28. Security Isnt Safe

Chapter twenty-eight

Security Isn't Safe

I 'm so nervous right now and it's not even my usual awkward nervousness. I can hear a lot of people gathering in the hall. Most of the drama team had spent the entire afternoon preparing the hall with all the seating arrangements needed for people to come and watch the show. Mr. Fasoli is backstage barking orders at lots of different people and they're just accepting that he is a little bit on edge at the moment. I haven't seen Oliver since he went to go into the other room for a costume change. The stagehand, Peter has been doing a great job organizing everybody. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Brandi who is the Evil Queen understudy.

“Hey Amelia,” She says, her nerdy teenager costume giving away absolutely everything. No young male teacher in their right mind would ever give a girl looking like that a B or lower. “Oliver said he needed your help? He went to the security room to go change.”

“I'm sorry I don't know where that is.”

“Come on, I'll show you, we gotta be quick though.” I follow Brandi backstage and past an exit door. This hallway was still part of the school and she points to a door about three down. “That one.” As I reach it, the door is wide open, so I go inside. It's very dark, which I know Oliver likes, but I can't see him in here. I yelp as the door behind me slams shut. I run back to it and try to open the door, but there's no handle.

“Sorry, we decided Prince Charming needs a new Snow White.” Was that Amanda?

“Amanda, open the door!” I shout.

“Don't worry we will. As soon as the show is over. You can watch it on the monitors from in there.” I shout again but I don't get a response. I suppose they've gone away. I turn around and I can see rows of monitors that surround areas of the college. About five of the lower ones are focused around the hall area, and the drama team. On one of the monitors I can see Oliver is looking around for somebody, hopefully it's me and he'll come find me soon. I look down at the buttons and see if I can get them to do anything. There's a keyboard that kind of looks like it's selective of which camera it chooses. As I press the green button beneath them, the corresponding number monitor turns on with a loud noise.

“-you seen Amelia?” It’s Oliver’s voice. The camera’s must pick up audio as well. Doing my best to ignore the other voices that are around him and pay attention to what he is asking people. He steps a little bit too far away from the camera for me to hear him ask Amanda and Brandi where I am. But I can physically see them shrug shoulders. He shakes his head and continues to look around. I can see his movement on the monitors as he goes back and forth between certain areas. He pulls out his phone and starts to text. I already know there's no point for me to check my pockets since I've changed my costume. I left my phone with the rest of my clothes. I try again to look around the office, but I don't even see a phone. What kind of security office doesn't have a phone? I see a microphone, so I hit the button but nothing changes. Picking it up to see if I needed to switch it on. I can see that the court has been cut. Those girls really thought of everything. I also hear a strange buzzing noise. I look up towards where I can see a vent that’s not big enough for a person to fit through, but there's something on the other side. I can't reach it, but there is certainly a smell coming from it and I really foul one at that. The girls must have put something in here because it's getting really hard to breathe. I look around and see paper, with a quick ruffle through drawers I'm lucky enough to find tape, which I use to plaster the vent and stop the smell from coming through as much as I can. I watch Oliver as he goes on to another monitor and I switch on that one's sound. At least I figured out how to do something. He's calling on the phone. For a moment I thought he was calling me, but he ends up talking to somebody else.

“Nolan, I need your help. Something's wrong, I can’t find Amelia.” He pauses for a moment while he listens to what Nolan has to say. “No Seth isn’t picking up. The drama hall at the college. You guys are nearby, right? Great, I'll let you in through the back.” As he slowly walks around the back stage, he still keeps an eye out for me. What am I supposed to do from here? How do I get his attention? As I start pressing buttons, I notice that there is also a joystick. Can I move the cameras? Looking up some of the other monitors, I try to figure out where Oliver just went. As I look up to one of the high ones I can see he's going to an exit door to let Nolan and the triplets in. I press the buttons again where I select the camera and I use a joystick to try move it. I'm surprised that it does actually do exactly what I hoped it would. But the guys are too preoccupied to notice. As they go further up the hallway, I keep an eye on them and I try to move the camera around so they will see it. No luck. They stop alone in the hallway as I turn on the sound.

