I was running. Running down the dark hallways, not making a sound, left here, right there. I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance and almost rolled my eyes. Of course Zach would choose the night it rained to run away.

I stopped outside the tunnel, took a deep breath, adjusted the backpack on my shoulder and went inside. Zach wasn't there yet so I set the bag down and waited. I looked out the window at the approaching storm. The sky was dark and eerie. The storm was moving fast down the sky, the clouds rumbling.

I remember watching storms when I was little, every time the lightning striked I would count till I heard thunder. The number I reached was how many miles away the storm was.

I saw lightning in the distance and began counting.

"One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi-"

Then the thunder rumbled. I sighed. My heart was pounding. I was nervous, but this was the right thing to do, right?

Another lightning strike.

"One mississippi, two mississi-"

Thunder rumbled again, louder then before. I looked at my watch, 2:14. Where was Zach? He was supposed to be here.

There was another lightning strike, but I didn't bother counting this time. I stared out the window, looking over the school grounds I had come to love. And was now leaving.

A pair of arms wound around my waist and I felt a chin come to rest on my shoulder.

"Hey Gallagher girl. Watcha watching?" Zach said, kissing my cheek.

"The storm. Any reason you chose this particular night? Someone watch the weather channel lately?" I said.

"Well I do love the theatrical appeal of running away in the rain." he smirked.

I laughed quietly and turned in his arms, facing him.

"I'm ready." I said starring into his emerald eyes.

"Come on." he said and grabbed my bag off the ground, putting it on his shoulder.

He held his hand out and I took it. There was a gleam in his eyes that assured me everything was okay for the time being. We left the passage and went to the end of the hall. There was a large window at the end and Zach started to open it.

"Zach, stop! It'll set the alarms off. We have to deactivate them." I said pulling him back.

"You lack of faith in me Gallagher girl is insulting. I have taken care of everything."

"Right. Sorry." I said and then helped him open the window. He pulled the harnesses out of his bag and handed me one. We suited up and Zach attached a pulley to me.

"Okay, you are first. We have nine minutes and thirty five seconds left before someone figures out the cameras are on loop. Once you get down there head towards the guard station by the gates. I'll catch up." he said tightening the ropes.

I nodded, put a comms unit in my ear, and climbed out the window. I repelled down the side of Gallagher avoiding windows and vents. It started raining lightly and I pulled my hood up.

When my feet touched the moist grass I unhook myself and tugged on the rope, letting Zach know I was down. He had seven minutes and fifteen seconds.

I took off running towards the guard tower. It started raining harder and my shoes sloshed in the puddles forming on the ground. I was halfway to the tower and I started to scrutinize my options. There was one guard on duty. And rather then slapping a napotine patch on his forehead, I slipped passed him in the shadows when he was turned away. I was trusting Zach to have every camera on the grounds on loop.

I hopped over the two foot wall surrounding the guard station and hid in the bushes waiting for Zach. He appeared twenty three seconds later and took my hand leading me deeper into the bushes and trees. He pushed back several bushes to reveal the stone wall that surrounded the entire property. He pulled a tube of cream out of his pocket and lathered a thick layer of it on the grout between several stones.

In seconds the cement disintegrated and Zach easily removed the stones, creating a hole in wall big enough for us to fit through. We slipped through and he put the stones back.

Then he took my hand and we ran toward town. The rain was pounding down on us, soaking everything I was wearing. I took my jacket off because it was no longer of use it was so wet and stuffed it in my backpack.

We stopped at the park and Zach took a pair of keys out of his pocket.

"What are those?" I had to practically yell over the rain.

"Exactly what they look like." He answered back.

"I meant, what do they belong to?"

He just smirked and pulled me to the park's parking lot.

There was a shiny black motorcycle sitting in the lot with two helmets.

"A motorcycle? Seriously?" I gaped.

"Yep. Let's go, we have three minutes until the alarms are activated and they come looking."

He threw me a helmet, straddled the bike and patted the seat behind him. I sighed and put the helmet on sitting behind him. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight as he put the bike in gear and we sped down the road. Rain and wind pelted me in the face and I leaned into Zach's back more shielding myself. We got onto the highway and I was sure we were speeding. In the distance I could hear a faint alarm and I knew Gallagher was probably chaos right now. But that was no longer my concern.

I tightened my grip around Zach's waist and watched as the road signs flew by and city lights appeared in the distance.

This is it. Time to find answers