🆘 Chapter 4. Alina
Not paying attention to the fallen notebook, the girl reached her classmate. With trembling hands she touched she neck and felt a faint pulse. Began to call for help, but no one responded. So she ran to the door leading to the stairs. Pulled the handle, but the door wouldn't budge, even though it had been open a moment before. Someone had deliberately locked it while she was out of sight. Someone was watching her. In a state of panic, she didn't think about it, instead running down the corridor to the next wing, which also had a staircase with a door. But that too turned out to be locked.
The desperate student ran to the door of a random room, grabbed the handle and pulled hard. It was empty.
«Okay, I'll try another one», — she thought and opened the next door, but found no one inside.
After doing the same with the rest of the classrooms, she realised that she was alone on the whole floor.
— Do you like the silence? — sounded a quiet, calm voice. — I like. it's just you, me, and our wretched classmate who is on the verge of death.
Alina turned round and saw the masked man. He was standing leaning against the wall. His hands were folded in a castle, and he was looking straight at her.
— Our classmate? — she repeated.
— Exactly.
— I don't recognise your voice. You're lying. If you were in school with me, I'd definitely recognise you.
— Your lying friend is guaranteed a concussion. He was almost blown up by a bomb. But you're more concerned about my identity?
— Where did everyone vanish to? Recess just started, but there's no one in the classrooms!
The stranger ignored her question.
— Nicholas doesn't have much time left. You should think of something before he dies.
— Damn it, I'll find out who you are, and then you'll be the one who's dead! — Alina retrieved her phone and dialled «112», the call was dropped and «No signal» popped up in the top right corner of the display.
— No signal... Impossible. There's always network coverage here!
— If my game was so simple, it wouldn't be fun to play.
— Your game? — the girl shouted furiously. — I'll show you «a game»!
And, folding her palms into a fist, headed in his direction.
— Time's running out, — he grinned. — While you're wasting it on me, Nicholas's chances of survival are diminishing.
Alina felt an incredible urge to pounce on the masked man. But his words were pure truth. So, restraining the impulse to beat him up, she scrutinised the floor. And noticed a strange long object in the window. Grabbed the victim by the arm and dragged him towards the window. As she suspected, the object turned out to be a rope tied to the balcony.
She looked down and saw footprints in the snowdrift, then shifted her gaze further — they were going behind the lyceum. It looked like someone had already used this rope to leave the building recently. She realised it from the heavy snowfall, because if it had happened a long time ago, the footprints would have been covered with snow.
— Someone came down from here, but not you. Then who? — knowing in advance she wouldn't get an answer, she continued. — Let me guess. Dmitry? He forgot to pick up his briefcase from class, which means he left in a hurry. I don't know how or when he got it, but he came down from this window.
— If you figured that out, maybe you can also figure out how to rappel down the rope with the body lying there.
— I got it. You brought him the briefcase. You made him do what was on the video.
— Like I said, my game won't be easy.
— Your so-called game could get a man killed!
— There must always be risk in a game.
— But not life.
— You know, I've always had fun listening to your fake curious voice in class, especially in biology and literature, but now this voice has been so transformed that it's a sin not to laugh!
— At least I'm trying to get straight A's.
— That's the point.
Despite the annoying behaviour of her interlocutor, she tried to calm down. Without answering, went to the window, opened it and looked at the footprints in the snow.
— Snowdrifts the size of her knees. If I threw him down with his feet, he shouldn't hit too hard.
Nicholas's height was to her advantage in that regard. The genetics of low ancestry had been passed down and made him no taller than most girls. His friends sometimes joked about it, but Nicholas took no offence.
And now this rare feature played a key role in his rescue. Alina had enough strength to hold his weight. As if the stranger had already calculated everything and knew that she would be best suited for this role.
With great difficulty, she lifted Nicholas into her arms and laid him down on the balcony, sticking his feet out the window.
«I have no choice.»
The girl took a deep breath and pushed her classmate forward. The fall lasted about a second. There was a faint crackle of snow.
«Now I have to get down myself.»
Alina climbed out the window, grabbed the rope, and rolled smoothly to the ground. Her palms burned, but it didn't matter. She was dressed in her school uniform, without a jacket, so it was very cold in the snow.
And she had to get out of it.
...
Out of idleness, Dmitry opened «Instagram» to see the news feed and the latest videos. As he prepared to dive into them, he noticed a red notification icon in the messages section, and went there. Someone had added him to a conversation, without a name or photo. There was only one person listed as a participant besides him.
Nicholas.
«DMITRY: Hi, why did you add me here?»
«NICHOLAS: Remember I told you about what happened to me and how I got to the police?»
«DMITRY: It's impossible to forget... So what?»
«NICHOLAS: Someone invented this game for me. He invented it for you too. And probably picked Maria for the next one.»
«DMITRY: Okay, you and me, but what about Maria? She's only been out of school for a couple of days.»
«NICHOLAS: Firstly, the class counselor didn't say anything about it. Secondly, before that, she was online every day and always responded to messages. Suddenly she disappears without telling anyone?»
«DMITRY: It's weird, but there's no way she's being played, either. What do you suggest we do?»
«NICHOLAS: Find out who's behind this before there are more victims.»
...
«NICHOLAS: Any thoughts?»
«DMITRY: All three victims were in our class, and the adults who were hurt had something to do with our class. I think it's a classmate of ours.»
«NICHOLAS: Agreed. And the fact that he could control our electronic board is confirmation.»
«DMITRY: Wait, what are you talking about?»
«NICHOLAS: You don't know about the video? I didn't tell you??»
«DMITRY: What the hell video? I've never heard of it!»
