The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 45

From somewhere behind us, Alexander and I hear a loud screech and then the tapping of sharp objects running away from our direction. We only pay it a little attention because it doesn't pose any imminent danger to us.

The hallway is dark but you can still make out the student work that hangs on the wall and the public service announcement posters that appear every second classroom. Oddly enough, I've counted three anti-smoking posters and two about teen pregnancy. Up ahead there is a set of unguarded double doors. They lead into the physical education wing. In this wing, there are a few sets of guys and girls change rooms on opposite sides of the hall, complete with shower facilities, the phys. ed offices, two weight rooms and the gymnasium itself. The gym here at the school is quite large. It can be divided into thirds and there is seating around it for when pep rallies are held. Most of the pep rallies are for the junior varsity football team, the Snowspell Leopards. Snowspell's proximity to Green Bay has many of the boys, and their families interested in playing football. In fact, around here football seems to be the only sport people really care about, with hockey being a distant second.

We make our way as quietly as possible to the double doors. Alexander places his ear to the dark door and listens for any sound that may out of the ordinary. After a few seconds of listening intently and deep concentration, he pulls his ears away from the door and pushes it open. Both of us slide through the open door as quickly as possible, out of one hallway and into another.

This hallway is just as quiet as the one we just left.

"I don't like this," Alexander whispers back over his shoulder to me. "Why aren't they guarding this?"

"Maybe there's not as many as we thought and Laney has distracted most of them."

We inch our way through the hallway, my hands still glowing a blue color. I can feel the icy chill deep inside waiting to be let out. It takes some concentration to keep it bottled up.

We glance in the phys ed office window and find that the place is torn apart. There is paper scattered everywhere and desks have been toppled. As we approach the gym doors, we begin to hear noises coming from within the gym. They are noises that neither of us have ever heard before. Alexander tries to pull the gym door slightly open but finds that they are locked. He doesn't want to pull too hard on them or they may draw attention when they don't open. Even with them closed they are spaced enough apart to see through a little. Alexander positions himself against the door and tries to peer through the crack but turns around after realizing that it's hopeless.

"We could try and go in through the change rooms?" Alexander asks. "They have to back onto the gym, right?"

"No I have a better idea," I say to him and grab him by the arm leading him back towards the girl's change room.

I slowly open the door and listen for any movement and after hearing none, I enter the change room with Alexander close behind.

The change room is dark but we can still maneuver our way through it. It takes me a minute to reorient myself but find what I am looking for after a few minutes. A door handle to a custodian's closet.

"What are we looking for?"

"Not looking for, found," I say to Alexander over my shoulder as I send a small blast of ice into a lock on the door instantly freezing the mechanisms inside. I pull the handle and the door opens onto a set of stairs in total darkness.

"These lead to overtop of the change rooms. There used to be a weight room up here, but it was moved out after they renovated. It wasn't used after that."

"How do you know this?"

"One of the gym teachers here, Mrs. Carmichael used to let me read up here last year when I twisted my ankle trying to play lacrosse. It doesn't matter now, we need to get up here and it will give us a better vantage point looking down into the whole gym. We should be completely concealed up here. Be careful and watch your step."

I very slowly and carefully begin to make my way up the steps to the top. As I am doing so, I can feel my face running through cobwebs that have found their way into the stairwell. I slowly try to pick them off as I continue my ascent with Alexander close behind. The stairs open up to a balcony type area that has a few chairs on it, a rolling blackboard and some forgotten about phys ed equipment. My guess is, not many people make their way up here anymore. To the immediate right, is a ledge that when looked over, peers directly into the gym. I crouch down and Alexander follows me to the ledge. We listen, waiting to hear something, anything from below. And when don't, we very slowly peer over into open expanse below. When my eyes adjust, I feel bittersweet because there is no sign of my father anywhere in this huge room. There is however a small light source that appears to be coming from near the stage. My eyes are immediately drawn to it and I recognize it almost instantly. I am not sure how or why, but it's glowing again and the light it casts is enough to make out several objects in the room.

I feel drawn to it and can almost sense that it knows I am there. Perhaps it is glowing because it is trying to let me know it senses me also. "It's the crysallium," I whisper over to Alexander who has all of a sudden taken a rather tight grip on my arm. I try to pull it away but he tightens it even more.

"I know why this place isn't guarded," he finally says in a grave tone still peering over the edge and then he slowly raises his hand to point to another spot of the gym. It takes a few moments for my eyes to refocus after looking at the light being given off by the Crysallium, but when they do refocus, I see it almost immediately and my heart almost stops.

"That's not what I think it is, is it?" Is all I can seem to muster out of total fear.

"It's worse."