Chapter 34 flash drive - Thursday 17th PM
Following the encounter with Prescott, erroring on the side of caution, the girls parked their vehicle on a secluded side street near the south side of the campus before venturing toward the dormitories. The decision had been made on the pretense that a means of escape was still close enough to be accessible, but less likely to be discovered, thereby subsequently revealing their presence at the school. In a continuation of the covert approach, the girl's snuck through the nearby woods to limit their exposure to anyone that may have been watching. Having reached the edge of the woods, Max motioned to the blonde to stop in order to observe the scene outside the dormitories before proceeding. Observing the eerie silence around them, the brunette was taken aback by the ominous nature of the campus's appearance. Being late on a Thursday night, there were typically no students afoot, but there usually a security guard patrolling the grounds. Nevertheless, with the path before them clear, the girls cleared the woods before entering the building on route to Max's dorm. Reaching door number 219, shortly after they had entered, Max fell to the floor, clutching her head in agony.
"Max?!" Victoria asked, confused. "What's wrong?!"
"Come on… we have to go!" Max muttered, struggling back to her feet.
"Why… what happened?" Victoria stammered while helping the brunette to her feet.
"Just trust me… okay?" Max pleaded. "I'll explain later. Come on… leave the light on."
Unbeknownst to Victoria, the girls had in fact attempted to upload the contents of the flash drive. Upon entry, they had enough time to boot up the computer and access the contents of the flash drive. Unfortunately, there hadn't been enough time to get any further than that, as the effort was brought to a halt by the arrival of an uninvited guest. Shortly after their arrival, Mr. Jefferson kicked in the door and had his gun drawn before either of them had a chance to react. Staring down the barrel of the gun, Max reflexively raised her right hand to rewind back to just after they had entered the dorm, affording them the opportunity to escape before his arrival. Immediately turning foot, the girls returned to the hallway before sprinting down the hall as quietly as possible. As they raced toward safety, Max shared with Victoria just what had occurred to cause an immediate abandonment of their strategy upon arrival.
"So… how far did we get?" Victoria said in response as soon as Max had finished.
"Not far," Max replied providing an answer more vague than intended.
While descending the stairs, the image of Mr. Jefferson approaching the same door as them came into view. Exchanging a few curse words, the girls turned tail to retreat back up the stairs. Frantically searching for a place to hide, they burst through a set of double doors as their pursuer entered the building. Pressed against the doors, the two stared at each other, eyes wide with fright, hoping and waiting for Jefferson to continue on in the opposite direction. As the man reached the top of the stairs, he scanned the hallway in search of any presence of another before stomping on toward the brunette's room. Shaking with trepidation when Jefferson looked in the direction of the doors providing their cover, both let out a sharp exhale in relief as he ran down the hall in the opposite direction.
"Come on, it's clear," Max ordered before looking back at Victoria. "Take my hand," Max offered, smiling this time.
Pushing through the doors toward freedom, the girls arrived outside and realized they were unsure of what their next move should be.
"Shit, Max… what are we doing?" the blonde inquired.
"We go somewhere else… anywhere else," Max answered. "You got your keys?"
Patting herself down in search of her purse, Victoria's eyes went wide after having the realization that she didn't have them. "FUCK! They must be back in your room!"
The brunette's heart began to race over the revelation before patting herself down in the same manner as Victoria had done. Abruptly her right hand came to a halt on her right hip, before letting out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh thank god…," she proclaimed before reaching into a small pocket, "I still have it."
In the midst of their celebration, the pair realized they were still standing in the open in front of the dorm. Running out of time, Max clutched the blondes hand before dashing in tandem toward the woods opposite of the dormitories. Reaching the edge of the trees around the Tobanga Totem, the girls pivoted around before taking cover in view of the door they had just came through.
"Why are we stopping?" Victoria asked clearly bewildered by the unexpected strategy.
"We're going to wait for him to come out, and see which way he goes," Max answered rather smugly, "See which way he goes. If we know where he's heading… we'll have a better chance to avoid him."
"Dang, you've got beauty and brains Caulfield," Victoria responded grinning. "You're a real catch babe."
"I know," Max replied doing her best to replicate Han Solo's famous last words from Empire Strikes Back before winking back at her.
Not long after the two girls stopped to wait, Mr. Jefferson burst through the dormitory entrance before frantically searching the immediate area for the girls. Unable to find his prey, the man quickly darted off in the direction of the front entrance to the main building. Turning to confirm that Jefferson had continued on the same trajectory toward the front of the campus, Max frowned after witnessing a familiar sight. Between the main building and the forest stood a spectral doe, the same one that had guided the brunette through the woods earlier that evening. Waiting until it held the hipster's attention, when their eyes met, the translucent animal turned and trotted toward the back of the building. Recalling the previous outcomes; having both followed and ignored its direction, Max resolved to follow in the hopes it would continue to be beneficial.
