User: infinitywordlover

I glanced at the clock my lips twisting into a smile. At last, the school day would be over. As usual, the first day of school was filled with rules and regulations, not actual classwork, and most of the rules I had already heard before in the previous nine years of my schooling. Some however were more unique, which I supposed had to do with Carter Hollow being a boarding school.

"And for homework," Professor Knightgale droned on. My head snapped up. Homework?! On the first day of school? "You have to complete this worksheet which I will use to complete the seating chart. If you would like a good seat, I suggest you complete it well. Also, your first pop quiz will be on Friday." He handed the large sheaf of paper to the boy in the corner seat, and sat back down at his desk staring coldly at us.

As the boy in front of me passed me the homework, a shrill metallic ringing filled the room signalling the end of class, and more importantly the end of the school day. I handed the rest of the pile to the girl behind me, and shrugged my bag onto my shoulder.

Joining the waterfall of chattering teens out into the main hallway, I scanned the worksheet biting my lip. The questions varied from random things such as "What's your favorite color"(Grass Green) to more intellectual ones such as "Which one of Shakespeare's plays contains the famous line, 'to be or not to be'?" (The answer's Hamlet).

I sighed heavily stuffing the paper into the bag and headed out onto the lawn. Students were scattered everywhere, most of them looking relieved at the end of the day. I stepped out into the middle, squinting around trying to decide what to do next.Of course I could do my homework, but that clearly was not the most appealing thing to do.

In the end, I decided to just walk around and explore. My steps took me away from the main center of campus and out into the outer rings of it where it blended into the surrounding wilderness. The sea breeze battered my face pulling strands of hair loose, and I sank down onto the grass staring out at the ocean.

Quiet footsteps sounded behind me, and instinctively I ducked low into the grass. The figure stalked past me, and straight towards the building that was the library.However, instead of walking around to the main entrance like I had expected him to do, he strode straight to the side of the building.

He glanced around surreptitiously, but still didn't see me, and he pushed against a brick until it flipped ninety degrees. There was a grinding noise, and the wall, the solid brick wall moved. I let out a breath in shock, and blinked quickly. No way was I not dreaming. This stuff did not happen in real life. At least, I didn't think it did.

The wall had stopped moving and now gap about a foot wide had opened up. With one last glance behind him he stepped into the darkness, and a few seconds later the wall ground back into place.

"No way," I breathed. I pinched myself just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, and sure enough the scene did not change.

I walked over to the wall pushing at the brick the same way the man had. Like with the man, it flipped until the long end was sticking out of the wall. A slight vibration shuddered through the wall and a panel of the wall sunk backwards before sliding out of the way revealing a flight of stairs descending into darkness.

Glancing around, I hesitantly took the first step down. Instantly, the wall slid shut behind me with an ominous thud plunging me into darkness. A pang of fear thrilled through me. Desperately, I fumbled the wall but no matter where I pressed, it did not yield an opening. I was trapped.

Cursing myself for my stupidity, I continued downwards figuring that it was my best option at this point. I put my foot down heavily at the bottom of the stairs expecting another step, and a loud slapping noise echoed down the hallway.

A flickering light cast shadows against the opposite wall, revealing a row of torches. A shiver of fear and excitement traveled down my back as I took it all in. It was like I was in all the stories I had ever read, Harry Potter, Septimus Heap, and Percy Jackson, etc.

As I walked down the hall, strange hissing noises mixed with low grunts met my ears. As I neared the source, I realized they were voices.

"It has to happen tonight!"

"What?! They'll catch us for sure this time."

"We do what the Boss says we do. No arguing."

I swallowed dryly. What was going on?!

"They already think it's murder. What's the difference anyways?!"

I couldn't hold back a small squeak of shock, and suddenly they went quiet.

