Dawn at Blackwood did not arrive with a cheerful sunrise, but with a slow, grey leaching of the night. The trio had managed a few hours of deep sleep. They were woken not by a bell, but by the sharp, authoritative rap of knuckles on Alice’s door.
The sound was like a gunshot in the silent room.
“Miss Solace? Dormitory inspection.” The voice from the hallway was male, crisp, and utterly devoid of warmth. It was Professor Crawford, the Head of Student Affairs—the man Leon had named as a figure of authority.
There was no time to think, let alone time to hide. Niles' makeshift bed was still on the floor, damning evidence.
Alice’s eyes quickly darted around the room and then locked onto the large, lead-lined window behind her desk. It was older than the rest of the building, swinging outward on heavy iron hinges.
“The window,” she hissed, already moving. “NOW!”
Niles and Leon didn’t need to be told twice. They scrambled, grabbing their shoes and their incriminating blankets. Alice shoved her own bedding over the spots where they had slept just as another, louder knock echoed through the room.
“Miss Solace? Dormitory inspection! Please open the door!” The knock was getting louder and louder.
“My apologies! One moment, please!” she called out, her voice impressively steady despite the pale terror on her face.
Niles fumbled with the rusted latch. His minding was calculating the potential falling risk: The window opens outward and there is only a narrow stone ledge. The potential fall is around three stories. The probability of serious injury would be—
Leon shoved him from behind, interrupting his calculation. “Move already, Fulgencio!”
Niles pushed the window open instantly, a blast of cold, damp morning air hitting them. Below was a dizzying drop onto a flagstone path. To the right, the ledge, barely the width of a human foot, ran along the academy wall before disappearing around a corner.
“Out! Go right!” Alice whispered frantically.
Niles went out first, his back pressed against the cold stone wall, his fingers finding minuscule holds in the mortar. He slowly inched along the ledge, not daring to look down. Leon followed behind, his face was masked with a grim and intense concentration.
Just as Leon cleared the windowsill, Alice immediately slammed the window shut behind them. Through the glass, Niles saw her take one last, frantic look at them before smoothing her nightclothes and moving toward the door.
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiElXxbwTSL
The world outside was a vortex of wind and vertigo. The ancient stones were slick with dew. Niles focused on a single crack in the wall an arm’s length away, his entire universe shrinking to the next six-inch shuffle. He could hear the muffled sound of the door opening inside Alice’s room.
“Good morning, Professor Crawford,” Alice opened the door and greeted him politely, her voice admirably calm. “My apologies for the delay.”
“Routine inspection, Miss Solace. We’ve had reports of… unusual activity in this wing.” Professor Crawford’s voice was closer now as he was inside the room.
Niles pressed himself harder and flatter against the cold stone wall. He could feel Leon’s ragged breath just behind him. He couldn't imagine the consequences—if Professor Crawford decided to look out the window…
They were trapped. They couldn’t go back, and going forward meant navigating an unknown path around a corner they couldn’t see beyond. The wind tugged at their clothes, acting as a relentless force threatening to pluck them from their precarious perch, leading them to their miserable doom.
Inside, the low murmur of voices continued. Niles wondered: Was he looking at the floor? Noticing the displaced air? Or asking why the window latch was newly disturbed?
Every second stretched into an eternity. The cold seeped through their clothes, and Niles’s muscles began to tremble from the strain of holding still.
This was no longer a puzzle anymore. This was a physical and immediate threat. The academy’s punishment was no longer an abstract concept of ‘disappearance’, but the very real, very hard flagstones around three stories below.
The conversation inside seemed to last for an hour. Finally, they heard the door close with a firm click.
They didn’t move. They waited and frozen. A minute passed, here came a soft tap on the glass.
Risking a glance, Niles saw Alice’s pale face at the window. She gave him a small, sharp nod and then pointed urgently around the corner, mouthing the words.
“Keep going! You can reach the fire escape!”
Their relief was quickly swallowed by a fresh wave of dread. They weren’t safe yet. Niles took a shuddering breath and began to shuffle again, inching toward the blind corner, the mystery of what lay beyond it their only hope of survival.
ns216.73.216.33da2
and then Add to home screen.