The Knight Project

Trapped

The lock was broken. Like seriously broken. The combination dial had been knocked off and there was a huge dent in the middle of the locker door, the metal distorted around the impact site. The door (the other one) was closed by the time I hurried over, just smooth metal against a solid wall. The only sign of something going wrong was my backpack swinging lazily on its hook. I cursed. Bad, I wrung my hands, this is bad bad bad.

"What do I do?" Fear strained my voice. I didn't realize I'd spoken out loud until the sound of it startled me.

"Ms. Walker?" I jumped, spinning around to see Mrs. Nieves, one of the math teachers, leaning around the door to her classroom. I could see the faces of several curious students craning for a better view behind her - freshmen, I'd guess. "Is there something wrong? I thought I heard shouting?"

"Yeah, yeah everything's okay," I hurried to say. Think fast, think fast! "Someone . . . just broke into my locker! They kicked the door in, see?" I pointed, stupidly. "But I don't think anything was taken."

"Oh?" Mrs. Nieves stepped further into the hall. "Oh!" Her eyes widened at the sight of the useless door. "Do you know who did it?"

"No, no I don't. But I was just about to go talk to the Head about it. Sorry to disturb you."

"No, no. No problem at all. If you're sure you've got this in hand," I nodded like a bobblehead on crack, "I'll just get back to my students."

"Thanks," it came out more as a breathy squeak, but Mrs. Nieves returned to her classroom with only a partially furrowed brow, closing the door behind her. I blew out a breath I hadn't known I was holding and shook my hands vigorously as I paced a little down the hall. What to do? What to do?

I couldn't leave them. I just couldn't. I was the one who'd tethered the door to the back of my locker. I'd enchanted it to activate with three knocks on the back panel, but I hadn't considered that any impact would reverberate through the entire thing. A body being slammed against the front could easily be considered a knock on the back door. I smacked my forehead with the heel of my palm a couple of times. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why hadn't I been smarter, why hadn't I made it three knocks in five seconds, or something in Morris Code, or something else? This was my fault, I was the reason Gavin and Wiley were now stuck in another world, a world they knew nothing about, with magic and monsters and soldiers . . . and now I had to go in after them. I stopped, looked at the locker for a long moment, and groaned.

What was I going to say? Yes, hi. I'm your invisible classmate, Elle Walker, whom you mostly ignore. The truth is, I'm actually a witch, I have really cool and dangerous magical powers, and I have access to a secret portal into another dimension. What's that? No, I don't particularly feel like being burned at the stake today - but thanks for the offer. This would not end well. I buried my fingers in my hair, scratching furiously at my scalp in frustration. Maybe I could tell them they'd fallen? Hit their heads? That it was all a dream or a hallucination caused by head trauma? But then why would they be seeing the same things?

It didn't matter. I didn't have time for this. I needed to find them, make sure they didn't get into any trouble. Or that they didn't kill each other.

I picked up Gavin's backpack from where Wiley had thrown it and stuffed it into the bottom of my locker. Not exactly the most secure place, but it'd have to do for now. I dug in my own backpack and pulled out a small leather pouch buried at the bottom of the main compartment. It jingled as I lifted it, filled with Addirion gold minted into currency. I always kept it on hand, just in case. I stuffed the purse into one of the pockets I'd secretly sewn into my uniform skirt, as big as I could make them. Technically, it was against school regulation to alter the uniform in any way, but it's not like anyone could really tell the difference, especially after I'd hidden them so well. I wished I had my knife, flint and striker, homemade fire starter kit, sewing kit, or any other of the small items I'd learned to pack for my trips into Addirion - but they were all frowned upon (if not outright illegal) on school grounds, so I hadn't wanted to risk bringing them. I pulled out my jacket, anticipating the late winter/early spring chill, and tied it around my waist. I had no weapons, save what few spells I was capable of, no traveling or camping supplies, only serviceable clothing and shoes (and only one set at that), and very little money. Here I go.