The Conspiracy Theory of June 17

by Alessia Holmes

  "CSS was founded by Lucy Moo. She named it after her primary school. I guess that answers your first two questions, Alessia." She looks over to me quite blankly.

  I stare at her in awe. Drew's chuckling behind me. Amelia's smirking, but looking away. The only people who are not smiling, or chuckling, are Jessie and Jada, who are mirroring my expression.

  "Sorry, won't do that again. I know thoughts are private."

  She can read minds?!?

  "Yes," she replies. "More or less. But we'll yet back to that later. Let's just get back to the story."

  And so, she continues, quite normally of course. I try to ignore the fact that my English teacher just told me she can read my mind and concentrate. "Where was I? Oh yes, Lucy. She had this dream, kind of like you guys, all strange and nonsensical. She told her mother Amanda about it. You see, Lucy and her mother, well, they're from the future. Well, they were, until they fled to the 'past' or our time, scared of what was happening over there. They forgot all about it, shut out every last memory until it was like those times never happened. But just when Amanda thought she could let go of her past, Lucy had this dream. Everyone with me so far?"

  We all quickly nod, not wanting her to stop, not even the three of us, who were wondering how time machines existed right under our noses, and of course, how in the world mind reading was possible.

  "She had this dream, and many more dreams after that. They didn't mean much to Lucy, but they were quite confronting for Amanda because they started to remind her of those times in the future. They were quite distressing, especially for a little girl like Lucy. In an attempt to stop them, she and her daughter got together and started to methodically make something out of it – like what you three did-" she pointed to us, "-from what Drew's told me."

  I don't think we tried to make sense of the dream and base theories of it, but I don't contradict her.

  Mrs Renee stops, and paces in front of us. "It escalated to this. Adding me, Drew and Amelia, who all have connections to this that I'll get to in a moment. We believe that whatever happened – whatever caused Amanda and her daughter to flee is still happening, but it's getting worse, and sooner or later, it’s going to affect us here. That’s why the dreams keep coming to Lucy. To make this sort of claim though, we need a solid theory. Evidence or proof." At this point she stops, and leans against her desk, coffee mug in hand. She stares past us at the back wall.

  "Amanda hasn't succeeded in getting a solid theory yet. But your dream – your dream could be the key to making a good theory. Or at the very least, your theory – that one you made in maths class – could help us figure out how it all involves us."

  "How does it involve us?" This time, Amelia is talking, and her voice is louder than I've ever heard it be before. "It's because I believe that I am wanted by these people in the future."

  We all gasp, except for Mrs Renee, who just stares at Amelia.

  "Yes, we've figured out that there's something truly evil going on, and they have probably noticed that we're trying to figure out what it is and mistaken it for a plan to stop it all." She smirks. "Well, Amanda and I thought – well, if they think we're going to stop them, why not let that be our goal?"

  Uh, because it might be dangerous? I want to add, but I'm intrigued, and feel sort of proud. My brave English teacher, and classmates, deciding they want to stop something so ominously dangerous...

  "That's confirmed by Amanda and Amelia too, who dreams of being kidnapped every odd night. And adding to that, - Drew has told me what you guys saw in your dream, students tied up and your Maths teacher wanting help?" We nod tentatively, scared of what she might propose.

  "So this means,"

  "They are in danger. Or, going to be in danger." Jessie breathes, and even though it's quiet everyone seems to hear it loud and clear.

  "But why they want these people, we don't know. What they might want to do with them, we don't know. How they're going to be transported to the future – assuming they are still working in the future, and not here – we don't know. So many variables, and we have," she sighs, "no intentions, no idea of the plan, why they seem to target people at THIS school...nothing." Mrs Renee has lost some of the cool confidence in her voice, and it's replaced with worry.

  "You see girls," she continues, and as she does, she turns to look at us directly. "Basically, you are our only hope right now."

  Right as the last word escapes her lips there is a loud crash, synonymous to the sound of a door being knocked over. Then, a yell.

  "HOLD IT!" A man's voice shouts from the direction of the door, and in seconds we're all on our feet. I shake my head – no, this is not one of my crazy dreams, though now, as I look at the man at the door, I wish it was.

  As I take a longer look, I notice that there is, in fact, a man, large and bulky, standing in the doorway of our English classroom. I would've mistaken him for a police officer if it hadn't been for the all-black ensemble, the burglary cap that covered his face leaving only slits for eyes and the mouth, and what seemed like a gun in his hands. To our horror, two other seemingly identical men follow him inside.

  I want to look at my friends, yell at Mrs Renee, study the expressions of Amelia, Shayleigh and Drew, but I don't dare move. I realise I don't have to – I can sense we're all stationary, frozen in our spots, not daring to make a sound.

  No one does for a while. The room is dangerously quiet, the only sound being the blood rushing to my brain in trepidation.

  Should we be scared? Or are these...I don't know, some guests?

