then there was Fletcher's, whose luggage was perfectly organized, his bed made. Trevor didn't care much about his bed being made but didn't want his luggage falling out, so it was completely zipped up, nothing leaking out.
I hope these are in the walls as well, Trevor thought. They walked in further, stepping on the thin, old fashioned carpet that suddenly felt much more familiar then it was. They went to Trevor's side of the room first, trying to pull out every possible brick that they could, hoping that it would budge. They even had to stand on the beds a few times, and when that wasn't even enough, Trevor had to hold Rafe up on his shoulders so that she could check the top. He suddenly wished that Rafe was barefoot instead of wearing sneakers.
After a few minutes of Rafe standing on Trevor's shoulders, she felt a loose brick, and pulled it out to find a small white candle, making her grin almost sheepishly. She made a thumbs up, Trevor finally setting her down. She showed him the candle, but he was confused.
Why is there only one? He signed. She shrugged, setting it down on Damien's bed when Trevor had set his.
Maybe he wanted to spread it out this time.
If he did, then he would have in the girl's dorm as well.
Ignoring that comment, Rafe continued to search each brick. Frustrated, they checked every brick on the wall, which took them a half an hour at the very least, considering the size of the room. They made their way to the bathroom, skipping over to the second side. Trevor continued to boost Rafe up to the ceiling, but they were still unsuccessful for the most part.
Finally, Trevor's shoulders got tired and he was forced to set Rafe down. As her feet hit the floor, she pointed to the bottom of the wall, Trevor agreeing with the plan. They both went to opposite sides of the room, pulling out each and every brick they could, examining it rather closely before putting it back in. It only took a few minutes for Rafe to pull out a brick, relieved to see a candle pushed into a hole in it.
She jumped up, skipping gleefully over to Trevor, a candle in her hand. She tapped his shoulder, showing the white candle to him. He grinned, giving her a high five before standing up.
We've got all of them now, He signed and Rafe nodded, still not able to get the smile off of her face.
Suddenly, there was a sound, like screaming. It made Rafe jump, grabbing onto Trevor unknowingly. Are you okay? He signed, but she shook her head. She looked around, starting to get a little paranoid.
There was a noise, She signed. I think it was someone screaming.
Do you think everyone's okay? Before Rafe could answer, there was another sound, this one sounding like a crash of lightning and the booming of thunder. Then, the ground starting to shake, the temperature dropping.
What's happening? Rafe asked, fear starting to flood her head. Trevor shrugged, looking around the room for any other clues. Black smoke circled around them, the ground starting to shake shake, and Rafe and Trevor started to have massive headaches. She pressed her hands to her head, groaning and falling down in agony.
"Rafe!" He called out, not aware that he did so. After a few more moments, the intensity of the magic got to Trevor's head even more. He dropped to the floor, closing his eyes and holding his head in pain. He curled up into a ball, trying to get the pain to stop.
It felt like forever when the smoke finally cleared off from the room and Trevor's headache stopped. He opened his eyes, expecting to see a girl beside him but instead only seeing her candle, the rest of her not in view.
"Rafe?" He called out, but she was nowhere to be found. He made a three-sixty degree turn, but she was still nowhere to be found. He gasped, realizing what had happened. Suddenly, Trevor felt a tap on the shoulder, making him jump from surprise.
"Fletcher!" He said after he realized where he was. At first, the blond looked relieved but then it turned into confusion.
"What were you doing here?" Fletcher asked, extremely confused and shocked. Why was he searching Ashwock alone? Didn't he remember last time that happened? "I just woke up. Rafe's missing, she wasn't sleeping downstairs. Have you seen her?"
"W-We were just looking around,"
"We?"
"Yeah, me and Rafe!" Trevor started to sweat.
"Where is she?" Fletcher hoped for a good response but knew he wasn't going to get one. Trevor panicked even more, shaking his head.
"I don't know!" He exclaimed, his signs showing his panic. "One minute she was here and the next; she's gone!"
