Night School: Legacy

by C. J. Daugherty

  ‘Your body is a weapon,’ Mr Patel always said. ‘Use it.’

  But how could she when she couldn’t move? Her arms were held tight, her legs …

  Her breath caught as she realised: her legs were free. And her kidnapper’s most vulnerable point was right behind her thighs.

  He probably had help somewhere nearby, she needed to act fast.

  Saying a silent prayer, she lifted her legs up, forcing her kidnapper to shift as she curled into a ball against his torso. He grunted in surprise but before he could react she’d swung backwards, aiming the soles of her shoes at his crotch.

  He cried out and dropped her at the same moment – she hit the ground hard, rolling into the brush beside the path. She scrambled to her feet, already running, but strong fingers grabbed her ankle yanking her back to the ground.

  She kicked hard at the hand with her free foot but his grip didn’t lessen and she couldn’t get free. As his hold tightened and she realised she wasn’t going to get away, she screamed.

  Then she heard a sharp crack and a thud from somewhere in the darkness around her.

  The hands let go.

  Without waiting to see what had happened, Allie jumped to her feet, poised to run away. But then the moon came out from behind a cloud and she saw everything.

  Gabe and Sylvain were on the path, facing off. Blood poured down the side of Gabe’s face from a wound to his head. Sylvain held a thick stick in one hand, and circled Gabe like a panther.

  Everyone had always told her how good Gabe was at Night School. How he was the best of all of them.

  This is my fault. If anything happens to Sylvain …

  At that moment in a move so quick Allie could barely see it, Gabe ducked and spun, grabbing the branch in Sylvain’s hand and twisting it sharply in an under-and-over manoeuvre.

  Now it was Gabe’s club.

  For a fleeting second, Sylvain’s gaze met hers. ‘Run, Allie.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not leaving you.’

  Anger flashed in his eyes. ‘Run. Now.’

  ‘Yes.’ Gabe didn’t turn around to look at her; his tone was sardonic. ‘Run, Allie. You don’t want to see this. I’ll come and get you in a minute. And I will pay you back for kicking me in the balls.’

  As Allie watched in horror he swung the club at Sylvain’s head. At the last second, Sylvain feinted to the right but the branch clipped his shoulder. His cry of pain seared her. But Sylvain stayed on his feet and responded with a vicious elbow to Gabe’s gut.

  A sob burning her throat, Allie turned and ran into the woods. Behind her she heard Gabe’s voice, as confident as ever. ‘She’s gone now. You can relax. I can’t believe you’re messing with Carter’s girl, Sylvain. That’s not like you. Usually you like them all fresh and unsullied.’

  A sound like meat being slapped on to a countertop followed. But Allie was searching for something now and she tried to block the sounds from her mind. Seeing Sylvain’s makeshift club had reminded her of a Night School class on found weapons. At the time, she’d thought it all a bit ridiculous and fairly simple. But nobody had been trying to kill Sylvain then. Suddenly it wasn’t simple at all.

  Whispering to herself, she crashed through the undergrowth with her torch, searching. She found what she was looking for at the exact moment Sylvain cried out in pain – a tormented sound she felt in her bones.

  She switched off the torch.

  It took a second for her eyes to readjust then, moving stealthily, she made her way back to the footpath. The sounds of their fight grew as she neared them. Whatever had just happened, Sylvain was still on his feet.

  Seeing a hiding spot behind a young oak tree just off the path, she headed towards it. They were too absorbed in their fight to see her. She was almost in position when she skidded on a stone. As if he knew it was her, Sylvain spun towards the sound and in that split second of inattention, Gabe wrapped his forearm across his throat, tightening it with his other hand.

  Stricken, Allie stared at them from her hiding place. She knew this move well. With Gabe’s greater height and weight there was no way Sylvain could escape. She and Zoe practised it all the time – Zoe could never get free.

  All Mr Patel ever said was ‘Don’t get yourself in this position.’

  ‘An amateur’s mistake, Sylvain,’ Gabe whispered. His arm cut off the air through Sylvain’s windpipe – his face was already turning purple. His hands grasped feebly at Gabe’s arm. Without oxygen he’d be unconscious in seconds.

