An Avenger's Tale

09|| The Elevator Incident

The day started off bright and early. Liz had woken me up at the crack of dawn to run through a few decathlon quizzes before we headed for the showers. By nine o'clock, we were all clambering onto the bus to transport us to the competition.

The auditorium was packed with the parents, grandparents and distant relatives of the competitors as well as the adjudicators. Our team went over to the stage where we were showed to our seats and our opponent team arrived shortly in our wake.

The quiz started an hour later and it was war between the teams as they jumped and wrestled to answer the longed question. Teams would yell out the answer instead of hitting the button and get disqualified on the spot until it was only us and a school from the north still battling for the win.

"How many books are in the Harry Potter franchise?"

The other team buzzed in first and answered. "Seven."

"That is incorrect," said the announcer, "Team Midtown?"

"There's eight, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." Peter answered through the microphone and a smiled appeared on the announcer's lips.

"That is correct."

We were still two points behind the other team and we were heading into our last question. The announcer shuffled his flash cards before looking up at the two teams who were eagerly waiting for the final question.

"The next question, if answered correctly, can win you five points. If answered incorrectly, the team loses five points. How many pairs of spinal nerves do the Nervous System have?"

"Thirty one spinal nerves. They are mixed nerves and communicate between the arms, legs, and trunk of the body." I answered quickly.

"Correct."

"Midtown High School wins!"

We jumped out of our chairs and yelled in victory, hugging each other and Mr Harrington went to collect the trophy. He walked towards us, handing it to me and Peter to hold as he went and stood with us and the team for a photo. Our smiles were bright and our faces lit in an abundance of happiness.

The walk back to the bus was a joyful one and everyone gathered in their seats. Peter came and planted himself next to me. I turned to him with a victorious smile on my face. Liz came trotting into the bus with the trophy held high.

"We won!" Her face split into a wide grin and we all applauded enthusiastically, whistling and shrieking in triumph.

"Alright kids, let's head back to the hotel to celebrate." Mr Harrington said as he heaved himself onto the bus and slid in behind the wheel.

Peter fell asleep against my shoulder during the ride back and I decided to take a nap too, resting my head against his, slowly allowing sleep to pull me into unconsciousness.

The bus came to a stop, jerking both me and Peter out of our dreamless slumber. We sat up, staring awkwardly at each other before we climbed off the bus and headed towards the elevator.

Mr Harrington pressed the button for our floor as everyone filed in but Peter didn't enter, as he received a call from May. I smiled at him as the doors closed in my face and we ascended upwards. Chatter about the decathlon win was buzzing around our heads and even Mr Harrington enthusiastically joined in.

The elevator became to struggle, creaking its way up the levels until it came to a quick stop, making us all tumble to the floor. The lights flickered off, shadowing us in darkness. I fished my phone out of my pocket but had no cell service.

"No service." I muttered.

"Same here." Mr Harrington said.

I slid my phone back into my pocket and looked up at the hatch where I heard a thud. Mr Harrington and the rest had heard it too. Their heads shot up towards the hatch before the elevator gradually started to fall, rocking us inside, everyone letting out agnasted screams.