Chapter 26: "I wanted to help her."

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We were at the door, turning the knob, when we froze. There were several pairs of footsteps, thumping up and down the main hall that lead to the office, straight towards us. There were voices, too.

And apparently they knew we were here. wanted

- Tali's POV -

"We've got to get out of here, fast." Harry said under his breath. I nodded - wasn't it obvious? Problem was, we were in an office that had only one doorway for entering and exiting. And right outside that doorway were at least half a dozen security guards, with glowstone flashlights in their hands that shone harsh yellow light from the crack at the bottom of the door. I could here their voices; low and loud, yelling gruff commands at each other. Then there was clear instruction that was most definitely meant for us.

"We know you're in there, punks. Unlock the door and we might downgrade the charges a little." I turned to Harry and hissed quietly, questioning, "You locked the door?"

He grinned despite the fact we had just been caught breaking the law. "Yeah. Probably the first precaution I've ever taken on my own accord."

I raised one eyebrow, amused, before there was crash from the opposite side of the door. The officer yelled again, "Right, now you bloody teenagers had better open this door right now, or we'll have to do it ourselves."

We didn't answer; just sat rigid, searching desperately for a way to sneak out without running into the security guards (who didn't sound friendly in the least). I noticed a four-by-five glass window, the top of it reaching the roof, and felt an idea begin to form.

"Get me something to throw." I instruced Harry, who looked at me confusidly and then obeyed. I searched, too, but Harry was the first one to find something useful for my cause; a hard ball of clay, for some reason left behind on a teacher's desktop. The banging on the door was getting louder, now, and I pulled Harry over to the wall so we were lying next to the doorway. If the guards were to open it now, the door would swing open and conceal us, even for a little while. But a little while was all we needed.

"Actually, I forgot that I can't throw." I say sheepishly, recalling the time I once knocked out a boy I had a crush on in third grade. I turn to Harry. "Can you?"

He winked. "Expertly."

Suddenly, there was a deafing crack and the door swung open, hard and fast. Eight guards (more than I expected) were now in the room, wielding their glowstone flashlights, searching for the intruding teenage kids.

"Do you have the file?" Harry asked me, whispering, because our cover of darkness wouldn't remain so for long.

I nodded. "Yep. Now hurry, before they notice - throw the clay at the window."

He muttered something about it "being a difficult throw and not to kill him if he missed", drew his arm back, breathed deeply, and using all his strength, propelled the ball through the air.

Time seemed to slow as it glided fluently past the guards, none of them noticing, too intent on finding us. Then the clay hit the window with a loud crash, gaining the attention of all the men in the room. All the startled figures ran towards the now shattered window, peering outside and around it in an attempt to figure out what happened. It's unfortunate for them they didn't realise it was broken from the other side of the room.

"Go, now!" I hissed to Harry, and we scuffled threw the door we had been sheltering next to and out into the empty university hallway.

I could hear the faint sound of angered voices from the office as we shut the door behind us and locked it with Harry's stolen key.

We didn't dare celebrate our success until we were outside of the campus, safe from security guards and possible trouble. We were laughing, now: laughing at our incredible luck, our outrageous getaway. Funny laughter.

But also happy, relieved laughter, because we had safely (that's a lie) stolen - oops, I meant borrowed - Clare's student file. I was able to help out Nya, and that pays some of the debt of all the times she would tutor me, and hang out with me, and be a sister to me. And Harry seemed cheerful, too; I suspected partly because of the "helping" bit, and partly because of the adrenaline rush.

Still smiling, he put an arm around my waist. "Mission Complete." He said robotically, earning a few more giggles.

Harry's horse, Carrot ('cos she likes carrots, geddit?) who was insanely large, was able to carry both of us on the single saddle.

We rode back to my home, cracking jokes and re-telling the story of our great escape, and although it did little to disturb the great mood I was in. . .

I couldn't shake off the feeling that we were being watched as we trotted down dark, Bloquear streets.

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 - Mackenzie's POV -

 The cafeteria was buzzing with life, students laughing and converging with their friends, discussing what others were doing on the weekend and the latest gossip.

The largest table was in the middle of the room - it belonged to little Miss "Popular" and her pack of followers. Which, annoyingly, included me.

Liz was nibbling on a cookie whilst chatting with Samantha, the dark-haired girl seated next to her. I could catch a few words - not that their conversation interested me in the slightest.

