Hello hello, here we are again, I hope you all enjoy reading, and I will catch you at the end - J
Chapter 18: Frittons and Boys
The Library was busy. Everywhere she looked, people were hunched over laptops and books. The Geeks had taken charge, handing out orders left, right and centre; hell, even the first years were doing as they were told. Taking a seat beside the skeleton, who had been accessorised with a school hat, Soph caught the run-down from one of Lucy's lieutenants.
In short, they were looking for the potential location of the second ring. This meant dragging up years and years of Fritton family history, which, honestly, was pretty interesting. So, she set herself up helping the first years sort through the newspaper archives. Thankfully, the school had literally never thrown anything away for as long as it had been open, so there was plenty to work from.
She was almost completely sober by the time they found something. Which was just as well, considering the first year who read it out had the most pronounced lisp anyone had ever heard and understanding what was said was fairly important. If Sophie was right, that particular girl didn't actually have a lisp, she just put it on to make herself appear more innocent in the eyes of anyone who might accuse her of anything. Her dedication to staying in character was fairly impressive.
Apparently there was a 'weawy old widdle'.
She sent for Annabelle, who arrived with an entourage and everyone settled in the get the story.
The general summary was that some long dead Fritton or other had found the first ring, along with a clue to find the second.
And I shall leave a trace of it, but not upon this earth.
Bianca seemed to think it might be in space, and Soph didn't bother to roll her eyes as several people around the room did it for her. Instead, she shot a pleading look to the first year, who she knew had a promising theory.
"Not on the earth, but under it. Thix feet under pehapth?" She smirked and Sophie grinned to herself as the idea seemed to gain approval from around the room. It had been a while since she'd gone grave digging…
Annabelle shot her a look and Soph offered a shrug. Nodding once, the Head Girl stood.
"Right, we're going to need to go to the cemetery then. Roxy, go tell Miss Fritton. Sophie, get the camper van started up. Bianca and Zoe, we'll need spades. Chelsea, come with me." With that she left and Soph took a moment as she contemplated the fact she'd just been ordered around. Of course, everyone else she'd also instructed was already hopping right to it. Go, Annabelle.
She couldn't actually drive, as was a never-ending cause for teasing from Kelly, but she was perfectly happy to load up the gear and check it was functioning before they left. While alone, she took a minute to rest. She hadn't slept at all last night and now she was off out once more, hopefully Annabelle wouldn't be too annoying if she ditched morning lessons so she could collapse in peace.
A graveyard in the dark was sufficiently creepy, but Soph strode through with the others relatively at ease. She had done this sort of thing once before, as part of a Halloween prank in her third school (built beside/in an old church); she was all about drama back then. She hadn't actually touched any of the coffins, just dug down to expose a some than placed a few fairly realistic fake ones about the school. It didn't sound like much, looking back, but it was amazing what the right atmosphere could do.
Tired though she may be, she was happy to have something to do, so she jumped to digging. Chelsea, of all people, stepped in to assist and they shared a brief smile. She needed to remember to hang out with Chelsea some time, she hadn't had much of a chance to catch up with her since term began.
Of course, the woman regretted her decision to assist sometime later when she screamed bloody murder.
"My nails! I just had them done!" She whimpered and everyone rolled their eyes. The sharp scream in the spooky environment apparently having scared the shit out of all of them.
Six feet later, they finally hit something solid, and hollow. For this part, Sophie moved out of the way and sat down on a nearby gravestone, settling in to watch as Roxy pried it open. The cool night air was delightful as she wiped the sweat from her face. Strangely, she felt better.
As the lid came away, the group gave a collective sound of disgust; aside from Zoe, who took a selfie with the mouldering corpse. Annabelle recovered quickly, and soon found a card stuck under the well-dressed cadaver's top hat. Another riddle, the head girl began reading, but the excitement of the moment quickly dissipated as they discovered half of it was faded, weathered by decay.
Sighing in defeat, Sophie heaved herself to her feet, preparing to start filling the hole back in, when a strange noise came from the other side. She arched a brow as Bianca waved her hands about, groaning in cartoonish way that had everyone assuming possession. When she finally sneezed Sophie chuckled as the other three recoiled. What a weird night.
And it got weirder.
