I was unsure how to proceed.
She was tied to a chair, which was obviously a major fucking problem, but there were two larger issues at hand.
Who put her here? And where were they?
I could see another door on the opposite wall, but it was impossible to tell where it went or if anyone was on the other side because of how dark it was over there.
“What are you waiting for? Go get her.”
“Wait!”
He pressed down on the door handle before I could stop him. His thoughtless action triggered something, causing a crackling sound to erupt from a loudspeaker above us. When the fizzle cleared the girl’s voice from the recorder took its place.
“I’m so glad we get to play again, but let’s not waste a single second on reminiscing. I’ll count to ten and then we’ll get started. Be quick and cautious, seek out the master. If the clock runs out, their lives become ours.”
The recording cut and the same girl continued to speak, now counting backwards in an overly cheerful tone.
“Dammit!” I slammed my hand against the door and took a step back, running my stinging palm across my brow.
“The fuck was that? A riddle?”
I didn’t have time to explain this to him. I knew better than to wait around and see if threats were bluffs. My mind was already racing to decipher what the master could be. Or who.
“Zero,” the voice happily chirped.
There was a flash, and then a timer appeared on the projection screen.
Ten minutes?
Fuck.
The seconds were already ticking away.
Mel looked over at the counter, whatever she was feeling cloaked beneath a heavy layer of indifference.
“Do you know what the master could be?” I asked Dion.
“Master…?” he trailed off, pressing his forehead to the doors pexi-glass window.
“Seek out the master…I think… it’s a key? Yeah! There’s a key that opens all the doors in a school.”
Would that unlock the chain? Screw it. I didn’t have the luxury of standing around to debate that.
“You know where I can find it?”
“Usually in the principal’s office.”
I wasn’t sure how he knew this, but the guy was gradually proving to be somewhat knowledgeable, which made him useful.
“Stay here. I’ll get it.” I pushed away from the door and took off.
“Alone?” he called after me.
“Watch them! And don’t touch anything else!” I ran down the hall and turned the corner, boots skidding from the momentum.
The overhead lights went off one by one as I made my way back towards the front of the building. Someone had to be controlling them from somewhere else because no one had made an appearance.
If this was a scare tactic, it failed. The dark didn’t bother me. It’s what may have been lurking within it I knew to be wary of.
As I got closer to the front lobby the school’s entrance doors came into view, along with six faces staring in at me. It was only because of the neon glow emitting from their masks that I could see them.
“Eight minutes,” the petulant voice sang over the PA.
Shit. I wasn’t entirely sure where I was supposed to go. I could only guess where the principal’s office might be.
I went right at the last second, doing my best to ignore all the eyes I could feel tracking my every move.
There was a small filter of light coming from a room a little further ahead on the left. I reached it and saw a large secretarial desk almost right inside the entrance. I’d chosen the correct direction. Unfortunately, that wasn’t anything to celebrate. I still had to find the key and get back to Mel.
I entered the main office and headed straight for the closed door labeled with Principal. I threw caution to the wind and went right through it. The room seemed to be empty, thankfully. I felt along the wall until I found the light switch, flipping it up and down a few times. Nothing happened, not even a flicker. I guess I was doing this nearly in the dark.
From what I could see thanks to the dismal light that was filtering in here, a tall filing cabinet stood adjacent to a large desk. Going down the wall in an organized row to my immediate left were even more filing cabinets.
Normally I would have skipped over these. It wouldn’t make sense for the key to be there, but I had to remember where I was.
Nothing was logical here.
I pulled in a deep breath and then let it out, moving to the first filing cabinet just inside the room. Starting with the upper drawer, I went from top to bottom, sifting through tightly packed manila folders. Names were written at the tops of them, one catching my attention just before I moved on again.
Margo Suthers.
Beneath that.
Susan Suthers.
I recognized these names. I was just with both women back in Goetia. I knew time was of the essence, but I couldn’t resist not peeking inside. I pulled Margo’s file and flipped it open.