Hey everyone! I need to apologize again for the super late update, I've just been way toooo busy for my liking. But here's chapter 15. Enjoy!
CorsicanPrincess: Lol, no, I'm not from New Zealand (although, I think it would be super cool to live there). I live in the United States, a couple of hours north of New York City. Cadbury is a British-based company, which is why I mentioned it. It's one of my favorites, except Hershey manufactures the bars we get here, so it doesn't taste as good as the stuff you get overseas. I'm trying to research into some of the cultural stuff because I try so hard to work against the 'ignorant American' stereotype. =) Thanks for the review, btw!
The twenty of them crowded around Logan who was ripping open the envelope and reading aloud from the notecard. "The labyrinth you must traverse is full of tricks, so beware the one who serves to stray. He sinks so low that only the quick-witted can find the entrance to nightmares untold. Note: Your first task serves to test your collaboration skills. Thus, the winning team will be the first team to complete the challenge with all of its team members. "
There was a bleak moment of silence before the group burst out into hushed tones, trying to dissect their clue. Labyrinth? Serves to Stray? Where on earth were they supposed to go?
"Okay, we know that the location can't be off campus. That's one of the rules" said Abby, taking the card from Logan's hand and reading it herself.
Jem ran his hand through his hair. "Serves to stray?"
Thomas shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're looking for something like the Cheshire Cat."
"It could be. And I know for a fact that the grounds' keeper has a very creepy cat with only one ear" chimed Sophie.
"But there isn't anyway to build some sort of labyrinth out there Soph. I think regardless of whatever else the card says, all of us have to travel through some sort of maze in order to win" added Cecily.
There was a moment of silence. All of a sudden, the team from Mary House started sprinting over the hill for the main building, cheering as they flashed by. Oliver glared at them and muttered some obscenities under his breath. He took the card from Abby and read parts of it out loud. "labyrinth.. sinks so low." At that moment, the team from Elizabeth House sprinted towards the gardens, cheering even louder than the Mary House team. The rest of the groups were huddled around their cards, trying to figure out the clue.
Tessa looked up at the sky and let her thoughts wander. The sky was so blue, almost like the waters off of Long Island. She turned to Tori. "It's so nice out today. This is the bluest I've seen the sky since I've come here. Almost like the ocean."
Until that moment, Tori had been ignoring everything Tessa said, but her head snapped up at her last words. "Hold on" she said, looking at Tessa "repeat the last thing you said."
Tessa raised her eyebrows at her. "Almost like the ocean" she said.
Tori put her hand on her head and muttered "Ocean… sinking… swimming… Tessa you're a genius!" she screamed, nearly deafening Tessa. "Guys, come one, I've figured it out!" she said before sprinting towards a hill leading to the back end of campus.
The rest of the group scrambled to follow. "Tori, will you please tell us what you figured out?" gasped Arjun.
"You see, the one who serves to stray would be a snake. Our school emblem is an angel for Christ's sake; it makes sense that there would be some sort of biblical reference in this riddle. There are about 5 places on campus with a significant representation of the Elizabeth kids ran to the garden because there is a small snake statue on a pedestal near the central fountain. Mary House ran to the main building because there is a snake skeleton in one of the biology labs. But the one leading into the maze is in the swimming facility, because the snake sinks so low. There is a snake tiled into the bottom of the pool. I'm almost positive I'm right " she said.
By the time Victoria finished with her explanation, they had reached the main entrance to the athletic facilities on campus. She tried the handle before she remembered that she needed a pass key to get in.
"Damn it!" she said. "I left my pass key in the dorm. Does anybody else-"
"I've got mine" said Gabriel quietly. He reached around Victoria to slide the card through the holder, allowing the door to swing in. She didn't say a word as she stepped into the building with the rest of the team. Gabriel shook his head and brought up the rear of the group.
The man at the main desk smiled at the group as they walked by him. His smile confirmed their hunch; they were headed in the right track. They slipped down a flight of stairs to the floor with the swimming pool.
The group stood on the edge of the pool, looking around for some sort of clue. While the rest of the team scoured the walls, Will knelt by the edge of the pool, scanning the tiles lining it. And then he saw them, 12 small tubes with a snake printed on it, resting at the bottom of the pool eight feet below the surface.
"Guys" he called out quietly, gesturing for them to peer into the waters below. Charlotte balanced herself by resting her hand on Will's shoulder before she said "Oh. Great. Why didn't they think this through? Are they really stupid enough to put all twelve tubes in the same spot? What if another team steals them?" Sophia ran a hand through her hair. "It's lucky that we're the first ones then. But the real question is who's going to get it."
Will stood up and kicked off his sneakers. "I'll go. I am on the swim team for a reason. Here, Tessa, hold this" he said, tossing her his black and gold watch. She caught it, flushing as he pulled of his shirt and jeans. This is was the first time she was seeing more of Will than just his face. His face, with the blue eyes and sharp angles, was beautiful, but the shape of him was lovely too. Almost like a sculpture. She didn't tear her gaze away from him until Cecily snickered next to her, catching onto Tessa's mystification. Tessa mock snarled at her and then plopped onto a nearby bench, waiting for Will to pop back up.
