Chapter 47 – The Secret Passage Unlocked – Holly Hayfield

When I explained to Lilith that the rallying point of the break-in plan was her own house she freaked. Firstly she was upset because of the risk that her aunt and uncle could’ve found out. Mainly she was disturbed by the idea of the loud-and-energetic Naomi intruding on her private sanctum. We went down to open the door to let Naomi and Sam in. It turns out that was unnecessary. The door was already swinging open by the time we made it down stairs.

“See! I told you I could unlock it!” The girl holding the picking tools said.

“You’re a legend Perri!” Sam said.

Perri, the girl holding the picking tools, had medium length dark shaggy hair with brightly contrasting highlights. She walked in with Sam. Then Naomi walked in, as expected. Then Casper walked in, somewhat unexpected. Then Silver walked in with two other girls that I didn’t recognize, very much unexpected. Naomi made a show of prancing through her soldiers to present herself to us first.

“We’re here, right on time!” She said.

The girl furthest in the back closed the front door now that all of them were inside.

“What the hell is all this?” Lilith asked. “My younger cousin is still upstairs. We can’t have this meeting in here!”

“Relax!” Naomi said, “I love kids!”

“We were supposed to be travelling as a small, covert group.” I said. “I didn’t want you to bring an entire raiding party.”

“I tried telling her that.” Sam said.

“Well,” Casper interjected, “I know I wasn’t expected to come, but I’m here with good reason. We were talking about this in ChatCat for a couple of days now. I made something that I thing can help.”

Casper took off her book bag and pulled out a large folded paper. This paper turned out to be a map of the school. It was difficult to tell at first because it was drawn by hand in the layout of a blueprint. She placed the map on the ground so that we could all see it. Everyone pulled in around Casper to get a look. Casper pointed out specific places on the map that were marked with red ink.

“I’ve been walking the school property the past couple of days.” Casper said. “These are the locations of all the outdoor cameras I could find. I don’t think they regularly check the weekend camera footage, but just to be safe we can use this map to find the safest way in.”

“You’re right.” I said. “That’s a good reason for you to join us. Silver, why did you decide to come?”

“I’ll admit my reason isn’t as good as Casper’s.” Silver said, “But I have this!”

She was carrying a small satchel around one shoulder. She pulled out a black surgical mask. It was similar to the one she made for me. This version had a black cat with a white outline with the number 13 on its head. Lilith instantly realized that this was made for her. Silver began to hand it over to Lilith. Lilith didn’t want to take it. However, when Lilith saw me take mine out of my skirt pocket she realized she had to.

“Fine,” Lilith said. “I’ll only wear it to conceal my identity once we’re on our way. After that I’m not wearing it anymore. Don’t think this makes me part of your group.”

Naomi tried to pull Lilith into a hug that she aggressively refused.

“Aw, come on Lilith…” Naomi said. “We’re working together to help you! You should become an honorary member of our group, just like Holly.”

“I don’t recall having a choice in the matter.” I said.

Naomi tried desperately to embrace Lilith but it wasn’t going to happen. When Lilith finally pushed Naomi a safe distance away she pointed at the remaining two girls whose names I didn’t remember. One girl was short girl with short black hair. The other one was a tall Amazonian-like girl with a very athletic build. The two were checking out Lilith’s home while wandering the living room area.

“Who are these two and why are they here?” Lilith asked.

“The shorter one here is Mercedes. We call her Mercy. She wasn’t actually invited.”

“That’s not true!” Mercedes protested. “She’s joking, Lilith. I’m Naomi’s girlfriend.”

Everyone looked blankly at Mercedes. Then Mercedes seemed to realize that her meaning didn’t get across.

“I’m her actual girlfriend!” Mercedes said.

“It’s complicated.” Naomi said. “This other girl is Jin. Jin isn’t here for any real reason either. She’ll back us up if we run into any unexpected trouble. You could say she’s the muscle.”

“We’ve met before.” Jin said.

“We have?” Lilith asked.

“I came into the library last school year asking about growing cannabis. You gave me a few books about gardening that turned out to help me.”

Lilith sharpened her eyes as she recalled this scenario.

“And if I remember correctly those books were never returned! Return them!” Lilith demanded.

“I will, someday.” Jin said. “Anyways, where do your folks keep the booze? Let’s grab a drink before we go.”

“No.” I said. “We need to be at full mental capacity when we do this.”

“Holly’s the boss today, girls.” Naomi said. “So what’s the plan, boss?”

I kneeled down to put a finger on Casper’s map.

“Okay, thanks to this map that Brittney… Err… Casper provided us with we can use this to plan where we’ll enter the school perimeter from. Obviously we can’t go throw the main gate so we’ll have to climb from the side. This location on the map here will give us maximum cover. The only downside is that it’ll be a walk through the woodier areas of the school property.”

