He was tall with a commanding presence – powerfully built but not overly muscular, with dark skin and piercing eyes. His ability to command attention without a word and then – five minutes later – disappear into the shadows like a wraith, never ceased to astound her.
‘The rules tonight are simple,’ he began. ‘You’ll be patrolling in teams of three. Senior students are each assigned two juniors to oversee – your teams are here.’ He waved a sheet of paper that crackled in the stillness. ‘Each team is assigned a zone to cover. That is where you will stay. Now, you should be aware my guards are patrolling, too. You’re not alone out there. Each team leader will have radio equipment, connecting them to base.’ His gaze moved from face to face, as if searching for signs of weakness. ‘But this is the real deal, make no mistake. This is what Night School is all about.’
Allie studied the junior students who stood rapt, watching him with wide, fascinated eyes.
She wished she still believed anyone held all the answers. She longed for the old days, when Night School was all weird philosophy questions and nocturnal jogging. Back when she still thought the teachers could keep them safe.
It would all be gone soon, anyway. Once Carter was back.
As Raj talked to the junior students, she found herself wondering what it would be like when they moved. Would the new school have the same kind of massive grounds as Cimmeria? Would they need to patrol it?
No matter how she tried, it was impossible to imagine being at school anywhere except Cimmeria. Whenever she tried to envision a place they might escape to, it looked exactly like this.
Across the room, Raj was wrapping up. ‘Remember your training. Stay with your senior students. Do as they tell you. And be safe.’
Allie heard Katie murmur, ‘God I hope I’m not a senior student…’ to herself as Raj stuck the piece of paper to the wall.
She and the others crowded around the list. Allie found her name midway down the page. ‘Allie Sheridan, Charlotte Reese-Jones, Alec Thomason. Zone 6.’
‘Awesome,’ Zoe said. ‘Minions.’
‘Trainees, Zoe,’ Rachel corrected her.
‘Whatever.’ Zoe dashed across the room shouting, ‘Stephen and Nadja! You are mine.’
Rachel watched her despairingly. Catching her eye, Nicole smiled.
‘Poor minions.’
From the doorway, Zelazny barked, ‘Time is money, people. Get moving. Senior students, your comms devices are here.’
Rachel, Nicole and Allie exchanged a look.
‘Here goes nothing,’ Allie said.
19
Charlotte turned out to be about Allie’s height, with shoulder-length golden-brown hair pulled into a pontytail. Her serious hazel eyes seemed to miss nothing. Alec was loose-limbed and laconic, with dark hair and glasses. Both looked to be about thirteen years old.
They stood just outside the school building, waiting as Allie hooked the comms device to her ear. Even though it was tiny, it was hard to get it into place. While she struggled with it, most of the other groups had moved off, heading to their areas, although a few still lingered, asking questions, going over the rules.
‘Balls,’ Allie muttered, as the earpiece tumbled out again.
‘I think you’ve got it backwards,’ Alec suggested after a while.
Muttering to herself, she tried flipping it around as he demonstrated.
It fit perfectly.
‘Thanks,’ she said, looking at him properly for the first time. Something about him was familiar.
‘I’ve seen you before.’
Spots of colour appeared on his thin cheeks. ‘That night,’ he mumbled. ‘I got lost. You guys brought me back.’
Instantly Allie recalled the boy shoved forward by the guards on the dark night a few days earlier. Glasses crooked. Face pale and terrified.
‘That was you?’
He shrugged, eyes on his feet. ‘Zoe’s too fast.’
‘Can’t argue with that.’ Allie’s tone was dry. ‘Haven’t you been working with Dom, too?’
‘A little.’ He glanced up at her from beneath thick straight brows. ‘When I’m home I like hacking. You know, for fun. Games and stuff.’
Allie tried to imagine herself at his age, hacking for fun. It was inconceivable.
The last group of remaining students struck off into the woods reminding Allie that they needed to get moving.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘We’re Zone Six, which is down by the chapel. We’ll take it slow and steady. Don’t leave my side. Don’t get lost.’ She shot Alec a look. ‘If we’re lucky, we’ll all come back in one piece. We just have to get through the next two hours.’
As inspirational messages went, even she knew it wasn’t brilliant. But, under the circumstances, it would have to do.
They headed out across the broad expanse of lawn at a steady jog.
It was a clear night, and cool. The nearly full moon hung low on the horizon. A silvery dusting of stars shimmered above the trees as they headed across the lawn towards the forest.
‘It’s dark,’ Charlotte said.
‘Your eyes will adjust,’ Allie replied. But she slowed down a little to give them time to get used to the night.