Will coughs, looking at you in definite surprise. "I'm…I'm sorry," he says, blinking rapidly. "Was that…did you…?"
"It was," you confirm. "And I did." You flash him a smile. "It's been a busy day—I thought as long as I had the chance to ask you out, I should go for it while I still did have it."
The Head Boy nods, looking extremely uncertain. "That…that does make sense," he admits slowly.
"So, how about it?" you press him. "You and me, somewhere quiet, just the two of us?"
There's a heartbeat while Will still appears to be trying to get back up to speed. Then, with a sudden smile of his own, he nods his head.
"Yes," he says. "Yes, I'd like that very much."
Next
Before anything more can be said, Renault pulls his head out of the safe, looking around at you. "Found it," he says. "Looks like the boss has been keeping notes, and then locking those notes in a safe, which is what I'd call a unique writing style. It says that what we're looking for is somewhere on the grounds: it says here there's a wooded area." He rotates in midair to face Will. "Does that mean anything to you?"
The Head Boy looks nonplussed, confused enough that conversing with a departed soul no longer seems to concern him quite so much. "There's no wooded area on the school grounds," he says, frowning. "It must be wrong."
"You think so?" asks Max, causing you all to turn. The werewolf is still looking out through the window. Once you're watching him, he pulls back the curtain, letting the dying remnants of daylight into the room.
Out of the window, bathed in what remains of the sunlight, a dark patch of trees is visible in the distance.
"That's…" Will joins the werewolf at the window, staring at the trees. "That's impossible."
"Clearly not," Sonia declares archly. "I guess we know where we're headed next." She glances at the Head Boy. "Thanks for the assist with the safe."
"What are you going to—" Will starts, then cries out as the study door is suddenly struck with a tremendous blow, battering it almost off its hinges. Everyone spins around, facing the door as it rocks again with a terrific impact, juddering violently in its frame.
BOOM. Another blow, even harder. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. They're getting faster now, working up to an almost frenzied pitch.
You stare around at the room's occupants. "What is it?! What's happening?!"
"It's the headmaster!" Sonia shouts over the crashing impacts. "I can hear his thoughts!" Her face, bloodless enough to begin with, turns even paler, her eyes widening. She stares at you. "We have to get out of here!" she screams. "Now!"
At her last word, the door is struck again, and a long crack runs down its entire length. Behind the weakening barrier, even with the thundering blows against it, you can still hear the frantic, feral breaths from the headmaster as he tries to break it down.
There's no second door, no other way out. And in a moment, there'll be nothing between you and the creature desperately throwing itself against the door in its attempt to reach you.
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