Black Widow's Daughter

Chapter 9

The janitors closet was empty except for the usual janitors wagon. There were a few shelves with spare equipment but the important thing was that there was no one in sight. Sienna was climbing up the shelves as best she could without causing them to fall over. My strength is terrible so the shelves were rocking a little bit, already causing some toilet paper to slide off.

Sienna was halfway up when she attempted to reach out and open the vent. Unfortunately her arms are only as short as mine and the vent was too far away. I tried to steady the wood as she lifted her right boot up onto the next shelf. It made a soft tapping noise before knocking a bottle of detergent out of its place. The bottle opened and some green liquid started to pour out. I ignored the liquid and continued to watch my friend.

We were trying our best to be quiet since the bell had rung for students to be in their rooms. Climbing up a shelf wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do quietly. The items on the shelves rattled and every step made the shelf shake. Thankfully, Sienna was able to hold her balance without even falling an inch.

The little, green girl took another step up on the shelf. It shook a bit, but Sienna stayed well balanced. She reached up and touched her palms to the roof. Sienna ran her hands across to the vent opening that she pulled down to open. Grabbing onto the edge of the vent, she swung her legs up behind her, landing her feet on the opposite edge. Her knees were bent and right up against her chest. Sienna leant back and sat down inside the vent, letting her legs dangle in the air.

I had to admit that her moves were impressive. Not many children my age are able to flip up into an air vent. She sat there with her usual blank expression, looking like she wasn't happy with her performance.

"Nice moves. Are you going yet?" The way Sienna stared down at me made me shiver. Her gaze was like a pin, sharp and annoying. I looked away by staring down at a my feet that were almost covered in green liquid. My shoes couldn't get covered in that, they are my favourites.

I backed into a corner which was actually a really dumb idea. The liquid headed straight for me, like it knew where I was. I grabbed the nearest cloth and tossed it on the ground, making the green colouring sink through the towel. At least the thing was covered. I made my way over it and saw Sienna staring down at me.

"You were so scared of that stuff." Sienna chuckled as she lay down. "All you had to do was wipe it."

Now I felt really stupid. Scared of detergent. Not a very normal phobia.

"Are you coming? I could use my teammate." I could not see Sienna which meant she had either taken off or was hiding behind a wall. Even though Sienna wanted me up there, I don't think I would have the ability to climb up the shelf.

"You'll be fine. I will be waiting here." I heard a few taps from above and figured that it was Sienna moving around. She would be fine by herself up in the vents.

"Not sure if you want to. Someone just walked past." Sienna poked her head down and frowned.

Just after Sienna spoke I heard whistling. My eyes widened as I realised that I would be getting into trouble for my third time today, on the first day. I am of course proud of my achievements, but three may be pushing the boundaries a little bit. There were no other escape ways from the janitors closet besides the door or vent. I could hear something hit the doorknob and immediately thought it was a key. With no other escapes I turned to the shelf and attempted to climb it.

Sienna smiled down at me, quietly whispering directions to me. My boots weren't really made for gripping and my foot was sliding even on the first shelf.

"Don't kick anything." Sienna's whispering wasn't exactly quiet. That probably gave away the fact that someone wasn't in their room. My constant banging probably wasn't helping either. "Why are you so noisy?"

I stepped up to the next shelf, gaining balance before taking another step. My boot slipped and I was about to fall when I grabbed hold of a higher shelf. While I was pulling myself up, Sienna was dangling her arms out of the vent so I could grab on. One more shelf and I would be able to grab on and enter the vent.

From outside I could hear what sounded like metal dropping on the ground, followed by a groan and some mumbling. Whoever was outside must have been deaf if the couldn't hear us. We had to be the noisiest spies ever. Not like that mattered right now. The person had dropped their key which gave me more time to climb.

Stepping onto the next shelf I reached out for Sienna, missing her finger tip by a millimetre. I moved my foot in an attempt to get closer, only causing some aerosols to tumble onto the floor. One of them even managed to spray and give off a putrid smell, kind of like rotten eggs. It must have been some kind of insect killer.

I crinkled my nose and turned to look at the door. The lock had clicked and the door was starting to open. Crap. There was no point trying to be quiet now. I stumbled up to the next shelf, worrying about falling off and breaking my arm. Just like before, I reached out for Sienna and she started to pull as hard as she could. For a small girl she was fairly strong.

"Kick your legs up," she ordered before I instantly did so. Sienna had made it look so easy before, but when you actually try it's fairly difficult. I felt like I was about to fall and smash into a million pieces. My arms were being held by Sienna and she was tugging on them. My legs were swinging in the air, trying to swing up into the vent like Sienna had done earlier.

The door opened fully and in the shock I felt myself be pulled forward. It came as quite of a shock when I saw the elderly janitor walk in and find his office a mess. He just scratched his head and looked at the door.

I was now up in the vent with the help of Sienna, who had shut the vent door before I could fall out. The janitor looked up and shrugged after realising no one was around. He started to clean up the detergent, but Sienna and I were already off. We were about to try and find the brains of our team.