Fletcher placed his hand on his head, suddenly extremely nervous and anxious about their friend. "Did you say anything that might have sent her away?"
But Trevor, no matter how hard he tried, didn't get a word of what Fletcher said. "I-I don't know what you're saying!" He exclaimed, about ready to tear his hair out because of his frustration. "I can't understand any of it!"
Fletcher pursed his lips, both anxious about Rafe and upset about Trevor's reaction. Then, out of nowhere, Trevor pushed Fletcher out of the way, running down the hallways as fast as he could while shouting Rafe's name at the top of his lungs. He didn't care if he couldn't hear her response. He needed to let her know that he was coming, to let her know that she was safe now.
He had already lost six of his friends, he wasn't going to let her be the seventh.
***
Everything was dark for a while, until she realized that her eyes were closed. She opened her them a little, her white hair dangling in her face. She brushed it away, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the scenery around her. It was dark, almost pitch black. There wasn't much around her besides dirt and ashes, broken down pillars holding the whole roof up.
Panting, Rafe stood up, shaking, and spun around while trying to figure out where she was. From what it looked like, she was alone, with no memory of how she got there. She tried to push her fear aside and stay confident, clearing her throat.
"H-H-Hello?" She asked quietly. No response, so the second time she spoke, she projected her voice even more. "A-Anyone?"
Still no reply.
A chill was sent up Rafe's spine. She continued looking around the area, noticing something she hadn't seen before. A small tunnel, like the one she had seen in the basement. She was tempted to walk towards it but held herself back, still not trusting the room she was in.
Rafe took a deep breath, trying to get rid of all the fear. "Come on!" She shouted, the fear in her voice changing into fiery anger. "Show yourself, you son of a b*tch!"
And right after her mouth closed, she regretted every word she said. Because emerging from the shadows came a figure whom she could not name, who was coming closer and closer to her. Rafe squinted, trying to get a better picture of what the figure looked like but as she did, black smoke came from around them, and they started running right towards her.
Rafe gaped in shock for a few seconds before taking off running into the tunnels, desperately trying to get away from whatever it was that was chasing her. Sweat started to pile up on her forehead, her feet going as fast as they possibly could, which still didn't seem like enough. She tried not to look back and focused on what was in front of her and how fast she was running.
"Trevor!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to make somebody hear her. "Trevor!"
There was no response, but Rafe knew that was going to be the case. Because no matter how loud she cried and screamed, he would never hear him.
She didn't know how close the figure was behind her, but it was like she could almost see it, about to grab her and pull her down. Rafe had never been so scared in her life, her heart pounding against her chest. Her feet seemed to go in the wrong direction, especially when she turned a corner. The tunnel seemed never ending, which just made Rafe even more frustrated and scared. She needed to find a room where the figure couldn't get her. Where she would be safe.
Then, she encountered the thing that she had feared. A dead end.
Rafe stopped abruptly at the wall, pounding on it and trying to find a way out but it was hopeless. She turned to face the figure who had a large shard of glass in their hand. They started slowly coming closer and closer to the shaking girl, holding up the glass, ready to plunge it into her at any time. She started whispering prayers, still trying to find a way out by pressing on the wall, but it was hopeless.
She was stuck.
"Please no," She whispered, barely able to hear her own voice. "Please, stop." Her voice was shaking like her hands were, a few tears streaming down her face. There was no way out now. She would never be able to see her family again, nor her triplets nor anybody she loved or cared about, including everybody she met in Ashwock Academy.
As the figure stepped one step closer, she realized something. She knew the figure's identity. "You!" She cried, shocked. And out of nowhere, the figure charged, stabbing the glass into Rafe's heart. She screamed, dropping to the ground.
It didn't take long for her heart to stop, her glassy eyes looking into space, unaware of anything she was looking at. The figure pulled the glass out, sticking it in their pocket before running away.
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A/N
Only five are left now.
It's almost here, guys. It's almost here.
(also surprisingly this is the longest chapter I have written in this book so far, hope you liked it)