  Dead in minutes.

  For a fleeting second the realisation that he could actually die froze her in place. But she had to move. Now.

  This isn’t real, Allie, she told herself. It’s just Night School practice. None of this is real. Just do what you have to do. Raj Patel is watching.

  Busy taunting Sylvain, Gabe hadn’t noticed her. Maybe he hadn’t heard the noise that had caused Sylvain to lose focus in the first place.

  Gripping the slender, sharp stick she’d found in the woods, Allie steeled herself. When she sprang out from behind the tree a second later she held it like a knife and, without a second’s hesitation, she drove it with all the force she could muster into Gabe’s shoulder.

  She’d thought it would most likely scratch him and bounce off. Or break.

  But she’d chosen her weapon and her target well and, instead, horribly, the muscle and flesh gave way.

  Gabe screamed and, as he reached for the stake protruding from his skin, Allie grabbed Sylvain’s hand, pulling him free. He was bloodied and struggling to breathe, but he was alive.

  ‘You little bitch,’ Gabe gasped. ‘You stabbed me.’ Grasping the stake, he tried to pull it out then screamed again, letting go.

  ‘You little …’

  ‘Yeah I know, “bitch”,’ Allie snapped. ‘You said that already.’

  Adrenaline coursed through her veins like alcohol and she wanted to hit Gabe again and again but Sylvain was pulling her away. He was saying something she couldn’t make out – his voice was faint.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, leaning closer to him.

  Up close she could really see what Gabe had done to him, and her heart ached – he was bleeding in so many places she didn’t know where a doctor would even start. But then she heard what he’d been trying to say.

  ‘Run.’ Limping, his breath rasping, he pulled her with him, and they rushed into the darkness.

  Sylvain clung to her hand so fiercely it hurt but she didn’t care; she didn’t want to let go of him either. He knew these woods well – he seemed to know exactly where they were all the time, pausing only to wipe the blood out of his eyes. As the saplings whizzed by inches from her body and twigs tore at her hair and clothes, Allie found herself surrendering to the situation – fearless. The further they ran the better she felt. Her muscles were loose and strong – she was powerful. She had a strange desire to laugh.

  When they broke through the treeline and sped out on to the smooth grassy lawn in front of the school building she did laugh. They’d made it.

  But as they crossed the grass, a cluster of shadows broke loose from the trees and ran into their path.

  Their footsteps slowed and Allie looked around, bewildered; Sylvain pulled her closer as the shadows approached them and became people – Raj’s security guards.

  They were surrounded.

  ‘You did what?’ Raj stared at her in disbelief. ‘Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?’

  They were crowded into the school’s entrance hall; in one corner, one of Raj’s men tended to Sylvain’s wounds. Others were gathered around openly watching them argue.

  ‘Yes.’ Her voice was cold. ‘I do.’

  He was not mollified; small white lines of rage had appeared beside his mouth. ‘This is the most irresponsible thing I can imagine any student doing. You could have died. Sylvain could have died.’

  ‘But we’re alive.’ An errant sense of pride made her stand taller. ‘And I want to say right now, this was
all my fault. I made Sylvain come with me. He tried to stop me.’

  ‘Sylvain,’ Isabelle’s voice rang out from the doorway where she stood like an angel of vengeance in a white dressing gown, her hair flowing loose over her shoulders, ‘will take responsibility for his own actions. Raj, Allie, in my office now.’ She pointed at the medic helping Sylvain. ‘Take him to the infirmary.’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Sylvain struggled to his feet with obvious effort. ‘I’m coming with you.’

  ‘The infirmary.’ Fury crackled in Isabelle’s voice.

  But he didn’t back down. ‘I’m coming with Allie,’ his words were slurred, as if he spoke through a mouthful of ice, ‘Isabelle.’

  When he said the headmistress’ name it sounded like a threat. Or a reminder. Puzzled, Allie’s gaze moved back and forth between them.

  Closing her eyes, Isabelle took a calming breath. ‘I’d really rather you didn’t haemorrhage in my office. Please do me that favour.’ She snapped her fingers at the medic. ‘Give him a towel. Then you three, with me.’