"What… what are you looking at?" the blonde inquired in bewilderment.
"Nothing, I was just… never mind. Come on, let's go."
"Ugh… where exactly are we going?" Victoria interrupted, clearly hesitant over the brunette's plan.
"Inside… we'll sneak around…"
"What? Max… this is crazy… Jeffershit is in there," the blonde implored, "we have to get out of here… we'll find someplace else."
"I don't except you to understand… but I… I have to do this," the brunette said before stepping closer to Victoria. "You don't have to come, this is my fight… get some place safe… this'll all be…"
"Stop! Just… stop," the blonde said, her face filled with frustration. "I'm not letting you go alone."
"Letting me?" Max questioned with a smirk. "Yes mam."
"Shut up," Victoria replied while rolling her eyes before eventually returning the smile.
Cutting through the woods to reduce their visibility, the girls circled building while following the spirit animal's path. As they approached the back doors into the main building, they took cover on both sides before glancing at one in other.
"You think there's an alarm?"
"Nope," the brunette replied bluntly. Glancing around the surrounding area, she picked up rock before using it to break one of the door windows.
"What are you… what the shit?" Victoria stammered out in disbelief.
"This isn't my first time," Max replied while reaching in to push the door open after scanning the area immediately inside. Noticing the blonde was staring in her direction slack-jawed, she asked innocently, "What?"
"Nothing… it's just… dang Caulfield, you're a bad ass."
"Yeah…" the brunette answered with a laugh. "It's amazing what super powers will do to your confidence."
Entering the school proper, the girls quickly scoured the presence of anyone in the immediate area. Deciding that they were safe, at least for the moment, Max took the opportunity to let Victoria what her plan was.
"We have to get to a computer to upload this." Max stated, "If it's online, they won't be able to buy their way out of this."
"What if the internet is down here to?" Victoria asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in her plan.
"Well then we're fucked," Max replied before pausing for effect, "but we'll deal with that when the time comes."
Venturing further into the building, Max and Victoria moved quickly, but also quietly to minimize the chance of their presence being detected. Along the way, the notion of mitigating their exposure to risk was discarded after consideration had been given to the options available. The computer most accessible to the girls was also in the most precarious of locations; the photography lab. In light of the fact that they were both currently enrolled in the Language of Photography courses; they had been provided the login credentials to the photo editing computer located at the back of the room. Unfortunately, the most accessible option also carried the most likely prospect of a direct confrontation with Jefferson. The reasons for which being two-fold; it was likely Jefferson was aware of their strategy and would focus his effort accordingly, or if the man had decided to flee, it was probable there would be items he wished to collect before leaving. Furthermore, the destination was made further daunting by the numerous ghosts that still remained within, subsequently rendering the idea to be unappealing to say the least.
Maybe it's meant to be… the brunette thought, this all started there… so it'd be fitting to end it there to.
Approaching a corner, the girls slowed before Max took a moment to check around the corner. Finding the path clear, she pulled back before noticing how tense the blonde had become. Deciding to offer an attempt at placating the girls' nerves, the brunette commented, "You know… I don't think I've ever been in this part of the building."
"Seriously? You've been here for over a month." Victoria questioned, finding the notion absurd.
"I don't know," Max replied after contemplating for a moment. "I wanted to, but there always seemed to be something stopping me."
"Well… maybe now that we're together you'll get out a little more," Victoria teased playfully.
"We're together now?" Max questioned, struggling to hide her grin. "I don't think we ever dtr'd."
Scoffing at the notion, Victoria shot back in a sarcastic tone, "Bitch, we totally dtr'd that first night you slept in my bed."
It the next moment, with Max and Victoria having paused their playful banter, they pushed their way through a set of double doors into the main hallway. As the right side door swung open, it collided into something solid causing an audible thud. Both hearing the sound; they each glanced at the other with the concern visible on their faces. Slowly peering around the door, they investigated the source of the impact with trepidation. Struggling to see what lay before them through the darkness, they both stepped in for a closer look. Slowly, as the realization of what they were witnessing set in, and audible gasp escaped Victoria mouth. Sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall with their head contorted in an unnatural direction, was a member of Blackwell Security.
Author notes:
dun dun dun! haha thanks for reading. As always, feel free comment with your thoughts or to point out any spelling/grammatical errors.