It was something of a blur, one second she was stood leaning on a spade, waiting for her cousin to shut the coffin and climb out of the hole, the next she had her tied up and unconscious in the back of the camper van, after having applied said spade a little aggressively to the back of her head; after it had spun a full 180 degrees to growl incoherently at the others, of course.
If she believed in such things, she might go as far as to say Annabelle was possessed by the spirit of Fortnum Fritton, but that would be ridiculous. Still, as she sat beside Roxy on the drive home, her unconscious cousin propped up on the chair beside her, she couldn't help but worry.
Regardless of Chelsea's loose grasp of speed limits, they didn't make it back to the school until morning, long after her dear cousin had woken up and started thrashing aggressively. Thankfully, they'd called ahead and the rehab rooms sent a wheelchair with restraints to retrieve their snarling and cursing head girl. Together they managed to secure her and wheel her through the school, nearly giving a haggard Geoffrey Thwaites a heart attack as they passed. Fortunately, this also alerted Miss Fritton to the situation, who quickly followed them.
She explained en-route, but there was only so much she could do; she had no more idea what had happened than anyone else. When she was done she dropped back to face the rest of the girls.
"We'll get her to the infirmary and take care of her. You guys drop the clue off with the research team." She made an effort to put as much authority behind her tone as she could muster. Kelly might have told her not to help, but if Annabelle was incapacitated by an actual ghost, she felt this lay outside the realms of usual school activities, even for St. Trinian's. Everyone nodded, but Sophie could see the reluctance in Roxy's eyes. She turned heel and waved a hand to the blonde.
"Roxy, with me." She didn't look back, but heard the hurried steps beside her as they moved with great speed through the halls.
"Take care of her?" The taller girl muttered, her worried tone bordering on panic.
"I have no idea, but this school doesn't do uncertainty. We've got to keep shit stable until we can get Annabelle back." She murmured back and in the corner of her eyes she saw Roxy swallow hard.
Maybe she should have called Kelly.
Camilla, thankfully, seemed completely unfazed by the sight of her niece floating several feet above her bed.
"Annabelle. You come down here immediately." Her sharp tone was scolding and Soph held back a mildly hysterical laugh.
Only at St. Trinian's.
Roxy shifted uncomfortably beside her, she glanced up and offered her most reassuring smile before turning back to the strange conversation.
"...Headmistress of St. Trinian's school for young ladies, so pull yourself together." Camilla snapped up at Annabelle, who was, apparently, actually possessed by Fortnum Fritton. What the fuck was up with this family?
"Possessing one's own relatives is not the sort of thing we encourage at this-" The headmistress was cut off as 'Annabelle' spat at her. She and Roxy grimaced.
"Oh Fortnum, that is neither clever, nor funny. Now tell me, where is the treasure?" That seemed to get a reaction out of him.
"Ah, my beautiful treasure. I'm rich!" His laugh became a disturbing cackle. Zoe spoke up from somewhere behind them and Sophie turned to find half of their digging crew had followed them here, concern writing deeply across each of their faces. It was almost touching, and honestly she should have expected it, Annabelle was really earning their loyalty… Still, the Emo's suggestion of exorcising the spirit wasn't necessarily one she'd say no to at this point. The girl produced a wooden cross from no-where and began chanting something or other, Soph was pretty sure it wouldn't do anything but she had no better ideas.
Apparently it did something, as 'Annabelle' responded and soon everyone was chanting the first line of the riddle. Slowly, her cousin began to descend back toward the bed once more. The strange voice fading back to her own with every inch she fell.
"…awash with hopes, I learned the ropes; you'll find my mast is here."
As soon as she was still, Soph turned to the others.
"Okay then… Get the rest of the clue to research?" She posed it as a question and they all nodded, scrambling to leave. Unsurprisingly, Roxy lingered, and Soph took a moment to squeeze her shoulder before moving to her aunt's side.
"Think she'll be okay?" She let her own concern creep into her voice as she looked down at the head girl; her face seemed back to normal, for now at least. Their aunt ran a hand over her hair and sighed.
"She should be girly. I'll get the voodoo club down here to see if they can do anything. They might be able to wake her up soon. For now it looks like you'll have to be in charge." She turned to face her and Sophie winced. Apparently seeing her reluctance, Camilla sighed.
"Just hold it all together, girlie." She smiled gently and Sophie sighed, casting one last glance at Annabelle before nodding once.