I realized I was losing their attention as their heads turned upwards to focus on something behind me. I turned around to see Ethan coming down the staircase filled with curiosity. Lilith sprinted over to intercept the boy but he ducked under her grab attempt and ran towards me. He looked around at each of the girls in the room and smiled. He looked back at me.

“Are these all my new sisters too?” Ethan asked.

Naomi and the others cooed in delight. Naomi scooped the boy up into a hug.

“Of course we are!” Naomi said. “We’re friends with your big sister, Lilith!”

“He actually isn’t my little brother.” Lilith noted. “My aunt puts stuff like that into his head, but he’s my cousin.”

“He’s so cute!” Naomi said.

“Let me bring him back to his room. It’s almost his bed time. He has to get ready to go to sleep.” Lilith said.

Naomi set Ethan down so that Lilith could take him back upstairs. While she was doing that, Perri came over to me and stuck her hand out to me.

“You probably already remember me by now, but I’m Perri. I also go by Pearls.” Perri said.

I took her hand and shook it.

“Thank you for helping us out with this.” I said.

“Sam told us about your dead friend.” She said. “I’m interested in seeing for myself. I know that’s a terrible reason for joining you but it sounds like something out of a horror flick. I didn’t want to pass up the chance to get a look for myself.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Malorie’s story seems so surreal that I often find myself questioning the details of it. We lack so much critical information about how she died that you can’t be faulted for being curious. Hopefully we’ll answer some of our questions tonight.”

Lilith came back down stairs.

“I told him that we’d be out for a while.” Lilith said. “Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s get ready to leave right now.”

The first thing we had to do before leaving was preparation. For Lilith and I this meant getting changed into darker, nondescript clothing. That way if a camera really did catch us they’d be hard-pressed to place our identities. Everyone in Naomi’s group was already dressed this way. Luckily I still had Sam’s hoodie in my book bag. I put that on along with the mask Silver gave me before.

The next preparation we made was in regard to supplies. This wasn’t a critical preparation, but once Naomi’s girlfriends started raiding Lilith’s kitchen there were snacks that they asked to take with us. It looked like Margaret’s zealous purchasing of weekend snacks was actually going to come in handy. Along with that we packed a hiking bag with flashlights, miscellaneous camping supplies, and first aid supplies. Seeing as I was hurt the first time we went down there the first aid kit was my idea.

Once we were prepared we wasted no time getting on the road. There was no sidewalk for a while until we got closer to the school. Lilith lived in an area surrounded aesthetically by nature, just like the school. Like the school, these buildings were much older and primarily for the wealthier families that could afford them. This fact wasn’t lost on any of Naomi’s girlfriends that teased Lilith about being a spoiled rich kid. I hadn’t thought much of it before but, it was true that Lilith came from an affluent background. Lilith didn’t really ‘act’ like how I imagined someone from that upbringing would behave and so it slid by me.

When we made it to the school we had to make the arduous walk to the side with the fewest cameras. The walk wasn’t too bad, just tedious. Getting over the fencing to get onto the school property was the harder part. Jin decided she’d go last since she said she could get over the fencing without any help. She was strong enough to help everyone else get over the fence. Sam was the first one to go over. Since she was also strong and athletic she could help the others get down on the other side.

Sam got onto the brick part of the fencing before climbing up the metal portion. The bars of the metal fencing were close enough that she could stick her foot into them for gripping, but there was nothing else to grab onto exept the very top bar, just below the metal spikes. That meant the climb up to that bar was a test of upper body strength. Then climbing over that bar without being stabbed by the spikes was a test of flexibility.

As Sam went over the fence she performed this athletic feat skillfully. The only problem was that the spikes scratched her wrist as she climbed over. It wasn’t deep enough to draw blood, but it was noteworthy enough for her to show us.

“I’ll try to help everyone as they come over.” She said, showing us the scratch. “It’ll be good if we have another strong person come over first to help me keep anyone from getting hurt. Pearls, want to help me out?”

“Right,” Perri said. “I’ll go next. Jin, give me a lift.”

Jin took Perri by the leg and boosted her up to the top metal bar. Perri pulled herself over. Sam readied her to catch Perri’s foot. As Perri pulled herself over, the iron spikes scratched her on the arm.

“Ouch!” Perri said as Sam helped her down.

This time the scratch was deep enough to draw blood.

“Hang on,” Naomi said, “I’ve got the bag with the first aid stuff. Jin, help me up next.”

“You’ve got it.” Jin said.

