Mr. Thorne calmly closed the book he was reading and stood up, radiating a dangerous aura.
"It appears that you are not quite as clever as you think." He said, perfectly nonchalant. I couldn't get a read on him, so there's no way I can try to trick him. He meant business, this would be a difficult situation to try to wiggle myself out of.
"You look like a deer caught in headlights, Mr. Thompson. Surely you at least anticipated this outcome somewhat?"
No, I didn't. There was no reason to, this was meant to be a test run. Wait, does this mean Mr. Thorne set the trap? But for what purpose… So many things weren't adding up in my head, but I can save all these thoughts for later. I had to come up with a strategy. I quickly glanced around my surroundings, seeing nothing that could help me. Until my eyes landed on the fire alarm, and the perfect escape plan formed in my head. I quickly looked away so Mr. Thorne couldn't follow my gaze.
"You see, Mr. Thorne, I actually did expect to see you here. In fact, that's exactly why I am here now." I decided to act like I had anticipated this, knowing he would likely call my bluff, and would help me stall out time. As I said this, I straightened my posture and put my hands in my pockets, where I keep my pencil.
Mr. Thorne's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Nice try, Jeffrey. You're easier to read than this book in my hands," he said, motioning to the book he was reading before I arrived. I took a closer look at the book and saw that it read How to Catch Dummies. Nice.
"Real funny, Mr. Thorne. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business I need to do here."
"I'm afraid I can't let that happen." He said, taking a step forward and blocking me from the rest of the IT room. I take a quick glance behind me and visualize the route that would help me the most here.
"Is that so? Take this!" I yell and chuck the pencil I always keep in my pocket at the fire alarm, and simultaneously pushing the button on the side of the watch, unfreezing time.
Suddenly, the world turned back to normal colors and water started pouring down on us, activating the IT room security procedure. I quickly jump back as a large steel door drops right in between me and Mr. Thorne.
"Damn it, Jeffrey! I will get you."
Upon hearing this, a bold smile creeps onto my face and I let out a hearty laugh.
"I'm sorry, old man, but I will never lose." I say in a cocky voice and turn to run in the opposite direction of Mr. Thorne's angered screams and fists beating the iron door. As I'm about to reach the tunnels hidden in the bathrooms, I hear a voice from my pocket.
"Jeffrey!" A breathless TJ cries. "Oh gosh, we need to meet up, ASAP!"
I pull out the walkie-talkie from my pocket and put it up to my head.
"Roger that, TJ. Same meeting spot as planned, I'm on my way." I say as I dash out the school towards the park at mach 10. Since I'd blend in with the crowds, the cameras wouldn't see me running away as anything weird.
I arrive at the park breathless and on my knees to a TJ calmly awaiting me on the bench.
"Hey… TJ… fancy… seeing you… here…" I say in between breaths.
"How fast did you run, man? You sound like you just ran a marathon." TJ replies, as if that's the worst of our worries right now.
"Not… import… ant right… now…" I gasp out. "What… happened..?"
"Oh, it was pretty terrifying, in all honesty. A couple of minutes after you had left, three tall men dressed entirely in black suits, with sunglasses and black hats covering their faces, showed up. At first, I thought I had the fight in the bag, but then they started overpowering me. That was the point when I dialed you for help, it sure did take you a bit, what was that about?" He turned to face me, scowling.
I had finally caught my breath to the point where I could speak like a normal person.
"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that. I was a little busy myself. Once I had arrived at the IT room, I found myself face to face with the man himself, Mr. Thorne." I said, bearing a serious expression on my face. "He seemed to have been expecting me specifically, I was only able to escape using the IT room security protocol. But, we need to formulate a plan of action next, since once he gets out of there, bad things are going to happen."
TJ stopped in thought for a moment, then finally said, "I see, well what should we do Jeffrey?" He looked up at me with eyes that seemed to say It's up to you, man.
"Have no fear, I know exactly what to do, follow me." I said confidently, and turned to walk right towards the school.
"Wait, Jeffrey." TJ stood up from the bench and approached me with a worried look in his eyes. "What exactly do you plan to do?"
I chuckled and looked back up at TJ.
"It's simple really, we play a little game with Mr. Thorne and his lackeys." I say, with a gleam of mischief in my eyes.
TJ stares back up at me in confusion. I let out a begrudging sigh.
