Page 25 of Zeus' Spark
“Fine.” Raven rolls her eyes and heads inside the building.
It’s eerily quiet again, and I shudder. The only sound is our light footfalls on the marble floors. We pick up our pace, and my shoulders are tense as I peer around at the shadows dancing along the walls. They remind me of Jayden and his shadows.
I put him out of my mind and round the corner to the administration offices. Rebecca’s office is at the end of the hall.
“It’s deserted in here. I wonder if she’s even around,” I clench and unclench my hands at my sides.
What are we going to do if she’s not around? We need to have someone patrolling the wards at all times.
The large, intricately carved door looms over us, and I reach out and knock loudly, almost frantically.
When nothing sounds on the other side of the door, I glance at Raven nervously. There’s no shuffling of feet or anyone calling us to come in.
Where the hell is the headmistress? She’s hardly ever around when we need her.
“Knock again. Maybe she just can’t hear us?” Raven says, shifting anxiously.
“I just knocked like a damn cop. I’m sure she heard it.” I knock loudly again though, and still nothing. “Maybe she’s in a meeting or something in one of the conference rooms.”
We wander through the halls in the admin building, still unable to find Rebecca.
“Look in here.” Raven starts to crack open the door to the first conference room when muffled voices fill the hall.
“Do you hear that?” I whisper.
Raven silently closes the door to the empty conference room, cocking her head to the side.
“What is that?” she whispers so quietly I almost don’t hear it.
On silent feet, I move to the next conference room, and the door is cracked open, just barely.
There are two people talking, but their words are garbled, and I can’t understand what they’re saying.
“Does that voice sound familiar to you?” I ask Raven quietly.
She nods but doesn’t respond as we both move closer to the cracked-open door to see who’s talking.
It has to be someone on the faculty. Students don’t really come to the admin building unless they absolutely have to. It’s not exactly against the rules but the administration doesn’t like it when we come here without being called.
I inch closer to the door and crane my neck, but I still can’t see anything. I shuffle closer and glance around the hall, checking that we don’t get caught eavesdropping on whatever is happening in that room.
Why would anyone need to distort their conversation unless they were up to something? Could the person on the other side of that door be responsible for the abductions? I need to get closer.
I am almost within range to see who’s speaking when loud footsteps bound down the hall. The voices stop, and I flinch back, bumping into Raven who didn’t move quickly enough.
Mr. Cross comes into view around the corner, and I cringe. “What are you two girls doing in here?”
Shit. Whoever is in that conference room now knows we’re here and trying to listen to what they were saying.
“We were looking for the headmistress. Have you seen her?” I ask innocently.
Maybe whoever is in the conference room will believe we just walked up and weren’t trying to listen.
“No, I haven’t seen Rebecca since yesterday afternoon.” He shakes his head. “You girls shouldn’t be wandering the halls of the admin building. Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
Raven shifts uncomfortably. “That’s okay, Mr. Cross. We know the way out.”
“Still, I don’t like you sneaking around. Come on.” He turns around, expecting us to follow, and we trudge behind.
