Twilight (Book 1 of The Shade Hunt Trilogy)

Chapter Four: Finding Nemo (Jack)

My philosophy is that there is one moment in a friendship that reveals its true purpose in a person's life. My hunch says that today is that day.

I run through a list of all the friends I've made during the past semester: Julie, Jack, Rachel, Alyssa.... I consider Julie and Jack to be my best friends. Maybe it's one of them. Maybe it's both. Maybe my hunch was wrong, and it's none of them. I'll just have to wait and see.

Today is Saturday, so I spend the entire morning in my dorm room, trying to pick between a pink-themed or a navy-themed outfit. By the time I decide on navy, it's already noon, so I walk over to the lunch table where we always sit. No one's there yet which is weird, since Jack's usually the first person there. I wait around a little, eating my lunch, waiting for someone to come. When Julie finally shows up (it felt like 10 minutes, but my watch says that it was only 2), I ask her about Jack.

"Do you know where Jack is?"

"No idea. He said something about 'under the B level' or something like that."

"Huh? There's something under the B level?"

"Apparently. He was talking to Ms. F yesterday, and then today, he announced that he would be 'going down.' So, I was like 'Going down where?' and he was like 'under the B level.' So yeah. I'm guessing that's where he is."

"Okaaay. Now I'm kind of curious about what's down there and why he's there. Want to come with me?"

"No. I already told him that I wanted nothing to do with it, so even if I change my mind, I won't check it out."

"'kay."

~~~

Since I don't want to ask Ms. F about it, I have no choice but to go down to the B level and figure it out myself. The classrooms on the B level are actually quite bright, since the McGoverns overcompensated for the lack of natural sunlight with an excess of electric lighting. Since it's Saturday, naturally, all of classrooms are empty and locked, and only the hallway is lit. I figure that, since Jack found a way to go below this floor today, there is some sort of secret passageway (I know. It sounds like a cliché mystery novel.) that is in the hallway but not in the currently-locked classrooms.

I look around everywhere (for about an hour), until I realize that the "secret passageway" is probably not that easy to find. Maybe near the floor ... or near the ceiling!

The whole time, I had been searching for something that looked out of place on the walls or the floor, but it wasn't a very far-fetched idea to start looking on the ceiling or at the tops of the walls. After all, I had always noticed that the B-level ceiling was WAY lower than the ceilings of the other floors, and if I stand on my tip-toes, my fingertips can barely brush the ceiling. Maybe it's to make room for a hidden tunnel of some sort that could lead to something below the B level! Or, maybe I've been reading too many mystery novels lately (which, coincidentally, I have been doing).

Anyway, it doesn't hurt to try, since I don't really have much to do other than this. Plus, I'm really curious to know what Jack is doing.

It takes me about half an hour to find what I'm looking for: a single brick at the top of the wall, with a plus sign carved onto it. Just like any character in a mystery novel, I push the carving a little.

Nothing.

I push a little harder.

Still nothing.

I push as hard as I can.

Nope.

Maybe it's the wrong brick? A trick?

Sighing, I lean against the wall, when suddenly, I black out.

[A/N] Sorry for the late chapter! I'll try to post two more chapters during the next two months. Yes, I'm mean for giving you a cliff hanger (the first one in this book). Sorry, again.

Edit: I accidentally wrote Evan instead of Jack. Whoops! Also, I changed the title of the chapter.