A bell that was a minute and a half late indicated that the lesson was over. The students left the theory room one by one to proceed with their next class in the chemistry lab. Liana dragged her book bag and strolled to the lab following the rest of her classmates. She had the sense that she was not the only one who felt a bit strange. Brahim and Kees-Joop were whispering, and Bert looked around suspiciously. Did they feel it too? Or had she missed something else? “My pencil case!” she suddenly yelled . In all her thoughts and reflections she had forgotten it in the Geography classroom.
She turned in the other direction, and sped up. She darted back down the hall, down the stairs, and nearly bumped into Ellen who, for some reason, had something to discuss with her boyfriend in between classes. Or were they kissing maybe? She didn't care much for such things now. The classroom was as good as empty with no teacher, but luckily it wasn’t locked. Only Izabel was still busy loading her rucksack. Liana was relieved that the presence of two other late classmates meant that she wouldn't be the last in chemistry class, so she followed Ellen and Izabel plus what was his name again, who apparently also had to go in the same direction today. Or was he skipping his own class for an hour to be with his girlfriend? Liana couldn't believe that someone would do so much effort to spend a little time with someone like Ellen. She herself tried to stay away from her as much as possible, but hey, everyone had different preferences of course…
There were two corridors and a staircase between the geography classroom and the chemistry lab. She was almost too late now, but as long as she wasn't alone and arrived at a time when everyone was already settled in the class, there wouldn't be much of a problem and the teacher wouldn't make a scene. Plus, there was something else that was gnawing at her that she was more concerned about now, though she still didn't really know what it was. In the background she could feel the unnamed tension growing, as if imminent danger was near. This stretch of hallway had windows overlooking the playground, so she checked to see if there was anything to see in the playground. The seagulls had disappeared, but there were still some students walking around who tried in vain not to be late for their class.
And then she saw him: a man in a camouflage suit. Liana blinked and panicked for a moment. This was impossible! Impossible! A man in what was unmistakably a STC uniform but with no visible weapons crossed the playground. He seemed to be rushing to the door of the building where she now was herself. And it wasn't the only one, another STC agent also appeared on the other side of the corridor. Her three fellow students were the only pupils left in this hallway, and they barely responded to the newcomers, but she herself froze. This was not good at all! She had a flashback, as this was the same hallway she'd been in before, just before her first disastrous dimension-folding adventure that had led to all her adventures. Then the problem had just been Ellen and some other petty bullies, but now there were deadly enemies that she had crossed in another world coming for her.
She cursed. The men in their strange suits were looking for her, and might use heavy means to get to her, but she wasn't alone… Classmates as witnesses weren't useful now! “Hey, what? muttered Ellen,” when she noticed the STC men, who seemed to be reaching for still invisible weapons. Liana doubted that these creeps wouldn’t hesitate to use violence against innocents who got in their way, so it wasn't just her who was in serious danger now, but the others in the corridor too! That meant Ellen and Co, and the big problem with that was also that there was no way in which she could explain to them in time what was going on. If they even wanted to believe her, which they wouldn't, it would take way too long to explain, and she only had seconds now!
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
There were now a total of four STC officers approaching her and her three fellow students from two sides of the hall. With a shock she recognized one of them, the man who had understood Dutch in Andira's headquarters back on Kavanderra. His eyes were grim, and he had clearly recognized her too. “Hide! Get away from me and from them!” she yelled to Ellen, who of course didn't listen and just gave her a dirty look with no other reaction. She looked around but it was hopeless. She wanted to run to the lab, in front of which was now another STC agent who had a Kavanderran weapon aimed at her, and the other officers now had strange weapons pointed at her as well. Her three still unsuspecting fellow students were now close to the chemistry lab, and just like her they were surrounded by the enemy. They would stand between her and the gunmen when it came to a clash, which looked like unscrupulous killers. Even Ellen didn't deserve that!
“The girl in the weird sweater, it’s her that we need!” One of the strangers pointed at Liana while her brain was spinning at lightning speed but there was only one solution left, and she now knew how to do it. Ellen was now the one most in danger without knowing what was going on, even if her classmates seemed to be feeling a panic too. The man who understood Dutch seemed to be in charge, and a special hatred for her specifically came out of his eyes. Apparently she was part of "the enemy" for him for some reason.
She looked around one last time. The men had now grown to at least eight and had now also brought out firearms, in addition to the alien stunners with which they had taken down Andira, and the beam-blasters with which they had hit Inaya. They might just kill her, and the chance of reaching the chemistry lab was nil, and she wouldn't be safe there. No one else in this school would be safe even as long as she was there, and entering the lab would endanger the rest of the class. She really had to disappear, and she still couldn't leave Ellen and Izabel like this. The petty bully wasn't exactly her best friend, but Liana still couldn't let her get hit by weapons that were really just meant for her, simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The leader of the group of STC agents opened his mouth as if to say something while all weapons were pointed at her now. Time seemed to slow down, and rules didn't bother her anymore, neither the school rules nor the laws of physics. There was only survival now. She made the invisible door with her index finger, grabbed both girls by the hand, seeing that Ellen conveniently still held her boyfriend's hand, and then dragged them all into the gate as the rays began to fly around them. She only heard a curse in Dutch and then they were through and the world was gone.
*
Liana opened her eyes. She was a little sick from the shock, but she had done it. She had crossed the bridge straight from her own world to Nuanderra this time, and stood in Inaya's living tree house again. The problem was that she had also been forced to bring three schoolmates, who did not fit into this world at all, and who seemed completely in shock now too. Mere seconds ago, however, they had been shot at by a gang of maniacal creeps with alien weapons, so no matter how awkward this was, in itself this was an improvement, she had to tell herself now. But how long would it take to convince the other two of the situation they were in?
And then there was the question of the people here. No one was there, but she now knew how to reach the invisible communication channels of the Nummerfil to make contact remotely. She made telepathic contact with Inaya, who seemed connected to the whole world here anyway, and asked her to come home, then fell down on the chair. She was too exhausted to explain to her classmates what had happened for now.
Ellen looked at her and then her boyfriend, then stared at the giant oak trees that were so typical for the Mirato Kwoburuë. “What the f...”