When he did surface, he hoisted himself onto the edge and handed Jem the tube. "I brought the others up too" he said. "The rules didn't say anything about sabotage, so I figured I'd bring them up and see what you guys wanted to do."
Before anyone could say anything, two other teams burst in through the glass door. Thomas hit Will from behind, causing him to release all the tubes back into the water. "Oops" said Thomas "I tripped." Will scrunched his eyes at him before he stood up and walked over to the towel stand to dry off.
The rest of the team made their way to a corner to work on the tube. Jem opened it and pulled out a squiggly key. The boys were mystified by this next hint, but the girls grinned. Sophia pulled the key out of Jem's hand, brushing her fingers against his and causing them to redden. "This unlocks a door at the back end of the girl's locker room. I've always wondered what was behind it. Come on!" she said, leading the way into the locker room. The girls followed while the boys stuck together in a pack and inched into the room.
Will, who was dried off and in clothes again, stared the neatness of the locker room. And why was this locker room in better condition than the boy's? Oh wait. Because a bunch of animals don't use this room thought Will. He stepped on something soft and screamed before he realized that it was a bra.
His scream caused the others to turn, and then simultaneously laugh. Victoria flushed and walked over to him, pulling out the purple bra from under his feet and tossing it into a nearby locker. She glared at him.
"I'd rather you not walk on my things Will."
"That was yours?"
"Yeah, it is" said Gabriel automatically.
An awkward moment of silence flooded the room. Cecily stared at the ceiling while Victoria momentarily closed her eyes.
"Okaaaay" said Oliver, shaking his head to clear it of the past few moments. " Moving on."
Gabriel pulled the key out of Sophia's hand and turned it into the keyhole of the door, swinging it open. He would've walked into a block of concrete if Abigail hadn't pulled him back in time. "Gabe" she said, pointing at something near his feet. "The entrance into the tunnel is through that opening. We'll have to crawl through one by one."
He stepped back and gestured towards the opening. "Lead the way then. It's probably better to put the smallest one in front." She nodded and slid into the opening neatly. The others waited for some sort of signal.
"Guys" called Abby, her voice muffled. "Do exactly as I say. Get into a line and crawl through the space one by one, and hold onto the ankle of the person in front you. There is no form of light in here, which probably explains why they didn't want us using our phones. We don't want anybody getting lost. The tunnel moves up at an incline, and then flattens out. Make sure you move up through the hole above the landing. That's where I am, I'm trying to figure out where we go next. But in the meanwhile, come on in."
After a lot of shuffling, the remaining 19 kids made their way to Abby through the tunnel. Tessa was pretty sure that Abby had some sort of special night vision, because it wasn't long before she had navigated them to a landing that was big enough for all of them to stand on. There were two small lights next to a door, illuminating a sign that said 'Welcome to the Labyrinth'. Arjun walked up to the sign and flicked it. It came clattering down. "So you mean that wasn't the labyrinth?" he said irritably. Tessa felt the same way he did; mazes and traps were not her sort of thing. She would've felt better in some sort of decathlon event.
"I guess we go in then" said Thomas, turning the handle of the door and walking into the maze. The others shrugged and followed him in. Jem took the sign with him for good measure.
The team walked through the maze for about two hours, climbing through some sort of jungle gym set-up, backtracking every time they ran into a dead end, and solving riddles to let themselves through some pre-programmed openings. Some parts of the maze were also rigged to frighten the members. While some things, such as the overwhelming stench of roses or dangling metal rods seemed stupid, there were a few traps that really hindered the group. The sound of hissing snakes made Logan weak in the knees. A few mechanical ducks wandered across their path and Will had nearly started screaming. Sophie had had a breakdown when she saw several broken bottles strewn across the floor, and it took the rest of the team about thirty minutes to finally get her to stop shaking, and even then Will had to carry her past the corridor. Tessa tapped Charlotte on the shoulder as they rounded the corner.
"Doesn't it seem a little cruel that Institute would put these kind of tricks in the maze?" asked Tessa.
"It's not unusual. Institute wants to 'shape the individual'" Charlotte said, using air quotes around the last bit. "They want us to get over our fears so that we're stronger when we're thrown out into the world. Last year, there was an event where we were locked in a room and we had to decode our way out in the allotted time while distractions were thrown in from all ends. Early on, they played the sound of a bomb blast. Tori was gone after that, and we could've really used her for that event. So yeah, it may seem cruel, but it's not unusual."
Tessa noticed that the group seemed considerably smaller. "Speaking of Tori, where is she? And Jem? And Arjun? And Sophia? And Oliver?"
The remainder of the group stopped short when they heard Tessa's statement. Cecily frustratedly tugged on her braid. "I have no idea Tessa" she said.
"Great" said Gabriel, peeking around the corridor at each end. "We've lost half our team when the instructions specifically said that the only way we'll get points is if we come out as a team. What are we going to do?"
Logan suggested that they start by going backwards, and see if they could find any of the others. Since they had no better plan, they followed Logan back into the heart of the maze. They searched fruitlessly for about an hour, finding no trace of Tori, Jem, Sophia and Oliver. The digital clocks scattered throughout the maze were ticking away.
