Dark Woods Academy

Chapter 22

Chapter 22
When I was showered and dressed I made my way to the kitchen that a few of us shared and made eggs washing it down with coffee. Elliott hadn’t showed up for the morning and I wasn’t going to sit around waiting for him.
I was on my way to the library when I bumped into someone. I apologized and looked up at the grief counsellor.
“Ace,” she said her eyes showing disapproval since I hadn’t shown up the last time she had told me to.
“Sorry, been busy…” I trailed off and she just beckoned to me.
I let out a sigh and followed her to her office. She locked the door and I eyed her warily for a moment.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m hanging in there,” I said keeping it short. I wasn’t about to dive into that pool of pain, not right now, it was tucked away at the back of my mind and I was going to try to keep it that way for as long as I could.
“Do you want to talk about anything in particular?” she asked looking at me with a piercing gaze.
“Not really?” I said and sounded like I asked.
“There are different stages to grief,” she said and I lifted my hand.
“Five stages of grief, first denial, then anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance,” I said running through it before she could.
“I’m still at denial if you wanted to know,” I said letting out a sigh. I really didn’t want to be here talking to her but I didn’t have a choice.
“Sounds like you’ve got that part covered,” she said with some sarcasm. I was liking her less by the minute.
“I’ll be okay, if I need to talk, I’ll drop by,” I said rising out of the chair.
“Wait,” she said as I turned to go and I froze.
“Are you sleeping?” she asked and I turned back and nodded.
“Have the events of that night showed up in your dreams?” she asked looking genuinely concerned.
I shook my head no and she nodded in response.
“You’re definitely at denial,” she said.
I turned to go as she fell silent and then turned back as something nagged at me.
“Is it possible to have recurring dreams?” I asked.
She had a slight frown on her forehead as she nodded.
“Usually it has some meaning to the person or could be a projection of something that they feel,” she responded studying me for a moment.
“What about memories?” I asked.
“Yeah usually because of an emotional attachment to the memory or significance that can be most times subconscious,” she said.
“Is there a particular memory that you’re repeatedly dreaming?” she asked.
I shook my head no and walked out of her office.
I would try to figure out that later. I needed to get away, I didn’t want to think of them, of my friends and the fact that they were dead.
I made my way to Webster’s office and asked to speak with him. I was playing with fire, I knew that and yet I needed to find out more, to find something, anything so I could confirm what the men in the woods had said last night.
“Miss Morgan,” he said and I sat in one of the chairs.
“Sir, I was wondering if you would allow me to say a few words about my friends at the service for my friends,” I said having a valid reason for being there.
He nodded, “I’ll make sure of it,” he said.
“Thanks, that’s all,” I said and got up to leave.
When I reached the hallway that was empty I checked for the security cameras and then found the fire alarm. I shrugged out of my jacket and balled it up in my hands slamming my fist into it and pulling the alarm.
Immediately a siren started blaring and the emergency lights came on right before the shouting and rush came. I quickly grabbed my jacket shaking out the glass and immediately flattened myself in a corner as people started rushing out. I saw Webster rushing out to the emergency exit with staff members but he was too busy rushing out to see me in the dark corner with the hoodie thrown over my head.
I rushed into his office and used the flashlight on my phone to open up his desk drawers and started grabbing at his file cabinet looking for anything that would seem out of place.
I came across something that made me pause. Under his desk there was a wooden compartment that seemed to be a part of the desk yet it wasn’t usually a part of an office desk, it was odd.
I knocked at it and heard a hollow sound and shook it accidentally sliding aside a thin strip of wood to reveal… a gun. Shit.
I heard someone calling my name in the distance and hurriedly closed back everything replacing the files, my heart racing as the person got closer. Elliott. I could tell from the sound of my name.
I had just managed to shut the file cabinet close and was rushing to the door when I saw him in the hallway.
“Ace?” he called then rushed to me his eyes scanning me to make sure I wasn’t hurt.
“I’m fine, lets go,” I said grabbing his arm and running looking for an alternate route of escape. Damn I hadn’t thought this part of my plan through.
Elliott ran keeping up with me as we rushed to find the side exit which we did slipping out of the building unnoticed, by a stroke of luck.
“Elliott…I,” I was breathless from running as I slipped the hood off.
“Its okay, lets get out of here,” he said and I nodded following him avoiding the crowd that ws on the other side of the building.
That was close, God I wasn’t cut out for these kinds of things. We made it back to my room and I locked the door behind us.
“I pulled the alarm,” I said in a whisper as soon as I knew we were safely inside.
“What?” he asked, a confused frown on his face.
“I needed to get into Webster’s office,” I said whispering.
“What?” he asked again seeming both alarmed and angry.
“After what we overheard last night?” he asked looking at me as if I was crazy.
“That’s why I did it,” I harshly whispered.
“Look I found something,” I said.
“A gun, in Webster’s office,” I said.
“A gun?” he asked but he didn’t sound surprised.
“I have a meeting,” he said abruptly as if he had now remembered.
“Shit, I’m late,” he said glancing at his watch.
“I need to go, stay here Ace,” he said giving me a stern look and I swallowed not wanting to upset him.
“Stay here,” he said again and I nodded.
“I will,” I said and he nodded heading to the door making sure that it was properly locked and the alarm system was on before he left me with my thoughts on my new find.