"Alright, so obviously the mysterious men in black work with Mr. Thorne, since they could also move around while time was frozen. Which confirms a lot of suspicions we had. Number one, the information the old guy gave is more than likely valid. Number two, we know more about the organization than we did before. And finally, number 4, they have exposed a weak point that I can now exploit to get rid of Mr. Thorne."
TJ looked back at me with his jaw wide open and his eyes popping out of his head.
"Wait.. Really!? They exposed a secret!? How!?"
"Not so fast my friend, a magician never reveals their secrets. We'll have to act fast, there's no telling what Mr. Thorne will do once he escapes from that room."
All of this… was one big bluff. I noticed a while ago that Mr. Thorne had snuck a bug on my phone, but I had to make him think I hadn't noticed yet, since I could use this to my advantage. Now, it's very easy that he sees through my bluff, since I'm hesitant to tell TJ about it. But, I've prepared for this.
"Now, we need to get back to the school pronto, otherwise this secret will be for nothing. Also, lunch is almost over, we don't want to be late."
"You right, let's get going."
Even if Mr. Thorne saw through my bluff, he'd still have to do something to counter me in the case I'm not lying, and he seems capable of seeing both possibilities, however, he has no clue that I know he can hear me.
"Actually, TJ, I'll clue you in."
"Really, what's the secret man?"
TJ was jumping up and down like a dog awaiting treats when I said this.
"Calm down man, alright, listen up. I don't want to say the secret aloud since if you know about it, it could be dangerous. But, I'll tell you my foolproof plan. Here's what we do, first up, when we get back I'll go check the IT room to see if Mr. Thorne is there. If Mr. Thorne is still trapped, then we provoke him until he says something that can incriminate him while we have the principal standing by. If he's not, then he'll most likely be in his class. I'll need you to stand by his class and key me in your findings, so I know what. If he's not in either place, then we need to find him ASAP. Let's go. Also, if he's not in his room, do come to the IT room and pick up the pencil I threw."
This plan was mediocre, at best. But it was the best shot we got. That last part was just in case something went bad.
Once back at the school, it seems all the calamity that must've ensued following the random fire alarm going off had calmed down. TJ quickly made his way to Mr. Thorne's room and I calmly approached the IT room. As I rounded the corner, I walked right into something large blocking my path. I stumbled back, rubbing my head, and looked up to see Mr. Thorne and a couple of other people behind him. Mr. Thorne wore a very cross expression, with his eyebrows furrowed in and crossed arms, he stood very menacingly in my way.
"Jeffrey…" He growled.
At that moment, I decided playing dumb would be my best bet since cameras shouldn't be able to capture me while time was frozen, and the closest camera was by the bathroom, so I could easily say I was just on my way to the restroom.
"Hey, Mr. Thorne. You seem to be pretty mad, anything I can help with?"
"You know exactly why I'm mad, Jeffrey. You thought it would be such a funny prank to set off the fire alarm, and leave me in the IT, trapping me in there. Well, young man, you need to face the consequences of your actions. We are taking you to the principal's office." He says, and before I can retaliate, picks me up by the collars, and hauls me off to the principal's office.
Principal Meyers's office was lavish, filled to the brim with leather furniture, gold trophies and medals all across the walls, and a big steel desk plopped right in the middle of the room. Principal Meyers was a stout man in his late 30s. He had combed back black hair and wore a black suit with a cream-colored tie.
Mr. Thorne practically kicked open the door and threw me into one of the leather chairs in front of the desk. Principal Meyers slowly looked up from his computer with a hint of annoyance showing on his face.
"What's the matter here, Mr. Thorne?" Principal Meyers asked, the authority in his voice resounding throughout the room.
"What's the matter is that Mr. Thompson was the cause of the unexpected fire alarm here 10 minutes ago. He thought it would be a funny prank to pull the alarm while I was in the IT room to trap me inside."
Principal Meyers looked over to me with no hint of emotion showing on his face, yet I could feel his wrath oozing out of him.
"Mr. Thompson, is this true?"
"No, what? I haven't even seen Mr. Thorne outside of first period today."
Principal Meyers growled and punched a number into their phone, then picked it up.
"Hello, Mr. John. Could you bring up the security footage for the camera inside the IT room and the nearest one to that, the one by the restroom down that hall? Appreciated." He said in a completely neutral voice, then slowly turned towards us and glared at both me and Mr. Thorne at the same time.
"So, one of you is lying. Now, it's up to me to figure this out, as per usual." Principal Meyers said in a neutral tone, but I still could tell he was suppressing a terrifying anger.
