Assassins Academy

Chapter 13 (Confessions Part 2)

   We walked to the dining commons in silence. The only thing between us was our linked hands. My friends were nowhere to be found so we decided to sit with some of Reece's friends. They were almost all obnoxious boys with the exception of a few girls. Despite my worries I was welcomed in warmingly with a few exceptions of young jokes thrown my way, nothing that I couldn't handle though, with my mock mature superiority. We ate and socialized politely until we were finished and people started heading back too there dorms. As we exited out of the threshold of the dining commons I spun on my heel to face Reece stopping him in his tracks. "I want to go visit Emma and Isabel." "You said Emma had been out for days which means I was out for a couple of days too." He looked away from me trying to avoid eye contact. "How long was I out?" He didn't answer me. "Reece, how long?" I said more sternly. He sighed rubbing his neck. "Two days." "This'll be Emma's, and Isabel's third." "And the doctors still don't know what there going to do." I thought about it, I had to get these words off my chest and they were only meant for two specific people. "Well I know what I'm going to go do, I'm going to go talk to them." I started walking in the direction of the infirmary. "Talk to them?" Reece said catching up to me. "You can't talk to them." I rounded the corner of a corridor. "Sure you can." "They may not be able to answer, but that doesn't mean that they can't listen." Reece stopped in his tracks thinking of my last comment as I left him behind in the dust.

       As I got closer and closer to the infirmary I couldn't help but wonder what it was going to be like. Would I be able to keep my strength for them? Or would I crumble to pieces right beside there beds? I guess I was going to find out. I entered into the infirmary and looked around for any of the nurses until I heard yelling down the hall, a group of nurses and a few doctors came running down the isle pushing a hospital bed. I didn't realize who they were pushing until they passed by me.

    I saw her fuzzy hair before anything else. And then her sickly paled tan skin. They raced past me trying to get to the emergency room. A woman was not too far behind them. She was pail with brownish blonde hair and blue eyes. She kept running until she ran out of breath a foot away from me and I went up to her. "Excuse me miss but do you know what's going on, where are they taking Isabel." "I'm her friend you see...." The lady took in a deep breath. "Are you Danielle?" "The one that pulled her and that other girl out from underneath all that rubble?" How did this woman know my name? I nodded. Her eyes went wide as they started to fill with tears. She reached out to me and pulled me in for an unexpected hug. I didn't hug her back because I was so astonished. She let go of me and pulled away. "Thank you for saving my baby." I didn't realize until she had said that sentence who she might of been, but it made sense. This woman, was Isabel's mother.

Before I could even say a word she sped off down the hall following after the doctors crying "my baby". I stared at her longingly, wishing for a mother that would fanacate over me like that. Isabel didn't know how lucky she was. I decided to look for Emma's room and after asking a few nurses they directed me to room C505. As I approached the hallway I could feel the knots in my stomach start to form and tighten. I was first eight rooms away than six, then four, then two, until I was finally one room away. I walked up to the wooden door and peered inside the mini window. I could see her small frame laid peacefully on her bed. I slowly reached out for the handle making sure to turn it carefully, as if all my nerves gave me super human strength that I couldn't control. I slowly turned the handle and entered into the quiet room. When I looked over to Emma, I cringed.  I was more surprised than I should have been, she looked like she was on the verge of life and in reality she really was. And I was terrified not for me but for, well, her.

