Flame

Chapter 12 - Lockdown

Chapter 12

Lockdown

The body was revolting. One of the legs had been ripped off by who knows what, the other was so damaged it should have been ripped off. Her torso was actually pretty much untouched, aside from the hole in her chest that was obviously inflicted by a knife or dagger. Her face was contorted into an expression of pure and unmasked terror, her once tan complexion was now white and spattered with the ruby red of blood, obviously her own. Her lifeless hands were still clutching at the wound near her heart, her fingers curled into an iron grip.

I turned my head, I felt nauseous just looking at the corpse and I realized that I desperately needed fresh air. I didn't pay any attention to where I was going, I just knew that I needed out. It was only when I bumped into someone that I looked up from my feet. A tall man with shoulder-length brown hair stood like a wall in front of me. He gave me an apologetic look.

"Sorry." He said in in a voice that was much less gruff than I had expected, but he still sounded tough. He quickly maneuvered around me with two men in tow. One was incredibly handsome and had short brown hair, a strange golden amulet hung from his neck. The other one looked slightly older than the first two and had short black hair, he wore a trench coat and a blue tie. Once they had passed I stumbled to my dorm , which was apparently my body's idea of 'fresh air'. I fell into my bed and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

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The next day was incredibly uncomfortable. The air fizzled and snapped with anticipation and fear. By the time breakfast had begun pretty much everyone was aware of the previous night's events. Groups of people sat closely together at the dining tables, whispering and muttering to each other. I spotted my friends and started to make my way over to them. Suddenly Maddie came up from behind me. "Hi Kendra, do you mind if I sit with you?" She asked.

"No, knock yourself out." I replied. When Lucy saw me she rushed over and embraced me. I was so stunned by her actions that I just stood there wordlessly. She broke away and I noticed that her cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were puffy from crying. When she spoke her voice was full of mourning and concern.

"Oh it's just awful! Everything is terribly, dreadfully awful!" She began to cry again and I had to hold her while her whole body shook with sobs. She pulled away for a second time and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I must look like such a mess." Lucy hadn't even noticed Maddie until now. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Maddie, she was wondering if she could sit with us today."

Lucy's face visibly brightened. "Oh, well of course you can sit with us! After all, a friend of Kendra's is a friend of mine!" She grabbed Maddie's hand and pulled her to our table. "I'm Lucy by the way."

Maddie still hadn't spoken, obviously surprised by Lucy's sudden burst of enthusiasm. We then sat down and took care of proper introductions,After awhile the mood lightened and I almost completely forgot about Lilith Magentum, almost.

A loud banging rang from the front of the dining hall, signaling for silence amongst the students. Madame Goldenstone rose from her seat and began an announcement. "I assume that you are all aware of last night's unfortunate incident." At this a quiet murmur of voices broke out within the tables. "Silence!" Madame Goldenstone bellowed. She waited until no sounds were emitted from the students to speak again. "Because of this recent tragedy, the staff and I have decided to put this school on lockdown." Several gasps and urgent mutterings erupted from the crowd. "Quiet!" Madame Goldenstone roared. "Now then, this lockdown will take place until we find out who or what attacked Lilith Magentum, and how to stop them or it. The lockdown will prevent people from leaving or entering the school without a full search of their personal belongings and history. Also guards will be posted in the halls at all times. The head of the protection squad will now go into greater detail of the newly enforced rules."

With that a tall man stepped forward, two other men in his wake. Surprise coursed through me as I realized that these men were the ones that I saw last night. The one that I had originally bumped into spoke first. "Hello everyone, my name is Captain Winchester and this man," He paused to gesture towards the handsome man with the strange amulet. "is my brother Sergeant Winchester. And this is our associate Colonel Novak." He pointed to the one with black hair in a trench coat. "Now I understand that all this must be hard for everyone, but I can assure you that you'll all be safe with us around. The only thing we ask of you is to follow all of our set safety precautions and rules. The first one being to not be out of your dorm after 10:00 P.M.. If anyone is caught breaking these rules they will have earned themselves an immediate after-school detention. Does anyone have any questions?" Captain Winchester's eyes scanned the crowd, when no one raised their hands he nodded his head curtly. "You are dismissed."

Everyone filtered out of the dining hall. The rest of the day was a blur, I was assigned homework in almost every single one of my classes. Maddie sat with me again during lunch, and at dinner. After that meal I went to my dorm and flopped onto my bed, that was how most days ended in Silverwood.

Suddenly a soft knock rapped on my door. So I reluctantly had to get up to see who it was. But when I opened the door there was no one there, just a small slip of paper. I glanced down either sides of the hallway in hopes of catching whoever dropped the note, but my eyes found only emptiness. I picked up the paper and closed the door. I unfolded the edges of the note and looked at the written message. The writing read;

MEET ME AT THE OLD CHERRY TREE

IN THE COURTYARD AT PRECISELY 10:00 TONIGHT.

The words left me puzzled and slightly confused. Who could have left me this note? And what could they possibly want from me? Suddenly a horrifying thought snaked its way into my mind. What if this was the person that killed Lilith Magentum? What if I was next? After a few minutes of mulling over my decisions I decided to go, but I would not be unprepared. I strapped my wand into my belt along with my daggers, I also stuck a small pocket knife in my combat boot, just to be safe. I was ready.

At about 9:40 P.M. I snuck out of my dorm. I stuck to the shadows, even though it wasn't technically past my curfew I still didn't want to encounter anyone in case they asked about where I was headed. I arrived at the cherry tree at 9:48 P.M., no one was in my sight but they could very well have been hidden in the many nooks and crannies of the courtyard. I sat down beside the trunk of the cherry tree and waited. To pass the time I went through all possible scenarios in my head, mapping out escape routes and battle strategies. Once 10:00 neared I stared at my watch, watching the second-hand travel around the clock face. The second the clock struck 10:00 a figure stepped out from behind the cherry tree.

(Author's Note)

Soooooooo what did you guys think? Sorry I keep leaving you with all of these cliff hangers, I just can't help it. So the summer is over and I have to go back to school, which means less frequent updates. Now instead of an update every two weeks one will come every three weeks. But don't panic! To help you all get used to your Flame deprivation I will be adding a teaser chapter in one week, and then the actual next chapter two weeks later. So I now have about 740 views and 28 votes. My new goal for Flame is to have it reach 1K by chapter 15, that's three more chapters people but I think we can do it! So to help me reach my goal please share this book by telling your friends and followers about it, just putting it in your reading list helps! Also please remember to

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-Avery(^o^)