Tessa threw her hands up in frustration and sank to the ground. "This is hopeless guys. We're not going to find them before time runs out."
Abby ran a hand through her hair. "She's right. We should just try to get out ourselves. Maybe they had the common sense to wait right near the end, that way we can come out together."
This brightened the mood a bit, and the remainder of the group trekked back through the maze. They reached the end with five minutes to spare. Thomas was about to push the door open before Logan pulled him back. "Wait, before you do that, do you want to wait out the last five minutes and see if they show up, or just leave anyways."
"Let's just go. Either way, we've probably lost the event" said Cecily. "Boy am I going to murder Tori when I see her" she added under her breath. True to her word, the remainder of the Ethan House team was the last group to congregate at the other end of the maze, which dumped them in the main lobby. Tori, Jem, Sophia and Arjun ran up to them, bewildered expressions slapped on their faces.
"Guys, what happened? One moment we were together, and then Jem had called us over to look at the back of the sign. Turns out there was a map on it" said Tori.
Cecily snorted. She had kept in whatever emotions she had been feeling bottled up and buried within her, but she was done dealing with Victoria's child play. "At this point, who cares? We lost the event, and all because you couldn't be bothered to tell us that you were looking at something."
"Seriously Cecily?" said Tori. "I did say something, for the record. You guys were just too absorbed in plowing forward that you didn't even bother to listen to what we had to say. I wasn't trying to sneak around anybody."
"What are you on about?" retorted Cecily, glaring at Victoria. She opened her mouth to snap back, but to everyone's luck, Dean Roberts stood at the front of the room, announcing the results from the day.
To no one's surprise, Ethan house was in last place. What was worse was that Jessamine's group from Bexley House was on the top of the leaderboard. She stared smugly at the Tessa and her group. Tessa rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go back to the dorm. I'm tired."
They mutely agreed with her, too disheartened to really say much else. When they reached the dorm, everyone scattered into their respective rooms. Tessa closed the door behind her after she and Victoria had entered their room. They sat in their respective desk chairs, feet propped up on their desks as they stared out the window.
"Tessa, can I ask you something?"
"Sure Tori."
"Do you blame me for today?"
Tessa sucked in a deep breath. "A little. I know it's not entirely your fault, but perhaps if you could've said something, then maybe things could've turned out differently."
"Good to know what you think Tessa" she said scatingly. And out of nowhere, for the first time, Tori witnessed Tessa get angry.
"Tori, listen to me. Not everyone is working against you here. In case you haven't been noticing, I've been trying to help you out for the past several weeks, but you won't let anybody in. You hardly to speak to anyone, forget even trying to sort things out with Gabriel and Cecily. I haven't spoken to Gabe much, but Cecily has been trying so hard to talk to you and you haven't even given her a chance to explain herself."
Tori opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Tessa, who wasn't done yet.
"She's been your best friend for a while. I know she betrayed your trust, but your friendship is supposed to be tougher than that. Did you know that Gabriel tried to talk to her after we got kicked out of Branwell's office the night after the party? He wanted to know what she really felt, and she blatantly lied to him, telling him that she didn't give a damn about him when that's not even close to being true. He fell for her lie, and now all three of you are suffering because you can't let go of what happened and none of you can't move forward because of it. They do care about you, otherwise Cecily would've admitted her feelings for Gabriel and started dating them right away. You need to give them a chance to explain themselves, Tori." finished Tessa.
Tori stared at her wide eyed. "I'm hoping that's the last time you ever have to give me a speech. But you're kind of right. It's just that … I trusted them. They were last people who were supposed to do this to me."
"Tori, we're all going to screw up at some point. But when we have the opportunity to fix it, why should we let it go?" replied Tessa.
The two girls silently stared out the window for a long time, watching the sun set over the grounds. Finally Tori stood up.
"I'm going to take a shower before dinner. But Tessa, thanks for the advice. And I'm sorry, for screwing up today."
"Don't mention it. We'll make up for it in the next few weeks, don't worry about it." she said, winking to Tori as she entered the bathroom.
And that's a wrap for this chapter. Sorry that it was such drag, but I had started it, realized I didn't like it much and then figured that there wasn't much I could do but finish it. Anyways, I've finally figured out the rest of the plot. There's going to be two more chapters for this story (no epilogue). But I'm working on a sequel, and I already have a general plot for that story planned out. That will be about as long this story, and will include the summer before the school year. I've also included a snippet from the second to last chapter. ;)
Snippet
"Gabriel!" she cried, racing down the corridor. He was halfway to the dorm, cutting across the lawn. His shoulders were hunched, even with the victory on their hands. He turned at the sound of his name. He only had a few moments before she barrelled into his arms, knocking them both flat to the ground. She clung to his shirt to steady herself over him.
"What on…" he started.
She leaned in and kissed him to shut him up. He made an inhuman noise in the back of his throat and then dissolved into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her. The sun was shining over them as the mass of kids returning from the festivities slowly congregated around them. But he didn't see any of them as they broke apart. The only thing that was running through his mind? At last.