"Principal Meyers, please listen to me," Mr. Thorne began in what sounded like a genuine pleading voice. "I was on my way to the IT room during the lunch break, to make some new acquaintances, and Jeffrey saw me and approached as I was entering the room. Once in the room, I saw that nobody was in there, so I turned to leave. Upon turning around, I saw Jeffrey standing in the doorway, and he threw a pencil at the fire alarm in the IT room. I didn't know what this would do, but it not only triggered the alarm, and shut me in! In fact, that pencil is probably still there." Mr. Thorne spit out, pointing his finger at me like I'm some criminal.
I suppressed the urge to laugh and turned to him as I pulled another pencil out of my pocket.
"Mr. Thorne, my pencil is right here, what are you talking about!? I was on my way to the bathroom during lunch, and the line to the restroom closest to the lunch was super long. So, I went all the way out here since I knew nobody would be using them. I can only assume Mr. Thorne saw me and thought to try to get me in trouble somehow, are you still about that incident on the first day?"
I knew the cameras wouldn't see me, and that Mr. Thorne is too mad to concentrate right now, not knowing he's walking into my trap.
Just then, Mr. John, the assistant principal, walked in. Mr. John looked about 50 with a bit of white hair atop his head, dressed in the same suit as Principal Meyers.
"Here is the footage you requested, Samuel." He said, handing over 2 DVDs.
"Thanks, Michael." Principal Meyers said, reaching over his desk and snatching the DVDs. Mr. John scurried off after the DVDs had left his hand, I'm starting to think these two aren't very fond of each other.
Principal Meyers pressed a button on his computer and a compartment slid open. He took the DVD labeled "IT-Room_1" and put it in the tray, then pushed it shut. Then, he picked up a remote and turned on the giant flat-screen TV to our right, now showing the footage. He started fast forwarding to around the time we had our encounter. As Mr. Thorne started watching the footage, I could see him start to pale, it seemed he finally realized what had happened.
Right before we froze time, he was more than likely in his room, or somewhere else, meaning he had to move to the IT room while time was frozen. The security camera would not pick up him entering the room, nor would it see me, ever. The IT room's camera is inside the room, and I made sure I was well out of sight once I unfroze time. A perfect plan, as always. Mr. Thorne would be caught just appearing inside the room, and the other hallway camera would show me walking into the bathroom coming straight from the lunch hallway, since it intercepts the hallway that has the IT room and restrooms. I won this battle, but I can't let myself get cocky. If I let my guard down, Mr. Thorne will definitely find a way to strike back, but maybe I won't need to worry about that if I play my cards right.
The camera showed all the IT workers leaving the room to go eat, then all of a sudden Mr. Thorne shows up on the cameras and is banging on the closing door.
"Mr. Thorne," Principal Meyers began, barely keeping his anger under control. Mr. Thorne looked like a ghost, as he turned his shaking head back towards Principal Meyers. "Care to explain how you magically fucking appeared in the IT room?" Principal Meyers fingers were scrunched up, his eyes twitching, his face contorted.
"Uhh.. Principal Meyers… I believe there must be something wrong with your cameras."
"You know what? I'm done, I'm tired of your shit. I know you were sent here by the Arcane Synd-" and as Principal Meyers said this, he picked up a pencil that snapped the second it was in the fingers, and Mr. Thorne immediately stood up and began shushing Principal Meyers."
"NO, NO, SHUT UP, HE'S RIGHT THERE." Mr. Thorne yelled and motioned to me.
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE, HE'S MY STUDENT, SO I HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTECT HIM FROM YOUR BULLSHIT!"
Principal Meyers now stood up, and the two had an electric stare down. Just then, Mr. Thorne jumped and threw a kick that landed right into Principal Meyers's chest. Principal Meyers flew back and landed in one of the paintings on the wall, with his head spinning. Mr. Thorne turned to me and started to say something, then stopped, his jaw dropped as he looked behind us.
Behind us stood a man of about 6 feet tall, wearing dark shades over his eyes, a large purple trench coat with red designs, and long unkempt brown hair with white tips blocking the doorway. Mr. Thorne started shaking uncontrollably, and fell to his knees.
"That's enough for now, Mr. Thorne, you are coming back with us." He said with an eerie smile as two people dressed in a black suits and faces covered with black masks came to drag Mr. Thorne out. The man turned towards me and a horrifying smile grew across his face.
"Jeffrey, I believe? You'll be coming back with us as well."