“Krecher told us in class that all the aliens he takes out are completely under his control and act like pets. I wouldn’t consider whatever that was to be “pet” material,” Finley replied.
“My brother Charlie did tell me that other aliens sometimes visit the school,” Emily said. “Apparently, only the older years get to learn about them because the younger pupils get frightened. Do you think it could be one of those?”
“I think the best thing to do is go to Krecher tomorrow and ask him directly,” Will concluded.
“Won’t we get in trouble?” Finley frowned. “We were out after curfew. I fought so hard to get into this school, I don’t want to risk losing my place.”
“I trust Krecher,” Will assured him. “Besides we have to tell someone. In case, you know, something bad happens….”
They all shuddered.
“Can we stay here tonight?” Lois pleaded. “I can’t go back to my room on my own, I’ll be up all night terrified.”
“Of course,” Finley replied, before anyone could argue. “After all, we’re all in this together now.” He looked pointedly at Emily, who crossed her arms and frowned.
Lois sunk down onto Will’s bed, attempting to calm her heart rate as the shock began to settle in. Finley came to sit beside her, looking equally traumatised. They said nothing for a moment, the intensity of what they had witnessed rendering them speechless.
“Thank you,” Lois said, once she had found the ability to speak.
“For what?” he asked her.
“For sticking up for me, just then.”
“That’s okay,” Finley shrugged. “I know none of this has anything to do with you.”
“How?” Lois asked him curiously. “You don’t know me at all.”
“I know you’re not like the other Floor One students,” he told her. “You’re different… in a good way.”
He smiled at her shyly and she grinned back, the two of them beaming at each other until they were interrupted by Will and Emily coming over and presenting them with a cup of tea. The four of them sat and sipped quietly, their eyes beginning to glaze and redden with tiredness.
“Maybe we should try and sleep,” Will said with a yawn. “You three could take the sofas, they’re quite comfortable.”
Lois, Emily and Finley trudged over to the chairs, taking one each to settle on for the night. As she lay in the dark, Lois’ eyelids began to grow heavy until she had no choice but to close them, losing her internal battle to stay awake in case the creature should return.
What felt like a few second later, she awoke to the sound of Will’s alarm ringing out across the room. She rolled over and sat up groggily, trying to focus on her surroundings through the pain in her head.
“What time do you call this?” Emily grumbled, shoving the pillow over her ears to block out the noise.
“Sorry,” Will croaked from the bed. “I set my alarm early so you could get back to your rooms before Ms. Everly does the morning rounds.”
“Shall we go and find Krecher?” Finley asked as he got up, his hair sticking out on end after a night of tossing and turning. Before any of them could respond, their Personal Devices bleeped loudly to signal they had a message.
“Admiral Allance will be holding an emergency assembly before breakfast,” Will read out loud. “All students must get dressed and report to the Gathering Hall immediately.”
They stared at each other, completely perplexed.
“Do you think this has to do with last night?” Finley asked nervously.
“I don’t know,” Will grimaced. “We’d better just get dressed and go down.”
Lois raced to her room and pulled her uniform on, dressing in record time before hurrying down to the foyer to meet the others. Side by side, they walked to the main school building and traipsed into the Gathering Hall, taking a seat in the front row. They waited impatiently as the rest of the students filed in, rubbing their eyes and ignoring the grumbling of their stomachs as they found their seats. Lois’ heart sank when she saw Florence, Penelope, Alasdair and the rest of the Floor One clique striding in, staring at her with astonishment when they saw who she was sat beside.
“Lois?” Florence said as she approached her. “What are you doing? Come and sit with us.”
“No, that’s okay,” Lois replied, her face flushing beetroot.
“What’s going on?” Alasdair asked, coming to stand beside Florence.
“Lois seems to have lost her mind,” Florence told him.
“Don’t tell me she’s actually sitting there by choice,” Alasdair said incredulously.
“Yes, I am,” Lois told him calmly.
“Explain yourself,” he demanded, looking from Will to Finley with disgust.
“I don’t have to explain myself,” she said firmly. “I just want to sit here.”
For the first time since she had known them, Florence and Alasdair were completely speechless.
“I don’t know what’s happened to you and Will,” Alasdair sniffed as he regained himself. “Mixing with such filth is beneath people like us.”
“Give it a rest, Alasdair,” Will sighed. “There’s no law that says you can’t be friends with anyone from a different floor.”
“There should be,” he replied.
“Goodbye, Florence and Alasdair,” Lois said pointedly, and the two of them sauntered off, deeply offended.
“I’m so sorry about that,” Lois said as soon as they were gone. “I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay,” Finley re-assured her. “It isn’t your fault.”
“Seems like you might have lost your friends though,” Emily frowned.
“Don’t worry about it Lois,” Will grinned. “Between the Floor One gang and Rudy I’ve got more enemies than friends in this place.”
“Quality over quantity,” Emily smiled.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash as the rear door in the hall bounced open and Admiral Allance strode in, taking his place on the stage with a series of heavy footsteps. He turned to address his audience with a sombre expression, his thick, silvery eyebrows knitted together with anger. His mouth was set into a deeper frown than usual and his body was stiff. Nobody in the hall dared to breathe as they awaited his speech.
