Chapter 16An Old Word

We walked through the dark corridors. It was so quiet there. Not even me or Khuna made a noise. Almost peaceful, such a sharp contrast to the school during the day. We made our way to the headmaster's office.

It was kind of funny, in my mind's eye it was supposed to be this gate towards oblivion.

It was just a normal door with a pane of frosted glass. It was also locked. Damn.

"It's locked." I whispered to Khuna. She nodded and crouched, looking at the lock.

"Isn't there another way? I don't know how to pick locks and I don't want to break anything if we don't need to."

I looked around but I guessed there wasn't an easy way in. I dug into my memory if I knew anything about the key to the headmasters office but drew a blank. No easy way I guess.

I was still thinking when Khuna poked me. "How big is that airduct?"

I giggled. "Too small, too many kids have wished to go where no one would go before. It's really not as high as it seems."

She nodded, thinking as fast as could about the whole situation. The only thing I could think of was the concierges desk. He must have keys for everything, but I wondered if he left them at home or would leave the ring in his desk. At least it was worth a try.

"Come, I have an idea." I whispered and took her by the hand. It felt nice and warm.

Again we stalked the corridors and main hall. The Concierge's desk was so close to the main entrance there was a motion sensor there though. All except... yes, perhaps the wall and then the corner of the desk, as long as we weren't visible above it. Khuna and I crouched silently accross the floor next to the wall and under the desk. Softly giggling as it was both very silly and exciting. The smooth floor no trouble to our knees.

Behind the desk, just out of sight of the motion detector we had to search a bit through the drawers, taking care to only feel and mess as little as possible. But the third drawer was paydirt. The Key Ring.

Yes, it deserved capitals. It was quite a school myth since it contained all the keys to all the rooms, including the headmasters office of course.

Making a mental note of where it was we crawled our way out of there again. No alarm tripped as far as we knew. Stalking through the corridors again, I had no other word for the silent stride we had, until we reached the office.

We had to look for the right key for a while, but it worked. Opening the door I again felt as if we were entering something sacred. I guess it was old school feelings lingering in my mind. It was just a normal office. Desk with lots of stuff on it, bookcase with books, windowsill with plants. Very basic, very normal. And yet.

My eyes were again drawn toward the book in the bookcase that seemed out of place. Most of the books there were thick encyclopedias, atlasses or informative books about one subject or another. Most of them were in simple colors with a few of them (probably art books) that had a slightly more extravagant cover.

But one book stood out for those looking for it. A black leather cover with no title on the back. It was as thick as a lot of the books there and just as tall. The first book on the right, closest to the window. Almost hidden in the shadow of the bookcase it would not even be seen by those with lesser vision.

Khuna whispered. "I see it too."

"I want to take it, but it will be noticed. I have a feeling it's important." I looked back to her but she just smiled.

"It's up to you. If we keep it clean here, they won't find anything and will just think it's a student prank."

I nodded. It was a good idea. But why did I want this book so much? I shrugged and walked towards the bookcase slowly and carefully.

I expected sirens to go off at any moment, with every step.

But it stayed quiet.

As I reached out and touched the book nothing continued to happen quite deliberately. It was almost dissapointing. I took it from the book case and looked at it in the minimal light seeping in through the windows. There was an emblem embossed on the front of the book but no title. It felt heavy and important in a most peculiar way.

"I think we should go." Said Khuna softly.

"We should."

We closed the door behind us and I had to crawl all the way back under the concierge's desk to put the keyring back. But we did all this with as much patience as we could muster. I had yet to look into the book and Khuna wouldn't open it without me. Through the corridors again, back to the attic. Through the opening in the clock-tower and breathe.

Outside again I felt the fresh air almost blow through me and calm me like a shower. We jumped off the roof, it was about as far as the other jump I guessed. Down in the schoolyard we took a moment of peace to hear and feel everything was quiet and in peace. We jumped over the school gate and left, walking away subtely but quickly.

The book felt heavy in my arms during all of this. I refrained from opening it until we were at a safer place. I had a feeling I would need it.

All the way back we went, through the streets, the lesser crowds and sometimes the traffic. Back to our hideout, my new home. But standing at the bottom of the wall I wondered if climbing was the most usefull way to go up there. I mean, if I could jump the gate and jump on the roof without too much effort. Could I jump up this?

With the book still under my arm I half-crouched to ready a big jump. I let my body just do what it wanted as much as posible. I just told it to go up. I jumped almost straight up, seeing the ledge getting closer and closer. At the apex of my jump I grabbed it automatically. Even with one hand hanging there it seemed to be very little effort to drag me up there.

Khuna stood next to me as soon as I stood up. "I'm impressed." Her honesty surprised me and made me blush. She opened the door and we went through the corridor to the living room. This seemed as good a place as any.

"Hey Kai" I giggled as Khuna's friendly greeting was just answered by a vague and probably very preoccupied 'hi'

We sat down on the sofa now claimed as our own and I opened the book.

The black cover was heavy but felt quite sturdy. The first page was empty, like many of those older books. The second page had a big title with an unknown word. 'Nosferatu'

I heard Khuna take in her breath in shock. I didn't understand why but had little thought left over to worry about it. My thoughts were all whirling around the second line...

'Vampire Findings Through The Ages'