Life Within The Halls

Chapter 13: "The Real Daniel Blay"

LIFE WITHIN THE HALLS

Jayden

Thursday, 12th February, 11:30 p.m.

Passing Sandra, I slipped through the Ship House's back door, assuring her that everything was fine with me. But deep down, I was a mess. I was being threatened by some creep on Instagram named AnonymousX, who claimed to have a video of what Ella and I did two years ago. If I had told Sandra about it, she'd have questioned me about what I and Ella did. What we did was huge—something nobody could imagine of us.

"Where's Sandra?" Victoria asked me as she stood near Gideon.

"I'm here," Sandra replied behind me, looking a bit down.

The back door led us exactly where Victoria had mentioned—the kitchen where the cooks prepare meals for resident students on weekends. There was no one in there except for the four of us.

"Why don't we split up into pairs?" Gideon proposed. "It'll make our search easier. Plus, Sandra's still finding her way around here. She'll be lost if she's caught alone by Ms. Murphy."

"Yeah, you're right," I agreed.

"Then, she will be with you, and Victoria will be with me," Gideon said. "Fine with it?"

Gideon's question felt rhetorical. Saying no meant I wanted to swap Sandra for Victoria. Devil for Lucifer?

"Yeah, I'm fine with it," I accepted.

Gideon and Victoria headed towards the cinema room, where resident students gather for night movies, while Sandra and I ventured towards the storerooms, where maintenance tools, foodstuffs, and other supplies were kept.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sandra broke the stillness as we walked.

I ignored her question, my thoughts consumed by the identity of the person behind the 'AnonymousX' account.

She crossed my path. "Now I'm definitely sure there's something wrong with you. Tell me," she urged, concern etched on her face. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or fake.

"I'm fine," I lied once more, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry."

"Alright, if you say so," she replied.

I picked up my pace, and she followed suit, clearly not wanting to be left alone in an unfamiliar place.

When we got to the first storeroom, its door was locked. The second one too, but the third wasn't. Instead, it had a label 'Do Not Enter!' hanging on the door handle.

Sandra looked at me hesitantly. "I don't want to do this," she said, pushing the door open with one eye closed.

"It's not like there's a ghost inside." I took a step into the storeroom ahead of her.

The room was cold, dark, though not completely, since the door wasn't closed, and smelled strongly of fish. Sandra rubbed her arms in an attempt to ward off the cold. It was clear that I wasn't the only one feeling like I'd stepped into a deep freezer.

"Here," I offered her my sweater. "You look like you could use this more than I could."

She raised an eyebrow, surprised by my gesture. "But aren't you cold too?"

I shrugged, trying to downplay my own discomfort. "I can handle the cold better than you."

Truth be told, I was freezing my socks off, but I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to show her that I appreciated her concerns, even if they were fake.

With a grateful smile, she accepted the sweater, wrapping it around herself for added warmth.

I reached for the light switch on the wall and managed to turn on the light. The room was indeed a freezer, filled with rows of fish and meat stored by the cooks.

I then started to regret choosing the storeroom direction. I should have opted for the cinema; at least there wouldn't be anything smelly or scary like the fish skeletons littering the floor.

"Arghhh!!" A piercing scream echoed from afar, in the direction Victoria and Gideon had gone.

Maybe I was wrong—the direction they went wasn't all that promising.

Sandra and I shared a quick glance and rushed towards the source of the scream, propelled by urgency. My guess proved correct—it was Victoria, alone in the mini restroom of the cinema room.

"You scared us half to death!" Sandra exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, I was startled by that," Victoria pointed to our left.

I turned slowly, bracing myself for the worst, only to find spilled red lip gloss on the mirror above the sinks.

"I thought it was real blood," she said sheepishly, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Seriously? She had managed to send my heart racing for nothing.

I let out a sigh. "Where's Gideon?"

"He's with Daniel," Victoria replied, her voice steadier now.

Wait, what did she say?

"Daniel!?" Sandra and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh, we forgot to keep you two updated," Victoria explained. "We found the real Daniel tied up in the cinema's basement."

So, if Victoria hadn't screamed, Sandra and I would still be searching for someone who had already been found? Not cool.

"We're here," Gideon's voice chimed in. "Daniel was thirsty, so he had to drink some water."

I gave Daniel a head-to-toe look. Nothing had changed about him. In movies, people who get kidnapped usually tend to look different when they're found alive, but Daniel's case was different. It was as if the kidnapper treated him like royalty.

"What proves he's the real Daniel Blay?" I asked.

Before Gideon could reply, Daniel jumped in himself. "Check this out." He rolled backwards three times. I had taught him that during the winter break.

"Bro!" I rushed forward to hug him.

"Daniel, are you okay? Have you eaten?" Sandra questioned him.

"I'm fine, Sandy, don't worry," he replied her, gently easing out of the hug. "I had breakfast this morning, and they fed me lunch not long ago.

Whoever was holding the real Daniel captive fed him? Remarkable! He was truly being treated like royalty.

"That doesn't make sense," Victoria voiced the same thought I had. "Why would someone give you such treatment while still holding you captive? Who would even do that?"

"Mr. Bennett," Daniel's voice trembled. "My eyes were covered, but I swear I saw someone who looked exactly like me..."

The one he had seen was definitely his look-alike, Matthew Clark.

"And this guy with my face," he continued, tears welling up in his eyes, "I heard him say, 'Mr. Bennett, should I kill Daniel like I killed his girlfriend?'"

What still puzzled me was why Mr. Bennett killed the cheerleader. What had the cheerleader done to him to warrant such an act?

Gideon patted his back. "Buddy, don't worry. We'll figure this out." True best friends, indeed. He urged him not to come to school until he could assure his safety, making sure no one would come after him again.

Finally, we had found the real Daniel Blay. Now, it was up to the police to take action. Gideon contacted them and sent them the video of the late head cheerleader, may her soul rest in peace.

With that, we all agreed to quickly head out before anyone saw us. But, just as we got to the backdoor, the same one we came through, Ms. Murphy's voice stopped us in our tracks.

"What are you four doing here at this time?" she demanded in her commanding tone.

Did Ms. Murphy say four? We were five! Gideon, Sandra, Daniel, Victoria, and I. So, why did she say four? Was one of us invisible to her?