Willow Springs

Chapter 15

That night I was asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow. I felt so drained and like I had no energy left in my body. I am sure that Barnett wanted to talk about what had happened that night, but I didn't have it in me. Even on the short walk back to our dorm building I was quiet. Everyone else was talking to each other, but not me. I felt like what I thought a zombie would feel like, just driven on by empty thought and not much else. The strange thing was I didn't even remember getting changed for bed, but I had. My dreams weren't as peaceful as I would have liked that night, however. I don't know how long I was sleeping before Wallace appeared in my dreams again. This time it was different, very different. It was night and I was laying in my bed staring at the stars, as I did every night when the room went icy cold. I could see my breath in front of my face, and I knew what it meant. Slowly I sat up and saw Wallace stood between mine and Barnett's beds, but Barnett wasn't there. Wallace seemed happy and was smiling down at me. He somehow looked different, almost like he was another person. He looked much younger and healthier like he had almost been ill the other times I had seen him. He stood rocking on his heels looking down at me, his hands held behind his back.

"Richard I am getting stronger; sorry you are feeling weak and so tired. That is because of me. I used some of your energy to get strong enough to talk to you and your friends last night. Next time we will talk more, much more but tonight I have to show you something, something which if anything happens while you are here you can get away." Wallace's voice sounds different too, louder, and more upbeat.

"What is it you want to show me?" I asked as I climbed out of my bed, immediately feeling my whole body freeze like I had fallen through ice on a frozen lake.

"Some tunnels which you have already found, but I know you haven't explored now come."

I followed Wallace out of my room and down the corridors of my dorm. I noticed straight away that every detail was correct, nothing was out of place, nothing was wrong. I wasn't even sure if it was a dream because it was that real. The only thing that convinced me it was, was that Barnett was missing from his bed. I knew from the direction Wallace was leading me that he had taken me to the hidden room Barnett had shown me already. The room where we found the passage leading away from our room. The hidden door was already open when we arrived, and Wallace lead me into the hidden room, the door closing as soon as I was clear. Wallace ignored the contents of the room, not even bothering to look around it, instead, he walked around the table and to the hidden passage I had yet to be in.

"This passage and room are much older than you will think. This part of the building is old. It was here when I was alive, but most of the building was destroyed when the Willows started building the school." Wallace explained, touching the walls as if they would come to life with memories. I saw him smile to himself before he continued. "Tolbert Willow was the one who thought it would be a good idea to leave this room in place and the tunnels because of the wars which were going on. the problem was that he died before the building was completed, meaning that this room was forgotten, well that was until some students found it. Since then it has been passed down through former students about this 'secret' room. This isn't the only one, however, but you will in time be able to explore those as well. Tonight, though Richard I must show you this tunnel because it could save your life. Come now let's go."

I followed Wallace into the darkness of the tunnel and suddenly felt very nervous. I wanted to change into my werewolf form, partly out of fear of the unknown and partly to see. I had no reason to because moments later candles burst into flames down the corridor, lighting up what looked like endless darkness. For the first time, I could see the walls of the tunnel. They were white and tall, almost seven-foot-tall in total. The ceiling was arched but looked smooth, as did the walls. In the past, someone had placed candles held to the walls by basic looking metal holders at set distances from each other. We had a choice of turning left or right, and Wallace without hesitation turned right. I followed him and felt the coldness of the stone on my bare feet. It sent chills up my spine but wasn't too bad once I got used to it. I paused and took in my surroundings, touching the walls with my hands and it felt so real. I could feel the cold, damp stone under my fingers, could feel the change in the air and I was sure it was no dream. I paused longer than I thought because when I looked up Wallace had already started walking down the tunnel and his loud footsteps even though was echoing off the walls and ceiling was fading into the distance. I had to almost run to catch up with him. I don't think Wallace had noticed I was missing because he didn't even turn round to see where I was and been so light-footed, and him a ghost of a human he didn't hear my light footsteps over his own as I caught up with him.