"That's a good girl, now off you go, you look terrible." She shooed her away and Sophie sighed, she wasn't about to look any better if people didn't let her go to bed. It had now been forty eight hours since she last had a chance.
She stopped beside Roxy on her way to the door.
"Miss Fritton will stay with her, go get some rest, we'll need you when we solve that riddle." She gave her an understanding smile and the blonde ran a, still mud-stained, hand through her hair before sighing and letting Soph coax her out of the room.
"Besides, with Annabelle down I'm going to need a hand keeping this place moving." She grumbled as they walked, exhaustion really starting to weigh on her.
"Why would I be helpful?" Roxy seemed genuinely confused, Soph huffed a humourless laugh.
"Oh please, you've been shadowing Annabelle since all this started, I'm not the only one who's noticed." She paused to give her half a chance to deny it, before continuing.
"Besides, I don't sleep in the dorms, so at the very least you're going to have to handle lights out." She smirked and stopped at a stairwell.
"I'm up here, go grab a shower and meet me back at the library for a bit before you crash. Even if we figure out the clue, everyone's exhausted, we won't be going anywhere today." She waited for the taller girl to nod before turning on her heel. She was just as muddy as Roxy.
Half an hour later she made it back to the library, Roxy was already there, watching an apparent celebration.
"What's the word?" She tipped her head to the girl who offered a tired smile.
"Fritton's old school, it's not far from here." She explained and Soph smiled but quickly lost herself in thought. She knew the one they meant, but it was an all-boy's school; infiltration would be difficult. Still, she called for quiet and kept everyone there long enough to iron out the outline of the plan before dismissing them all. Everyone had been working for two days straight, and those who'd come to the graveyard, though all clearly having had time to shower, looked exhausted. They needed to rest and regroup before heading out on another expedition.
It was only noon and Sophie was ready to drop dead on her feet. Still, she took the time to walk with the twins to lunch, catching them up on Annabelle's status and checking how they were. They'd been pretty shaken up after the invasion, but it seemed they were doing better now there was a plan of action, and they'd apparently added some defences to the roof, just in case.
With all of that done, she grabbed some food and dragged herself back through the school, eating as she walked. Upon entering her room she tossed her phone onto the bed and locked the door, kicking off her boots losing the majority of her clothes on her way. She barely kept enough sentience to pull the curtain closed before she fell, face first, onto her mattress. She was out like a light before she could appreciate the comfort.
She was woken by her phone. It took a minute for her groggy mind to catch up, but as soon as it did she scrambled to answer.
"Hello?" She croaked and quickly coughed, rolling out of bed on unsteady legs to head to the bathroom.
"Did I wake you?" Kelly sounded equal parts amused and apologetic. God, she'd missed that voice.
"It was just a nap, I'm good." She filled a glass with water and paused to take a quick drink, clearing her throat again before returning to the call.
"How's things?" Her voice came out clearer, less strained, and she couldn't help but smile as Jones hummed.
"Not bad, they've had me on hand to hand for two days so I'm black and blue." She chuckled and Soph joined her as she made her way back through to her room, flopping back onto her bed.
"You mean someone actually landed a hit on you?" She smirked to herself, though half her mind protested loudly at the idea.
"Only a couple." The slightly sulky edge to her tone was delightful, Sophie found herself grinning.
"I'm certain they paid for it." She smirked as Kelly gave a dark chuckle.
"You're not wrong." Smug, so very smug. Soph resisted a sigh, god she missed her. There was a pause before the woman sighed.
"So, come on, what's going on over there?" It was probably weird that Soph could hear the 'don't bullshit me' expression on her face.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." She checked the time and booted up her computer (she needed to make sure Roxy had done lights out), keeping her tone as even as she could. Of course, there would be no fooling Jones, but she had to pretend to try.
"Daniels." There it was again. Soph rolled her eyes at herself and her entire lack of capacity to say no to the bloody woman. She took a deep breath in, taking a moment to organise it all in her mind. When she was ready, she let the words fall.