“-did you last see her?” Nolan is finishing his question.

“Maybe only about five minutes before she went missing. As soon as I realized she wasn't around any of the stage crew, I called you guys.”

“Why are you even here? I thought you just helped the drama team with music now and then?”

“They were rather persistent I play a part.”

“What part?” Niles asks,

“What's the play?” Richard continues.

“Is Amelia in it too?” Hendrik finishes. These guys need to finish that conversation and fast. The play is going to start really soon. If they don't find me, then Oliver is going to have to do the part with somebody else. Not that I would care if he would have to perform with somebody else, but I do care if he might accidentally bite someone on stage.

“We really don't have time for this.” Oliver basically growls.

“Make time.” Nolan barks at him, forcing him to step backward into a wall.

“You don't understand some of those sorority girls are on the drama team and now Amelia is missing . Do you understand how detrimental this is not to waste time? Fuck whatever bullshit you have with me and deal with it later.” I really hate it when the guys fight. Not that I've seen it too often, but I really don't like seeing it at all. Again, I try to move the camera around rapidly, but they still don't pay attention.

“Hello?” I shout facing the door. Given that I could barely hear Amanda when she was speaking with me, I really doubt that they could hear me from another hallway. Especially with how much noise is going on outside in the main drama hall.

“Split up. Meet back here in three minutes.” Nolan deals out the orders and everyone separates. I'm not really sure who I should monitor, but one of them has got to eventually see the cameras moving right? The first thing Hendrik does is go out and see into the crowd. I suppose it's a good idea to look for me amongst everybody else, but he's not gonna find me there. I look over towards Niles and he's opted to check the other levels of the college. Meanwhile Richard went back outside and I presume during a moment I didn't catch he transformed quickly so that he could check out the outside area as fast as he could and get back in time. Nolan and Oliver end up sticking together and go back out towards the area where all of our drama team are waiting for us.

“Mr. Pierce,” Mr Fasoli catches Oliver’s attention. “Have you seen our young Snow White? I'm afraid the Evil Queen might have already done away with her. The show is about to start, and no one has seen her in nearly twenty minutes.”

“She's somewhere, we're looking for her.”

“Mr. Fasoli, when I saw her earlier, she didn't seem very well. Perhaps she went to the bathroom. That being said, Snow White is meant to be pale white, not green as she was.” Oliver pays attention to Amanda, but I'm wondering if he actually believes what she's saying.

“You're really full of shit, you know that?” I'm relieved to hear he doesn't believe her at all.

“Excuse me?” Some of the drama club members end up dropping their jaws. I suppose not many people talk to Amanda like that. “Look, I'm just going to ignore that because we've got a show to put on, and if your Little Miss Amelia doesn't come running along anytime soon, we're going to have to start without her. Which means I'm going to have to be your Snow White.”

“I'm sorry, Mr Pierce. But we do have a show to put on.” Mr. Fasoli adds.

“If we have to perform without her then my under study can take my place.” Oliver simply states. I know for a fact Mr. Fasoli doesn't want to replace Oliver. Earlier on in the week I heard him chatting with somebody about a talent scouts looking for interesting directors around the place, someone with vision. If he ends up replacing Oliver, it could be a really big dent in his possible career.

“You have ten minutes. Just find her.” Oliver doesn't hesitate and leaves the area quickly followed by Nolan. They go back towards the hallway where the triplets have already gathered. The triplets shake their heads before they even group up together. I switch back to that camera and try jiggling around again. This time a lot faster up and down and around in circles. I cough a few times at the smell. My head is spinning and I'm not sure I can keep my eyes open, they’re even starting to sting. As the boys start discussing a new plan, I don't stop spinning around the joystick that's controlling the camera. One by one, I seem to be catching the attention of the triplets. Leave it to the cats to stare at the wall and not say anything.

“What are you guys staring-” As Nolan turns around, he can see the camera moving around.

“Yes!” I exclaim. I move the camera up and down, sort of like I'm nodding my head.

