clandestine

NINE

A cool breeze swept around me as I stumbled through the dark, my long coat doing nothing to block out the bitter winds. Guided only by the moonlight, I made my way to the serpentine statue, praying on all I had that I had gotten the location right. I stood below the woman's marble arms, cradling her child. It had taken me all day to figure out where I was supposed to meet.

I'd joined Faye in her 'snake search' in the library, trying to find anything that tied the school to the elusive reptile. My attempts were futile. Despite the school's long, rich history, there was a severe lack of documentation and articles about it. It wasn't until I took a break from my studies and came across the statue that it hit me. Serpentine. Of course.

And so I stood, shivering in the darkness, encased in a coat two sizes too large for me, two fifty five am, looking for any signs of life. It wasn't smart to meet strangers, I was aware. But something in me urged me to go, to investigate, to indulge. I just wanted to find something, to do something. Yet when voices approached, negative thoughts pervaded my mind and I wondered what on earth I was doing.

I'm going to die. I thought, as I glanced around my surroundings frantically, searching for the source of the voices. I couldn't see anything, not a speck of movement. Senses heightened due to my anxiousness, I jumped when a voice called out to me.

"Look down."

I shouldn't have looked.

I looked.

Beneath my feet was a complex pattern engraved on square shaped slabs of concrete. These slabs lined the floor in a concise pattern, only breaking to give way to a small grate in the centre of the floor. A masked figure raised a gloved hand outside the grate, beckoning me inside.

"Hazel. We've been expecting you."

I promptly sprinted away, rushing back to the safety of my dormitory.

What the fuck did I just witness? I asked myself as I climbed up to the second floor of the building, my footsteps echoing on the rickety wooden stairs, praying that nobody would hear. I'd already been in enough trouble.

Finally, I made it to the door to my dormitory, and with a relieved sigh, I pushed open the door.

"Where have you been?" I came face to face with a startled Amaia, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed in the way they always were when she was unimpressed.

I threw my hands up in the air, breath coming out in short puffs. "Outside." I shrugged off my coat and my boots, placing them gently on my desk chair.

"Why were you outside?" Amaia asked, smirking now. "Where were you going?"

"Nowhere."

Her smirk just grew bigger. "Who were you meeting?"

Oh my god. Not this. I inhaled deeply, "Nobody. Why was that your first thought anyway?"

"Can I meet this nobody? Are they nice? Do I know them already?"

Grabbing a pillow from my bed I threw it in her face. Smiling, I responded. "Good night Amaia."

𓆙

Breakfast the next morning was a sombre affair. It seemed like nobody knew about Mr. Raz's prompt collapse yesterday. I wasn't sure we even remembered it well. After he'd collapsed we just sort of stood there, hyper aware of how the whole situation looked, and absolutely terrified of the situation which had just occurred.

"Do you think it was okay to just leave him there like that?" Amaia asked, mouthful of toast.

"We didn't leave him there, the weird kid in the mask was there too." Khoi responded, voice underpinned by a tone of uneasiness.

Faye took a sip of her apple juice before reassuring us all. 'It's fine. He's fine. We're fine."

"Are we?" I countered, eyebrows raised.

She turned to face me. "Maybe not, but manifesting can't hurt." Faye turned, as if to resume eating, but her eyes stayed trained somewhere I couldn't spot.

"What do you see?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

With an unimpressed look, she responded "Orange juice? Really?"

"It's orange and pineapple actually." I countered.

She pushed her chair away, laughing. "Get away from me. That is an abomination."

"It's a masterpiece. Amaia, tell Faye that pineapple and orange juice is superior."

Amaia just shrugged. "I hate juice".

Glancing at Amaia with open shock, Faye seemingly couldn't comprehend this news.

"You hate juice?"

"Yes."

"Even apple juice?"

"Especially apple juice."

"WHAT?" Faye had her hands in her hair, distraught. It was kind of funny, I thought, how she could be so calm about our principal passing out in front of us, but the moment someone declared they hated juice she would descend into madness.

"I actually cannot believe this." Faye continued. "Khoi, tell me you have an amicable taste in juice."

Khoi turned to her with a grin. "Oh I have the best taste in juice."

"What kind of taste?"

"The best."

"Define 'the best'".

"Not orange and pineapple."

"So apple?"

"Tomato."

At this, Faye, Amaia and I all clutched onto one another. Tomato juice? What kind of shit was this guy on?

Mustering the most distasteful look I could gather, I turned to Khoi. "I don't think I can be your friend anymore."

He put his arms up in surrender. "It's just juice."

"You're an abomination." Faye turned away from Khoi, hand out in front of her, feigning disgust.

"Amaia?" Khoi turned to Amaia with pleading eyes.

"I mean, tomatoes are technically a fruit, so..."

At this, Faye stood promptly. Extending her hand to me, she turned to the others.

"You are all insane. I'll tolerate mixing orange and pineapple juice together, but tomato? That's the line." She shook her head distastefully, and I took her hand. "C'mon Hazel, lets preserve our sanity somewhere else."

As we walked away, I felt a thump on my back, as I turned to see a tea towel hanging limply across my shoulders. Smiling, I threw it back to the table in which Amaia and Khoi were smiling smugly.

"Missed me!" Amaia called out, in the sing-song voice of hers, and I turned away, rolling my eyes. Linking arms with Faye, we exited out of the dining hall, and I let my mind wander from thoughts of people under cracks in the pavement and elusive clandestine meetings.

𓆙

authors note:

this chapter: 1% plot development, 99% juice. hey guys, its been a while since I've updated, but recently ive wanted to get back into my writing so here we are. the shortest chapter so far that is like 3 months late but...oh well. some pretty exciting news- we hit over 15k words in this story! the most i've ever written lmao. I'm going to try to get into a consistent schedule, but seeing as I have school, and now a job to balance I might not find too much time. regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and ill see you next time. 

quick question for you all before you go... who is your favourite character here so far? i'd love to hear your opinions!!

stay safe & take care xx