“It has come to my attention,” he boomed, “that there was a serious case of vandalism in the first-year dormitory last night.”
Lois, Finley, Will and Emily gaped at each other in shock.
“This morning it was reported to me by Ms. Everly that there had been significant damage to one of the doors, as well as one of the light fixtures on the top floor. The power in the building had also been tampered with overnight. This is entirely unacceptable.”
He paused to stare with fury at the faces of his pupils, his eyes seeming to accuse each one individually as being the perpetrator of the act.
“All students know that they must not leave their bedrooms after curfew, which is ten o’clock sharp. The fact that there are no surveillance cameras in any of your dormitories is a privilege, giving you the privacy and respect we here at the school thought you deserved. This trust and act of good will has been betrayed and in hindsight of the incident, myself and the school board will now be reviewing whether to install camera systems in the hallways.
“I am sorely disappointed that any student here at the Academy would be capable of disregarding our rules in such a manner and must emphasise that any student found to have been out of bed last night will be expelled immediately without trial.”
Lois shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her heart racing at a million miles a minute. She tried her best to act normal, frightened that the look of guilt on her face would betray her.
“I would also urge my staff to report any information that they have to me immediately. Needless to say, it would be more than your job’s worth to conceal any knowledge of students wandering the grounds after curfew from me.”
Admiral Allance finished his speech and stor
med from the stage, his fury lingering in the hall for several moments following his departure. After a minute, the students stood up and began to leave the hall, the chatter amongst them building from a whisper to a roar as they speculated the previous night’s events amongst themselves.
Using the cover of the crowd, Lois, Will, Finley and Emily got up and exited the hall, speaking just loud enough for each other to hear.
“I suppose going to Krecher is no longer an option?” Finley asked Will once they had reached the Reception Hall.
“We can’t go to him now,” Will sighed. “I don’t want to be responsible for him getting sacked.”
“What are we going to do then?” Emily fretted. “That thing could still be out there.”
“If they’re adding more cameras across the grounds they might catch it themselves,” Finley suggested hopefully. “We might never have to say anything to anyone.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Lois announced, struck by a sudden moment of inspiration.
“Go on…” Will urged her.
“Well it’s Hallowed Eve soon isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah…” Will replied uncertainly.
“My dad has a database in his office. It’s got a list of every single alien that’s ever been found by humans on it. If you all come over in the holidays, we can use it to find out what that thing is and whether it’s dangerous. Once we know what we’re dealing with, we can decide what to do,” Lois suggested.
“It does make sense,” Finley said.
“I don’t see what other option we have,” Lois replied. “As scary as that creature was, I don’t want to be expelled.”
“Me neither,” Emily agreed. “My dad would kill me.”
“Okay it’s a plan then. We’ll all meet at Lois’ the day after Hallowed Eve. The Captain should be back at work by then, right?” Will asked Lois.
“Yeah, he has to resume his duty immediately,” Lois replied.
“Well then, it’s agreed. In the mean-time, we all need to watch our backs,” Will added.
“And definitely stay in our bedrooms after curfew,” Emily concurred.
“What if we see that thing again?” Finley expressed with concern. “What do we do then?”
“We run” Will said. “As fast as we can.”
12.
The Dreaded Conversation
It was the first day of the school holidays and Elsie was waiting on the platform. Impatience bubbled inside her as she leant from side to side, desperate to catch a glimpse of her son. It had been several minutes since the Shuttle had docked, clanking loudly as it landed in the loading deck. She could hardly wait to see Will, who she was sure would have grown several inches since he left for school, and had spent the past few days making special preparations for his return. The fridge had been stocked with his favourite food, his bed had been stripped and freshly made and she had insisted that a reluctant Derek clean the entire apartment from top to bottom to ensure that everything was perfect when he came home. The anticipation of the moment had grown significantly with each passing day and knowing it was now only minutes away, she could hardly contain her excitement.
After what felt like an eternity, she caught sight of Will disembarking from the Shuttle with a pretty-looking brunette girl and a slightly dishevelled, mousy boy. They stood in a huddle a few centimetres from the door, talking intensely amongst themselves. After a moment, they were joined by Alfie’s daughter Lois, who exchanged a few words with them before nodding her goodbyes. Elsie watched as Will patted the scruffy boy on the shoulder and gave the brown-haired girl an awkward hug, waving sadly to them as he strolled away, his eyes now searching the platform for his mother. She waved and rushed forwards, making her presence known to him and they came together in a warm hug, Elsie relishing the feeling of having her child in her arms once again.
“Hi Mum,” he said once they had pulled away from each other, grinning nonchalantly as if they had only been apart for a few days.
“Hello darling,” she replied. “Derek’s bringing your luggage.”
They walked side by side, manoeuvring their way through the crowd until they had safely made their way out of the platform, Derek trailing behind them with Will’s bags.
“I’ve cleared my schedule for the day,” Elsie told him. “I thought we could head into the lobby and get some lunch. You can tell me all about your first term.”