"The guy who was trying to buy that old ring cut the power to the school two days ago, and that night, he sent a whole lot of guys in to steal the ring. We fought them off as you'd expect, but they dropped in through the skylight in the dorms with guns. The guy, Piers Pomfrey, by the way, dropped in, acted like a dickhead, took the ring and fucked off. So everyone had to crash elsewhere that night, what with all the glass and everything, so I gave Tania and Tara my bed and kept watch for the night. Not going to lie, I was pretty tired by that point, but then we worked out a clue that could lead us to something about the second ring, so we all went off to a graveyard in the middle of the night, and dug up my ancestor. We did get half a clue, but then Annabelle got possessed and we had to tie her up and check her into the infirmary, where she still is, so me and Roxy are temporarily keeping things going while our Head Girl gets an old Fritton pulled out of her head, and tomorrow we all get to dress up as boys to go get the second ring." She paused to let out a long breath, enjoying the silence on the other end for a beat before she began again.
"So I was awake for like, two days, which is why I sound like I might be dead." She sounded off with a cheery smile and waited, letting Kelly work through all of that for a long moment. Eventually, she sighed.
"Only at St. Trinian's." The sheer resignation in those three words was titanic in proportions and Soph understood the sentiment.
"We've got it handled. Annabelle's due out of the infirmary in a couple of days and frankly dressing up as boys to sneak into the male equivalent of Cheltenham is hardly dangerous." She shrugged more to herself than anything and thankfully that seemed to pull a quiet chuckle out of Jones.
"That's true." There was a pause before she spoke again, almost like she was trying to decide whether or not to say it.
"I do feel like you should have called me around the time the men with guns showed up though." It didn't feel like she was actually mad at her, more annoyed at the situation in general, but Soph winced none the less.
"I did think about it… But by the time you got here they'd be long gone and you'd probably be in trouble for running off." She tried to sound apologetic, she'd known Kelly would probably be unhappy about her keeping it a secret. The older girl hummed her acknowledgement then fell silent, Soph waited patiently, giving her time.
"This sucks." She heaved a sigh and Soph managed a slightly bitter chuckle.
"It's only for a year though, right?" Her false optimism was intentionally transparent, Kelly hummed.
"Yep. Only a year. How long has it been?"
"Four days." She deadpanned back and they shared a moment of silence. They'd done just over one percent of the time they would have to deal with this for. Ugh, fucking hell.
"Well they say the first hundred hours are the hardest." Jones sighed and Soph took it upon herself to lighten the mood.
"I don't miss you at all. It's great here, so much space." She rolled her head over to stare at the empty side of the bed, sweeping her free arm across it. What was intended to be a joke was tainted with an edge of sadness even she could hear. Fortunately, Kelly knew not to mention it.
"Oh? You actually can go to sleep without sprawling across someone? Wish you'd told me that before." Jones snarked back and Soph gasped in false shock.
"Rude! It's not my fault someone clings on like the Kraken. I have to get comfortable somehow." She grinned but forced back her laughter, refusing to break first.
"Maybe I wouldn't have to hold on so tight if you weren't such a constant flight risk." There it was, Sophie groaned.
"Oh, low blow!" She rolled onto her side, and as she heard Kelly laugh she let herself join in.
They settled in to happier topics from then, however, as they approached midnight, Kelly yawned.
"Tired, Jones?" Soph smiled to herself and the older girl sighed.
"Yeah, I'd better go, you still need sleep and I have things to do in the morning." The reluctance in her tone was obvious and Soph empathised, but didn't object.
"Call again when you can, I'll still be here." It was masquerading as a joke, but they could both hear the promise laying beneath it. There was a pause, and for half a beat Soph worried she'd said something she shouldn't, but when Kelly finally spoke, she could hear the smile in her voice.
"Glad to hear it. 'night, love."
"See you." With that they hung up, leaving Soph to let the phone drop onto the covers with a dull thump.
Ugh, she was such a sap.
The next morning she was functional once more, dropping down beside Chelsea with a cheery smile.
"Kelly called?" The blonde smirked and Sophie rolled her eyes.
"Maybe, could also be that I finally got some sleep." She nudged her with her elbow and Chelsea laughed.
"Sleep made you stop looking like you were drawn by Tim Burton, Kelly is what made you skip in here like you were drawn by Disney." She snarked and Soph choked on her breakfast.
When Chelsea was finished making fun of her, they settled in to discuss the plans of the day. Due to their considerable talents with cosmetics, the Tottys were in charge of dressing up their infiltration team, so there was a lot to go over.
