Vol 1 Chapter 7 (2/2)
“Yeah Let’s take a good look at the iron bars Maybe there’s so inside shaped like a face Maybe it was a trick of the light”
“I agree Let host, or so of the sort In fact, the storehouse should have been our very first destination”
“Sounds good to onna do on the off-chance somebody’s really in there?” Asked Natalia Larry responded promptly
“I’ll nab him!”
“Brave of you What about you, Megmica? You okay with this?”
“Y-yes, I am…”
“Are you all right with this, Jenny?” Asked Seron
“Fine I’ll go see what that ‘old rag’ really was” Jenny said in surrender
Seron led the way, and the others followed Larry ran up to the front and whispered to him
“What if Hartnett’s around?”
“All the better” Seron whispered back “I want to show him the photo”
“Makes sense Anyway, are you gonna get involved here? Wouldn’t you prefer to just go watch a film?”
“I suppose But sos me”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know It’s like what Meg’s been bothering me”
“Aha! You two really are meant for each other”
“I hope you’re right, but…”
“Sorry,you?”
“I don’t know”
“What? Seriously?”
Larry gave up and ended the quiet conversation
When he turned, he spotted Natalia s at them
“What’re you thispering about over there?”
“Don’t worry, Lia It’s not what you think”
“Sure, whatever”
They left through the doors closest to the storehouse and stepped onto the back field There was, like before, no one around Crossing the stone-paved pathhere students rarely trod, they arrived at the building
About 30in the sun The light lent the building a surprisingly welco air
“It looks very different froraphs” Nick commented
They were standing on the east side of the building
Seron told the others to wait before walking forward and checking the shaded area at the north side of the building
“They’re not here”
He saw nothing but the shadow of the building Hartnett’s creas nowhere to be seen
“Which as it, Jenny?” Asked Larry
“It’s on the other side You can tell fro in the picture, since I took it in the afternoon Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, it isn’t Let’s go check it out”
They followed Larry around the south side,Meg in particular stuck close to Natalia as she took hesitant steps forward
“The door—it’s locked”
“It certainly is Very securely, too”
Seron and Nick noted the state of the entrance
In thewas a short staircase and the entrance, but a bundle of thick chains rapped around the large handle There was a big lock on the chains
The first floor as wide enough for people to cli formations from the inside, which made it impossible to enter
Once the group was on the west side of the building, they stopped at a distance
“Larry and I will check out the other entrance You wait here, Nick”
“Understood”
Seron and Larry walked around to the north side of the building
Natalia spoke up
“You think there’s so in there?” She asked Nick turned
“Who can say?”
“That’s not much of an answer”
“I’et the chance to enjoyfun exploring with everyone here” Nick smiled
Natalia paused Then she spoke
“You… don’t have a lot of friends, do you”
“I suppose I can’t deny that”
“‘Cause of your looks?”
“Not at all I’m quite fond of my hair Did you know? In the past, the nobler a rew out his hair”
“Sounds about right Sos even wore their hair in braids”
“And I do not irl My own sisters treatedup So it does not bother me when people say that I appear feminine”
Meg and Jenny listened quietly
“Other boys tend to dislike me because ofpeople at an arth I suppose I’s that way It’s not a trait worth bragging about” Nick said with a lonely smile Natalia narrowed her eyes
“I see I’m kind of in the sa”
“Please, callwith you like this more often” Nick beamed Natalia chuckled
“Sure You and ht out sometime”
“What was that now?” Nick replied playfully Jenny shrugged, and Meg chuckled
A few seconds later, Seron and Larry returned
“It’s the same on that side, too Sealed shut And it looks like no one’s been through in a while” Larry reported in
Seron and Larry looked at the latticed s on the west side of the building and slowly approached the watched from a distance
Five ere on the west side of the building, near the ground
“Which one is it, Jenny?” Seron asked
“The one in the middle”
“Are you sure?”
Jenny walked up to Seron and showed hiain
The walls looked the sa, but the sections were subtly different in shape and color The face was definitely in the center
“All right” Seron nodded, kneeling “Is someone in there? Is anyone inside?” He asked loudly, his hands cupped around his mouth
Seron’s voice echoed through the baseht back to everyone’s ears, or escaped outside through the other s
There was no answer
Seron called out again Everyone listened carefully, but they heard nothing else
Afterwards, Seron leaned in against the latticedand peered inside Larry did the same from the opposite side
The iron bars on the ere fixed solidly in the fra from the opposite side and made it hard to see the baseh look
“Nothing”
“Same on this side”
They saw nothing thatinto theAll they saw beyond the bars was inky black darkness Wind soainst the basement walls and wailed eerily
Seron and Larry rose They checked the s to either side of the one in the center, just in case, and stood again
“Well?” Natalia asked
“Nothing” Seron replied again
“So y’think it ht have been athe possibility of Jenny being a liar
“No!” Jenny retorted
Seron stepped in calmly
“I have two possibilities in mind”
All eyes were on him
“Yeah?” Natalia said Meg watched from beside her
“The first possibility is that the photograph was doctored after all and Jenny is still lying to us”
“Hey—”
“But! After observing Jenny for the past little while, I concluded that the likelihood of this possibility—while not zero—is very low”
“O-obviously! Though I’d prefer if you’d lower it all the way to zero”
“I areement with Seron Jenny is no actress, after all” Nick said with a smile Larry shook his head
“Are you the type who’d die if he didn’t say one clever thing at least once an hour?”
“Perhaps Why not ti
“So what’s the other possibility?” Asked Natalia Seron nodded and continued
“That so in the basement”
“Hiding?” Larry repeated Seron nodded
“We just eli that we could ht be here Then there’s only one other option This personin the baseht on ca”
Nick agreed Larry spoke up
“But ould anyone be hiding here? Iand the basement’s never in use, but the campus is off-limits to unrelated personnel”
“At the moment, I have no clue” Seron admitted
“What the heck” Natalia shrugged
“But either way…” Larry said in a hushed voice “Isn’t this bad?”
“Yeah I don’t knoho it is that’s hiding in there, but things aren’t looking good”
“No kidding…”
Larry and Seron exchanged grim looks
“Hht be the matter?” Asked Nick
Before Seron or Larry could respond, a crystal-clear voice answered fro
“You are thinking about the employees who are hired to block the n here? Seron and Larry, you are worrying about those employees, yes?”
Seron nodded
“I get it Good thinking, Megmica” Said Natalia
“I’d forgotten about that” Nick admitted
“Yeah They haven’t started work yet, but once Hartnett’s teaht or fresh air anymore”
“And he’ll die”
Seron and Larry speculated Meg looked up in horror
“Th-that will be terrible! We have to save him! We can not leave hi show of passion
“Yes But how?” Nick asked Meg’s shoulders drooped
“I do not kno I am very sorry”
“Not at all We ether” Nick replied
“But you know, if the guy’s hiding, we can ask him to come out all we like—” Larry said Natalia continued where he left off
“—but he’s not gonna co otherwise”
“Then—” Seron began, but he was quickly cut off
“HEY! What’re you doing over there?!”
An angry voice assaulted their ears
The group turned In the distance they spotted a ly
It was Hartnett
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