Night School

by C. J. Daugherty

  ‘Why are you crying?’ she whispered.

  He didn’t answer. Instead he rocked her like a baby, his face in her hair. Listening to her breathe.

  THIRTY

  ‘This time, Isabelle did call the fire brigade, then?’ Allie asked in a hoarse whisper.

  ‘For, like, the first time ever.’ Rachel smiled at her. ‘After you and Jules scared the life out of everyone.’

  It was morning and they were sitting in a bedroom in the teachers’ wing. Allie was propped up on pillows, clutching the cup of tea with lemon and honey that Rachel had brought to soothe her sore throat. Rachel was perched on the foot of the bed, filling her in on ‘everything that happened after you died’.

  ‘They put an oxygen mask on you, although they had to pry you away from Sylvain to do it.’ Rachel arched one eyebrow. ‘He wouldn’t let you go.’

  ‘Was it Sylvain who found me then?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How …?’

  ‘He and Carter had cleared the guys’ dorm. Then they saw the other fire. Carter went to get the teachers out. Sylvain was going to clear the girls’ dorm, but when he realised it was empty he found us outside,’ Rachel explained. ‘Katie and I had just brought Jules out and saw that you weren’t there …’

  She stopped mid-sentence and Allie realised that she was crying. Reaching across the bed she squeezed her hand.

  ‘I’m OK,’ she whispered. Rachel nodded and wiped tears from her eyes.

  After a second, she continued, but now her voice shook. ‘When we told him you were missing nobody could stop him. He ran into the library like he couldn’t burn.’

  She took a deep breath.

  ‘I didn’t see you when he brought you out, I was giving Jules CPR. But Jo told me he gave you CPR for a long time before you came to. After that he wouldn’t let you go. Guess he was afraid you’d stop breathing.’

  ‘Guess he was,’ Allie echoed.

  ‘Anyway, as soon as Isabelle called the fire brigade, Nathaniel and his cronies melted away – and I wish I meant that literally.’ Rachel leaned back against the wall. ‘You and Jules and three members of staff all needed oxygen. Jules and this one guy, Peter? Do you know him?’

  Allie shook her head.

  ‘He’s one of the younger students. Well, they’re both in hospital for smoke inhalation. They wanted to take you, too, but nobody would let them. Isabelle, Carter and Sylvain just weren’t having it. So they put you in here and Carter sat here all night to make sure you kept breathing. Which you did,’ she finished brightly.

  ‘Yay me,’ Allie croaked weakly.

  ‘Indeed. Yay you.’

  ‘How bad is the damage?’ Allie asked.

  ‘I’m not sure. I know three or four rooms are totalled. They won’t let anyone into the dorms, and the whole building reeks of smoke.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘The fire in the library was started at the librarian’s desk and spread to the stacks nearby. They don’t know how many books are gone.’

  She looked genuinely sad and Allie had to hide a smile.

  ‘They think the dorm rooms where the fires were set were all unoccupied, and a fire was set in an attic and on the landing near the stairs,’ Allie had a flash memory of Christopher with a flaming torch, ‘but they’re still assessing. Isabelle’s running around like a mad woman.

  ‘Contractors are coming in this afternoon to assess the damage, and everybody’s being sent home. We’re all writing essays to replace our last few exams. I think we should insist on doing ours on fire safety.’

  Allie’s chuckle sounded like sandpaper on rough wood. ‘I could change my history essay to the Great Fire of London.’

  ‘Yeah, right? You’ve already done the research.’

  Someone knocked on the door. Allie tried to say ‘Come in,’ but it came out as a whisper.

  ‘Entrez-vous,’ Rachel called.

  Jo opened the door and ducked in nervously, closing it behind her. ‘Hi Allie. Are you OK?’

  Allie smiled weakly. ‘I’m going to live – again – I think,’ she said. ‘Rachel was just telling me everything that happened last night.’

  ‘It was crazy,’ Jo said. ‘Really scary.’

  ‘But here we all are,’ Rachel said. ‘And I got to do CPR on a real person for the first time ever. So it wasn’t all bad.’

  ‘Totally worth it,’ Allie agreed.

  ‘That’s what I thought.’