The library had become their base of operations and today it was akin to the backstage of a Broadway show. Costumes were being wheeled back and forth by the tailor crew, final adjustments being made and finished work handed out to the team. A queue had already formed in the Totty's makeup nook and everyone else was pouring over maps of the school, trying to figure out where exactly the ring might be. It was chaos, but it was working… Not bad. Deciding everything was well in hand, she joined the queue, waiting patiently for her turn.
She looked like her dad.
Honestly, if she let her dye grow out and kept contouring her face like this, she could probably get away with impersonating him. It was a little uncomfortable. However, for her own amusement, she did send a picture to Kelly.
"We ready to go?" Roxy appeared by her side and Soph nodded once.
"I've sent Celia to bring the van around." She glanced over her shoulder to find the girl in costume, the Tottys had done a great job on all of them.
"How's Annabelle?" She smirked as the taller girl quickly looked away. There was a pause, as though she was considering lying, then decided against it.
"Looking more herself, but still asleep. Miss Fritton reckons she'll be awake by the time we get back." She sighed and Soph nodded, reaching up to clap a hand onto her shoulder.
"Let's make sure we have something to give her once she's up." They shared a smirk and set off. They had a ring to find.
Honestly, it went better than expected. The girls of St. Trinian's had a talent for striding around as if they owned a place and honestly, Soph had forgotten her own skill in that area. Casting anyone who dared to look her way an expression of superiority and distaste had once been her default, now… It was kind of exhausting.
Frankly, the whole mission was ridiculous. The Tottys somehow managed to get away with talking to some students, they found another clue in a bell (a ring that works upon the ear, apparently), and Bianca broke off to give the choir boys a 'remix'. It only got more bizarre as they searched the headmaster's office, eventually finding the ring in a goddamn painting. Sophie pulled a letter opener from the desk and wasted no time defacing the artwork to cut it free, then joining the others in a truly cartoonish method of hiding behind a door until they could sneak out past the teacher.
Why was this her life?
Their misadventure got no less ridiculous as they fled the school, several groups hot on their heels until they were all in the van and speeding away with a squeal of tires. Maybe it lacked the finesse of one of their plans from last year, but if it works...
Everyone was celebrating, and Soph slumped in her seat at the back with a satisfied smirk. As ridiculous at this year was turning out to be, she couldn't help but enjoy the victory. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to find a text from Kelly.
Still hot.
She snorted to herself and smirked as she replied.
I look like my dad.
The answer came surprisingly fast, unusual for Kelly, who normally needed three to six hours to find time to even read a text.
I've met your dad, I don't want to drag him to bed by his tie.
Soph felt the blood rush to her face and glanced up to make sure no-one was watching her before she started typing.
Good young gentlemen don't allow such things, I'll have you know.
She smirked to herself, but it dropped immediately at the next reply.
Guess I'll have to deal with myself then.
Her stomach twisted into a far too comfortable knot and she swallowed hard. Her mind was blank but for those words. Her phone buzzed again.
Then again, I thought good boys were supposed to help ladies in distress?
She knew the smirk that would be on the older girl's face, that very specific look that never failed to turn her legs to jelly.
Of course, at your service, Agent Jones.
She repressed a grin as she responded, and soon another message appeared.
Soon, Daniels.
Before she had much time to decipher that message, they pulled up to the school, everyone piling out to run the ring up to the dorms, where Lucy and her girls preferred to work. It was time to see what all the effort had been for, though judging on Roxy's quick pace in the direction of the infirmary, she had other things on her mind. Sophie tipped her head as she watched her go and caught Zoe's arm as she passed.
"Hey, fifty says Roxy and Annabelle become a thing before all this is over." She smirked at the girl's disbelieving look.
"Odds are bad on that." She reached into her pocket for her book anyway; with the twins occupied with both first and second years now, the emos had taken over the betting system.
"Call it a feeling." She shrugged and the girl nodded.
"All right, I'll keep you posted on the players." She turned heel, probably off to get changed, and Soph let a smirk spread across her face. It was a gamble, since she wasn't sure of Annabelle's thoughts yet, but she had a feeling about it, and, if she was honest, she actually kind of liked Roxy, so she was a little bit hopeful on her behalf. Her cousin could do much worse.
I am barely awake, so short and sweet tonight. I hope you all enjoyed reading, and I hope to see you again next week, thanks - J
