The Piper's Call

Chapter 14

1000 reads? *hugs each individual reader tightly* I can't thank you all enough!  Hope you enjoy the rest of the book and here's hoping I can make it worth all the effort you have made to read it!

Later!

Chapter 14- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Helen P.O.V.

Sirens. Blue lights. Shouting. A sense of panic overwhelmed me. Had anyone figured it out? Did anyone know who I was or what I'd done? The panic warped into confusion as I saw who they were here for.

 "Get your hands off me!" Coach Fowler struggled wildly against the officers' grip.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can  and will be held against you in court..." One of the officers recited his rights in a lazy drawl as the other clamped handcuffs down on his wrists.

"I'm innocent, I swear! I don't know how it happened but I'm not to blame! Honest!" He was appealing desperately to them now, as they led him to a police car. 

I approached the scene cautiously, where a gaggle of teachers and staff had gathered, with the odd pupil looking on in awe. Tapping that tall, manicured teacher on the arm (maybe a little harder than necessary), I asked, "What's going on?"

Rubbing her slender, tanned arm gingerly, she glowered at me. "They found two kids in his storeroom. Beaten. Without clothes. They had been reported missing for a week by parents. They suspect rape," she said in a clipped  manner, her honeyed tones now short with disgust. 

The Coach bucked underneath the officers' grip. He fixed Mrs Prism with a glare. "It's her! She's who you're looking for! I didn't do this, I-" They knocked his head against the rim of the police car, effectively shutting him up. Mrs. Prism ran her hands through her presentable up do, looking like a cornered beast. Her stance was almost military, shoulders back, feet hip-width apart. She glared at the crowd assembled before her, daring them to challenge her. "Get back to work."  No one rose to the unwritten challenge.

Kids reported missing. Like Nina had been warning me of. We should have gotten out when we could. Picking up the cleaning supplies, I resumed the dreary, exhausting work I had yet to grow used to.  Being away from the crowds, I could see why Nina favoured solitude. It gave thinking time. I looked at the grubby tiles of the bathroom beneath me as if I could find the answers in the cracks under my sneakers. What the hell was I going to do? I couldn't leave but I damn well couldn't stay. A horrible glimmer of hope passed through me as I thought of one solution. I could easily give her what she wanted, after all, with Nina's trust, I was in a position to. Give her what she wanted and it would all stop. No more lies. I thumbed the edge of my cell in my pocket. One simple little text was all it would take. 

Removing my fingers from the cool metal in my pocket, I shook the thought away. No way. Whatever this was, it sure as hell wasn't simple. 

"What are you playing at?" Mrs Prism said in a barely restrained angry whisper. Crap. I edged towards the door of the cubicle I was scrubbing, preparing for the scolding of my life. 'Thinking time' was not what I was paid for. I squinted through a crack in the door, it took a moment for me to realize she wasn't addressing me. Rachel twirled a strand of  lank mousy hair nervously, avoiding Mrs Prism's intense glare.

"I didn't know, I swear!" Rachel held her palms up in a placating gesture. "Maybe, if Lewis-"

"No. Lewis is doing enough. He's already taking care of the rest of them." She sighed. "It's not as if I want to do this, Rachel. But I need the money..."

Rachel nodded, but looked as if she strongly wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. 

Mrs Prism held her head in her hands, a shudder ran through her body. She let a deep breath fill her up and released it slowly, regaining composure. "It's done, now. No other parents have reported their kids missing, I've kept the news contained. This can't fail, do you understand, Rachel?"

Rachel nodded eagerly. She licked her lips anxiously, almost afraid of what she said next. "We'll have what you want soon. Then we can stop this, right? We can stop hurting them."

Prism surveyed herself in the mirror, grimacing at her reflection. "I hate myself sometimes." Rachel offered no argument. 

I stepped back from the door in shock, trying to process all I had seen. I needed Nina's reason, I was utterly confused. My foot caught a bleach bottle and it toppled over with a clunk.  Four eyes shot in this direction. I pressed myself against the back wall. I had a horrible sinking feeling that in this state, Mrs Prism would do much more than sack me.

 "We're being watched." Mrs Prism took on that military manner that she had displayed earlier. She pushed past Rachel, pushing the cubicle doors open and inspecting inside. Five doors down. The banging of doors swinging open got gradually closer. Three doors down. I tried to still my shaking legs as I was perched on a closed toilet lid. Hardly graceful, I know, but feminine charms were not at the top of my priority list right now. One door down. I clamped a hand over my mouth to silence my ragged breathing, which seemed to be deafeningly loud to me. A shadow appeared at the base of the door. I stopped breathing. The door began to creak open slowly when she was interrupted.

"Mum? Is it done?" Lewis. Never had I been so glad to hear that thug's voice. And so disturbed when I heard what he had said. 

"Yes. Fowler's been taken in, the parents are none the wiser." The shadow slowly retreated from the door. I allowed myself to breathe again. Footsteps got gradually softer, a door closed as all three of them shuffled outside. A relieved sigh escaped me. I slowly got down from my precarious position and knelt down to pick up the incriminating bleach bottle. But as I reached to fetch it, another item caught my eye. Wedged behind the pipes, a flash of hot pink could be seen.  

With quite a bit of elbow grease, I managed to free it. Dusting off the water and God knows what else, I turned it over in my hands curiously. An ordinary book. Doodles smothered the front cover, little printed sketches of TV characters and printed letters. Eliza Reynolds appeared in several fonts, bold and italics, bubble print and graffiti characters. The girl who died. The one in the photo that Nina clung onto for dear life. A little juvenile padlock had once protected the book from opening but it had been smashed beyond repair. Here was the diary and secret thoughts of the one girl this entire thing hinged on. In my hands. The only question was, "What to do with it?"