  With Isabelle in the lead they walked down the hall, Sylvain limping beside Allie, and Raj Patel making up the rear guard.

  In case we try to flee, Allie thought.

  Inside her office, Isabelle handed them bottles of water. Allie poured hers on to the towel and gently dabbed Sylvain’s wounds. Most appeared superficial, but his face was swelling alarmingly; she wondered if Gabe had broken his jaw.

  All the while he sat still, stoic. As if the pain didn’t matter. Then suddenly he looked up and their eyes met. Allie’s hand stilled as the enormity of what had happened hit her. He’d nearly died for her tonight. Again.

  She searched his eyes as if she could find the answer she sought there.

  Why? Why would you risk your life for me?

  ‘Sylvain, you will see the doctor when you leave this room or as God is my witness I will put you on the next plane to France.’ Isabelle’s angry voice jerked Allie back to reality. She turned to Mr Patel. ‘What do we know?’

  ‘On-the-ground shift change was at midnight tonight – two members of incoming staff received messages from my phone telling them they weren’t needed.’ His tone was brisk and businesslike. ‘They followed protocol – alerting me via our alternative messaging network. That’s how we knew something was planned for tonight. We trebled our staff and we are certain Nathaniel’s people got nowhere near the building.’

  ‘Have you identified how many of his people were on the grounds?’ Isabelle asked.

  ‘We know of three.’

  Three. There was another. Allie tried not to think about what would have happened to Sylvain if the third person had stopped her from stabbing Gabe.

  ‘Where are they now?’

  Mr Patel cleared his throat. ‘My team believe they’ve left the grounds but I’m not convinced. The building is surrounded by my guards, and there are four inside the building patrolling.’

  ‘So we don’t know where they are.’ Her tone was unforgiving. ‘Allie.’ When the headmistress turned to face her, Allie could see that she was pale and her skin was tight across her sharp cheekbones. ‘Tell me what happened.’

  Talking quickly, Allie explained the letter, the meeting, everything Christopher had told her about Nathaniel and somebody working ‘on the inside’. She told her what he’d said about everything except Isabelle herself – she couldn’t bring herself to say that right now.

  As she spoke, Isabelle’s face changed. Colour flowed into her cheeks and her golden brown eyes glittered with rage. She and Raj Patel exchanged a look heavy with meaning.

  ‘I am so angry with you two right now …’ She rubbed a hand across her forehead as if to clear her thoughts. ‘We will talk later about the way you both broke The Rules. And the chances you took, especially you Sylvain.’ She fired a glare at him. ‘You more than anyone should know better. I’m putting it off until then because I do not trust myself right now not to expel you both for this. Dammit!’ She slapped one hand down on the desk with a bang. ‘You put yourselves and the school in danger,’ Isabelle said. ‘And you both know better.’

  For a long moment, she gazed over Allie’s head at the tapestry of a knight and maiden that took up one whole wall. When Allie tried to speak she raised a hand in a warning.

  ‘Not one word,’ she snapped.

  For what seemed like a very long time they all sat still. The only sounds were the occasional creak of an old beam settling and their breathing.

  ‘OK.’ Isabelle’s voice had returned to normal. ‘Allie, you broke every rule I hold dear and you betrayed my trust. You are on very thin ice right now. Sylvain …’

  The anger in her eyes was so raw Allie felt a wave of fear for him.

  ‘I will need you to debrief the others about what you’ve learned. I’ll set up a meeting in the usual place for first thing tomorrow – that’s presuming you are able to attend.’ Their eyes locked as she added, ‘You’ll be lucky if Jerry Cole doesn’t try to have you expelled from Night School. But you knew that.’

  ‘What? You can’t throw Sylvain out,’ Allie protested, sliding forward in her chair. ‘I made him …’

  ‘That is no excuse for somebody as experienced as Sylvain to do what he did tonight.’ There was no sympathy in Isabelle’s voice, only resignation. ‘He risked both of your lives. He knows The Rules better than anybody here. He knew what punishment he would face if he did this.’

