The Two Of Us

chapter 15

Davis' POV

"OK class, that's it for today. I want your assignments completed by the next day. Thank you." Our stern looking chemistry teacher says, adjusting her spectacles on her long nose. I sigh with relief as me and Henry pack up and get ready to go. He flings his backpack over his shoulder and looks at me as I do the same. 

"So... shall we go?" he asks, suddenly serious. He washes me over with a cold, no-nonsense gaze and I shudder.  This is the serious, work Henry. 

"yes. Let's go." I say in an equally intimidating tone. We walk over to the library. Henry seems lost in this own train of thoughts. He seems lost. I fight an irrational urge to laugh and intimately scold myself for my weird wish in such a serious place. Suddenly, out of the blue, I think of Darcy and a small smile tugs at the corner of my lips and before I know it, I'm grinning like a lunatic. Her soft lips on mine... My stomach squirms uncomfortably and I brush off the thought. Jeez... I don't even know her and I obviously don't like her. Right?  I wince.

We are going to the library to decode the encrypted message we just received. Henry believes the sender is someone from the college. With all the intelligence stuff, it's better to trust him.We need to get over with this decrypting without letting anyone know. we don't need much time though. Henry can be really fast if he wants.

We get to the library and find a comfortable place which is slightly isolated. Henry takes out a sheet of paper and the crypted sheet and starts his work. He looks at the crypted sheet. his eyes scanning the paper. He bits his lower lip and I know he's really concentrating hard. He has cultivated this habit ever since he was a child. He's literally radiating concentration and I know not to disturb him.

The code is like this:

Jhhm Adsby rdgh
                -HPb

He has already figured that the middle word is a name and the last are the senders initials. He quickly writes down a to z on the blank paper and below that he changes the order of the alphabets. That is, he wrote b in place of a and and so on. He uses the jumbled alphabets to find the word but it doesn't work. Immediately, he tries substituting c in place of a and tries that code too but there is no success. Next the tries d in place of a and I grin as the first word makes sense.

He writes down 'keep' in place of the first word. Without deviating, he moves on to the next word but he awards himself with a smile. He decodes the first letter, then the second... Then the third... Then he stops in his tracks... Distracted. The atmosphere suddenly become tense and I know something is wrong. He finishes his decoding and suddenly shudders. He looks at me squarely and then drops his gaze. He writes down 'Darcy'. My reaction is instantaneous. My eyes become wide and I audibly gasp. My breath hitches. Without paying me any attention, he goes back to decoding the initials. He decodes the first initial... Then the next and then he shudders violently and drops his pen and swears loudly, earning irritated glares from the rest of the library. He bites his lip so hard that it starts bleeding. I've never seen his so unbalanced.

Wow. It's bad.

I look at him as he writes down EMc in place of the initials. It takes me a second to process this... Fuck!

I almost choke and Henry offers me water. I bury my face in my hands and shake my head nervously. I look at Henry and he seems to have regained his equilibrium. He now has a ice cold look on his face. How does he manage to do this? Keeping a poker face in such a situation.

Keep Darcy safe
            -EMc

EMc - Elizabeth McField.

I compose myself as Henry quickly checks the date. 2019. Shit.

"Henry. It's a bluff. There's no way she's alive." I say absolutely convinced that I'm right.

I see slight hope in Henry's eyes and then it disappears with the same velocity.

"Even if it is, who would know about cryptography and the organisation and Elizabeth McField here in this school? Be rational Davis. "

He says and I run a hand through my hair. I say the first thought which comes to my mind.

"Does Darcy know?" I ask him

"Do I know what?" Darcy squeaks from behind me. Taking us both by surprise. I jump in my seat and Henry screams, immediately covering the book making it really obvious. I almost roll my eyes at him.

"Ill actually see you late."

She looks directly at me and finally feels regret for what she just did. A faint pink creeps to her cheeks and it doesn't take much time to turn into crimson. She slightly smiles at Henry and goes to join Zoë and Hazel. She drops her law book in her hurry to get away from me and I pick it up. Such a clumsy girl. Does she remember what happened last night? A shadow of a smile crosses my lips and I immediately brush it off. Jeez, why is this happening?

Henry is too preoccupied to notice the more than awkward thing that just happened. We get up to go to our dorm, Darcy's Law book still in my hand. We move in complete silence without uttering a word. I think about the message and only one constructive thought comes to my mind.

She's alive... And she wants us to protect Darcy.

The question remains. From whom?