Naomi got over faster with Jin’s help, but as she came down the iron spikes clawed into her shirt and ripped some of the lower cloth. This unexpected grasping by the fence caused Naomi to fall. Sam and Perri caught her, but they all fell down with her. Jin laughed at their misfortune. It might’ve been funny to me given a different circumstance. I could see Lilith impatiently waiting her turn, despite the danger of climbing this accursed fence.

“Casper, I need help with Lilith.” Jin said. “She’s kind of short so it’ll be better if we both boost her up.”

“Okay.” Casper said. “I’m not all that strong though.”

“It’s fine. I’m lightweight.” Lilith said.

Sam, Naomi and Perri all stood ready to help Lilith down. Lilith scratched both an arm and leg going over. She was caught by the three girls as she came down. Naomi nearly fell helping Lilith down. This fence was taking casualties left and right.

“Mercy next,” Casper said. “She’s only a little taller than Lilith. She should go next.”

“Okay.” Mercedes said. “I don’t want to get hurt by those spikes though.”

“It doesn’t hurt at all.” Naomi said. “Lilith toughed it out, so can you.”

Mercedes approached Jin and Casper with hesitation. The two of them looked at each other. They picked Mercedes up before she was ready and practically tossed her up. Naomi and Sam were reaching over to help Mercedes, but her struggling caused her to tumble over the fence, ripping her clothes in multiple spots, scratching her in multiple places on her body, and sending her falling on the opposite side. She ended up falling into Sam and Naomi, causing them to fall. Jin laughed even harder than before.

“Haha! This is hilarious! You girls need to do more push-ups, first thing when you get home.” Jin said.

“Yeah, yeah!” Mercedes shouted angrily. “I wish you would’ve given me some warning!”

“You’ll survive princess.” Jin said. “Who is next?”

“Silver or Holly can go next.” Casper said.

“Actually…” I said, staring at the metal fence. “I’ll help myself over.”

“It’s not as easy as it looks.” Sam said. “Are you sure that you don’t want help?”

“I’m sure.” I said.

I pulled myself up the fence as easily as a cat climbing a small wall. When I reached the top bar of the fence I held onto it tightly. Instead of trying to climb over one-leg-at-a-time like the other girls I decided to do it all in one motion. I kicked off of the bars to give myself some additional momentum as I pulled myself over the bars. As I was midway in the air I turned my body quickly to reposition my hands on the bars so that I came down on the other side safely. My maneuver was so flawless that I never came into contact with the metal spikes.

“Whoa,” Sam said as I let myself down. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I was in track and field since my first year of high school.” I said. “Also I was in gymnastics throughout all of middle school. I haven’t been exercising a lot lately but I’m still pretty limber.”

“Maybe you should’ve gone first instead.” Naomi joked.

“Alright, you’re next Silver. After you, Casper and I will go over.” Jin said.

“Okay.” Silver said.

Once we were all over the fence we started towards our goal. If it weren’t for our flashlights it would’ve easily been possible for us to get lost in the woods that surrounded the school. Thanks to Casper’s map we didn’t even have to guess our location while in the woods. We could see major details of the school from a distance and referenced them with the map. It wasn’t long before we neared our goal.

“It’s so cold out tonight.” Naomi said as she rubbed her arms. “I’ve got the chills now that we’re getting closer.”

“I’ll keep you warm!” Mercedes volunteered.

“Thanks.” Naomi said.

They held onto each other as they continued to walk. Their relationship was so simple that I was jealous. I could see close behind me that Perri was in the same situation with Silver. She linked arms with Silver. I looked at Lilith and wondered. Could I do the same with her without being pushed away? The way she was holding herself made me think she looked cold enough to be agreeable.

I put one arm around Lilith and pulled her close to me. She gave me one quick glance to ensure it was me, and then went back to looking ahead of her. She intentionally walked closer to me to share my warmth. The fact that it worked was more out of circumstance than affection. That was fine by me. There was a time she wouldn’t have accepted me touching her at all. We were at least this close with each other.

Just moments later we were staring down the area where the cellar door was. All of Naomi’s girlfriends looked around as we approached the area, still missing the door’s location. Sam and I led the group to the specific location of the door behind some bushes. They all had varying expressions of bewilderment to see this secret passageway hidden on the backside of our school. Perri stepped up with her lock picking tools.

“This will only take a moment.” She said haughtily.

True to her word, the big metal lock clicked open and gave way, making its connecting chains go loose. The chains and lock fell to the ground now that it was no longer held up by the cellar door handles. Sam and Jin gave each other a look as they both took one of the handles of the cellar door. They both pulled open at the same time, unveiling the dark staircase leading down into pitch black shadows.

Lilith focused her flashlight down the staircase.

“This time we’ll learn the truth.” She said.