Friday, March 04, 2005

The Secret Room, 22nd Chapter

Will breathed into his chilly hands. "Why don't they ever turn down the air conditioners around here? Brrr."
He had been up and waiting for nearly half an hour now. As always, the utter darkness and aimlessness seemed to make it ten times longer.
This was only the third time he was staying up to keep watch of The Secret Room. The past two rounds ended with someone missing. Quickly forcing that unpleasant thought out of his head, he tried making shapes out of the long shadows on the floor. Two minutes, and that became boring.
Being alone sure made time go a lot slower. Though they didn't talk much during their previous "missions", he wished Jan or Jimmy was sitting beside him feeling just as foolish.
Another ten minutes passed.
Ten more.
Already Will was feeling skeptical this plan would work. Unlike the last time, there was no one to take shifts while he caught a quick nap. "If only Jan had come. Darn."
Ten more minutes of sheer torture ticked by. The last time he had been here, Jimmy was the one who had dragged him. It would therefore make perfect sense for him to ditch the formerly brilliant idea and sleep like he should.
But deep down, he knew he would never be able to live with himself if he did nothing. With nothing but sheer resolve Will forced himself to stay awake for another fifteen minutes. Still no one came.
"That's it, that's it," he yawned for the zillionth time. "She's not coming tonight."
Then as fate would have it, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. At the blink of an eye his sleepiness dissolved, giving way to heart-thumping suspense.
"Calm down, Will, maybe it's not her." he said to himself, well-hidden behind a pillar.
Like a child waiting for Santa to appear, Will tried his best to stifle his excitement. Of course, he didn't do a very good job of it.
Could it really be her? He placed one hand over his mouth to control his sudden heavy breathing. A burning sensation started coming over his ears.
The footsteps reached Will's floor and proceeded walking down the corridor. Plod, plod, plod, then they stopped. Right in front of the Secret Room.
Wiping away the cold sweat on his brow, Will stuck his head out slowly to peek.
It was Mrs. Banks!
UNLOCKING THE SECRET ROOM!

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