  I can hear footsteps...silent, steady ones...but I can't seem to figure out who they're without moving my head. Then I realise Drew was behind me this entire time.

  For a split second more, the whole room is still.

  Then, total chaos erupts.

  The guy at the front jumps out towards me, and I'm not ready for it, at all. My eyes widen and I get ready to move, but another force from my left pushes me and I slam onto the ground, unharmed. I scramble to my feet and run towards a corner. As I run my eyes across the classroom, I see everyone else is in a corner except for Amelia, who must've been the one who pushed me out of the way. She finally moves, but too late – one of the men grab her foot and she trips, falls, and he drags her backwards.

  I want to scream, but instead I use the sudden burst of energy to run towards her. Quickly realising it's a terrible idea, I jump back, but then I notice Mrs Renee running towards a desk, chair in hand. I run over towards Amelia again, distracting the man in front of me. The last thing I see is his mouth opening to yell, before he is suddenly muted, freezes, and slams onto the ground unconscious.

  There's no time to thank Mrs Renee for saving me because the second man is onto her. The gun in his clammy hands is poised to hit everything in its sight, but he’s not once shooting. The other man is approaching the rest of us in a similar fashion, so, we all take a page out of Mrs Renee's book and each grab a chair.

  The next few seconds flash before my eyes. We're putting up a good fight, that's for sure, whacking everything in our sights, but so are they, and they are showing no signs of weakness. But – why? Is the school under attack? Is anyone else hearing the commotion coming from the third level of A block? Or does this just concern us, is this because of the cons-

  But I don't even get time to think for too long because a booming voice shakes the room,

  "NOBODY MOVE!"

  We all look to see the guy, the one who stepped in first, the one who was knocked unconscious first, awake, alive. One hand is clasped around Jada's forearm, who looks like she's about to yell.

  He's holding his gun differently now.

  He's pointing it at Jada.

  The blood that was pounding through my veins is now frozen. Coldness runs over me, a more sinister fear, the fear of losing one of my best friends...I don't dare move.

  The rest of us stare, stare at him and I can feel their hearts pounding too, their minds whirring, their muscles screaming. Mrs Renee opens
her mouth to speak but closes it again. The man only chuckles, and his gun clicks.

  My heart is banging against my ribcage, and I rack my brain for ideas. But then, I sense some movement again...and this time out if the corner of my eye I can see something moving.

  It's Drew, I realise. He's moving across the back wall, and now he's almost at one of the corners, in plain view of the man facing us.

  But he doesn't seem to notice, or care. I count this a small miracle. He's watching – no, glaring, at Mrs Renee, unblinking, something wild flickering in his eyes. She's glaring back. It's almost as if, they're having a telepathic argument.

  What on earth...?

  I don't dare breathe and count ourselves lucky for this silent conversation. In my head I'm edging Drew on, silently praying that whatever he's doing will get us out of here alive.

  Jada is still and her eyes are closed. No one is daring to move or make a sound, not even Mrs Renee. For a couple of minutes, we're all waiting for something to happen. For the man to do something. To break his eye contact with Mrs Renee and jump on all of us again. To escort us out, using Jada's life as bait. Or for Mrs Renee to fight back. The sudden stationary silence is too uncomfortable, and I fight the urge to break it. I want to scream (for the third time today), to run out and snatch the gun of his hands, to lunge at Jada, anything!

  This is when I remember Drew's plan, or whatever it is he's trying to do. He's now – I suck in a gasp – inches away from Jada and the man, right next to them.

  He stops, and his hand is stretching towards the doorway, slowly and steadily. Like the rest of us, he's watching the man but from a different angle, not daring to make the slightest sound.

  What ARE you doing, Drew?

  The man's arm relaxes, and he finally breaks eye contact with Mrs Renee. She breathes out heavily and pants, as if she was holding her breath for a very long time.

  Before anyone can react, a rage filled yell fills the classroom and Jada screams.

  The scream throws Drew off and he fumbles, and in a desperate attempt to escape, runs out of the classroom. At the same time, as the man is distracted, Jada kicks the man in the knee and scrambles towards us.

  Jessie grabs Jada and pulls her towards us, but we are still staring at the doorway that Drew just ran through, followed by the man with the gun who yelled and ran after him.

  We stay in that position for way too long, before the reality of the situation really hits us – Drew is being chased by an armed madman.

  After almost twenty minutes of not speaking, she finally breaks her silence. "Alright girls, you stay here." Mrs Renee edges towards the door, her voice raspier than usual. "I'll see what I can do." Stunned and terrified, we just nod our heads in agreement. It's now that I realise, all five of us are clutching each other's arms, me right in the middle of the arrangement.

  Almost as soon as Mrs Renee walks through the doorway, she disappears. Just like that, like the door half an hour ago. No one seems bothered by this – to be honest, I think this is the least frightening thing we'd seen today.

