The outside world had changed completely from what Terran and Valentine had seen before they entered the building. Before them was a large open field that was filled with grass, and a sparse littering of trees. The grass was wild and unkempt, growing up to the height of the foundation of the library that had just recently appeared in the field. Before Valentine and Terran could process any further people began making their way to the entrance of the library to see the commotion caused by the noise outside, only to be faced with the same scene.
13 total people were in the crowd that had formed at the door, 1 was a teacher, 6 were students who were in their first year of attending the school, 4 were from the same class as Terran and Valentine, and the last two were Terran and Valentine themselves. Professor Roxanne, the magical plant studies professor. The 6 first years were Lily, Joice, Derrick, Josh, and a pair of twins named Danial and Denese. The 4 students that were in class with Terran and Valentine were Michael, Kaedric, Taylor, and Jesse.
“Calm down everyone, I know this isn’t the best of situations but I’m sure there is an explanation for this. Before everyone gets out of hand, I want all of the first years to stay inside the library while I and the senior students investigate the outside.” Professor Roxanne effectively took control of the situation and led the senior students outside to further explain her plan.
Professor Roxanne was a short slender and pale woman in her mid-30s. She was wearing a simple outfit, skinny jeans, and a shirt. Her brunette hair was in a long ponytail that reached to her mid-back. Around her waist, she had a belt that held a pair of gardening gloves and a pack of chalk.
“Listen up, I want us to split into two groups, group one is going to be me, Taylor, and Jesse, and group two will be Valentine, Michael, Kaedric, and Terran. I want to group two to stay here and investigate the surrounding area of the library, not go too far, and make sure none of the first-year students get lost. Michael you are going to be in charge.”
Taylor and Jesse were both similar in physique but were wildly different in characteristics. Both were short, Taylor had platinum blonde straight hair while Jesse had a curly red mess of hair. Taylor prided herself in her blemish-free tanned face, while not caked with makeup it was apparent she wore it. Jesse, however, had pale white cheeks that were speckled freckles and lacked any makeup. Despite their differences, they were inseparable, accompanying each other everywhere.
“Professor Roxanne, why did you put him in charge when I am the highest grade of us?” Terran had spoken up before Professor Roxanne could further explain the plan. His face was a mix of disappointment and anger at the thought of having to listen to someone weaker than him.
“Terran while it is true that you are C-Grade and Michael is only D-Grade, he also has the best leadership skills among all of you. I didn’t choose you because you do not socialize with other students and put yourself first in every situation you are in.” Professor Roxanne’s comment was firm but an accurate assessment of both Michael and Terran. While Terran had the best grades in his class and was the highest grade, he had no leadership skills to show. Michael on the other hand had solid grades, was a D-Grade, and was well-liked among the students.
“But professor what if we run into trouble?” Terran was still defiant at Professor Roxanne’s assessment of him.
“No buts Terran, Michael is in charge. As the strongest in the group, if there is danger, listen to Michael’s directions as long as it doesn’t put anyone in unnecessary danger. And when you are in front of the first years you must act as a group. No decision should be seen as only one person’s, if everyone is on the same page then they will trust that we have this under control.” Professor Roxanne was getting slightly irritated at Terran’s refusal of her directions, but Terran stopped there.
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“Group 1 will follow me, and we will go and try and find something besides this field that we are in. If group 2 runs into any trouble and you need my help, you know the spell for a flare. Send one up and I will get here as fast as I can.” With that, Professor Roxanne set off through the field with the two students following behind her.
“All right guys let’s all just take one side of the library and search around. I will take the front, Kaedric you take the back, Terran take the left, and Valentine you take the right. If you guys find anything interesting yell for me and I will come to you, so we don’t lose track of where it is.” Michael's natural leadership skills showed through his confident plan. While simple it seemed to cover all of their bases when it came to their goals while the professor was gone.
Michael was about the same height as Terran, but he was slightly taller and had more weight on his bones. He wasn’t fat but no one would call him skinny, his pale white skin, round face, and messy blonde hair all combined to make him conventionally unattractive. Kaedric on the other hand was closer to Valentine than to Terran or Michael. His rich dark skin, tall muscular body, closely shaved head, and strong facial features all made him one of the most popular male students among the female students.
It only took the team of 4 around 30 minutes to conclude that there was nothing of immediate danger within the vicinity of the library. By an hour after the professor had left it had begun to get dark around the library. The 4 grouped inside the library with the first years to discuss what they could conclude from their current situation.
“It seems that the library isn’t in a dangerous location, at least not right now. I don’t think we need to keep searching in the dark, but I don’t think we shouldn’t be on the lookout just in case.” Terran was the first to speak, staring at Michael all while saying his findings.
“I think Terran is right, I’m not sure that us searching any longer is going to get us anything. And even if we could find something, I don’t think we should risk it. We don’t know where we are and what is out there.” Valentine was next to speak, he didn’t like the idea of agreeing with Terran, but he had a point.
There was an awkward pause after Valentine stopped talking. Terran, Valentine, and Michael were all looking at Kaedric to begin talking about his opinion.
“I don’t really have much to add you guys, both of them pretty much said what I was thinking.” Kaedric finished while gesturing to Terran and Valentine.
“Well, I guess then we’ll just wait it out until Professor Roxanne gets back. We’ll all take turns being on the lookout. Teams of 2 will watch from either side of the library. We will switch out every hour. Kaedric and I will go first. Terran, Valentine, you two can go check up on the first years before resting.” Michael finished talking and got up to walk to the front door, Kaedric said a quick goodbye to Valentine and walked to the back windows of the library.
Valentine and Terran exchanged a glance towards each other before taking off in different directions to check on the first years. Valentine began looking around the library searching for the group of first years. Soon, he found 5 of them huddled together in a corner of the library. Both Danial and Denese were sitting in seats in the corner reading books. Joice, Derrick, and Josh were all sitting on the floor playing a board game.
“You guys doing all right?” Valentine asked the group. A murmur of yeses and nods came from the group. “Wait, weren’t there supposed to be 6 of you?” Valentine made the frightening realization as the group gave confused and concerned looks to each other, one of the first years was missing. “Does anyone know where Lily is?” Valentine asked calmly but concerned, but no one knew. He had learned the names of all of the first years when they introduced themselves during a headcount after they first arrived at the field. But he was sure the little blonde girl who said her name was Lily was not present in the group in front of him, or anywhere he had looked before.
“You all just stay here and yell if Lily comes back, ok?” After giving them the quick instructions Valentine made his way to the direction Terran went. But before he could get to Terran he heard a loud crash from the second floor and a scream from a girl. Valentine ran as fast and hard as he could to the staircase to the second floor.
The second-floor layout was similar to the main floor, but it was more open. Fewer bookcases blocked the line of sight and created pockets of solitude. It had a common area to the left of the staircase that had a few chairs and tables and a right side that had a majority of the books on shelves. In the middle of the common area, there was a large table that had 8 chairs around it. One of the chairs had a book and some snacks next to it. In the chair was a girl's backpack opened, and across the table was a broken open window.