I'm finally back! Sorry it has been taking ages, as I've been adjusting to college life. After homeschooling for the past 13 years, everything just hits different, haha :D Anyway, I can't wait to share more with you all. Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and God bless you all!

Chapter 9 Trapped!

After turning many corners, Professor Mills led them to the entrance of the main library. Confusion was written all over Mandie and her friends' faces. What on earth were they doing at the library? Of all places!

"Why have you brought us to the library?" Isabel was the first to break the silence,

"Come in, and I'll show you." He opened the door and gestured for the rest to go in."You may want to take a seat first, I've hidden the information. Might take a while, apologies."

Everyone else took a seat except for Isabel, who pretended to retrieve a book at the other end. While she was walking away from the group, she caught the eye of the professor, and he winked, signaling it was time for their masterplan.

Meanwhile, as they were waiting on Denton for the information, the young people began talking discreetly among themselves. Sallie was conveying in detail the events that had unfolded the past few days to her grandfather in Cherokee.

"So what do we think of this so-called professor fella?" Jonathan still held suspicions for both Denton Mills and Isabel Weston. "I don't think we can trust him or Isabel."

"Yes, we know, you've said that probably a million times!" Mandie whispered in frustration, "I don't get it. She's helping us, is she not? Surely we can trust her. She seems like a nice girl."

"What do you think the information is going to be about?" Celia asked,

"Probably boasting about some academic achievement or award for worst pretend professor, I don't know," Jonathan shrugged. He was being his usual comical self, just without the mischievous grin.

"Jonathan!" Mandie whispered in annoyance, nudging his arm, "This could be important!"

Jonathan shook his head. "Or not. What's taking him so long? Should I go check on him?"

Mandie and Celia both nodded. They, too, were starting to grow impatient.

As Jonathan approached the "professor" he thought to himself, "Since I am a very nice guy, I'm just going to walk up to the professor, who's not even a professor, and ask how's it going?"

And so he approached Professor Mills who did not notice any footsteps as he was engrossed in flipping through every page of a Charles Dickens classic.

"Hey there!" Jonathan began with a forced smile, "How's it going? Any closer to finding the information?"

"Oh hi yes yes, sorry it's taking so long," The "professor" finally noticed Jonathan, "I remember placing it in this very book, I am sure of it, but it's gone!"

"Oh wow," Jonathan muttered under his breath, "it probably just walked away,"

"You're absolutely sure?" Jonathan asked as he took a random book from the section and started flipping through it, "Maybe it's in this book."

"No no, I'm sure it's in this book," Professor Mills held up the Charles Dickens book, "unless someone took it?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes, "Sure, someone just randomly walked into the library and randomly took a book with the paper inside. What are the odds? I wonder."

Just then, they heard a knock…

"I'll go see who it is," Isabel offered as she went to open the door. She was surprised to see none other than Mrs. Watkins, the vice-principal.

"Hello, Mrs. Watkins, what a surprise!" Isabel smiled politely at the middle-aged vice-principal with nearly ten years of history with the school. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for Professor Mills. Is he here?" This was a surprise! Mrs. Watkins wasn't her usual flustered, terrified self ever since receiving the threat a few days ago. Was it just a mean trick played on her? Was it all over?

Isabel nodded, "Yes, I'll let him know."

"Thanks, dear, I'll be waiting in my office." Mrs. Watkins patted her hand and left.

Isabel closed the door and was met with not one but four skeptical faces. "That was Mrs. Watkins, the vice-principal," She quickly responded to their reactions.

"Oh, by the way, Professor Mills, she's looking for you. She's in her office." Isabel continued,

"I wonder what it could be. Must be important, I better go."

"Yup, you go ahead, no problem." Jonathan sarcastically gestured the professor away with a smile. "It's not like we've been waiting for that long, am I right?""

"Since we're taking a little break, I'm going to head to the restroom," Isabel followed the professor.

Once Isabel and Denton Mills were out of sight, the young people began speaking at once.

"Well, that was random," Jonathan shrugged, giving the door an annoyed look.

"What on earth is going on?"

"Who was that?"

"Where is the piece of paper? Should we go find it?"

"So many questions, so little answers! What is going on?"

"There's no point staying in the library. Besides, it's getting stuffy in here," Celia daintily rubbed her nose with her handkerchief.

"You're right, Celia," Sallie agree. Turning to her grandfather, she asked, "What should we do, Grandfather?"

Uncle Ned was deep in thought and did not hear his granddaughter.

What was he thinking? Does he have a plan? His forehead creased in concentration, and his piercing brown eyes, expressionless, only focused on the library entrance. All this time, he had been observing the encounter between Isabel and Mrs. Watkins, Professor Mills leaving for the important meeting with the latter, and not to mention Isabel's random need to use the restroom at that same time.

"Grandfather?" Sallie called, waving her hands in front of him, "Grandfather, is everything okay?"

"Door locked, we stuck, cannot go out," Uncle Ned replied, finally responded.

"Wh,what!" Jonathan exclaimed,

"Uncle Ned, what do you mean we're stuck?" Mandie asked, nervously scanning the entire library. "Did Professor Mills trap us in here?"

"And Isabel," Jonathan muttered once again, "Nah, that's impossible!" He shook his head and walked to the door. But as he tried to open it, he noticed the keyhole; the door had a two-way lock! They were trapped!

What do y'all think? Leave a comment down below hehe :) And before I forget, the question of the month

We see that the setting for this chapter is a library. If you were to write any genre, what would it be? And what will you name your main character?

Bonus: describe your character's personality traits, physical appearance, and hobbies:)