Academt Of Five Peaks

Chapter 1- Element of Surprise

Chapter One

‘Hurry up Elle.’

‘Wait, one more minute!’ Elle furrowed her eyebrows and reached further into the air vent, her fingers seeking in the empty space.

‘There isn’t any time,’ Anna cried desperately as she tugged on Elle’s jacket. ‘It’s not in there.’

‘Yes it is, Chris said it would be,’ Elle leant in as far as she could; sweat trickling down her skin from the stress.

‘Don’t be an idiot. He didn’t do it, you know that,’ Anna glanced around the empty hall.

An alarm sounded, high and shrill in the night. Anna instantly tensed, her eyes going wide as she clapped her hands over her ears.

Elle ignored it, trying with all her might to feel the vent for the string.

‘We have to go!’ Anna yanked at Elle with all her might, ripping her out of the vent and causing them to fall onto the floor.

‘No,’ Elle said gruffly as she struggled to get back to the dark vent. Anna gripped her friend tightly, getting up and dragging Elle away from the vent. All the while Anna muttered under her breath about how it was stupid and they should never have dared do it. Eventually Elle gave up, giving into the need of escape and frustratingly leaving the vent behind.

They ran through the deserted school, the torches held in their hands shinning beams of light in the shadowy caverns. Moving their legs harder Elle could hear her friends breathe grow deeper and shallower, the late night taking its toll. Elle easily kept ahead, being a vigilant pupil in martial arts classes she was used to the hard grit of training.

‘Which door?’ Elle skidded around a corner, stopping when she faced a locked hall.

‘The one near the gym,’ Anna doubled over as she tried to catch her breath. The alarm was still blaring, calling out for the authorities to come and collect the students that’d broken in.

‘Okay,' Elle caught her friend’s elbow and lead her onwards.

As they burst into open air they both took delight in the feeling of the cold air hitting their sweaty skin. Their hair was flying everywhere, sticking to their clothes and making it near impossible to see.

‘Over there,’ Anna pointed to the fence; beyond laid an empty car park.

Running across the oval Elle had a scary flashback of when she first began at the school, nearly six months ago. Anna had been her first friend and at the time she’d been showing Elle around when they came to Anna’s locker, only to find that the locker had been busted and everything inside was gone. They’d noticed a sticker note pressed onto the door. Follow the string. That’s what it said.

With not much choice they’d looked around to the see a line of thin green string beginning at their feet and disappearing around a corner. They’d followed the string, knowing even then that it’d been a prank but not wanting to loose Anna’s possessions.

The string had led them out onto the playground and around to the oval. A group of people had been standing in the center of the pitch, all huddled around something in the middle.

Elle had been on the alert but with the string leading right to them they’d no choice but to step up. It wasn’t until they’d pushed their way into the students that the kids began to notice Anna. Most of them snickered or laughed out loud, nudging their friends as they looked at the girl.

‘What…?’ At that point they’d made it to the front of the crowd to see what they were doing.

All of Anna’s possessions were strewn across the floor; books, rubbish, photos, stationary, tampons, running shoes, spare uniform.