Chapter 46: Bookmark (Part 1)

The guests in the dining hall conversed over their wineglasses.

Nobody interrupted a chat for a boy in a blue sweater.

Milo’s heart skipped a beat... and he closed the door.

Having just been accused by Mr. Cald of being near every incident at the academy, Milo abandoned the sweat-slicked handle and stormed off.

Some suit would find her instead, and whatever gift they had in hand would drop onto the floor. If that was glass, it would shatter. Badly. That’d be how everyone learned it. Or the smell, which could drift out from the door’s gaps.

None of that mattered.

The plan he formulated approximately one second after closing that door, at least, was still alive.

Milo’s thoughts swelled into a deafening roar, but his footsteps continued to land soundlessly.

The group had moved on from the bathroom. Most interrogations were held in the principal’s office, so he tried there.

He pressed an ear to the wood.

"Please, Mr. Thwaite." Henry’s plea came muffled. "I’m certain that the parents of the students are worried, too."

"Hell yeah!" One of the bullies cut in; judging off the high-pitched voice, it was Maigh. "Even my father called..."

"We let the students out today, if time allows," Mr. Thwaite replied. "And we send over a team of janitors to go through the second floor."

"When?"

"Now."

There was no time.

His eyes slid to the outline. It hadn’t moved.

"Sir, they’re exhausted..."

"Give them a bonus. I’ll do it myself if I have to."

Mr. Cald’s scope might’ve narrowed down to the nest, but the janitors would treat all doors as equal.

Once the brickwork opened and the flail dropped at their feet, the Bookmark would serve only to notify Milo when to hurl himself out the window and try to escape this shithole.

Getting everyone downstairs for a search left the flail safely hidden in the dead end. Milo, with the sandals inside of his stomach, would volunteer to be among the first checked.

In the wake of Aldous’ death, Thwaite had been outraged by Cald’s fixation on the vent grille. If everyone was occupied with the dead Warden’s dead wife’s room, he might get those few minutes again to sneak upstairs for the weapon.

A reason to gather the building in one place already existed. Nobody knew it better than he did.

Someone in that office had to make the decision, though.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Milo burst into the room and nearly collided with Layla in the doorway. The girl hopped aside to clear space for the newcomer.

"Mr. Thwaite, I think we forgot something when you let me go."

Henry and the three boys were seated up front. Grace rested her fingers on the laptop’s keyboard, recording the testimonies instead of giving them.

From behind the desk, Mr. Thwaite lifted his head, a cup of tea in his right hand.

"Milo, they aren’t finished." Layla stepped in. "If this is about the bathroom again, you can wait."

"A theory, I come with a theory, sir." Milo raised a wet palm at the group beyond her shoulder. "I have no idea what Mr. Cald has against me, but I have to admit he observed one thing. The man was so fixated on me that we all forgot about it as soon as I was cleared."

"Milo, are you okay?"

"Yes, better than ever."

"They thought it was you!"

As Grace typed his words in, one of the bullies spoke up.

"They thought you were the ghost?" Maigh slapped his knee. "You, really!"

Me, really.

"Quiet," Mr. Thwaite said. "What did Mr. Cald observe?"

Layla’s gaze tracked his every gesture as she withdrew to the wall.

"Some soles. I don’t remember the name, but Mr. Cald said they stopped anyone from hearing you walk. Still Step, maybe? That part I remember. I kept thinking about it because ghosts are called ghosts for a reason!"

"Brother Ansel’s Soles," Henry supplied. "That’s the relic you’re looking for."

"Wait." The principal reached for a stack of papers, slipped out a sheet, and put his glasses on. "Were they ever recovered?"

Perfect.

"I-It wouldn’t seem so..." Grace sat up, scrolling through the reports on the laptop. "Louise only—"

His heart skipped another beat.

"Yes, yes, she, I know. She did, Miss Rolt did. I remember now."

"In the records, it says that..."

Milo squeezed his eyes shut for a second before nodding at the brown-haired boy.

"Roy, right? You yelled about the ghost being there. What did he do?"

"He?" Roy furrowed an eyebrow. "I saw a shadow. How would I know?"

As the principal glanced at them over the steam of his tea, Milo gave a high-pitched scoff.

"It. What did it do?"

"Man, I’m not sure..."

Milo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Stupid!

They had definitely seen him. Were they so weak as to let themselves be gaslit into believing this was a hallucination?

"The boys’ reports were inconsistent." Mr. Thwaite twisted the cup of tea back and forth. "It is also impossible that they were held for as long as they claim."

"So you’re calling us insane?" Maigh slammed a fist on the table, rattling the mug. "Maybe Roy isn’t sure, but I know what I saw! Roy, don’t let them tell us what happened and what didn’t."

"Roy can speak for himself," Paul muttered. "They’ll put down that you told him what to say."

"We’ve checked the vent. You were also there, sir." Milo spread his palms. "If someone wearing those soles walked into the bathroom, how would I have heard them?"

Mr. Thwaite leaned forward. "Go on."

"They wouldn’t stop to fight me with Aldous looking for them. And that grille outside came off the bathroom vent like Mr. Cald insisted."

"And you guys didn’t tell us any of that?!" Maigh’s jaw went slack. "Fuck you!"

"Maigh, language!" Henry grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Get off me, traitor!" The boy pulled free. "You had a hole in the wall this whole time? Your ghost could’ve climbed out and gone over the gate while you sat here asking us the same fucking questions?"

"It could have," the principal said. "Maybe it didn’t."

"Do you keep a record of everyone who’s here, sir?" Milo asked.

"Students, yes. Most staff, though some of the cooks and cleaners don’t sign. The guests are another matter."

Layla pushed off the wall. "Sir, I believe we can settle this case. I see a solution to it."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Bring everyone into the dining hall, and guard the exit. Search the whole building while everyone’s in one place. That’s how we nail the entity."

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⋆˚࿔ Coming right up: "Bookmark (Part 2)" ... ⤵︎ [!]