Chapter 22
KATHERINE.
“Damn it,” I muttered as my phone’s screen froze for the nth time today and I began to hit it because that was usually how I got it to work whenever it did that “What’s happening?” Josie asked. She was looking over my shoulder, watching me type out the email to the school about what Poppy did.
“My phone has been acting up since it got drenched.”
“Why didn’t you tell us? We could have stopped by my faculty and had someone fix it on the way back.”
“It skipped my mind.” I had been busy thinking about how finding my mate was the first step to preventing my pack from being dissolved, how I had to join the CMES to find my mate, and how I had to pass that crazy test to join the CMES.
‘Find the key by the third day, you have twenty-four hours… What does that mean?’
“Use Lenore’s email to send the complaint. They’ll answer it faster then,” Priyanka said and I turned around to face Lenore who was also sitting at her desk, working on her laptop, before she waved me over. I then dropped my spoilt phone on the desk and made my way over to her.
A couple of minutes later, the complaint was sent to the school. We had ended up deciding that Lenore should be the one to type the message in the email, stating what she witnessed, since it’d be odd for me to use her student email to report something that happened to me.
“Where’s your laptop?” Josie asked as I plopped down next to her on the bed and I glanced at my bare desk.
“I haven’t gotten it yet. Where do I get it from?”
“The student affairs building. We can go there before lunch tomorrow. We’ll also take your phone to get fixed.”
“Okay,” I replied with a smile. I was really lucky to have the people in this room as my friends because I honestly didn’t know what I’d do without them.
“Now about the CMES test…”
****
“Please have a seat. You’ll get it in a minute,” the woman behind the help desk told me as she handed me my ID card after scanning it and I nodded. I then headed over to the sitting area and made myself comfortable on a bean bag chair next to a huge screen that was playing a video about Blackwood University.
I was in the student affairs building to finally get my laptop and though Josie and I had come here together, she had left a couple of minutes ago to get my phone fixed. We had stayed up quite late last night, trying to figure out where the key could be by studying the activities of the CMES club but we hadn’t come up with something rational.
I opened the notebook I was holding to go through the notes we’d made last night and see if I’d missed something, and as I flipped through the pages, the audio from the video playing on the screen caught my attention.
“Congratulations and welcome to Blackwood University, a school with a rich history stretching back by decades. I’m Dean Veronica Bryman and we’ve trained the best and brightest werewolves since 1911,” the Dean said as the video zoomed in on her while she got to her feet in her office and I frowned at the sight of her. “Join us on this virtual tour and discover the legacy of excellence that has made Blackwood University a respected institution in the world of higher education… From our stunning campus to our world-class faculties, and our diverse and dynamic student body, Blackwood University is a community that embodies the very best of academic excellence. As you explore the halls of this great institution, you’ll find a welcoming and inclusive environment…”
‘Yeah, right,’ I thought, rolling my eyes as the video went on and returning my attention to my notebook. ‘Find the key by the third day. You have twenty-four hours.’ I believed we had twenty-four hours, not three days, and if I was right, I had less than ten hours. ‘Damn it.’
“Miss Roxley?” the woman at the help desk called and I lifted my gaze to see her placing a rectangular box on the desk before I got to my feet and headed over.
“Thank you,” I said and she nodded, returning her attention to her computer while I took off my backpack to put the laptop in it.
There was a huge map of the school, spanning the wall behind the help desk and I couldn’t help but stare at it as I pushed the box into my backpack. I spotted Stavenger Hall on the map and next to it was a little note that said it was built twenty years after the school’s founding. ‘Hmm.’ My gaze slid to the other dorms, the actively used ones and the uninhabited ones, and I paused when my focus moved to one of the uninhabited ones in the middle of the forest. Renfield Hall. The note next to it said ‘Third day after founding’ and I tipped my head to the side.
‘No way…’
“Now the Renfield Hall,” the orientation video on the screen behind me continued and I glanced over my shoulder. “By the third day after Blackwood’s founding, this hall was completed and it’s one of the oldest buildings in the university.” A video of the hall came up and as the speaker began to mention ten interesting things about the hall, I returned my attention to where Renfield Hall was on the map.
‘I have to check it out.’
****
I should have dropped my things at the dorm before I began to walk over to Renfield Hall which was miles away from the main campus. I still hadn't gotten there by the way.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I leaned against a tree before pausing to catch my breath for a couple of seconds.
I hadn't been able to contact Josie to let her know I might have figured out the test because she was with my phone and I had given up on waiting for her to come to the student affairs building after thirty minutes of waiting so it was just me and my map here right now. I did feel bad for leaving her but since there'd be ten keys for the ten people that would be chosen, I planned to get a key for her too if I was right about this. There wasn't a rule that said I couldn't.
“Find the key by the third day,” I repeated to myself once more as I glanced at my map, hoping I was heading in the right direction. It would seriously suck if I got lost here.
‘What if there are no more keys when I get there?’ I swallowed as that thought popped into my head because that would seriously suck too. More than getting lost in the forest would.
Hoping that wouldn't be the case when I got to Renfield Hall, I pushed away from the tree and pushed the thought out of my head before adjusting the straps of my backpack.
“Okay. Let's go,” I muttered before resuming my journey.