Night School

‘Wow indeed.’ Eloise looked at her over the tops of her glasses. ‘These study rooms are in the oldest part of the building. We’re not at all certain what their original purpose was. But, well, take a look.’


She clicked a light switch and stepped back. Allie walked into an illuminated room about eight feet wide by six feet long. Inside the windowless space was a desk with a lamp, a leather chair and a small bookcase. Dominating it all was an elaborate mural covering the walls. Stepping into the centre of the room, Allie turned a slow circle to take it all in. The painting seemed to tell a story: men and women armed to the teeth and fighting in a field, overlooked by enraged cherubs under a stormy sky.

The scene was chilling, Allie thought.

‘How does anybody study in here?’ she asked. ‘I’d spend the whole time ducking for cover.’

‘It doesn’t seem to bother anyone.’ Eloise looked at the swinging swords, her eyes unreadable. ‘But I can’t say I disagree with you.’

She stepped out of the room. After a last glance around, Allie followed, and Eloise locked the door behind them.

‘Are they all like this?’

The librarian nodded. ‘They’re very similar. The paintings in each room tell a different part of the same story. This is the main battle painting. It seems to be the last in the series.’

She walked down to the end of the panelled wall and unlocked another hidden door. Turning on the light, she gestured for Allie to follow and they stepped into the small study room. This room’s paintings showed the same people, the men in hats and formal attire, then women in elaborate long dresses. They appeared to be talking in a circle, in front of what looked like a smaller version of the building she was in now.

‘We think this is the first in the series,’ Eloise said.

‘Is that Cimmeria?’ Allie asked.

‘Before the expansion,’ Eloise said. ‘The painting is of that time – early eighteenth century.’

‘What’s it all about?’ Allie asked. ‘Some kind of war?’

Eloise was studying one of the faces. ‘Nobody really knows any more. The school lore is that the building was originally built by a single family. Some kind of disagreement divided them, and they essentially went to war with one another – the winning side kept the school. But none of that is recorded in the school records, and let me tell you, if it was I would know. I’m the school historian.’

As they walked out of the room, Allie was lost in thought.

‘Weird,’ she said. ‘I mean, how could something so important just get lost?’

‘Things do,’ Eloise said. ‘Especially if nobody wants to remember it.’

‘I really do not want to study in those rooms,’ Allie said firmly.

‘Luckily, you’ve got another year before you’re advanced enough to sit back here.’ Eloise gave her a bright smile. ‘So you’re safe for now.’





SEVEN


As Allie walked out of the library and down the hall to the classroom wing she was still thinking about the strange library paintings. With classes out, the rooms were empty and silent as she idly climbed the staircase past the familiar lower rooms and up to the second floor. Only advanced classes were held up here and she’d hoped it would have some air of mystery, but she was disappointed to find that it looked exactly like the lower levels – a wide hallway with a polished wood floor and classrooms on either side. With the lights off, it was lit entirely by daylight filtering through classroom windows.

Her rubber-soled shoes rendered her footsteps nearly silent as she peeked through open doors at empty classrooms where desks waited in patient, ghostly rows.

She wasn’t sure when she first heard the voices – perhaps midway down the hall. It was a low murmur that caught her attention only when it momentarily grew louder.

She stopped walking.

Someone shouted and there was a crashing sound, followed by a concerned wave of voices that seemed to be trying to calm things.

Allie was poised to turn back when a door at the end of the hall opened and a figure stepped out of the shadows.

Instinctively she ducked into the nearest doorway and hid in the shadows behind the door, listening. At first she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breathing, then, after a moment, she could hear the faint sound of footsteps heading her way. She counted her breaths.

… ten, eleven, twelve …

The footsteps paused.

She stopped breathing.

‘Allie?’ Carter whispered, his voice harsh. ‘What the hell?’

He reached in and grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly towards the stairwell. She was too surprised to protest and stumbled alongside him. He hustled her down the stairs to the first floor landing, where he turned her to face him.

‘What were you doing up on the second floor?’ His fingers dug into her upper arm.

‘Exploring,’ she said, trying to free herself. She tried to appear calm but she knew she sounded defensive.

‘Exploring what? The classrooms?’