«NICHOLAS: After you knocked over a classmate's desk yesterday and ran away, the teacher followed you. Of course, she never came back. But the interesting thing is that at the end of the lesson, a video opened up on the electronic board showing you injecting syringes into her and the class counselor to make them fall asleep. I think you were forced to do that.»
«DMITRY: So he did show me to the whole class?»
«NICHOLAS: So you knew he was gonna do it?»
«DMITRY: I noticed the video camera I was being watched on and realised it was connected to one of the school computers. This implied that the watcher was somewhere nearby, so I started checking the classrooms, but to no avail. I found nothing. Not a single trace of presence. Then he sent me a message on my phone that said:
«Hi, Dmitry. You're a smart player, and I want to give you a reward. Namely, a rescue. Nicholas has been watching you and has seen everything you've done. He wants to turn you in to the headmistress to show himself in a better light. He'll get credit and success at the expense of your punishment. And right now, he's looking for you all over the school. To avoid that, look in classroom №310. In the only wardrobe, you'll find an explosive ball. When you hear footsteps, drop it on the stairs.»
Fear prevented me from thinking straight. I hoped the explosion would be small, but no, it ended up being very loud. I asked what I should do next, and he wrote that there was a rope tied to the window with which I could escape. I also enquired as to the whereabouts of my briefcase, and was answered that it was near the fence. That's when I left. And what really happened? You didn't come upstairs? The explosion didn't touch you? I thought I killed you!»
«NICHOLAS: Got you. Don't worry, I'm not hurt. Just scratches.»
«DMITRY: I'm so relieved it's okay! Please forgive me! I thought he really wanted to help me»
«NICHOLAS: It's all right, you felt panic and despair. I'd do the same if I were you. Let's focus on finding out who could have done this to us.»
«DMITRY: Okay. Look what I realised. Back when I was in class, my briefcase was lying by my desk. But it didn't disappear until I was on the third floor. So, during class, when me and the teacher left, he switched on the video to distract everyone, took my briefcase and brought it to the fence.»
«NICHOLAS: Realistic version. That's probably what happened.»
«DMITRY: You were in class when it happened. Did you see anyone go out or in the door after I escaped?»
«NICHOLAS: I'm more than sure that when the video ended and everyone was discussing it, Yaroslav walked into the classroom. He wasn't laughing, unlike everyone else. Just went to his desk, without a hint of curiosity.»
«DMITRY: It all fits. Walked in while I was gone. No emotion or interest. Something's not right here. I think we need to catch him. Catch him red-handed. Catch him setting a new trap.»
«NICHOLAS: Good idea, but like I said, I'm in the hospital now, so I can't help you. Can you do it alone?»
«DMITRY: Sure, mate! Don't worry and get well! I'll get that bastard!»
«NICHOLAS: Good luck. Let me know if there's any new information.»
«DMITRY: Thank you, I'll try to track him down tomorrow. But first I need to prepare. And for that, I'll write to someone...»
He started another conversation.
«DMITRY: Maxim, I need your help»
«MAXIM: Hi, are you okay? Yesterday on the board they showed a video of you injecting the class counselor and the teacher with syringes of some substance! What was that?»
«DMITRY: I know, I know. I was forced, or framed. Anyway...»
He told his classmate all the events of the previous day.
«MAXIM: Omg... So someone's terrorising our class?»
«DMITRY: So Nicholas and I decided that I would look after Yaroslav. Even though he's my friend, our friend, everything points to him. Only I'd like to ask you to help me with that.»
«MAXIM: What can I do?»
«DMITRY: We all know you're a professional programmer and hacker. Besides, you're sitting at the same desk as him. Yaroslav's not very smart. Can you create a virus and install it on his phone so I can track his online activities?»
February 14
Dmitry stood outside the door of the classroom where the first lesson was to take place. He knew he would be flooded with questions about what had happened to him. But had to be there to keep an eye on Yaroslav. Dmitry was sure he was the one behind the cruel games. Who else but Yaroslav? Though in his heart he doubted it a little.
Overcome with excitement, the student unlocked the door and entered. He saw the class counselor standing in front of the desks, announcing something. Thinking it was about him, Dmitry was stunned. But the woman only said hello to him and put a tick on the list of students. It turned out she was just marking the sick and absent, as if nothing had happened. Dmitry greeted back and made his way to his desk. Yaroslav sat directly in front of him, on the first desk of the second row. And to his left — the person he had come for.
Maxim was skilled in programming and in a couple of hours had created a mobile virus with all the necessary functions. Yaroslav was by nature gullible and a little naive, or at least pretended to be. But whatever the case, the classmate easily agreed to install the application under the guise of a system update.
Dmitry called out to him, and they moved away to a distance unheard by Yaroslav.
— Now, watch this. To access his phone, follow this link. The control panel has a web interface. You'll be able to see all his Instagram chats, SMS, browser history, in short, anything you need.
— Thank you.
— You're welcome. I hope your fears don't come to fruition..
— Me too, — Dmitry said and clicked on the link.
During the lesson, Yaroslav didn't use the phone. But at recess Dmitry saw a strange SMS that he had sent to someone. The recipient's number wasn't recorded in Yaroslav's contacts, and the message itself looked like this:
«Hi. I suggest you to play a game.»
Dmitry tapped his finger on the student's shoulder, and the latter turned round.
— I need to talk to you.
As they stepped out into the corridor, Dmitry sharply backed his classmate against the wall.
— Who did you suggest to play, and what game?
— But how do you know? — Yaroslav was surprised.
Realising that he went overboard, he took hands off him.
— You sent this message to me, — Dmitry lied. — Probably the wrong number.
— Oh, yeah? If it came to you, then I was definitely wrong. It's just that I found a cool racing game and told my friend to play it on his phone after school.
— On the phone? Or in real life?