“She's in the security room.” Oliver exclaims as he gets everyone to follow him down the hallway. They know where I am! I go towards the door and start banging. I just want them to feel reassured that I'm definitely here and they're going in the right direction. On the other side of the door, I can hear a voice. “Amelia?”

“Oliver! They broke off the handle. I can't open the door.” I hope he can hear me.

“Amelia stand as far back away from the door as you can.” I barely hear Nolan's words as I take a few steps away. I jump when both Oliver and Nolan bust the hinges of the door and break it down. They really are strong. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you, but can we get out of this room? It stinks!” I usher the guys out into the hallway and we start walking back towards the drama hall.

“Hold up.” Nolan exclaims, stopping everybody in their tracks. “We found Amelia. She's safe now. What the hell are you doing thinking that you can go out on stage?” Nolan seems particularly angry at Oliver and I suppose I can understand why.

“It's just a stupid play. They insisted I play a part.” Oliver responds.

“Whether or not they insisted you should have said no. If I'm not mistaken, I have heard that you're playing the part of Prince Charming in an adaption of Snow White. I might have been young when I last saw that movie, but I'm pretty sure there is a kiss scene too. There is no way that you'll be able to handle that in the middle of a stage play.”

“Nolan-” I try to interject.

“Amelia, don’t. I understand that you don't really know what's going on, but you have no idea how intolerable Oliver can be of people touching him.”

“He’s really-”

“We can't even bump into him on a good day. I absolutely cannot risk you guys.”

“But Nolan-”

“If he hurts someone in the middle of the stage, especially you, what are we going to do about it? You're literally showcasing that there are vampires living amongst us to over five hundred people!” He's so adamant, he's just not gonna stop. I look over at Oliver standing beside me and I can understand the look on his face. Usually it's the face of someone being told off by a parent, but in this case Nolan and Oliver have been best friends for a very long time and Nolan has protected him that whole time too. Maybe they're more like siblings. Either way, Nolan needs to understand that Oliver has changed. At the risk of ruining his costume, I grab a hold of Oliver’s collar and pull him into me. He's a little stunned, obviously, but he lets himself crash into my lips. A moment later, I let him go and push him back. As I look at the completely astounded faces of Nolan and the triplets I gesture back towards Oliver.

“See? He's completely fucking fine. Lay off him a little, would you?”

“Exactly how often have you guys been practicing this?” Hendrik snickers. If looks could kill the glare I'm giving him now would put him six feet under.

“We've got a play to put on. Why don't you guys see if you can find a seat?” I grab onto Oliver's hand and pull him along with me towards the main drama hall. When Mr. Fasoli sees us, he's very pleased, which is more than I can say for Amanda and Brandi. “Are you ready for this?” I whisper to Oliver.

“You’re here, so I'm ready for anything.” Before I walk off to my position, he grabs a hold of my wrist and pulls me back. “That being said, I'm a little confused at the moment.”

“Why?”

“When you kissed me earlier, I felt nothing.”

“I mean, ouch?”

“No, no. Not like that. I mean, I didn't feel any…urge, come over me.”

“Was it like, because of yesterday? I mean, technically you've ‘eaten’.”

“No, that's never happened. I'm never full .” I wonder if this has something to do with what Seth said.

“I guess there really was a reason why Seth wanted you to bite me before this play.”

“I'm a little confused. I mean no offense, but you're just a human. I don't understand where this power you have is coming from and I don't understand why your blood has been able to make me feel so…normal.”

“Right, I forgot to ask Seth, what's a Fallen?” Oliver narrows his eyes at me, but doesn't answer directly.

“Before I answer that, why you asking?”

“Apparently my mother was a Fallen, which makes me half one of those, whatever that is.” Oliver's mouth gapes open as he steps back and runs his fingers through his hair.

“Holy shit.”

“Seriously, you can't have a reaction like that and not tell me what a Fallen is.”

“Places everyone. Curtain in fifteen seconds!” Mr. Fasoli has the absolute worst timing possible.