Nadia stiffled a laugh. "Okay then, let's go." She gestured for
Colt to follow her. The school was large, so it took a good 20
minutes before they reached the door. With a hand on the handle,
she turned around. "Are you sure you don't want to wait here? It
won't take long for me to look around, the room's preety small."
Shrugging, he said with an attempt at a grin, "I'm afraid to be
alone, remember? If you'd like, I could just wait in the doorway,
as it probably wouldn't be the best idea to shut the door and risk
locking yourself in."
Nadia raised an eyebrow. "Do whatever you want, I'm going in." She
stepped through the doorway, moving further into the room. "Kind of
dark in here.." she called out. "Think you could bring me that
flashlight? I don't want to risk tripping over something."
"Yeah, sure thing." He pulled it from his pocket and stepped
forwards, holding it out towards her. Glancing around warily, he
had to squint to see in the current dark.
He whirled around, letting out a hiss under his breath. "In the
words of you," he muttered. "I feel like that's 'no bueno'." The
boy quickly flicked on the flashlight and proceeded to shine it
around the room, his expression grim.
Nadia's concern was becoming more and more imminent on her face.
"Yeah.." she croaked. "Hey, is it just me, or is this room getting
smaller?" She kept looking around her, backing into a pipe and
jumping a little when it immited a hissing noise. "Oh gosh..."
"I think it's just you," he said with a bit of perplexion. Upon
further registering the tone of Nadia's voice, however, he added
with concern, "Hey, you good?"
She laughed nervously. "Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be?
A-okay! Just-" She held her head in her hands, her breathing
getting faster. "I'm okay. It's just so, so small.."
Realization flickered into his mind, and Colt felt helpless to do
anything to help. Claustrophobia, which is what he assume was
occurring here, wasn't something he'd ever struggled with, and he'd
never had any friends experience it, either. "It's going to be
okay," he began, a bit unsure where he was going with this. "Er,
does it help to imagine it as something else? Like, close your eyes
and imagine you're outside?"
She shook her head, closing her eyes. Her breathing was starting to
calm down, but she was still crying and her arms were shaking.
"We're gonna die We're gonna die Nosotras vamos a morir en esta
pequeña habitación." She slid to the ground as the other pipes
started hissing loudly.
Kneeling to the ground beside her, Colt gently laid a hand on her
shoulder. "No," he said firmly. "We are not going to die. You're
going to be alright. You made it through the vents, you can make it
through this." The vents... The vents! Shining the
flashlight around the room again, he scanned the walls and ceiling,
hoping. There! On the far right wall, a glint of metal
caught his eye. "Nadia, look. See? You can get out. You aren't
trapped."
She looked up, tears still in her eyes. "W-we can get out?" She
hurriedly stood up. "We can get out!" With a relived laugh, and
shaking hands, Nadia walked to the vent, pulling off the cover. She
stared at it for a long while, before turning to him. "W-what about
you? How are you going to get out?"
He shrugged, trying to conceal his own fear. "I'll be fine, don't
worry. I'll just wait here and you can come back around to see if
you can unlock the door. Maybe try to meet up with Salene and come
back together, just in case someone's watching the door from the
outside."
She nodded. "Okay Colt, be safe." Hestitating a split second more,
she crawled inside. Now that she had calmed down, Nadia was able to
quickly make it through the vents, dropping down into the first
empty classroom, which was nearby. She ran to the boiler room, and
gasped when she saw Salene slumped by the door. "Salene?!" She ran
to the door, kneeling down beside the girl. She groaned, opening
her eyes. "....Nadia?" "Oh thank goodness, you're alive. What
happened?!" "I saw..Dan locking the door. I heard you scream, so I
knew you were in there. I tried to stop him, but he shoved me and I
hit my head..he must have run off." "That little-Are you okay?"
"Yeah.." Nadia stood up, going to the door and attempting to unlock
the heavy deadbolt. Salene joined her, and the two of them slid the
lock out, pushing open the door.
The blond haired boy was sitting with his back against the wall,
head tilted up at the ceiling, eyes shut, concentrating on keeping
his breathing calm and regulated. When the door screeched open, his
eyes snapped open and he sat up. "Hey, long time no see!" he
called, his relief apparent in his voice. Colt strode quickly to
the doorway, eager to get out of the dark room.
"Glad you're not freaking out," Nadia laughed. Salene stared up at
him. "How were you not scared? Being in that tiny dark room, and
Dan locking you in like that!"
Grimacing, he half-admitted, "Who says I wasn't?" While he'd been
able to suppress it, the whole experience hadn't exactly left a
positive impression on him. "So it was Dan after all, then?"
Salene nodded. "I saw him locking the door and heard Nadia's
scream. When I tried to stop him, he knocked me down and I hit my
head. I woke up a few minutes ago."
"Why on Earth? Perhaps he was locking Nadia and I in there to
starve or something, but surely he would have assumed you'd rat him
out once you got up. I'm very glad you're alright, but why would he
have left you alive?" Touching his hand to his temple, Colt sighed.