The Academy: Detective Stories - Part I

Chapter 4. Hens Matter

This task turned out to be a waste of time – they spent around fifteen minutes searching for the room where their morning lesson took place. Much to their disappointment, when they finally located the room, it was empty. Jackie noticed a sheet of paper stapled to the board and read it. Confused, she handed it to Urchin.

He took the paper and read it aloud. "If you are smart enough to go beyond the given rules, you have a chance. Keep thinking!"

"I don't understand," Jackie said.

"Me neither." He crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor.

As they walked in the corridor towards the local performance hall, they asked each other questions that they couldn't answer yet.

"Don said, 'use your Gifts' and 'work as a team.' How the hell it's supposed to help us?" Urchin complained.

"He said we went beyond the rules, so we must have done something right, didn't we?"

"But we all read the initial letter, which said, 'I'm in the library!' But all the time we were there, I didn't see anyone from the other two teams."

Jackie shook her head. "It's just torture!"

"Agreed," Urchin said as he slowed down his steps and glanced at his time crystal. "But the good thing is – we only have 20 minutes of this torture left."

A noise from the performance hall caught their attention, causing them to stop in their tracks.

Jackie tugged at his elbow. "Urchin, look! It's the other group! They're in there!"

"I see." He gave her a puzzled look. "But why are they searching for the victim there? On the opposite side of the building?!"

Jackie stood frozen, a new idea forming in her mind. "I think it's time to try using your Gift."

Urchin narrowed his eyes. "You mean we shall take a peek at what they're doing?"

"Sure!"

* * * * *

The Gift of Invisibility proved to be quite intriguing. Jackie had only read about this Gift in books before, but now she found herself experiencing it firsthand. Urchin took her hand, and then he slowed his breath. A cloud of mist enveloped them like a giant bubble, rendering them invisible. Jackie couldn't see her own body anymore, but she could still feel it as usual. Urchin's invisible hand gently guided her, and she followed him into the hall.

As they entered, they neared four cadets standing in the middle of the stage, engaged in a heated argument and gesturing wildly. One of them was a tall, red-haired young man who had given Elisa a hard time earlier that morning. As Jackie got from their conversation, his name was Theo. A folded envelope lay abandoned on the floor near his feet.

"Let's see what message they have," Urchin whispered in her ear. His warm breath tickled Jackie's cheek, causing her to blush. Thankfully, their invisibility masked her face, preventing her from another embarrassing episode with this guy.

They approached the cadets slowly, and Urchin took the envelope. As they were walking back, one of the guys noticed them, or rather, he noticed the piece of paper floating towards the exit. It was a side effect of the Invisibility Gift – Urchin could make himself and things around him disappear, but not the objects he touched after activating his Gift.

"Hey!" someone shouted.

Urchin placed the paper in Jackie's hand and uttered just one word. "Run!"

Then he let go of her hand, and Jackie suddenly reappeared in the middle of the hall. Feeling betrayed, she opened her mouth to yell at him, but before she could speak, two guys reached her and shoved her to the floor. She landed with a sharp pain shooting through her right hip.