A brilliant white light appeared, so bright that it engulfed everything and illuminated every
shadow hiding behind every object. Michael closed his eyes and covered them with his arms,
hoping he would still be alive at the end of it. There was no heat, no sound, nothing except the
light which disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and returned the first floor landing
back to the darkness it was moments before. Michael slowly opened his eyes and cautiously
moved his hands away from his face and gasped. He surveyed the five motionless bodies that
lay before him. “What the…?” Shaking his head, he approached the nearest one, it could have
been the one who attacked initially, but he was not sure, they all looked the same in their black
robes.
He knelt down and lifted the hood over the head of the body and instantly recognised the
attacker as the farmer from the top of the village, Mr. Gallagher. Michael was shocked to say
the least. The last time he had seen Mr. Gallagher was at Mary"s shop opening, he was offering
children lifts in his tractor. I am so glad I have no children. He moved to the next figure and
reached out to lift the hood, but stopped when he got an overwhelming urge to move. If asked,
Michael would not have been able to explain it, but he obeyed and left the other unnamed
bodies in favour of his quest.
As Michael began climbing the next set of stairs, the five bodies faded into nothingness,
leaving no trace of them at all. Unaware of this, he reached the top of the steps and stopped
briefly to catch his breath, although he knew he could not stay too long. His chest was heaving
and sweat drenched his forehead, but he had to go on. He removed his long coat and threw it
to the floor without a second glance and continued, jogging down the corridor towards the
headmaster"s office.
Half way down the corridor Michael heard a soft sniff, stopping he looked around and spotted
a small boy crying. Despite the circumstances, he was a teacher and his duties outweighed any
other feelings he might have. Still breathing heavily, he approached the small boy, clearly a first
year student, although to Michael, it was slightly odd how he was still wearing a school uniform
at that time of night, let alone being out at that time of night. “Hey Buddy…” he took a deep
breath, “what"s up, why you crying?” The little boy looked up. His face was wet with tears,
suggesting he had been crying for some time. Michael put his arm on his shoulder, “Now
whatever it is, we can sort it.” Michael tried to smile despite what was on his mind. However,
as Michael crouched down, the boy"s eyes turned bloodshot, black rings appeared round his
eyes and he began to snarl.
Within seconds, Michael was on his back with a little boy snarling and punching him in the
face and upper chest. Despite his size, the little boy threw quite a wallop and Michael was
assured his face would be severely bruised. He grabbed the arms of the boy and pushed him
off, before rolling to his side and standing up. His back was turned for only a second, but it was
enough for the boy to pounce again, kicking Michael"s back and thumping his shoulders and the
back of his head and still growling like a rabid dog.
Michael had had enough of this. Child or no child, this boy was in his way. He grabbed hold
of the boy"s legs, to secure him to Michael"s shoulders and ran backwards, hitting the opposite
wall as planned. It only took one attempt before the boy went limp. Michael"s heart exploded in
agony when he set the boy down, I can kiss my career goodbye.
He waited a moment looking at the boy, “sorry kid.” He stood, staring at the boy"s lifeless
body on the floor until something caught his attention from behind. Turning he looked down the
corridor just long enough to see one candle go out. Michael raised an eyebrow, another torch
went out, and another, and another. A noise that reminded Michael of a stampede echoed
down the corridor, intensifying as the extinguished lights drew closer. Michael felt his heart
pump and throb in his head, he wanted to run, but was too intrigued to know what was heading
his way, or was it to protect the boy he had just knocked out?
A herd of boys of all sizes was growing larger with every passing second; just as well the
corridor is long. Michael shook his head, “What the hell is going on in here?” He turned and
ran the opposite way conscious the stampede was closing fast. He knew he did not have far to
go and would be able to dodge the oncoming mob by stepping in to the Head"s office.
As he reached the door, he took hold of the handle and looked back at the approaching
rabble and darkness. He pushed the door and fell through before slamming it behind him. He
was not sure what he alone could do against the entire group of boys on the other side of the
door, but was grateful there was a door between him and them.
He turned round and looked for the headmaster but was disappointed, he was not there. His
office was lavish compared to the rest of the school"s furniture. Chairs laced with gold thread,
ornaments and vases of solid gold, or at least what looked like solid gold to Michael, and
various other artefacts made of precious materials from platinum to diamond. He could not help
jaw drop as he walked deeper into the room. There was a bookcase that extended the entire
length of the wall with a spiral staircase heading upwards in the centre of the room. Next to that
was a brass head and shoulders replica of a previous headmaster, so Michael presumed.
When he reached the spiral staircase, he dare not proceed. Something inside him was
clutching at his senses and telling him not to go. Instead, he turned and took another careful
look at the room. It was enormous; about the size of a tennis court. He had to smile when a
thought of Mary owning a bedroom this size pooped into his head, she would find new and
inventive ways to fill every available space.
He rested against the head and shoulder statue and it moved. “Sheesh! How many bloody
secret passages does this castle have?” He watched as a portion of the bookcase moved
backwards and off to the left, revealing a well-lit stairwell heading down. Without much thought,
Michael knew instantly what he had to do.
