Mated To An Enemy

745  A Little Trip

“That was perfect, Emma,” Ms. Stacey smiled brightly as she clapped her hands and approached the small girl at the front of the class.

She reached down and touched Emma’s shoulder.

“Very good job,” she said softly.

Ms. Stacey turned around to face the class. She looked around at all their happy faces.

“Who’s next?” she asked.

Several hands went up, and voices cried out to be picked. Ms. Stacey gave a soft chuckle before pointing to one of the students and stepping aside to let him stand before the class.

Ms. Stacey made her way to stand by the window where she could observe the whole class. But as she got closer, something outside drew her attention.

Behind her, she could hear the boy beginning to sing his song for the class. But she was still focused on whatever it was that was happening outside. She leaned forward and squinted, trying to see in the distance.

Suddenly, she gasped, and her eyes went wide. She covered her mouth and quickly glanced back, hoping none of the children heard her. She closed the curtains and turned around.

“All right, everybody!” she called out. “Let’s all get up!”

“But Ms. Stacey,” the boy said, “my song isn’t finished.”

“That’s okay, sweetheart, we’re going to keep singing together,” she smiled back. “But first, we’re going to go on a little trip! Isn’t that exciting?”

The children nodded and giggled as they got to their feet. The boy at the front let out a sad sigh, but he still obediently lined up with the others at the door to their classroom.

Ms. Stacey felt a tap on her shoulder. It was her assistant, Lana.

“What’s going on?” Lana asked.

“Okay, everybody, let’s go down the hall and take the first right. Everyone stays together,” Ms. Stacey smiled.

As the class began to move, she turned to Lana with a serious look in her eyes.

“You need to go to the other classrooms quickly,” she whispered. “Don’t panic, and don’t let the students know anything is wrong. Tell the teachers that it’s ‘storming on a sunny day.’ Exactly that, ‘storming on a sunny day,’ they’ll know what it means.”

“I don’t understand,” Lana replied nervously, “what’s going on?”

Ms. Stacey grabbed Lana’s shoulders.

“Lana, right now, all you need to do is exactly what I said. Once you have told them all, stay with the last teacher. She’ll take you where you need to be,” she said.

Lana swallowed and then hurried out the door.

Ms. Stacey took a deep breath. The children were all holding hands in line. They were almost all around the corner, and she quickly followed after them.

“What good listeners you all are!” she said as she caught up with the line leader. “You’re even holding hands.”

The children giggled and smiled.

“I said to hold hands so we don’t lose each other,” a proud voice called to her.

Ms. Stacey looked down at the boy at the front of the line. He smiled at her with his mother’s playful grin and his father’s jade eyes.

Ms. Stacey reached down and touched his cheek with a smile.

“That was an excellent idea, Ren,” she said. “Thank you for helping us all stay safe.”

Ren smiled proudly.

Ms. Stacey led her class down the hall and around another corner. Along the way, two other classes joined up with them. Ms. Stacey and the other teachers shared a look of concern. When they arrived at a heavy door, she opened it to reveal a set of stairs leading down a well-lit corridor. She turned back to her students.

“All right, kids,” she smiled. “Ms. Donna is going to lead the way down these stairs. I am going to wait here until all our friends have gotten down the stairs. So, my kids, I want you to stay with Ms. Donna, okay?”

The students nodded and smiled.

“But you said we could keep singing,” the boy pouted.

Ms. Stacey smiled.

“I’m sure Ms. Donna would be happy to listen to your song once you get downstairs, Evan.”

“I would love to hear it,” Ms. Donna chimed in, making her way to the front. She gave Ms. Stacey a soft nod and turned to the students. “All right, everybody, follow me.”

The students began to descend the stairs, and Ms. Stacey could see more classes lining up down the hall. She took a deep breath and scanned the adults, looking for Lana. Finally, she saw her as the line moved forward. Lana waved and gave her a thumbs up as a sign that she had completed her task. Ms. Stacey nodded and stepped away from the door.

She hurried down the halls, checking that all the outside doors were shut and locked and turning out every light she came across. When she was sure she had checked every entrance, she hurried to the teachers’ lounge.

From inside her locker, she grabbed her phone and hurried back toward the heavy door. She dialed the number as she nodded to the last teacher who waited at the door for her students to go down the stairs. As the final student went down, the teacher followed.

“Ms. Stacey? This is a surprise. Is everything all right?” Bell asked as she answered the call.

“The school is in lockdown,” Ms. Stacey said, not wanting to waste any time. “The students and the rest of the staff are already in the panic room. I am about to join them.”

She stopped at the door.

“Once I seal the door, I won’t have a signal to make or receive calls.”

“What are you talking about?” Bell asked with concern. “What’s going on?”

Ms. Stacey took a deep breath.

“It’s happening, Bell,” she said. “I saw them out the window.”

“Who? What is going on, Stacey? Are the children all right?”

“They weren’t coming this way,” Ms. Stacey replied quickly. “The lockdown is a precautionary measure. But they were gathering, and some of them were carrying weapons.”

“Who?!” Bell shouted.

“I waited too long to leave,” Ms. Stacey sighed. “Summer is turning on itself.”

She grabbed the handle of the door and began to pull.

“The seal on the door is six hours. Fiona and Galen have the code to release sooner if it’s safe.”

“Wait, no… let me come get Ren!” Bell cried out.

“I promise you,” Ms. Stacey said as the door was almost closed. “We’ll keep them all safe.”

The call was cut off, and Bell was left with silence.

“Stacey…?” she whispered.

Bell swallowed and took a shaky breath as she licked her lips.

“Stacey?” she called again. “Stacey!”

Bell threw the phone down and let out a frustrated cry.

Hot tears streamed down her face. Her chest heaved with heavy breaths. Bell ran out the door and down the hall to Galen’s office. She could hear yelling as she approached, but she didn’t care. Nothing else mattered right now.