  I gulp and close my eyes just for a moment and open them again to reveal the wreckage in our English classroom. Chairs and tables are strewn all over the floors, mostly stacked at the edges. As I take a deep breath in, observing the scene and watching the girl's horrified faces and messy hair, the reality of the situation hits me. We just fought three armed men, who are not yet dead and still in our vicinity. One of them is chasing Drew. One of my best friends could’ve just died – actually, we all could've died. And all because of this conspiracy – or, maybe not? Maybe this is just a terrorist attack on our school? But, with all the disappearing doors and imaginary time concepts, and evil people from the future, that just doesn't seem like a good enough explanation right now.

  "What do we do now?" says Jessie, her voice wavering. As soon as she does, noises are be heard from downstairs, and she goes quiet again. There are sounds of banging, clanging, of things smashing to the ground. Even though it's faint, my heart is pounding again, the fear rising in me.

  Then, the ground shakes and there's the sound of footsteps, the sounds of someone, or some people, clambering up the stairs. Instinctively we fall back, not knowing who to expect.

  With every thump on the stairs, Jessie is clutching my wrist harder and harder. The sound of blood rushing to my brain obscures my hearing and I have nothing more to do or say. Unblinkingly we stare at the doorway, until the figure of Drew emerges, followed by the black figure who had chased him down in the first place. It's not until Amelia gasps and Jada makes a strangled noise that I notice Drew's leg...or what's left of it, anyway...

  For a moment I freeze, but that moment passes, and I run. I run, and run, and run, but it's like walking through thick mud because my legs are slowing down. I look around me, and everything is slowing down, like we're part of some dramatic slow-motion sequence on TV. I don't let this faze me and continue, run and run until I can't no more, until my limbs feel like lead, and I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

  I fall, and everything goes black and silent.

  ∞

  When I finally wake, I'm no longer in the classroom.

  Am I dead?

  Memories come rushing back and I wonder if what happened in the English classroom was all but a dream. I'm lying on the floor, the cold, dark floor, on my chest, somewhere very dark. When I clamber on my feet, I notice that I'm wearing my school uniform, and it's all creased just like it should be, and there is no bed or carpet to be made out. So, not in my bedroom...where am I?

  Looking around more carefully, I blink and wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, before turning and looking around more carefully. Everywhere I look, there are walls, but no corners. It's completely dark, except for some light that peeking through little cracks in the wall - well, that's what it seems like anyway. I move forward, to touch the walls, as if they would hold the answers, when I notice. The gaps, they're straight lines. They're lining doorframes.

  The sudden realisation hits me that I'm surrounded by closed doors. When I look up, there are more doors, except these one's are moving around. Or am I? Now that I'm looking up, it seems like I'm in some sort of spinning tower lined with what seems like doors, not windows because they only have three sides.

  Feeling lost, and confused, and slightly crazy, the only thing that makes sense is to pull open one of the doors. I pick the one in front of me. I pray that beyond it there is in fact, a way out, then take a deep breath, close my eyes, and turn and pull the nob.

  I don't even get the chance to step through it. Next thing I know, there's light everywhere.

  I open my eyes, and it takes a couple of blinks for me to recognise the familiar corridor. I'm in front of my maths classroom. Next to the door stands three people – Jessie, Damon and Flynn.

  I stare at all three for a while, not really caring if I'm dreaming or if this is the reality.

  Flynn chuckles. "Took you long enough. You now, officially, owe us one."

  5.

  "Wow, you never really know a person...do you?"

  Forgive me. I'm still recovering, and that means I'm saying stupid things to make myself feel better. It's been more than 10 minutes and Jessie and I are still here. Still staring at the two (previously) supposedly ordinary guys who are telling us that Drew, along with the rest of us, were saved by them, from forces we all don't know about but yes, have something to do with the 'conspiracy'. And what do you know? They know all about it too.

  It's going to be maths in a few minutes. I must admit, Friday's are always a little bit crazy, and maths with Mrs Mitzeegh on a Friday afternoon is never a bore. But THIS? I'm having to constantly remind myself that this is real, all of it, and I am not just going mad.

  "So," Damon continues. "Basically, Flynn and I used out powers together and transported everyone to that room - the 'room of doors'."

  "Wow, what a beautiful original name," Jessie smirks. I think maybe sarcasm is Jessie's way of dealing with shock
.

  Flynn rolls his eyes and Damon ignores her. "Behind each door is a set time and place. We just made it so each door leads to a different time and place in today. So, you guys picked the same door-

  "What a coinci-"

  I shush Jessie and nod for Damon to continue. "Yep, and you both ended up here - 12:17 pm, outside the Maths classroom. I suppose, all the other people chose a door that lead to a different place. What did we make again, Flynn? Like this morning, in front of the Science block, 3 minutes before class..."

  Flynn shrugs. Jessie and I both can't help but stare at Damon, as if he's the crazy one now.

  He blinks slowly and takes a deep breath. "So, Shayleigh chose the door leading to her fourth period class, at 1:36 pm, so she's not here yet, and Amelia..."