Black Rose

Chapter 9

Kate pummeled her fists against the door, hoping against hope that Valerie had a change of heart and decided to turn around and save her.

There was no such luck.

She decided to rest on the desk chair and take a moment to think about all that had happened. Valerie was the granddaughter of her science teacher, Ms. Martinez. Harry, Valerie, and Ms. Martinez were working together to overthrow the spy organization.

The shock of everything that occurred was enough to send Kate's mind spinning. Her trust in Valerie had shattered like glass. She had realized early on that her best friend-- or in this case, former best friend-- was withholding something important. Never in her right mind was she expecting this.

She began to ponder about Valerie's motives. Surely Kate had not triggered any of these acts of malice and evil. Had she?

Deciding that she could not sit here and sulk about what could have been, Kate looked around the classroom for an escape. There were no windows large enough to climb through.

Suddenly, she glanced at the classroom door with the small window. Snatching a large stapler off the desk, she smashed it against the window. To her disappointment and confusion, the glass did not break.

Sighing, she placed the stapler haphazardly on the desk. There seemed to be no escape from this classroom.

"That window will not break. It's made out of plexiglass," a voice sounded throughout the room, causing Kate to jump in fear.

She whirled around, only to find the classroom just as empty as before.

"Look up," the voice instructed.

Hesitant, Kate directed her eyes up to the ceiling. Bethany was dangling above her from a thick rope. The rope disappeared into the ceiling so Kate could not see what it was attached to.

"Grab my hands. I'm going to pull you up," Bethany whispered.

Standing atop a desk, Kate reached up and grabbed Bethany's hands. She was beyond grateful that she had come to the rescue.

"Pull us up, Caitlin," Bethany directed. Immediately, the rope started to retreat back into the ceiling, taking both Bethany and Kate up with it. They slipped through one of the ceiling tiles and landed on cool metal.

"Where are we?" Kate whispered. She glanced around the small enclosure. Metal surrounded them on all sides, pressing against their backs.

"We're in the vents. You could hear us down below, so try to be as quiet as you can," Caitlin explained.

Kate nodded her head and began following Caitlin through the vents with Bethany right behind her. The maze of ventilation seemed to stretch forever. The girls twisted and turned, feeling their way along the metal.

Suddenly, Caitlin stopped. "Bethany, remove the ceiling. Kate, stay here," she ordered.

Bethany took out a knife and cut cleanly through the vent to reveal a loose ceiling tile. She lifted it off and dropped into the room below.

Bethany called out from below, "It's clear. Come down."

Caitlin hopped out of the vent and Kate did the same, being careful not to make too much noise on their way down.

Kate surveyed the room. There were couches arranged in a square in the center of the room, coffee tables beside each. There were three vending machines in the left corner of the room. There was also a mini kitchen.

"Where are we?" Kate whispered. She had never been in this room before.

"This is the teachers' lounge, where we hid all of our weapons. Come on, let's grab everything," Caitlin explained.

Bethany and Caitlin snatched their weapons that were hidden under the couches, on top of the vending machines, and inside the kitchen drawers.

"What's the plan?" Kate asked.

Bethany searched the room and upon deciding that there was nothing left to do, she smiled. "Now we escape."