Nightschool chapter 21

It was raining. Hard. And windy.

But Daemon just stood against the brick building and watched the sky.

A dark form slowly materialized to his right.

"Have you found anything?" the darker man asked Mr. Roi.

The teacher sighed. "No. Only several dead ends. Whoever is behind all this… They have gone through a great deal of trouble to cover their tracks."

"They don't want to be noticed until it's too late," the Hunter said.

"My thoughts precisely," Mr. Roi agreed. "Which certainly makes me wonder… when exactly that will be."

Ten kicked through the brick wall.

"I'm just saying–why can't it be true?" she continued, stepping through. "If Teacher's one of the night lords, it would explain so much. The things he does, the people he knows, what he's taught us."

"Because he is a Hunter, Ten," Teresa said, stepping through behind her. "The thirteen are of the Night World–do you see the problem there?"

Ten said nothing. She slid down the ladder that led from the ridge they were on and dropped the last several feet, landing in a crouch.

She brushed off her hands as Teresa and Jaq dropped down behind her. "Well, true, but I've been thinking about that." She looked at them over her shoulder. "Hunters don't mix with night things, okay, but that aside–the thirteen are… are… What? Who? No one really knows. They come and go as they please, they kick ass and don't stay for interviews. If one of them was a Hunter–who'd know? Who'd complain?"

Cassidy dropped down behind them, carrying Marina on his back.

Teresa and Jaq just stared at Ten.

Teresa looked back. "Cass?"

"We can't worry about that now," he said, setting Marina down. He started walking. "We have a Weirn to hunt."

Marina followed. Ten and Teresa stared a moment, then followed, too.

"Jaq, her classes start at 9:15, right?" Teresa asked.

The blond flipped through her planner. "Yes. But homeroom's at 9:00, in room…" He froze. "There's a message." He held the planner out to the other three Hunters. Their eyes widened. "We have her planner… Think she'd have another way to know about this?"

Rochelle blinked awake to the noise of the storm, her hair frizzed up. She looked out the window at the slanted rain. "Oh, wow." She frowned. "Alex…"

She walked into the living room, clipping barrettes into her hair. Ronee was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, in her pajamas, with two mirrors floating in front of her.

"You stayed up all night working on this?" the older girl said to one of them. "How much do you have left?"

"I'm on the last two symbols," Remy said, staring down at an ancient-looking book on his lap and rubbing the bags under his eyes. He pushed a piece of blue hair out of his eyes. "They're pretty obscure, so I'm having to look stuff up in the closed archives. Thought something might match, but there's not a lot so far…"

Ronee frowned. "How long do you think it will take you to finish the pattern?"

Sion watched the conversation from her bed, relaxing on the big frilly pillows with a spoon in her mouth and a bowl in her hand.

"I honestly don't know. A few hours? A few days? I'll have to sleep at some point."

Ronee bit her lip and pushed her hair out of her face. "Okay, what should we do… What classes do we have today?"

"Well, Mr. Roi's class," Sion said. She flipped through her planner. "And alchemistry has a te–"

She stopped and squinted at the thin book. "Uh, this can't be right. Guys, check your planners. Did you get this?"

There was a CANCELED stamp over every day.

"What?" Mrs. Hatcher exclaimed. "The board's suspending the school?"

Madam Chen nodded. "Effective immediately, and until further notice."

"On what grounds?"

The principal sighed. "Apparently they received an anonymous report of us not having a night keeper for over a month." She looked away. "And you know they have a knee-jerk reaction to those after that flesh-eating desks incident in New Jersey. Heightened risk of exposure, etc. We are to find a night keeper before classes can resume."

Mrs. Hatcher was silent for a moment. "The letter was anonymous?"

"I know what you're thinking–" Madam Chen said, "I'm pretty sure it's not Mrs. Murrey, as she already called me to bitch about this. She had labored over a pop quiz, apparently…"

"Who else would do this?" the keeper asked, folding her arms across her chest.

The principal shrugged. "Someone who doesn't want the school open, I imagine."

"What do you need me to do?" Mrs. Hatcher asked.

"Just…" Madam Chen started. "Just seal it as usual. Then go home, get some rest. It's out of our hands."

The two walked down the hall.

The bat-winged student watched from behind a row of lockers.

"No school," Ronee said, mildly surprised. "Huh. That's new."

"What do we do now?" Sion asked.

"Does that mean I can sleep?" Remy asked hopefully.

Ronee was quiet for a moment. "I have to think. Remy, yeah, get some sleep. Then try to crack those last two symbols, okay?"

He nodded, beaming, almost crying with joy. "Aye-aye!"

"Sion, you–"

"I'll come over and bring my thinking hat," the redhead interrupted, smiling. "I just have to finish breakfast."

Ronee nodded, closing her eyes. "Alright, signing off." She motioned with her hand and the mirrors flew away.

She opened her eyes and, surprised, finally noticed Rochelle hovering over her. "What?"

"Um, A-Alex, she…" the younger girl started nervously. "She wouldn't know school was canceled. She said she doesn't have her planner."

"She's a smart girl," the older said. "She'll figure it out." She reached out her hands to push herself up.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, twinging.

She flexed her right hand in front of her face, now standing. "What the hell?"

Rochelle stiffened. She clutched her hands in front of her chest. "You, um. You hit it against the floor pretty hard. When… when you fell. Earlier."

Ronee realized what she meant. She rubbed her shoulder. "Oh."

"I can make an ice pack!" Rochelle volunteered.

Ronee shook her head. "No, it's fine. I think I'll take a hot shower, that helps."

"Oh, okay," Rochelle said, nodding and not looking at her. "Do you need any…" She realized the other girl was already halfway down the hall. "…Towels."

She heard the shower hiss on and looked away, a bit hurt. She looked over at her sister's planner and then at the ground, trying to figure out what to do.

The mirror on the coffee table blinked.

She knelt in front of it. "Hello? Oh! Hi, Erin! What's up?"

The person in the mirror was fair-haired and had bat wings.

Ronee pulled her hair into a ponytail as she walked back into the living room. "Hey, how late did Mom say she's working tonight?"

She noticed she was the only one there.

She poked her head into the kitchen. "Rochelle?"

She looked at the table and noticed the note under a plastic-wrapped plate with a sandwich, cookie, and apple slices.

'DON'T FORGET TO EAT!
I'M JUST GOING TO RUN OUT
TO THE SCHOOL AND TELL
ALEX THAT IT'S CANCELED
AND BE RIGHT BACK ^^

P.S. I'M WITH A FRIEND
SO DON'T WORRY'

Ronee froze, one word sticking out to her.

School.

"No," she whispered.

She took off running. "No, no, no! DAMMIT!"

"Hello?" Rochelle called down the school hall. "Alex?"

She looked back at the bat-winged girl behind her. "I'm sure she'll be here soon. Thanks again for coming with me." She turned back around. "And sorry I can't really explain it, I just… She's kind of in a bad situation."

Erin smiled a little. "Yes, yes she is."

The impression of a trapdoor appeared behind the blonde's feet.

It creak open.

Rochelle turned, confused.

"So are you."

The Weirn stiffened, alarmed.

She screamed.

Ronee froze, taking a plastic card out of her purse.

She ran for the gate on the wall. "No! Roche–!"

She froze.

The night pass fell out of her hand.

She collapsed.

Erin walked away from the seal.

"Finally."

She looked up, smiling, revealing strange eyes.

They were a plain shade of green, but the whites were black and the pupils were slitted.