Castle Hunt Chapter One (in desc)

Description: Winter lasted longer than usual that year. But where they lived, spring was always inconsistent, so nobody gave a second thought to snow in April— even if it was almost their Easter Break. Nobody called it Spring Break, because spring wasn’t consistent, and Easter was. The last day of school before Easter Break was always a fun day for the students at Little Birch High. Not because they didn’t have work— in fact, teachers loved to assign tests on the last day because they knew nobody would study over the next week— but because the school play happened during their homeroom and lunch periods. The two were back-to-back, giving students a much-needed brain break during the day, but it also worked out well for events like this. Not all students chose to watch the school play during lunch and homeroom; some chose to go somewhere else during lunch and watch the play that night that was put on for families. Some students even went to both. But for sixteen Birch High students, that night went slightly different than planned. It all started when Ellis Dean, one of the students, was late to the school play and didn’t go to the bathroom before leaving the house— so they had to go before the show started. When Ellis left the bathroom, he found a large crowd of students gathered around the area, some having to use the restroom, and some going into the library looking for some peace and quiet or a lost jacket. Ellis recognized the always-cheerful junior named Alastair, doodling in his sketchbook, at one of the tables inside the library. Next to Alastair sat a sophomore named Kali, her wavy blonde hair unbrushed and a smile on their face, her green eyes friendly and welcoming. Kali, like Ellis, had forgotten to go to the bathroom before leaving for the play, so went before the show started, and walked into the library looking for some space. Across from Kali sat a girl with olive skin and short brown hair named Mariam. She had a tendency to be blunt and was infamous around the junior class as “the intense one”. However, she wasn’t as intense as she came off once you got to know her— in fact, she was the type of person who always stood up for her friends, despite her often looking angry. The last seat at the table was taken by a freshman named Ollie, who needed some quiet. They never liked loud sounds— always worried by them— and always liked libraries due to how quiet the rooms were. Ollie was small, even for a freshman, and they had brown eyes behind very round glasses. At the next few tables over, several other students sat for the same reasons. Some just wanted to read a book— like a blonde girl named Lucy, taking a pile of books from the biology section, or a student called Lynn who could be seen with his nose in a book, reading Artemis Fowl for the millionth time (she constantly reread the series; they were known among his friends to rant about the movie adaptation as well). Some needed some space— like a kid named Remy with shaggy, strawberry blonde hair, who was still a bit bummed about his voice cracking in the school play auditions. Sitting close to him was a shy girl named October, also there for some space. A senior named Noa was also sitting at that table— and all three of them were slightly socially awkward. The last seat at that table was taken by a mysterious senior named Nelto who rarely, if ever, spoke to someone. And some students had simply forgotten something in the library earlier, like a junior named Sunny. They usually liked to take their time with things, especially school assignments (though she usually got them in on time) and had forgotten to bring part of their project home from that afternoon. Sunny was now sitting at the table with Lucy, and Lynn— Ellis moved to join them there. At the last table, another group of students sat. The oldest was a senior, a boy named Ephraim, who had curly hair and looked to be reading— but was actually listening to a conversation between two nearby students, always the observant one. Next to him was a junior named Kai with pale-ocean eyes (as he would describe them) and dyed blue hair that his parents were always trying to get him to cut. Kai was speaking to a senior named Mikaela who had medium-length brown hair with dyed red tips and tanned skin. The last student at the table, the youngest, was a sophomore named Ally. Not much could be said about her. They were a bit like Ephraim in the sense that they were always observant, but while Ephraim was observant by nature, Ally was observant for blackmail. Of course, nobody knew this— and the only ones that did were too afraid of being blackmailed again by her to say anything. Outside the library, the doors to the theater had opened, and the voice of the school’s secretary— an old man with a monotone voice that none of the students particularly liked— came from the speakers, saying in his boring voice, “Doors are now open. Please be seated in the theater. Doors are now open, please be seated in the theater.” The sixteen students all stood up and headed to the exit of the library, Kali (as the student at the front) reaching to open the door. And nothing. “Why…” Kali began, frowning. “It shouldn’t be locked…” That was the last thing any of them heard. {}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{}—{} Alastair was the first to sit up in the library— but this wasn’t a library. At least, it was, but it wasn’t their school library. He glanced at the figure next to him, Ollie, who was also pushing themselves up into a sitting position. “This isn’t our library,” said a different voice, almost accusing someone. Mariam had an expression on her face somewhere between a scowl and a look of confusion as she glanced around the room. “Some senior prank?” “My sister Sophie is a senior,” Ollie said. “She hasn’t said anything— well, she probably wouldn’t say anything about a senior prank. Not to a freshman, anyway. And not to her little sibling.” “I say senior prank,” Mariam said, walking over to the door of the circular library. The room was tall and the roof a cone, bookshelves lining the walls, and no chairs or carpets or anything on the floor. Who wants a library without chairs? Alastair wondered to himself. Having a library with no chairs was like a bathroom without a toilet. It just didn’t work. “The walls can’t be pushed over,” said a final voice, belonging to Kali. “I already tried.” “Try the names of the books,” Mariam said. “Maybe there’s a pattern. Start looking— you two too.” She frowned, wrinkled her nose, and said, “You two as well.” Alastair pushed himself into a standing position, glancing over some of the book titles. "These aren't in English," he said. "Latin," Ollie said, frowning. "Dead language…" "Alastair," Mariam said. "That your sketchbook?" She was holding a red sketchbook, but Alastair's was green. "I… no," Alastair said. "That isn't mine." Mariam opened the sketchbook, flipping through the pages. “Empty,” she said. “There’s a pen here, too— do you want it?” “We can use it for notes,” Kali suggested. “Good call,” Mariam agreed as Alastair took the sketchbook and opened it to the first page. He started writing down the words Book titles are in Latin, but hadn’t even written the first word when he realized other words were appearing on the page. Also in latin. “Cave pardus; ante illum fata tua expecta.” Silence. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Alastair said, his voice strangely cheerful. “I— well, I don’t know what it means—” “Cave means beware,” Kali said. “And— fata tua expecta is “wait for your fate” or something like that.” “So it means to beware… something,” Mariam said. “And to wait for our fates.” Cave pardus; ante illum fata tua expecta. Alastair decided it put a bad taste in his mouth— and even he was usually cheerful. And the others could tell— which worried them, to say the least, because the boy was always cheerful. If Alastair was afraid, then something was definitely wrong.