  Looking uncomfortable, Jo turned to Rachel. ‘I hate to ask but, would you mind if I had a few minutes alone with …’

  Rachel jumped off the bed. ‘Of course. Allie, I’ll go and get you some food. What do you want?’

  Allie’s throat hurt. ‘Something cold,’ she said. ‘Nothing sharp.’

  An affectionate smile lit up Rachel’s face. ‘Right. No sharp food. Leave it to me, babe.’

  When the door closed behind her, Jo sat gingerly on the edge of the bed.

  ‘I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry.’

  Allie started to tell her it wasn’t necessary but Jo shook her head. Her face was red and Allie could see that she’d been crying.

  ‘You saved my life last night – and you risked your own to do it. I believe you did the same thing on the roof a few weeks ago. Katie told me she lied to me because she was angry at you.’

  Allie gaped. ‘She did what?’

  Jo nodded. ‘You saved her life, too, you know. She might be a bitch but she’s not an ungrateful bitch.’

  A hoarse laugh burst out of Allie before she could stop it, and soon they were both giggling, although that set off a fit of coughing from Allie.

  ‘I’ll tell her you said so,’ she managed to sputter.

  When they calmed, Jo looked at her seriously. ‘I know I have a problem, Allie. I just have these … what the shrink called “episodes” where I’m not rational. And I really shouldn’t ever drink. I’m sorry you got caught up in it. I wish so much that it had never happened. If I could take it back I’d do it in a second. But I want you to know I’m working on it.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Allie said, although it wasn’t.

  As if she’d heard her thoughts, Jo said, ‘It’s not OK, actually. I know that.’

  ‘Good.’ Allie’s voice was gentle.

  But Jo wasn’t finished. ‘The thing is,’ she said, ‘each time it happens something sets it off. It used to be my parents. They’d do something stupid or forget about me and off I’d go. But this time it was … what happened to Ruth.’

  She looked up at Allie. ‘It’s just … knowing something awful and not telling anyone … I think it makes you crazy.’

  Allie felt a tingle of fear, like icy fingers against her skin. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Jo’s.

  ‘I think it does. What did you know that nobody else knew?’

  Jo’s round, cornflower-blue eyes held hers. ‘I know who killed Ruth. And I couldn’t handle it. Just knowing. I couldn’t … be the only one.’

  Two breaths in, one breath out …

  Allie stared at her steadily as her heart pounded in her ears.

  ‘Who killed Ruth, Jo?’ she whispered.

  ‘Gabe did it.’ Jo’s voice was dull with grief. ‘Gabe killed Ruth.’

  *

  When Rachel returned a few minutes later with yoghurt, ice cream and strawberries (‘See? Nothing sharp …’) Allie was holding Jo in her arms as she sobbed.

  Over Jo’s head, Allie whispered to Rachel: ‘Get Isabelle.’ Without a word, Rachel dropped the food on the desk and ran.

  ‘It’s going to be OK,’ Allie whispered, over and over, although she wasn’t sure it would be. She felt sick, and took deep, settling breaths to try and steady her own nerves as questions rushed through her mind too fast for answers to catch up.

  Gabe did it? Gabe killed Ruth? Why?

  She remembered hiding from Gabe on the path that night she was out with Carter. Something in his voice – some element of menace – had kicked a self-protective instinct into action and led her to hide.
She’d been as scared of him at that moment as she’d ever been of Nathaniel.

  But murder?

  That seemed inconceivable. Why would he do something like that? Ruth was his friend. What could she have done to make him want to hurt her? Much less to kill her.

  ‘Jo, Isabelle’s coming here in a few minutes and you have to tell her the truth,’ Allie rasped. ‘Will you do that?’

  Her face puffy and red, Jo nodded. ‘That’s why I told you. I think everybody needs to know. He’s dangerous.’

  When Rachel and Isabelle ran in a few minutes later, Jo was still crying. The headmistress wore the same dark leggings and tunic she’d worn the night of the parley, and smelled faintly of smoke.

  ‘Allie?’ she asked, taking in Jo’s tears and Allie’s pale face. ‘Is everything OK?’

  ‘Jo has something she needs to tell you,’ Allie whispered.

  Jo told Isabelle what she’d told Allie. As she talked, Isabelle sank slowly to her knees beside the bed, never taking her eyes off Jo’s face.