I was watching the table on far side of the room, where Nya, Zach, Ethan, Gemma, Emerald,  Vent and (damn it) Clare. They were laughing and teasing each other (even Clare was having fun - Ethan, however, was leaning back on his seat, looking embarrassed) and I could here Nya's happy cries from the other side of the cafeteria. I really, really wanted to go sit with them - but doing that, leaving Liz's group - could get me shamed and kicked out for good.

"So, Kennie, have you remembered yet?" Liz asked me suddenly, and I guessed with annoyance she was referring to the attack on me weeks ago. I clenched my fists; I hated, absolutely hated it when people thought it was within their rights to ask what happened to me. Liz does it everyday - waiting for me to finally give her an answer so she can be the one who gets to spread around the gossip. That's just what Elizabeth Glass does.

My patience with this girl was running out.

"No." I snapped, looking down at my food. Mushroom soup and an apple - not my cup of tea. I could feel Liz's eyes burning holes into my head.

"You know, Kennie, you could probably get, like, treatment or something so you can remember. Like, I have an uncle whose father whose cousin- " Liz started, but I cut her off.

"Shut up!" I yelled, and I regretted it straight away. Those two words of defiance against the most popular (I don't know how - she wasn't even that pretty) girl in school. The entire table of make-up caked girls turned to glare at me.

Liz looked confused and horrified. "What did you say?" She stuttered, clearly dumbfounded. "You can't tell me to 'shut up'-"

And I snapped.

"Actually, Elizabeth, I can." I say, standing up from my seat. I took pleasure from her look of astonishment. "Just because you're popular - Notch knows why - doesn't mean you make the calls around here. You don't rule me or anyone else. So just shut your face and learn to listen to others for a change."

I picked up my tray, and begun to walk over to Nya's table. I could here the girls whispering as I walked away. I looked over at my shoulder at Liz. "Oh, and some advice: lose the dyed hair. It looks like someone dumped bananas on your head."

She started hurryingly inspecting her hair, and I strutted off to sit on a spare seat next to Gemma. I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders - like I was on top of the world. I had dreamed of walking away from Liz almost every night, but I have always been afraid of the consequences. This feeling was even better.

She looked at me confused. "Why aren't you sitting with your BFFs?" She asked sarcastically.

I shrugged. "I got sick of them."

"Anyone would, even after two minutes. I don't know how you lasted nearly half a year."

"I'm not quite sure myself."

Suddenly, there were hands over my eyes and a loud voice in my ear. "Guess who?!"

I smiled. "Ha-ha, very funny, Nya."

She laughed and pulled a seat from another table to sit next to me. She didn't looked annoyed at the fact I'd just joined her table, or startled I had left Liz's group (which everyone else on the table whose eyes were on me obviously were). She just looked happy that I was there.

It's a nice feeling - being wanted.

Clare spoke next. I had sat far away from her on purpose, since even me being near her made me nervous. Luckily, she said "Sorry guys, I'll be back in a little bit." And got up and left the table.

Nya glanced at her, and only Zach and I would notice the suspicion in her blue eyes. Nya turned to the rest of us and smiled. "I'll be back in a sec. Just remembered I was supposed to get some homework from Mr Ranger."

Once again, a lie only Zach and I could decipher. No way Nya would go see her psychopath-possessed potions professor, especially on her own.

So once Nya had left the cafeteria, and Gemma, Vent, Ethan and Emerald were chatting again, I got up and whispered to a worried looking Zach "I'll go find her."

I exited the cafeteria after Nya, and once I got into the main hall, I ran to catch up to her.

"Nya! Wait up!" I huffed. She turned around and stood, crossing her arms. I caught up to her. "I want to help."

Now, you might be thinking: why on earth, Mackenzie, would you want to help a teenage girl who was caught in a deadly battle between good and evil? The answer is simple if you think about it.

Nya is the only person I can trust. Not my self-indulged family, not the group of girls I left behind at Liz's table. And I owed it to her for trusting me, too.

I wanted to help her.

"Kenz... It's dangerous. All of this... this game. Herobrine isn't just some fairytale - he's real, and out to get me, and if you were to get in the way -"

"- I'm well aware he's dangerous, Nya. I mean, look what happened to Clare?" Nya looked down at her feet and I continued speaking. "I want to lend a hand, okay? Besides, I have my own revenge to fulfil." I smiled. Clare was so going to get it. I was going to make her pay for beating me up on the first day of school.

