We enter the old school, it looks so similar to how I remember it. There’s just more vines on the walls. We wander the school, holding hands and checking room after room with no luck. I head back to the front of the school with Dylan trailing behind. I sit on the secretary desk, eating the food we found in the cafeteria. All they had was a box of stale crackers. After a few minutes, Dylan sits down next to me and eats the crackers. We eat silently for a few minutes.
I remember when Deraci was choosing if I would go or not. I needed to go, I couldn’t let anyone else die because of a possible mistake I made again. Dylan had been against it and somehow managed to convince them to let him come with me. I didn’t like the idea of him coming, but there was nothing I could do.
It took them a week to figure out how they were going to do this. Eventually it was decided to send us a day earlier than everyone else will be arriving. Dylan was supposed to wait outside until I cleared the school and if I didn’t come out, he was supposed to go and meet up with the soldiers. He dosen't listen very well.
"I'm going to go look through some rooms once more," Dylan says jumping down.
"Ok," I say jumping down.
"No, I want you to stay here, in case something happens. I'll call for you if I find anything," he says before heading down a hallway. I sigh and sit down again. It only takes a few minutes before I hear him call me.
Putting the box of crackers down on the desk, I stand and head the way he went. When I walk in, I see it sitting on the floor. The Box looks too heavy to be able to lift and it looks like it is bolted to the floor. I look around the room for anything else, but see nothing. It's the teacher lounge.
"This is it. This is what we have been looking for all these weeks," whispered Dylan. "We finally found it."
A light on the Box blinks before a soft humm fills the room. "What's it doing?" Dylan asks.
"How should I know? This is the first time I'm seeing it as well," I hiss towards him. I walk over to look out in the hallway and see a head pop out over the staircase railing.
"Get down!" I hiss towards Dylan. He crouches quickly and looks around. He slowly creeps towards me with a question on his face.
"I saw movement on the stairs," I whisper in his ear. He looks out the window before looking back at me.
"I don't see any one," he says. "It could've just been an animal, this is an old school that's closed down."
"I don't think so," I say, but look again to see no one. Maybe he's right.
"Come on stop being so paranoid. There is no one out there!" He says, pulling me up. I nod against his shoulder, but I have a bad feeling.
I want to believe him, but why would they leave this Box unprotected? It just doesn't make any sense, especially because of all the other cases. Almost a hundred men died looking for this and it’s not even protected. I glance out the window and seeing no one I sit down next to Dylan. He grabs my hand and starts making shapes on the back of my hand. I stare down at our hands. I'm so tired. I put my head on his shoulder hoping to give my eyes a break for a minute.
I wake sometime later, realizing we both fell asleep. I want to jump up and see if the Box is still here, but that movement would wake Dylan and he hasn't slept in three days, I can't do that to him. Instead I think about us. I mean we have come so far, from wanting to kill each other to being... well this. It used to be dating, but now we're on a job and he barely notices me anymore.
A bang comes from the window and I instinctively jump in front of Dylan who is now awake. I look towards where the sound came from, to see a hand gliding across the window into the school. Dylan is on his feet in a second and sprinting towards the door with me right behind him. We open the door to see hundreds of children going into their classes. "What the hell?" Dylan yells.
Not a single head turns towards us. In fact, they act as if they didn't hear us. I look at Dylan and his face is paling quickly.
"What?" I trail off as I see myself walking down the stairs.
My younger self. I'm walking down the stair when a group of girls comes up behind me. This is the past, my mind slowly gives me. Somehow we went back to when I was a young girl. I shake my head, confused of how this happened. I start to push Dylan back into the room, but he's frozen in place, staring at my younger self.
I look back at myself wearily, just wanting to go back into the room. My younger self stops walking down and turns to talk to the group of girls. I talk and they start laughing, then I turn to continue down the stairs and one of the girls shoves me down the stairs. I land in a heap with my papers everywhere. The girls are laughing and everyone else is staring and about ready to laugh. The girls continue down the stairs and each one of them steps on top of me as they get to the bottom. That’s when a young Fred pushes his way through the crowd and crouches next to me. He talks to me and grabs my papers for me.
I stand and he hands me my papers back. We talk for a minute as other students push their way past. A smile breaks out on my face and I start laughing. People glare at us before Fred takes my arm and we disappear into the crowd.
I look at Dylan pleading we go back into the room, and I see that his hands are in fists and he's clenching his jaw. They slowly start to relax as he realizes that was Fred who helped me. He pulls me into a hug, but doesn’t say anything at first.
"I'm sorry," he whispers once he releases me.
"Why? You did nothing wrong."
"I should have known," he says suddenly sounding tired.
"You couldn't have known if I didn't tell you. Please just let it go. When is the truck suppose to arrive?" I ask trying to change the topic.
"Tomorrow," he says letting me pull him back into the room. We sit down across from the Box. Once that truck gets this box, we will finally be done with this mission.
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"Sir, there are two people exploring the school. Most likely looking for the Box."
"Ok. Pull up the screen. I hope for their benefit they don't find it," The Director says frowning.
He moves to take a seat, knowing he will be here awhile. "Ok. It looks like the school is ready to be reopened. Start up the school day, um... let's go with September 28, 2585. That's my favorite day. Make sure these people get the living hell scared out of them!" The worker to The Directors right types in the date and activates the Box. It’s the only day that something interesting happens.
"Sir, I think they found the Box." He looks at the screen and sure enough, the guy is standing in front of the door.
"Son of a bitch! You what's your name?" The Director says to the man on his right.
"Tommy," he says.
"Well Tommy, make sure they don't leave."
"Of course sir."
"Mark! Start getting the plane ready. The Box will survive, but they won't. I want these people dead! You hear me?" He screams.
"Yes sir. These intruders will be killed under any circumstances," replies Mark.
"Good. Now you over there, find out who these people are! I want to know who they work for! I want to know everything about them! Get to work people!" The Director yells as he goes to his office.
By midnight there is little update. The Director now knows that the girl went to this school. He knows their names, Dylan Werst and Alexander Reade and he also knows their time is running out very quickly. By morning the plane is ready and they are getting ground troops to go it in case the plane doesn't somehow kill them. They will be heading out at one o'clock and will arrive at one fifteen. The Director grabs the microphone off his desk. "Ok people. Let get this party started!"
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Only one chapter left! Thanks for sticking it out with me!!