Chapter 4
In the darkness, someone screamed. This caused someone else to scream, which caused a series of yelps and squawks.
“Everyone calm down!” The sound of Miss. Dexa shuffling behind her desk was heard.
There was a groan from beside me. “I hate school…” It was Violet. Whispers began rippling through the students.
Then there was a sudden bright light that came from the flashlight on our teacher’s phone. All of us flinched back.
“Everyone please stay calm.” Our teacher pleaded. “Our studies shall be put on hold until Headmistress Marie gets the problem under control.” She watched us firmly as we nodded. “It will be hard to do our work like this, so we will wait until the lights are fixed.” She shut off her phone. “For now, please sit tight. You may use your phones for now but I expect them to all be put away when we are able to continue our lesson.” We heard her moving from behind her desk. “I will return shortly, for I need to see what is going on.” With that she shuffled through the dark, across the bridge and disappeared out the door and into the gloom.
Instantly, people started eagerly unlocking their phones, loading up InstaJam or texting their friends.
I stood up. My eyes were almost fully adjusted to the darkness, and I thought I would probably be able to make my way quietly, and safely, back into the halls.
“Isis?” I heard Denaé whisper. “Where are you going?” I turned to look at her and Amy who was clinging to the cougar’s arm.
“I'm going to investigate.” I told them, quietly stepping over the tendril of fern that lay in my path.
“Investigate?” Amy hissed quietly. “Why? The lights will turn back on shortly! That is what Miss. Dexa is doing.” Even though this remark wasn’t very loud, it still caught the unwanted attention of a specific girl I really wish wasn’t there.
“Where exactly do you think you are going?” Evica’s arrogant voice demanded. I rolled my eyes and started again towards the room’s exit. “To investigate.” I heard pawsteps behind me as my friends followed.
“If you leave, I am telling!” Evica hissed. I ignored her and quickly left the room, slipping just outside where I was greeted by more lurking shadows.
The school was huge, and daunting. The darkness didn’t help with the fear that was pricking up my spine. The lights didn’t just turn off by themselves, someone turned them off… and I was going to figure out who, and why.
“Where are we going?” Denaé whispered behind me. I held up a paw, motioning her to be quiet. It did no good, as there was no way she would have been able to see me in the darkness.
That was when I heard the faint, rustling of paws down the hall. We were going to follow that scientist!
We slipped noiselessly down the hall, our paws light on the smooth floor. That is when I heard muffled voices up ahead.
“Dexa!” I could just make out the figure of a tiger wearing a dress. It was Mrs. Harris. “Harris?” Miss. Dexa replied. I saw the outlines of the two teachers as the stepped closer together.
“We have no idea what happened!” I heard the secondary Headmistress whisper. Walking close together, the two teachers began again down the hall. They spoke quietly, suggesting reasons for the sudden blackout.
I took quiet steps after the professors, ensuring my presence was unknown.
That was suddenly the lights turned back on. I let out a muffled cry and shielded my eyes from the burning lights.
“Oh!” I heard Mrs. Harris exclaim. She was blinking at us, obviously also troubled by the sudden light. Miss. Dexa turned around. “I told everyone to stay in the class…” she was interrupted by the triumphant cry of Evica as she bounded down the hall.
“Miss. Dexa!” She howled. Evica raced the rest of the way and stopped, panting, beside us. “Miss. Dexa, they followed you! I tried to tell them not to but they wouldn’t listen!” she pointed accusingly at us.
Dexa and Harris exchanged glances. “Thank you, Evica.” Our science teacher replied slowly. “You may return to class. All of you.” She looked firmly at us.
The four of us walked slowly back to class. Well, three of us walked slowly, Evica trotted jubilantly ahead of us, her head high and her stuck-up snout in the air. “You should have listened.” She sighed, turning around to pout at us. “Isis, you made your friends get in trouble. How horrible of you.” She walked into the classroom and announced to everyone, “Do not worry! Everything is under control.” She smiled her sweet, sweet smile. “I took care of our runaways, and Miss. Dexa will return shortly.” She plopped herself down and shot a sneer, obviously directed at me, in the direction of me and my friends.
I sat back down, the rest of the class looked judgingly at us. I ignored it, pulling out my binder and pretending to jot down notes.
Even though I didn’t really have a reason to believe there was someone out to get us, I still had my suspicions. Why would a brand new school already be having electrical problems? I looked up at the canopy of leaves that lined the ceiling in our classroom.
It did not matter. I had been alerted. Whatever was going to happen next, I would be prepared.
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Sorry this chapter was really short, I didn’t realize when I was writing my outline. Who is your favorite character so far? Least favorite? Why? I hope you enjoyed it! Happy reading!
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