Night School: Legacy

The problem of Zoe occupied her thoughts, although she was calmer now. And the way Raj Patel had acted – tough and ice cold. Was this the side of him that Rachel had warned her about? The side she hadn’t been able to imagine before?

She guessed she’d run about two miles when she reached a deep patch of the woods where the path was so dark she had to slow her pace to avoid tripping. The darkness here was so intense it almost had a weight – she imagined she could feel it pressing against her skin.

As she moved at a slow jog the wind picked up; the sound of thousands of trees swaying in unison was like a roar – like waves pounding against a pebble beach.

Then off in the distance a vixen shrieked a blood-curdling scream that made her skin crawl. She was sure it was a vixen. It definitely wasn’t a girl being murdered and screaming for help.

Definitely.

Thoroughly unnerved, she picked up her speed but found it hard to get back to her previous easy rhythm. Every sound made her jumpy; she kept looking over her shoulder, thinking she heard footsteps behind her. Hoping another runner would catch up with her.

When she noticed she was nervously counting her footsteps, she ordered herself to stop. Having a panic attack now in the dark, all alone, would not be cool.

Don’t freak out, Allie. Don’t freak out, Allie. Don’t freak out …

She was telling herself not to freak out for the thirty-seventh time when she saw someone standing in the woods.

It happened so fast she was past him before what she’d seen fully registered in her brain, then she skidded to a stop. Spinning around, she looked back – the woods were empty. Carefully, she backtracked down the path, squinting into the darkness where she’d seen a man in a suit standing under a tree. Staring at her.

But she was completely alone.

The sharp retort of a twig snapping behind her made her spin around, but she could see nothing but inky darkness. Then the wind blew through the trees again with a rush, and she assured herself that the roaring sound of branches brushing into each other was all that she’d heard.

But she didn’t really believe it. So she ran.

Willing herself not to turn around, she ran as fast as she could. There was somebody back there – she knew it. And she could imagine them following, their footsteps in time with hers.

Right behind her.

Her breath burned in her throat as she hurtled pell-mell down the footpath through the trees, ignoring the protests from her muscles. Only when she rounded a bend and the forest thinned enough so she could see students running in the distance ahead of her did her nerves steady enough for her to look behind her.

The footpath was empty.


The end of the run was signalled by a student with a pale blue fluorescent light stick silently waving the runners to the school building. Limping down the stairs to the basement, Allie clutched at the stitch in her side with her hands as she headed straight to Training Room One and Raj Patel, who stood talking to Zelazny at the back of the room.

‘Saw,’ she gasped. ‘Man. Woods.’

Bending over double, she put her hands on her knees and watched her sweat drip on to the dark blue padding covering the floor. She closed her eyes to try and steady her nerves.

‘What?’ Zelazny’s voice was sharp as a razor. ‘What is it, Sheridan? Out with it.’

‘She said she saw a man in the woods.’ Mr Patel’s voice was too calm, and Allie turned her head sideways to see his face. He was watching her alertly. ‘Get your breath, Allie. Can you describe him?’

‘Short … hair,’ she panted. ‘Wore … suit.’

Mr Patel stiffened, and she knew she’d said something important.

‘Did you recognise him?’ As he spoke he reached out and gestured to somebody behind her. Her hands still on her knees, Allie shook her head. ‘Too dark.’

She was catching her breath now. The pain in her side was subsiding. The intense attention he was paying to what she’d seen made her nervous – it had been dark and she’d been spooked. What if it was all her imagination? But she didn’t know how to say that without looking like a total flake.

Two muscular men in running clothes and a woman whose long blonde hair was pulled back in a braid flanked her, facing Mr Patel expectantly. He didn’t introduce them. ‘Allie saw somebody in the woods,’ he told them. ‘Wearing a suit.’

They exchanged glances as he turned back to Allie. ‘Where were you precisely?’

She described as best she could the location. When she’d finished, he nodded to the others and they slipped out of the room as quickly as they’d appeared.

‘If anybody’s still there they’ll find him.’ Mr Patel’s words were a kind of dismissal, and Allie walked back to Carter and dropped down on the mat beside him.

‘You OK?’ His face was flushed from exertion as he handed her a bottle of cold water. Beside him, Lucas, Jules and a boy she didn’t recognise were sprawled in various poses of exhaustion.

Holding the cool bottle to her forehead, she nodded.