I was turning into a real hoodlum. Although, I doubt anyone would care about my breaking and entering considering my motives.
My station was in the center of the room, so I wove through the tables and stools with my fingers crossed, chewing on my lip. My hand hovered above the drawer for just a moment before I pulled it open…
…and found all three vials.
I picked them up gingerly and eyed the liquid inside. According to Louis, it would create a huge rotten fish stink, which was exactly what I needed to avoid detection. A diversion.
But, I needed to do it right because I’d only get one shot at it. The Administration building was roughly ten minutes from here, if I could get there undetected.
Wherever I used it, people would run. A wolf’s olfactory sense was too sensitive to withstand a stink bomb like this, even though my entire plan was hinged on me running straight into the stench.
If I trailed it behind me, though, I’d be creating a very stinky path that anyone could follow, so I had to lay down more than one. Luckily, I had three.
If I threw one out into the quad, it should provide enough of a distraction to get me going. I crossed to a window and lifted it slowly, just in case anyone was watching. The mesh resisted for a moment before popping out, giving me a clear shot to the quad below. One good lob and Louis’ stink bomb would do its thing.
I considered the vial. The grass was thick below and the glass looked solid so there was no real assurance it would break even from this height. I’d have to take the top off.
Knowing it would be painful to breathe after I opened it, I searched the room until I found some thick white cloth then folded it into a make-shift mask. I’m sure there were actual masks in one of the locked cabinets but I’d just have it open for a second before throwing it.
I unscrewed the top and pulled it off, then immediately covered my mouth and nose with the cloth while I leaned out the window and threw the vial with all my strength. It sailed through the air and landed on the grass with a quiet wisp of sound.
I gagged. In the instant it had taken me to drop the cover and throw the vial, the chemical had filled the air in front of my face and had cut off my breath. I wretched myself away from the window, bending over from the waist to cough violently as I tried to fill my lungs with fresh oxygen. Luckily, there was nothing left in my stomach to throw up.
It took several long, horrible minutes, but I finally straightened and blew out a deep breath.
“Shit,” I mumbled, knowing I’d have to endure that again to finish my plan. And I’d only breathed the smallest bit of vapors, what would it be like to get a good lungful?
It was my best change, though. If I didn’t pass out.
Reassessing the need for a real gas mask, which would allow me to continue breathing, I grabbed the axe from the hallway and broke lock after lock until I found what I needed. It covered most of my face, which was probably a good thing, and blocked out even the slightest scent of rotten fish. I also found a pair of dark blue scrubs tucked in among the masks and extra lab coats, so I took a minute to put them on. I still had nothing on my feet, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
This was it, I thought as I made my way to the front doors of the Science building. I wiggled the mask to make sure it was secure, stuck one vial into a pocket, and then unscrewed the top of the other.
And ran.
Chapter 17
My legs moved faster than they ever had in my entire life.
I didn’t stop to think, didn’t stop to look behind me, I just moved forward with a single intention, to get to the Administration building and up to the nurse’s office then back to the library as quickly as I could.
My luck was holding, I had no idea why or how, but I managed to get past the Math building and the Visual Arts building without spotting a single guard. When I rounded the corner of the Arts building, though, all that changed. I charged straight into a group of men and women, all sporting deadly weapons and staring, shocked, at me.
With a scream that echoed inside my own head so loudly it made my pulse jump, I waved the open vial in the air in front of them, then took off in the opposite direction.
Screams filtered through the air as I ran, along with the sounds of agony and vomiting. I stopped, panting for breath at the edge of the brick and turned to look back at the chaos I’d created. My eyes shot wide as I realized I’d only seen the guards, not who they were guarding.
Students, people I’d seen around campus, and professors, bent over or fell to the ground holding their hands over their mouths, trying to breathe through the hostile air. My heart went out to them, but I couldn’t stop. They were safe enough. Louis had wanted to pull a prank not kill the entire population of campus. It sucked, I knew, but dying would be worse.
I was about to turn away when a thought occurred to me. I could run around the outskirts of campus and possibly run into more guards who I’d have to dose with the other vial, or I could cut through the mayhem here while everyone was distracted. It was a faster route, more direct, and would shave around five minutes off my time. Five very valuable minutes.
I didn’t give myself time to overthink. I raced into the mess of heaving bodies, leaping over gagging peers and wild guards. I pressed my hand to the mask, desperate to keep it locked in place. One wrong move and I’d be in the same predicament as these poor guys.
A few feet from freedom, a hand shot out and grabbed my ankle, sending me tumbling to the grass in a heap. I cried out as my, already tender ankle, twisted again. Pain shot up my leg and I kicked out instinctively without looking. My bare heel connected with something that crunched under it. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing this was it, I would die now, then opened them again when three seconds ticked by and nothing happened.
Seraphina lay on the grass at my feet, her entire face covered in blood as she grasped her broken nose and gasped for breath. Her terrified and furious gaze locked on me and recognition filled them, along with pure hatred.
Scrambling back, I pushed to my feet and limped past the mess of writhing bodies, grabbing the edge of a tree for support.
“Damn it,” I groaned as I tested my ankle again. This was worse, way worse than it had been and I’d been able to heal faster when I’d shifted into my wolf then back to my human body. That’s the way it was, the more we shifted, the faster we healed. But, if I were to shift now, to get back a keener sense of smell and lose this gas mask, I’d be just like the poor souls I’d just left behind.
So, I limped, and bit back hot stinging tears with every stab of pain that travelled up my leg. I was almost there. I could see the Administration building now.
It was so beautiful. That’s all I could think as I drew closer, step by agonizing step. I had to focus on something. It was beautiful, the way the ivy crept over the brick facade, giving it a distinguished and cultured air. This place was old, I knew, and filled with secrets. Like The Sisterhood.
Forty feet, that’s as far as I had to go to get to the front doors. Thirty nine, now.
I counted them off, trying to focus on that instead of the fact that I wish I’d had the foresight to grab a big stick or something I could use as a cane,
Nine more feet. I lifted my head and stared at the steps that lead to the front doors, seeing them as almost insurmountable. I wanted to sit down, I wanted to rest and hide. I wanted my mom.
A shout to my left had me throwing myself into a crouch behind the hedge that ran around the entire Administration building. Branches cut my skin again, but I didn’t care.
Guards surged around the corner of the building and headed straight toward their fallen comrades. And each and every one of them wore a gas mask.