The Secrets at Rose Academy

7~The Secrets of an Old Factory~

Sorry for the long wait on an update! Been super busy getting settled into school. Hope you guys like it so far I've been trying to edit the previous chapters. Thanks for reading!!:)

I waited for what felt like hours but in reality was minutes. I was leaning against the wall when a dark figure emerged from the darkness. I straightened up and the sillouhette became more visible and I saw Aiden. He stood there in his usual cargo shorts and a hoodie.

"So what's the plan?" He asked as I approached him.

"Well," I said, "There is a bush in the far back were we can sneak over the fence. It leads to the highway."

"How do you know it leads to the highway?"

"I may have went on a walk after lunch." I bit my lip.

"I see." he nodded. "So should we go before we get caught?" he asked.

I nodded and we walked to the far back of the garden. He helped me over the fence and we walked through what was like a forest. Twigs and leaves crunched under my feet as we walked through the darkness. Finally we reached the highway and suprisingly the factory was really close. We crossed the highway and stayed in the mysterious shadows that held more than deep nothingness.

"Hey, uh, Arries?"

"Yea?" I replied not taking my eyes from the street. If we got caught out here this late we were dead meat.

"I think are being watched. " He gestured over to the side of an old building where a group of people were gathered.

I turned to get a closer look and locked eye contact with a women who was staring me down. She looked about her late twenties but she was super thin. Her eyes kept a cold hard gaze. I thought she was about to rip my throat out.

"You kids lost?" she hollored at us.

"No we aren't thanks." Aiden yelled back and we started picking up our pace. A couple big men with long grimy beards started after us and we broke into a run.

What a friendly community I thought.

We reached the factory and ran inside. The doors weren't locked and almost all the windows were shattered. We had lost the two men down the street.

I walked through the factory carefully choosing my step. It felt like it would crumble beneath my feet after every single step I took. There was no machinery, nothing, all that was in the room was a single charred black fountain in the center of the room. This fountain was nothing like i had ever seen in my life. It had a pair of large wings on a carved sillouhette of a feminine body. Even through the ash and dust it was beautiful. I looked around the entire thing and there was one spot that was untouched by ash. On the tip of the wing was an intriquet "Z" engraved into the fountain. The base of the fountain was empty but there were faint shoeprints in the center. Without thinking I stepped into the fountain and stood directly on the prints. Its crazy to think that if it were placed in a garden or something it would be filled with water and people would be throwing pennies into the water. Making untold wishes.

Aiden turned to look at me and in that second when our eyes met the floor had disapeared from my feet and everything went black.

"Arries!" I heard him call my name and metal hit the floor.

I fell onto hard cold concrete. "I'm fine!" I called not sure if Aiden could here me. I slowly got up a little sore from the short fall. After my eyes started to adjust to the darkness I made out a railing and steps leading down. I had been on a balcony that over looked the hidden labratory that was rumored about in the articles.

A flashlight had been left on the floor and unfortanetly it didn't work. But I was able to find a light switch by the stairs and thank goodness it worked. The light filled the room. Each beam in the ceiling coming on one at a time. The Labratory was huge. Cages filled half of it in rows and rows. All were empty but smelt like death, decay, and chemicals. Brokens beakers and glass tubes littered the floor. glass crunched under my boots as i walked to the counter. Spilled chemicals and crumpled paper was everywhere. Only one paper was left unwrinkled on the countertop. The pen was left next to it. I grabbed the paper and then heard a crash. I quickly ran behind the cages and hid.

"Arries, Are you down here?"

Recognizing Aidens voice I came out behind the cages. Relief washed over his face as he saw me walking towards him. "I uh found the labratory." I said feeling awkward. He looked so worried before he noticed me.

"I see that." he said trying to sound cool. "You find anything?"

"Yea I found this note left on the counter. Its pretty much the only thing left."

"Okay well we should wait to read it til we get back, we need to get out of here before someone notices we are gone." He said.

I folded the note and put it into my pocket. We started looking around for an exit and it was actually pretty hard to find. There was a hidden staircase and a tunnel. And yes they smelt just as bad as those cages. Finally we came through a door almost barracaded on the otside with overgrowth. We could still see the factory but were hidden in the forest.

It was still dark but the sun would start to come up soon. We were about to go through the empty lot to head back to the academy but a car quickly pulled in and a tall thin man ran inside the factory. Aiden and I went to the window and the man was standing in the fountain waiting to be dropped into the labratory. In a second he was gone.

We ran back to the academy in fear of getting caught. We didn't have enough time to stay and the beirded men could've been waiting for us so we bolted for the school.

We went to Aiden's room first and he let me hide the note in his room. He didn't have a roomate that could accidently find it and start asking questions. He walked me to my room and we made plans to go over the note the next day. We both were too tired and needed some sleep.

"Hey Arries?"

"Yeah." I was getting my key from my pocket.

"Are you okay? You know with what happened with Jessica today?"

I looked at him and his face looked sincere. Jessica had really pissed me off. I was over it though.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure I decked her in the face so you could say I don't like what she did. I'm fine though. Thanks." I gave him a reassuring smile. "But I think I would be better if I slept on it."

He smiled his perfect white teeth and shook his head looking at the ground. "Okay. Well I guess I can let you do that then." He gave me a long hug and then walked back to his room.

"Goodnight." I said in a whisper and went into my room.