The Ivy Academy [COMPLETED]

Chapter 24

The plan was ingenious.

Yes, I knew that I came up with it, but for such short notice, I was pretty proud of myself.

Rule 10 had always stuck out to me. No draining the pool. It was such an odd and specific request to make, compared with the other 9 rules, which were to be expected. I knew that there had to be a reason why the rule was written down. I had figured out after I killed Scarlett.

As I was complaining about the rule list, and how I would surely be punished for the murder of my roommate, rule 10 struck into my head.

I remembered how curious I was the day after I read it, and why it would be on there. So, I asked Yusuf why. What he told me would be what would have to help me escape tonight.

As Dane and I walked into the pool room, I felt a chill run up my spine. It was cold, and even though the water was in the pool, the air felt moist and suffocating. I would suggest opening a window, but no windows opened in this academy, due to the fact that they were trapping their students here.

"Let's get this over with," I said, shivering.

Dane closed the door behind us to make sure that nobody would follow us in.

He walked up next to me, and looked down at the drain at the bottom of the pool. It was large and black, large enough for a person to fit through. And that's exactly what it would do tonight.

When I asked why we weren't allowed to drain the pool, Yusuf responded, 'Whenever someone drains the pool, all the pool water goes into the lake. It's a hassle to refill the pool and it always overflows the lake.' In those words, he had told me everything I needed to know about leaving this place.

"So, what's the plan again?" Dane shivered too. I thought it was funny how his nose had already turned red from the cold.

I raised the bag of our belongings. "This is the most important part of the night. This determines if we leave or not."

"Wow. Dramatic."

"I wish it wasn't," I said. It was true. I was happy that I had found a way to escape, but I wish there was never any reason to escape in the first place. I wish there was never any academy to escape from.

"If this bag gets wet, or the phone is damaged, we have no way of looking at where we are on the maps." I was aware that I sounded overly dramatic, but in reality, what I was saying could not be overstated.

Dane nodded. "Wet phone equals bad."

"Exactly. Wet phone: bad."

He nodded toward the drain. "That's it?"

"Yup, only the thing that determines the rest of our life." I put my hands on my hips. "And don't call me dramatic again."

"Could you repeat the plan again?" He asked. "If we have time."

I explained it to him again. It was a good plan.

First, we would empty the pool. A lever at the West end of the pool, with the word 'drain' above it had kindly informed me how to do so. It would probably take about 20 minutes, considering the fact that the pool was nearly Olympic sized, and while the drain was pretty big, it wasn't giant.

After all of the water had been drained, we would jump down to the bottom of the pool. It was only about a 7-foot drop, so, as long as we didn't tumble on the concrete, we would be fine. Next is where it got a little more challenging.

To get into the drain, our only option was to remove the drain cover covering the hole. It was plastic, and from the looks of it, quite sturdy, so we would have to work together to pull it off.