"Who's there?!" a voice boomed. The wall creaked aside, and suddenly the hallway was flooded with light. A huge silhouette of a man stood in front of me, and I could see the fury in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," I quaked. He glowered down at me, and suddenly his massive fist swung out at me knocking a scream from my throat.

"Who the hell are you?!" he growled. "How did you get here?!" He punctuated each question with another punch. Black spots swam in front of me, and my nerves screamed out in agony.

I was going to die, and no one would ever find my body. Another kick sent me flying down the hallway.

"Help! Help! Someone!" I screamed, but I knew it was in vain. These tunnels were secret for a reason. Slowly, my vision faded but not before I heard the grinding noise of another door opening. I didn't dare but hope, that this would yield someone friendlier.

"Woah, woah, woah! She's a student!" a voice yelled, and this one was younger, brighter.

"I don't know what she heard."

"Don't worry I'll deal with her. She won't tell, but unless you want your precious tunnels taken away, I suggest you back off."

"Yeah? Who's gonna take 'em away?!"

"The bank. If this school closes because you killed some girl, this whole campus goes to the bank."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but make sure she keeps her goddamn mouth shut!"

A door slammed shut and suddenly I felt someone bending over me.

"Are you ok?"the boy asked. I blinked slightly staring up into gold hazel eyes and nodded weakly. My whole body ached and screamed, but nothing felt broken. A warm arm slid around my back and pulled me up.

Slowly we ascended the steps back into the light. The boy set me down carefully in a chair, and instructed me not to move before dashing away.

I stared around taking in my surroundings and realized that I was in the library. Rows upon rows of shelves surrounded me, comforting me. I was at home here where the smell of paper mingled with dust and knowledge.

Soon the boy was back holding a wet towel, a roll of bandages and water.

"Drink," he said thrusting the water out at me and I obeyed. "Don't tell anyone what you saw or heard back there."

"But..."

"Just don't. If you value your life don't tell."

"They can't actually kill me!" I protested fearfully. He cocked his head slightly as he cleaned my knee and pressed his lips into a rueful smile.

"They just nearly did. Think again."

"Why doesn't anyone do anything about them?! Who are they anyways?!"

He shifted slightly, and brushed his floppy caramel colored hair out of the way. "They are a sector of the Assassin's Guild. They've been here since Carter Sparrow, some people say he was even apart of it. If this school has royalty or legacies, they are it. If we kick them out, we die, so we keep peace with them and try to the best of our ability to keep them in check."

"What is wrong with this school?!" I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "Every school has its secrets. You were just unlucky enough to find them. Besides, they don't "kill" kill. They kill people's reputations. They can spread rumors like nothing I've ever seen."

I quietly digested this information and realized that it made sense. Every high school had a rumor mill, it just happened that this one was on a grander scale. The boy stood up, and I flicked my eyes to him.

"Anyways, you should be good now. Just tell anyone who asks that you tripped into a tree or that you were attacked by an alligator or something else entertaining and ridiculous."

"Thank you," I said blushing suddenly feeling shy. "I'm Ariadne Rane by the way."

He grinned at me and suddenly burst into laughter. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes?" I glanced up at him confusedly. "Why?"

"I'm Theseus Brigan," he said holding out his hand. I smiled.

"Wasn't I supposed to save you? And not the other way around?" I grinned. He laughed.

"Who knows, you might just save me yet." And with that enigmatic statement, he turned heel and disappeared into the many rows of world history books.

I managed to find the exit after many pointless loops around the library, and stepped back out onto the field. I hurried to leave the area, instead aiming back towards the center of commotion. However, my troubles would be far from over.

A crowd was forming not unlike the other day when the Trevino boy had fell, and I felt a stab of fear.

In the center, lying in a pool of blood was a girl that chilled my blood. I knew that face anywhere. I had slept not four feet from her for two nights. Her name was Beth Rose, and she was my roommate. I screamed in anguish and ran, not caring where my feet carried me. This was too close. Of the four hundred or so other students who attended, the next one who died was my room mate.