  ‘But why, Jo?’ she asked finally. ‘Did he tell you why?’

  ‘He said Ruth talked. And that she knew too much about what was really going on. She wanted to tell people. I think she wanted to tell you,’ Jo said. ‘But then he wouldn’t tell me what that meant – like what was really going on.’

  Allie could see the shock on Isabelle’s face, but the headmistress kept her voice preternaturally calm.

  ‘Rachel,’ she said, ‘would you go and get Matthew and August, please?’ She reached out for Jo’s hand, wet with tears and clutching a damp, crumpled tissue. ‘Did he tell you how he did it?’

  ‘A little. Enough to scare me,’ Jo said. ‘It was during the ball. Everyone was happy and dancing. He only left me alone for a few minutes but when he came back I saw blood on his hand. I thought he’d hurt himself. He said he’d had an accident – a cut – nothing serious. But he didn’t tell me then … about Ruth. He told me a few weeks ago. He didn’t want me hanging out with Allie any more. He told me what happened to Ruth could happen to Allie too. Or any of her friends.’

  Remembering Ruth’s body – her face so pale it was almost unrecognisable; her pretty pink dress dark with blood – Allie swallowed hard. Gabe had been threatening her. That could have been her face. Her pretty dress.

  She counted her heartbeats. …twelve, thirteen, fourteen …

  ‘What else did he tell you?’ Isabelle asked.

  ‘He didn’t want me to tell Allie anything about Night School, or anything about what he was doing.’ Jo’s voice sounded tired. ‘He said Allie was to blame for all the bad things that were happening and that you and Zelazny were weak. He said Nathaniel was right and you should just let him have her …’

  Isabelle and Allie exchanged a startled look.

  ‘How did Gabe know Nathaniel?’ Isabelle asked gently.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jo said. ‘But they just … know each other. Like Gabe meets him sometimes. To talk.’

  Allie gasped. She saw colour drain from Isabelle’s face.

  ‘They’re … friends?’ Isabelle’s voice shook, just a little. Jo wouldn’t have heard it, but Allie did.

  ‘Kind of.’ Jo thought about it. ‘I think Gabe admires him.’

  At that moment Zelazny and Matthew walked in and Isabelle rose to her feet and stepped outside to talk with them. She returned to the room alone and sat on the bed next to Jo and Allie.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell us sooner, darling?’ she asked quietly.

  Tears streamed down Jo’s face. ‘I didn’t know what to do,’ she sobbed. ‘I love … loved Gabe. I couldn’t … I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Isabelle whispered. But Allie could tell she was lying.

  After Isabelle led Jo away to her own room, Rachel returned long enough to make Allie eat some melted ice cream and warm yoghurt. She stayed until Allie fell asleep.

  When she woke up, Carter was sitting on the foot of the bed watching her, his dark eyes unreadable.

  ‘Hey,’ she rasped.

  ‘How’re you doing?’ His voice was gentle.

  ‘Never better.’ But waking up set off a round of coughing and he handed her a glass of water with a straw.

  After she sipped it she felt better and scooted up in the bed until she was sitting up.

  ‘Did you hear about Gabe?’ she whispered.

  He nodded, his muscles tense. ‘I should have seen it, Allie. Why didn’t I see that it was him?’

  ‘Nobody could see it,’ she said. ‘Don’t blame yourself or we’ll all have to blame ourselves. Have they found him?’

  ‘No – they’re all looking. Nobody knows where he is. He might have done a runner.’

  She digested this information for a minute.

  Then she said: ‘Rachel told me that you saved lots of people last night. That’s amazing.’

  ‘And you saved people, too.’ But he didn’t say it was amazing and she could see the tension in his face.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she said.

  He shook his head and didn’t speak for a moment, when he did, his voice quivered.

  ‘Why didn’t you stay in the hiding place, Allie? You would have been OK if you’d listened to me.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Carter. But I was scared for the girls,’ she said. ‘I had to help. I couldn’t just let them die.’

  ‘We would have got them out,’ he said.

  ‘We didn’t know that,’ she said. ‘The fire spread fast.’

  ‘Whose idea was it to go in? Yours or Jules’?’

  Allie thought longingly about lying. ‘Mine,’ she said. ‘Jules wanted to wait a while longer.’

