CopyCats – Chapter 6 – Revision
It was strangely quiet being in the school building after hours. There were no indications that any students, teachers, or faculty staff remained in the building. The lights in the hallways had been dimmed. Every classroom that they passed by looked pitch black inside. The only noise being made were the soft sounds of their footsteps, and Zuriya’s constant pestering.
“Are you doing okay, LaNiya?” she asked.
She reached out her hand, but stopped before actually touching LaNiya. Instead, she clenched her fist. It was so fast that she looked as though her fingers recoiled away from LaNiya. Micheal was glad she at least remembered.
“Are you feeling better? We can stop if you need–”
“I’m fine, thank you.” LaNiya interrupted.
Zuriya seemed like the kind of person to try to make things better. But not everyone wanted to address their problems. Especially with someone they don’t really know too well. LaNiya just looked uncomfortable. She refused to make eye contact with anyone; she just kept staring at the ground. She walked with her arms folded across her chest. And each time that Zuriya would get close to her, she would take a small step to the side to recreate the distance between them. Everything about her posture and behavior screamed “Leave me alone”, but Zuriya didn’t seem to get the message.
”You sure? Because you still seem a little upset, or maybe–”
“Geez, she said she’s fine.” Micheal interrupted, “Let her be. If she needs our help, she’ll ask for it.”
LaNiya gave a small nod towards Micheal, which he reciprocated. He knew Zuriya wanted to help, but even he knew better than to pry into someone’s personal space without an invitation. LaNiya was calm now. That’s all that mattered. She likely didn’t want everyone to focus on her. She probably just wanted everything to feel normal again.
“I’m just trying to create a safe space. I’m being proactive.” Zuriya said.
“It was proactive in the principal’s office, maybe attentive in the classroom, but this is just obsessive. Give her some space.” Micheal said.
“Don’t start again, Micheal.” David said.
He stopped in his tracks, forcing the trio to come to a halt. Asante seemed to notice the sudden stop and turned around.
“Maybe you could just ask her what she wants.” Micheal said, ignoring David.
“Alright then,” Zuriya said, turning to LaNiya. “I’m not being overbearing, am I? You can tell me the truth.”
“You sound so manipulative.” Micheal said.
“I did what you asked. I want her to be honest.” Zuriya said, turning back to LaNiya.
“I think we should focus on getting to the lab.” LaNiya said.
With four pairs of eyes staring at her, the girl clearly looked uncomfortable. She tried to walk ahead, which Micheal thought might be the best solution. Putting some distance between herself and Zuriya may help. But before she could get far, Zuriya grabbed onto LaNiya’s arm.
“What the? Let go of me, Zuriya.”
“You don’t have to pretend. I promise, I’ll listen to whatever is bothering you.” Zuriya said.
“What the heck, Zuriya, let go of her! Micheal yelled.
He moved towards Zuriya, intent on removing her from LaNiya. But David stepped in front of him. He was still holding the half-stack of books with one arm. The other arm was blocking his path, once again. Micheal was about to shout at him to move. But David quickly addressed Zuriya.
“Let her go, Zuriya.” he said. “Micheal’s right. She told you she didn’t want to talk.”
“But I can–”
“Let her go.” Asante added, his tone deeper than before.
Zuriya looked at LaNiya. She tried to look her in the eye, but the girl refused to meet her gaze. She took a moment to look around the group, as though asking for someone to assist her. But after nothing, she eventually dropped her head and released her grip.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to help.” Zuriya said.
LaNiya pulled her arms to her chest, returning to her crossed-arms position. Then, she speedwalked ahead of the group. Asante rushed ahead to continue leading the group. Micheal moved around David’s arms, following the two, and leaving David and Zuriya in the rear as they continued towards the tech lab.
After descending a dark stairwell, the group found themselves being led down a dimly-lit hallway. A chilling breeze hit their faces the moment they reached the base of the stairs. The lights in the ceiling flickered. There were more dark, empty classrooms. The floor looked chipped and cracked. This section of the school obviously wasn’t renovated, like the rest of the building.
“Come on. It’s not much farther.” Asante said. Just at the end of this hallway and then–”
“Wait.” LaNiya interrupted him. “Look there.”
There were two adults wearing gray suits standing at the end of the hallway. It didn’t seem as though they had noticed the students yet. Each of them was wearing dark-tinted sunglasses. And both were standing in-front of the door labeled “Tech Lab.” They looked like they were guarding something.
“You know those guys?” Micheal asked Asante.
“No.” Asante answered.
“Maybe they’re just administration members.” David said.
“Unlikely. No one comes down here except maintenance and Dr. Reed.” Asante said.
“Maybe they’re also looking for Dr. Reed.” David said. “We could just ask them instead of staring. Maybe something happened in the lab.”
If that was the case, then maybe that was why Dr. Reed hadn’t shown up earlier. Maybe that was what his message to Asante was about. But if they couldn’t hold their meeting anymore, then maybe they could all just leave. Micheal nodded in agreement. But as Asante started walking towards the door, LaNiya stopped him.
“They’re armed.” she said.
Micheal took another glance back, carefully observing the two men. But he couldn’t find any weapon. He turned back towards LaNiya with a questionable glance. She seemed to pick up on his confusion.
“Underneath their suit jackets. They each have a weapon belt. Like police wear.” she clarified. “At most they could have a taser, spray, or a small handgun.”
“So?” Zuriya asked. “They could be school security.”
