"Just being there. Lots of talking. Having a drink. Not much after that." Meredith shrugged and almost giggled. "I didn't realize I'd drunk so much." "I'll look after you." Squeezing her arm, Elena smiled. "Don't worry about that." Letting her roommate go, Elena turned to carry on as if she didn't care whether Meredith came with her or not. Meredith hesitated only for a moment, then scuttled after her. Following them, Elsa stayed well back. There was no way she wanted Elena to spot her, and she knew where they were going.
Elena padded purposefully to the west-wing staircase, then led Meredith up to the third floor and into the corridor where the blank-eyed busts stood guard like watchful ghosts. Elsa edged towards the archway, risking a glance round the corner. At the end of the corridor, the shadows deepened, but a line of greenish light showed at the bottom of the door. Elena didn't knock. She turned the handle and drew Meredith after her into the common room. Elsa exhaled with relief. What now? She couldn't just stand there till they came back out. On the other hand, if she crept back to bed she wouldn't sleep anyway. This was her only chance to investigate, and she was damned if she was passing it up.
Go on, Elsa. Clenching her fists, she made herself put one foot in front of the other. And again. Come on. She cold hear the muted clink of crystal now, and soft murmuring voices. It hardly sounded like a wild midnight party, but the door was thick, the sounds muffled. She had to get closer. A flash at the corner of her eye almost made her cry out. In the darkness of those deeper recesses by the door, something had moved. Elsa froze. As her eyes adjusted, she could make it out. A figure, a human figure.
Flynn Parker. Of course.
The light had glanced off his watch and, as she made herself creep towards him, she saw his fingers clasped over his wrist to hide it. He'd realised. Raising her eyes, she met his. He was expressionless, but the tiny jerk of his head was clear enough. Bugger off and go back to bed . . . Then something distracted him, and he retreated into the alcove. Footsteps. She'd heard them too. And there was no way out of here. The footfalls were on the landing now. She couldn't slip out of the corridor without being seen. She could run to Flynn, slip in and hide with him. But then Elsa thought about his eerily purposeful nocturnal prowling.
Did she want to be with him in the silent dark, afraid of discovery, completely at his mercy?
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Black Academy
Fanfiction'TRUE GRADUATES OF THE BLACK ACADEMY TAKE LIFE BY THE THROAT, ELSA. REMEMBER THAT!' The Black Academy is a school like no other. An élite establishment that moves to a new exotic city every term, its students are possibly beautiful, sophisticated...