  Shocked, Allie turned to Sylvain, but he was watching Isabelle through swollen eyes.

  He went with me, knowing he could lose everything? Guilt and confusion did battle in her mind.

  ‘I think it’s best if you don’t go to that briefing, Allie,’ Isabelle continued. ‘Zelazny will have to be talked out of expelling you. If you’re there it will be worse. I’ll send for you later.’

  ‘I want to be involved,’ Allie said, sitting up straight. ‘Whatever happens next. I want to help.’

  ‘I rather think that you needn’t worry about that,’ Isabelle said icily. ‘At this point you’re in it up to your eyebrows whether you like it or not.’

  TWENTY

  ‘Are you OK? You really should go and see the nurse.’ As they stood in the hallway near Isabelle’s office, Allie studied Sylvain’s battered face worriedly. He’d stopped bleeding, but one eye was swollen shut, and his jaw was so bruised his mouth barely worked.

  ‘I will.’ His good eye blinked at her.

  ‘How’s your …’ She gestured at her neck.

  He gave a weak shrug, and then winced. ‘Fine, I think.’

  Talking seemed to hurt him and, as they stood in awkward silence, Allie could think of a thousand things she wanted to say but she didn’t know how to say them. Or whether if she did it would convey what she really felt.

  And what did she feel anyway?

  Thank you for nearly dying for me. Thank you for risking everything for me. Thank you for being there for me. What are we going to do now?

  Instead she said, ‘Do you want me to come with you? Do you need help?’

  ‘I’d rather do it,’ he said painfully, ‘myself.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Well,’ he said after a long pause. ‘Bye.’

  As he turned in the direction of the infirmary, her hands curled into fists so tight her nails dug crescents into her palms. Was she really going to let him just walk away after all that happened tonight without saying anything? He’d nearly died for her. She’d nearly killed someone for him.

  What’s happening here?

  ‘Sylvain!’

  Her tone was sharp and, creakily, he turned to look at her.

  ‘Thank you.’ Frustrated by her own inability to say what she meant, or even to know what she meant, she held her hands up helplessly.

  For a brief second his battered gaze held hers. Then his swollen lips tried to curve upwards.

  ‘Any time.’

  The sound of footsteps and voices in the hallway woke Allie late the next morning. For a brief moment
she didn’t know where she was and she sat up in a panic.

  She was in her own room, her own bed.

  After watching Sylvain make his way to the infirmary last night, she’d trudged up to her room and tumbled into bed, stopping only long enough to strip off her dirty clothes and pull on a T-shirt. She’d been sure she’d never fall asleep, but exhaustion had taken over so quickly she hadn’t even dreamed about Christopher.

  Christopher.

  Now bright sunlight flooded the room, and she pushed her tangled hair out of her eyes so she could see the alarm clock.

  Nine o’clock.

  Jumping to her feet, she grabbed a towel and hurried down to the bathroom, not even seeing the girls she passed in their uniforms, who glanced at her curiously.

  After rushing through a shower, she threw on a clean uniform and clattered down the stairs; a worry headache had already begun to throb. She had to know what had happened while she slept. Had Sylvain been expelled? Had they found Christopher or Gabe?

  And Carter … At the thought she skidded to a stop.

  She had to find Carter before he learned what had happened last night. Either way he was going to be so angry when he found out she’d gone with Sylvain.

  Her stomach contorted and she grabbed it with one hand. When was the last time she’d actually eaten? Not yesterday. Maybe the day before?

  Isabelle’s office was her first stop, but it was empty, the lights turned off. The common room was busy, but nobody she recognised was there.

  She was halfway to the library when she spotted Jules walking towards her.

  ‘Hey, Jules, do you know where Carter …’ she started, but her voice trailed off when she saw the anger in her eyes.

  ‘Allie, what the hell were you thinking?’

  ‘I—’ she tried, but Jules cut her off.

  ‘I’ve just been given a vicious bollocking by Isabelle. She says you sneaked out last night and met your brother and Gabe,’ Jules hissed, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. ‘All the senior Night School students have been called into a strategy meeting about what to do next. Frankly, I can’t believe you haven’t been expelled yet.’