“But the belt is concealed. Shouldn’t a school security officer openly show that they are armed?”
But Zuriya didn’t seem to care. She pushed past LaNiya. The two men turned in their direction. There was no point in hiding anymore. The rest of the group followed Zuriya over.
“Hello,” Zuriya said, “We’re looking for Dr. Reed. Would you happen to know if he’s here in the lab.”
The two men looked at one another. One of them bent down towards the kids, as if trying to get on their level. He smiled. Although, because his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, it was an unsettling smile.
“Are you all here for Dr. Reed?” he asked.
“Yes. We’re his new STEM Club recruits. My name’s Zuriya.” Zuriya said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Carl. This is Ryan. I’m sorry, but Dr. Reed asked us to tell you that the club’s meeting was canceled for today. He’ll have to reschedule it for another time.”
“Oh, really. Okay. So then, you both must be part of the school’s security team, right?” she asked.
Micheal felt the need to smack his own head. How could she just ask them that? He wanted to drag her away from there. He wanted to get all of them away from there.
“Wh-why would you ask us that?” Carol asked.
“We just wanted to know what the guns were for.” Zuriya said.
The two men looked confused, as though they hadn’t expected anyone to notice they were concealing firearms.
“Y-yes. We’re here to guard the tech lab until your Dr. Reed returns.” Ryan said.
“If he’s just in his office, we only need a second to speak with him.” Asante said. “Is he in his office?”
“N-no. You can’t go inside.” Carol stammered.
“Why?” Asante asked.
“Because there was an accident in the lab.” Carol said.
“Yeah. A bunch of chemicals spilled and now it’s hazardous. You kids shouldn’t even be down here.” Ryan added.
“What kind of–” Asante started to say.
“Now you all head home.” Ryan continued. “We’ll keep everything safe and sound.”
“See. Now was that so hard to do?” Zuriya said, turning back to her classmates.
She waved to the two men and proceeded to lead the group away from the door. Asante looked puzzled as they continued. And as soon as they were some ways away, he spoke up.
“Hey, Micheal, do you still have my phone?” he asked.
Micheal quickly handed over the phone, and watched Asante fiddle with it trying to look for something.
“What are you looking for?” Zuriya asked.
“Trying to see if Dr. Reed sent a message about needing to reschedule today’s meeting.
“Oh, yeah. He did send a message earlier about wanting to meet us in the classroom and not needing to come down to the lab.” Micheal said.
He looked up and noticed all four of his classmates giving his varying versions of a glaring look. Considering what they know now, maybe he should have said something sooner.
“Sorry, I thought it’d be fine since we were already on our way. That way we’d be finished sooner.” he said.
Asnate sighed and read through the message. A puzzling look came across his face.
“But if he wanted to meet us in the classroom then why would he ask the guards to tell us to go home?” Asnate asked.
“Maybe he forgot?” David offered.
Asante continued to try texting a message back to Dr. Reed.
“No connection. I can’t send him a message. Could he be in the Pit?.” he whispered to himself.
“So what? We can just go home and try asking him tomorrow.” Zuriya said.
But Micheal saw the look on Asante’s face. He looked concerned, and worried. And what’s worse, he looked as though he wasn’t telling them something.
“Asante?” Micheal asked, “Is there something else we should know about.”
“Do you know something about what’s going on?” David asked.
Asante looked back down the hallways as though unsure of whether or not he should do something.
“You all go ahead back. There’s something I need to check on.” He said, opening one of the doors into an empty classroom.
“We can’t get back without you.” David said.
But Asante was already ducking into the classroom. The remaining students looked at one another with confusion, but eventually followed the boy into the room.
“What’s going on?” Micheal asked.
“I need to make sure Dr. Reed is alright.” He said, setting aside his pile of books. He then walked over to the front desk and pulled out a retractable ladder, and began setting it up right next to the board.
“What are you doing?” LaNiya asked.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“You’re just going to leave us here?” Zuriya asked.
“You’re free to leave, but I can’t go until I know Dr. Reed is okay.”
“Why wouldn’t he be? The two guys said that he was busy with something. He told us to leave.”
“And you just believed them, just like that?” Micheal asked.
Zuriya glared back as though warning him not to mess with her again.
“I’m not asking you to come along. Just wait here for a few minutes while I check something.”
Zuriya huffed, loudly falling into one of the classroom desks and folding her arms across her chest.
“I’ll go with you.” Micheal said, walking over towards the ladder behind Asante. “Anything’s better than staying here with her. Besides, I have never been inside the ceiling before.”
Asante gave a small smile at Micheal as the two began up the ladder.
“I’ll go too.” LaNiya offered, quickly running towards the ladder after the two.
“Don’t follow them, LaNiya. They’re going to get us in trouble.” David yelled.
But the three were already up the ladder and into the ceiling. Although a bit of light crept in through cracks, the ceiling was nearly entirely dark. Micheal moved to crawl forward, testing the ceiling with his hands. It stood firm. He pressed harder down to make sure it would not cave under his weight.
“I didn’t expect it to be this strong.” He said.
“They were reinforced with the renovations to ensure air didn’t leak out from the lab into the rest of the school; most of the classrooms down here all connect back to the lab.” Asante said, turning on the flashlight on his phone. “We’re looking for the vent that leads into the tech lab.”
He turned his head back towards the two following him.
“Are you sure you want to come along?” he asked.
They both nodded and followed Asante into the darkness.