Looks Can Deceive

Chapter 9

"Hanna look!" I whisper pointing towards Ms. Aceti watching through a 'bookcase'. It looks like a swinging door. It's obviously not just a bookcase.

"Follow her?" Hanna asks getting up from the table

I nod. Why is my teacher leaving the school. Teachers are just as trapped as us. They can't leave this place either. I honestly think they put prisoners in the boarding schools to. Maybe Ravensburg is actually a prison. The students do look older. Hmmm? Not the time Eva! You are chasing your most "perfect" teacher out of the school, and your'e thinking of dumb things.

Hanna and I quietly get out of our wooden chairs and sneak over to the door or bookcase. We try to open it. Doesn't move. Does it need a key? I don't see a place for a key. Ms. Aceti didn't seem to have one either. I think to how she opened the door. She just pulled it. Hanna tries. Still doesn't move. We look all over the shelf, the sides, and the books on it. Then I notice a book sticking out a little further then the rest. I pull it out. Then I yank on the door. It opens. It's like that thing in those crappy mystery movies!

When the door is open me and Hanna look in. It is a long staircase down. The lighting is very dim. It smells like rotten milk. The walls are covered in mold. I always thought this library smelled. Now I know why. Hanna is pinching her nose as she starts going down the stairs. She is fearless. I wouldn't even have gone through the door if she wasn't here. Who am I kidding I wouldn't even have came in the library if it weren't for her.

We start down the long stairs. I wonder where Ms. Aceti is going she must have left before. How long has this been here? Our whole school looks brand new, but this definitely doesn't. This looks like it has been here for a billion years. Like Ms. Aceti. Wow I am mean today. She did save us. We could be in prison right now. 

After a couple of minutes we reach the bottom of the stairs. It is really cold. It is dark and damp. I'm also hungry. This sucks! I want to go back, Hanna refuses. There is long hallway with no lights. Is that really the only way to go? Hanna grabs my hand knowing I am hesitant. We walk silently down the hallway. I see a couple of rats. Gross. 

I always I wasn't like the browns. But I am scared of a lot of little things. Like rats. And the dark. When I was younger, my dad used to have to stay in the room with me till I fell asleep. I also used to have to fall asleep with the lights on. When my parents died, I grew out of it. But still I get scared being in the dark sometimes. Specially in a small hallway with rats, mold, and apparently a crazy teacher. For all I know she is following me with a knife. This thought makes me spin around quickly. Nothing. Hanna and I walk down the hallway silently for another 10 minutes. I am about to turn around, the smell of rotten milk is really getting to me. 

We finally reach the end of the hallway. How far have we come. There is a single flickering light bulb. The only way other way out besides going back down that really long tunnel is stairs. Going up. If I thought going through the hallway was bad. Going upstairs is going to be way worse. Before I can turn around Hanna pulls my arm. Man is she determined. I start to walk up the stairs. I seriously think I am going to die. Rotten milk and mold are not a good smelling combination. Hanna has to drag me all the way up the stairs.

We still haven't seen Ms. Aceti. Maybe she is just going to some teachers thing. Maybe I am just dreaming. But they say you can't be in pain in a dream. Well trust me walking up a hundred stairs and walking a mile is pain. I don't exercise because we don't have gym. I think walking to get food is enough. There is no way I could survive in Blonde Factory, I would die. Thank you dad for not making me go there. 

We finally reach the top of the billion steps staircase. Oh my god. We will have to go back. Oh my god. There is another tunnel. I think this is Ms. Aceti's plan to kill me. Hanna physically drags me down the short hallway. We reach the end. There is a around 10 foot tall ladder. Hanna starts to climb. I do to. The ladder is made for 2 people so we climb next to each other. We reach the top and see a door on the ceiling. We push it open. 

And for the first time in months I am outside.