Hunt and Power. Stephen Hayes

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СКАЧАТЬ every day, sir?” asked Simon. “It’s getting boring.”

      “Indeed you are, Maivis,” said Hall, stopping and unlocking the door. “You’ve survived two days and have thirteen lying ahead of you. I must say, you’re doing a fairly good job now; you’re improving your writing skills. Hopefully that transfers over to your English work.”

      There were once again eight people in detention: Justin, who was on his second last; Tulip, who was on her last; George, who was on his last; and Ellie, also on her last. I knew, however, that there were a few others from the French class still owing Hall. Detention would be full again before long. We settled ourselves down, and waited for Hall to put our lines on the board.

      But instead of writing a line for me, Hall smirked. “Don’t get too comfortable, Playman,” he said, turning to me. “You asked for something more difficult to do this afternoon, remember? I am happy to provide. Just wait while I sort the rest of them out, then I’ll assign you your task.”

      “Er—okay,” I said a little nervously. This might be a bit of a problem. If I wasn’t doing lines, then I couldn’t be sure the crystal would work as effectively as it had yesterday, and that might mean I was here for longer than I anticipated. Doing something more difficult.

      Hall wrote the lines up for the others, told them to get to work, and then beckoned for me to follow him. He took me down the corridor, but I barely had time to wonder where he was taking me when he walked straight into Room 11. It was a classroom much the same as Room 12, and it was empty, apart from the tables and chairs. I thought perhaps he just wanted me to do my lines away from the others; well that was no more difficult at all.

      “I had to twist a few limbs to arrange this for you,” he said, moving to the front desk, opening a drawer, and pulling something out. “But I think, knowing your streak of pride, you’ll enjoy the challenge.”

      I felt indignant. Pride was certainly not one of my greater traits; I didn’t think so anyway, but my curiosity overpowered my ill feelings towards him.

      “So what do I have to do?” I asked.

      “This is a little game,” he said. “Where your powers of resistance will be tested. You will be presented with many temptations you must resist, and many hardships you must battle through. Be sure you resist, though, because the more you give in to temptations and fail to deal with traumas, the more you will suffer for it. The worst case scenario may be that you … never return.”

      I gulped—was he serious? “How do I know when I’m done?” I asked.

      “You will merely pass through stages—rooms, if you will, and you will know when you’re finished,” he said, smirking in such a way that I felt extremely nervous.

      He put the thing he was holding down on a table between us, and I stared at it. It looked quite unremarkable—merely a metal box with two sides that were slightly open. But I didn’t have any more time to wonder, because Hall had moved to my side of the desk, grabbed my arm, and thrust my hand through the open part of the box closest to me. I felt my world tilt, and then I was falling through a whirl of colour and sound.

      Chapter 4: Inside the Box

      Then I was back on my feet, standing in a place I didn’t recognise. I was at the end of a dimly lit corridor, stone walls to my left and right, and behind of me. It had a nothing-sort of feel to it, as though it’s only purpose was as a transition between locations, rather than a place one was meant to stand around in. Taking deep, steadying breaths, I walked forward, as there was nowhere else for me to go. Hall hadn’t given me a lot of advice, and he certainly hadn’t told me what I had to do. What was going to happen now? How do I get out of here? There was no point using magic to help me, as the Light Crystal hadn’t made the trip through the box with me. Was that Hall’s plan, to get the Light Crystal? How had he gotten his hands on a magical item like this anyway? Surely, Mr. Woodward hadn’t given it to him…

      I continued forward, and eventually saw a closed door ahead of me. I hurried forward, and when I reached it, put my ear to the keyhole to listen for any sound. I couldn’t hear anything, so I checked the knob. It was unlocked, which was a relief; Hall’s plan wasn’t to lock me inside, it seemed.

      The next room was considerably brighter, and I had to shield my eyes for a moment before I was able to look around. It looked like the house Marc and Amelia had used for their group on camp, except that there were no people or furniture in it, aside from a few beanbags on the floor roughly where the couches had been. It was just a big empty space, so far as I could tell. I couldn’t see anything dangerous, so I edged my way into the room and shut the door softly behind me. It was only then that I spotted, sitting on a beanbag in a corner to my left and reading a book, Natalie. At least it looked like Natalie, though I knew it couldn’t really be her—the real Natalie was probably still walking home from school, well out of reach of Hall’s madness. The not-Natalie looked up at the sound of my footsteps.

      “Hi,” she said, smiling at me. I felt my stomach lurch; she had such a beautiful smile.

      “Er—hi,” I said, wondering how I should go about this. “Er—who are you? Or what are you?”

      She raised her eyebrows at me. “John, I’m Natalie. You know that.”

      “Er—right,” I said, wondering what on earth was going on here. It just wasn’t possible; it was just my mind playing tricks on me—or rather, the box playing tricks on me. Was this one of the tests Hall spoke of? “Well, what are you doing here then?”

      “Oh, just waiting for some company,” she said, putting her book aside and getting to her feet to face me. “But I don’t have to wait no more do I, now you’re here.”

      “I don’t know,” I said, glancing around for another door so I could continue moving forward, and spotting it directly opposite the one I’d just come through (in real life, that door had led to the bathrooms). “I really should be going, you know—”

      “What for?” she asked, sounding hurt as she moved right up in front of me. “It’s just us here, you know?”

      “Well I’ve got things to do—”

      “John,” she said, taking my hands in hers. I noticed how warm and soft her hands were, and gulped. “We both know how hard it’s been to get a moment like this. We’ve been waiting for it for years—”

      “What?”

      “Oh come on,” she said, her voice dropping a few tones, making her sound extremely sexy all of a sudden. I’d never heard Natalie talk like that before, other than in my dirty fantasies, and this further confirmed that this was … well, not her. “It’s just us here. None of the others matter right now, so come on. Let us speak openly to each other for once. I know how you feel about me. I know you know how I feel about you, thanks to Sebastian, anyway—”

      “How did you know about that?” I asked, horrified. “Did he—”

      “What don’t I know?” she replied. “Stella told me all I needed to know. She knew Sebastian had stolen my diary—dickhead—and she knew from reading one of the Maivises’ minds that you feel the same.”

      My stomach was falling with every word she said. It all sounded so plausible, and here was me thinking I could tell her when I wanted to, on my own terms…

      “So СКАЧАТЬ