I was frozen. I couldn't bring myself to move. I thought I heard the door clicked almost soundlessly behind me. After a minuet or two I took in a deep breath and willed myself to move to a chair that was on the left beside her bed. Her blonde hair was matted on her head with blood on both sides. I sat down never taking my eyes off of her. The room was so quiet that every move I made echoed. I looked sadly at Emma's asleep figure, her delicate features just a mask for how strong she was underneath. "Hey." I said quietly smiling. "You look horrible." I Joked scoffing, a single tear rolled down my cheek. So many mixed emotions of anger, fear, and remorse were coursing through my veins. I reached out and took ahold of her right hand feeling her small fingers intertwine with mine. I took a deep breath trying not to let more tears stream down my face. "Isabel's being rushed to the operation room again." I felt the anger rise inside of me like a tidal wave. "And your just sitting here slowly dying." I was starting to choke up. "And it's all my fault." My face was burning red as I tried to calm down. "I surprisingly miss your dry sarcasm." I said shaking my head. "And your witty comebacks." "I know we haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things, but." I sighed my heart breaking. I have, no. I need, to get this off my chest. "Emma." "I have very little in this world, and I have lost a lot of what I used to have, things that are irreplaceable. "And I would like, not to loose you too." I breathed in hard trying to push down the tears. "Plus, our stubborn asses need to stick together right?" I was trying to make myself feel better and it wasn't working. I squeezed her hand tightly trying to steady myself. I changed my tone trying to be serious. "And I'm sorry that I sent you over there, I should have gone with you." "Reece says I shouldn't blame myself but who else is there to blame?" I said rolling my eyes. More, and more tears were rushing down my face. "They say coming back from the brink of death is extremely hard and almost impossible, that waking up from a coma is a almost a fantasized miracle, and that this is the hardest part, the waiting. But Emma, prove them wrong!" I said in a whispered shout. "Show them how strong you are, how strong that I know you are!" "Beat the odds and come back to me." "Please." My breath hitched in my chest creating a dark pit in my soul. "I need you." It was a small whisper. But it was a whisper of hope. I leaned over and planted a small kiss on her forehead. A few more tears escaped my eyes and landed on her cheeks. I wiped them off before leaving her bedside and heading towards the slightly open door. I looked back one last time. "Please." I whispered as I stood there in despair, before opening the door and exiting out into the hallway.

I wiped the dry tears from my cheeks and took in a deep breath. "Are you ok?" I jumped. Reece was leaning right by the door, a sad look on his face. "Danielle." I shook my head. He sounded tired. I started to back away. " "Danielle." He said again. "No." I said sternly and started walking away. "No, no no no, no no no." I needed to talk to the dean, and I knew for a fact that he was ok, for the bomb didn't hit anywhere near where his office was. I remembered getting beaten up right outside of it, so when I came up to the door flashes of the memory came back to me. The feel of there hard knuckles across my skin. The rush of blood as it streamed down my face. The bruises afterward, the only thing I regret is that Reece had to come and save me like I was a damsel in distress, he had been doing that a lot lately. I knocked as I held my breath praying for no answer. When there was none I gave a sigh of relief. I twisted the door handle, locked. DAMN. An idea came to me and I started patting myself down. I searched my head until i found what I was looking for. Looking around I made sure no one was near. I pulled out the Bobby pin that I could barely feel and kneeling down I slid it into the lock. After twisting and jiggling it a few times the door popped open like a soda can. I stood up and looked around, the hallways were deserted. Satisfied, I slipped inside soundlessly.

The room was darker than I remember and I had to let my eyes adjust to be able to see. His desk was exactly how I remembered it, a deep oak wood with everything on it organized. I had no idea what I was looking for but the memory of the feeling that I had when I first met the dean kept coming back to me. He had made me suspicious from the beginning and I wanted to know why. I crept over to his desk and opened a drawer there was just stacks of files in them. I felt my hand subconsciously reach out and sift though the files. Each file was labeled by last name and I was trying to remember both Isabel's and Emma's last names. When I finally found the files I snatched them out of the drawer. I sifted though them and I could feel my eyes bulge as I read the red lettering across the front papers. EXTERMINATED. I gulped and shoved them in my shirt. But before leaving I searched for my name last. I found it and shoved it in with the others. I closed the drawer and quickly crept to the door.

     I took in a deep breath. Calm yourself. When you walk out that door your not going to look suspicious, you're going to keep your head down and not attract any attention. I nodded as if to reassure myself that that was what I was going to do. And it was. I reached out for the door handle and with a heavy breath, stepped out into the open, exposed, alone, alone as traveler on a deserted highway.