Nya smiled - small and weak, but it was still an upturn of the lips. It lit up her face light fireworks at midnight. "Okay, fine." she said. "But be careful."

We wandered the empty midday halls, bright sunlight pouring out of the glass panes and throwing our shadows across the wooden floorboards. We were quiet, very quiet, and Nya would whisper to me every few minutes that she could hear Clare's footsteps ahead of us. Wielder powers were awesome.

"Stop!" she hissed, putting her arm straight out in front of me. She shut her eyes, concentrated for a few seconds, and then opened them again. "She gone down that hall." She pointed to the right corridor. "And that means she's either gone to the Arena or the library."

"I'll check the library. We can meet back at the cafeteria entrance." I said immediately, knowing that if Clare was at the Arena, Nya would have a much better chance at fighting her, what with all the weapons around. Nya agreed hastily, told me one more time to step without sound and keep my mouth shut, and ran down the hall in shocking speed and soundlessness. Once again, the Wielder powers.

I walked as light as ash to the library entrance, and crept inside, keeping silent as Nya had told me to. The Librarian was asleep on her desk, and the room was almost empty excluding the few students who had decided to skip lunch and study. I looked down all the isles of shelves, trying to avoid drawing attention by moving at a normal pace and keeping my head down, until I reached the isle.

This was where I had seen Clare talking with a possessed Mr Ranger, the reason she had tried to kill me. I  had ran down the hall, away, but she caught up too quickly - if it weren't for the other people who nearly witnessed the event, I wouldn't be here right now. Clare had disappeared once she had realised there were others around.

The isle of shelves was labelled "Myths and Historical Fiction". I walked down, silently, and stopped when I heard voices:

"Sir, do we really need to kill another?" asked a girl's voice, which I recognised instantly from the taunts she was jeering before she was about to murder me. Clare.

There was a reply: "Nya is strong. She isn't broken from the death of a single human. Before I take any action of ending her life, I want her to suffer."

That was a voice I didn't recognise at all. It was deep, laced with the age of someone who had lived a thousand years and had seen many horrors and caused much pain. From the words he was saying, I could only guess it was Herobrine. I tried to swallow my panic.

"Alright, fine. Another death, coming up. Who do you suggest?" Clare inquired where I guessed was the end of the isle, behind the end of the row of bookshelves.

"I've already planned out something special for that damned blonde boy, so perhaps . . .  She has a sister, does she not? The girl with brown hair?"

There was a silence, and I could imagine Clare nodding.

"Then kill her. Make her suffer, just like the other human. I want her dead by tonight."

Another silence. Then, "Yes, Master."

"You are dismissed, Jones. Don't disappoint me."

Then there was a cold wind, and Clare stepped out from behind the shelving. I didn't think - I just ran.

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- Nya's POV -

I found no trace of Clare in the Arena. I was walking back to the cafeteria when I - quite literally - bumped into a huffing Mackenzie, in front of the cafeteria double-doors.

"I found Clare," she wheezed, "and I think I found Herobrine too. But there's bad news, Nya."

I bit my lip. "What is it?"

She began to talk: "Nya, your-"

Suddenly, the noise of the end of lunch bell rang through the previously quiet halls, drowning out Mackenzie's voice.

"Say it again?" I asked once the ringing stopped.

She took a breath. "Your sis-"

Then the cafeteria doors were flung open, and a crowd of university students came rushing out of the gap, eager to leave campus or head to their next class. In fact, the gush of people completely crashed into Mackenzie and I, and we were both carried away by the bodies of various teenagers. She tried yelling over the top of the mayhem, but I still couldn't hear her, even though my hearing is meant to be extra-enhanced. So, hoping maybe her ears are better than mine (which I doubted, but hey, it's worth a shot), I yelled out, "I'll talk to you afterschool!"

I let the wave of people take me all the way to the Uni entrance, where they all began running out. I returned to my dorm, knowing that, since I didn't know where Mackenzie might be, I'll have to wait until I see her next.

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Crappy update, not what you were hoping for, I know

But at least there's some drama!

What would you guys do if Tali died??

... just wondering...

I've decided to place Writing as my Number #2 on my "Most Important Things to Do/Get Done List" (behind school), so be expecting updates more frequently!

Actually, I'll go start writing the next chapter now...

- Jazz

To Alexis,

Be Brave, and wake up soon. We all miss you.

From one of your many followers and fans.