“Will your clients be alright without you?” Will asked with concern. “I thought Hallowed Eve was a hard time for them.”
“Yes, it can be,” Elsie replied. “They’ve had a hard time adjusting after Earth, so naturally the celebration of The Split brings out some difficult emotions. It’s been even harder for them since the Captain imposed a new law that Forgottens can no longer be mentioned by name. His intention was to try and stop people dwelling on the past, but it seems to have had the adverse effect. Still, I’m sure they’ll be fine for one day. You’re more important!”
Will smiled but said no more on the subject. They walked along in silence, travelling down the hallway outside the platform until they eventually reached the lift, squeezing themselves in amongst the other passengers. After zooming across the Mayfly to various locations at stomach-wrenching speed, they reached the lobby and disembarked, Elsie desperately trying to regain the feeling in her legs.
The lobby had been decorated for Hallowed Eve, with replicas of multicoloured planets and glittering paper rockets hanging from every available hook and high place. Luminous stars were stuck in shop windows, glowing invitingly from behind the glass as they passed by. Most disturbing of all the festive décor were the images of a dead Earth, traditionally handmade by the children of the Mayfly. They depicted the planet devastated by fire, with plumes of paper smoke stuck to poorly cut-out circles that had been clumsily coloured in shades of green and blue.
Without having to communicate, Elsie and Will made a simultaneous beeline for "Joe's", the coffee shop they habitually visited every time they came into the lobby. Will found them a table by the window and sat down while Elsie went over to the drinks machine and got them each a hot chocolate with extra cream. A familiar twinge of guilt knotted in her stomach as she paid for the drinks with a touch of her finger, electronically transferring a small amount of her unlimited credits to the business owner’s account. She had tried to protest Alfie giving her access to such wealth but he had refused to hear it, insisting that she and Will should have everything they need.
She returned to the table and sat opposite from Will, handing him his drink carefully and watching as he drank his first sips, the cream leaving a small moustache above his upper lip. She smiled as he hastily wiped it away on the back of his sleeve, suddenly able to see him as his younger self.
“Would you like a slice of carrot cake?” she asked him, bringing up the interactive menu on the table top. “It was always your favourite.”
“I’m okay, thank you Mum,” he replied.
“So, tell me everything then,” she beamed. “I want to hear every detail about what you’ve been up to at school.”
She listened intently as Will launched into an enthusiastic explanation of his first term, describing the school grounds, his dormitory and his lessons in vivid detail. When she probed him about his teachers he paused, his face clouding over as though suddenly remembering something unpleasant.
“I have Mr. Krecher for Alien Studies,” he replied darkly. “He’s my favourite teacher. Was he yours too? When you were at College?”
For a second she was rendered speechless, the shock of being confronted by a past she had thought long buried blocking her ability to speak. Quickly, she regained control, fixing her face into a placid smile.
“Yes,” she said. “He was my favourite. I didn’t realise he was teaching at The Academy now. I had heard he was on the Mayfly but we never crossed paths.”
Will nodded slowly. She could see from his expression that he knew there was more to the story than he was being told, but he didn
’t press her any further. She decided to seize the opportunity to change the subject.
“What about your friends?” she asked him. “I saw you getting off the train with a boy and a girl.”
“Yeah that’s Finley and Emily,” he smiled. “Finley’s the one I rescued at the start of term.”
“You were very brave to go after him,” Elsie praised him. “But also very foolish. That entire situation could have ended very differently if you hadn’t been so lucky.”
“If I hadn’t have gone after him, he’d probably be dead. Anyone with any decency would have done the same,” Will shrugged.
“What about Spencer and the others?” Elsie asked, taking a sip from her drink. “How are they doing?”
“I don’t really speak to them anymore,” Will mumbled. “We kind of drifted apart.”
Elsie was sure Will expected her to admonish him for no longer talking to his former friends, but she didn’t. In fact, she was secretly pleased that he had distanced himself from them. She had always known he wasn’t much like them and was proud of the fact.
“And Lois?” Elsie continued. “I saw you with her on the platform too.”
“I suppose we’re friends now, yeah,” Will confirmed, seeming surprised by his own revelation.
Satisfied with the information she had garnered from him, Elsie said no more and the two of them finished their drinks and left Joe’s, wandering about the shops. They left the lobby with several new purchases under their belt and took the lift to Floor One, arriving home just as Derek was laying the table for dinner. She had insisted on preparing the meal herself that evening and had made macaroni cheese- Will’s favourite- asking Derek to put it in the oven just in time for their return.
The two of them sat down to eat, Elsie sipping wine as she filled her stomach with the sumptuous meal. Will seemed to become more relaxed with each passing second, and was growing more animated, sharing tales about “Beaky”, the pet alien he had been assigned to look after in Krecher’s class and boasting about being the first person in his Resources lessons to successfully set a fire. She leant her head on her hand and listened as he described Finley’s kindness and told her with laughter about Emily’s fiery temper and quick wit. She knew by the fondness in his voice when he spoke of them that he was experiencing the same captivation she had felt at College upon finally discovering people she truly connected with.
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