  ‘And you both nearly died,’ he said angrily.

  ‘But we saved people, Carter.’ Her hoarse voice was indignant. ‘We did help.’

  ‘I would sacrifice every single one of them for you.’

  She stared at him, aghast. ‘Don’t say that,’ she whispered. ‘That’s horrible.’

  ‘I know it’s horrible.’ His fingers flicked a tear off his cheek and he avoided her eyes. ‘It’s also true.’

  She had no idea what to say, and she studied him worriedly.

  ‘I’m OK, you know.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘So, let’s not freak out OK? Let’s just be glad that we’re both all right.’ She reached for his hand and held it against her cheek. ‘I’m so glad that you’re OK.’

  Saying nothing, he wrapped her in his arms.

  ‘Carter and Allie save the world,’ she whispered.

  That afternoon, Rachel brought Allie a skirt and blouse that smelled like a bonfire.

  ‘They let me in the dorm for all of three seconds. I raided your wardrobe for these,’ she said. ‘Sorry about the stench.’

  ‘No worries,’ Allie said. ‘I’m just psyched to finally get out of these chargrilled pyjamas.’

  ‘They said we could go up to get our stuff tomorrow,’ Rachel said. ‘With supervision, of course.’

  ‘Of course.’ Allie gave a wry smile. ‘Health and safety.’

  ‘Everybody’s going home today and tomorrow – my dad’s coming tomorrow morning,’ Rachel said. ‘The offer still stands if you want to come stay with us.’

  ‘Thanks, Rach,’ Allie said. ‘I still might take you up on it.’

  After a shower in the teachers’ bathroom to scrub the soot out of her hair, Allie began to feel human again. Rachel had forgotten shoes though, so when she padded down the stairs later she was still barefoot. But she walked with purpose straight to Isabelle’s office and knocked.

  The door opened before her knuckles left the wood and without a word Isabelle wrapped her in a bear hug. Then she held her at arm’s length and studied her face.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘I think so,’ Allie whispered.

  The headmistress held the door open for her. ‘Come in, sit.’

  ‘How’s Jo?’ Allie asked.

  ‘Not good,’
Isabelle said, sitting beside her as the kettle rumbled in the background. ‘She’s very upset, understandably.’

  Allie hesitated – not sure if she could even bring herself to ask the next question.

  ‘Gabe?’ she whispered finally.

  Isabelle shook her head. ‘He’s gone. When Zelazny and Matthew went to find him he’d disappeared. We think he might have gone last night during the fire.’

  Somehow Allie wasn’t surprised. She took a steadying breath.

  ‘So … what happens now?’

  ‘We will look for him.’ Isabelle busied herself making tea. ‘We’ll let his parents know. We will try to make sure he’s safe. We will take care of Jo. And then we will find a way to deal with Nathaniel.’

  ‘I want to help,’ Allie said.

  ‘You will,’ Isabelle said. ‘I promise you that.’

  ‘No, Isabelle.’ Allie’s voice was firm. ‘I mean I want to help. I want to be involved in everything from now on.’

  The headmistress looked at her blankly and Allie tried not to let the frustration and tension she felt into her voice. If she ever needed to act grown-up, now was the time.

  ‘I’m in the middle of all of this. In some ways, Gabe was right and this is about me. Nathaniel has Christopher and now he wants me, too. That’s true, isn’t it? All this term I’ve been rescued and saved and helped, and everybody’s all about protecting me, which is wonderful, and I am grateful. But I want to protect myself. Right now, I can’t ever save myself. I don’t know how.’ She steadied her nerves. ‘But there’s one place where I could get the skill to do that.’

  Isabelle spoke slowly. ‘You want to join Night School.’

  ‘Doesn’t it make sense?’ Allie wrapped her arms around herself. ‘I need to be stronger and faster. I need to know how to fight. And I need to know what’s happening so that I can do the right things. I’m never just going to do what you say if you say “Allie don’t go outside”. But if you include me in stuff … That’s different.’

  A heavy silence fell. She could see that Isabelle was thinking. After a second the headmistress handed her a cup of strange-smelling herbal tea with lemon.

  ‘For your throat. Drink it.’ She sat down beside her. ‘OK, then. I agree. I’ll talk to the others.’