Frostbite

Chapter Five - Intruder

After the class, Stephanie and I agreed that we needed to speak with Professor Treadwell. Professor Treadwell was our professor in our academy's law and sciences division. I offered my arm to Stephanie once more when we got our stuff together, helping her down the steps to head toward our professor's office. Our row in the lecture hall had cleared out completely, except for one young girl who seemed to me unconscious and sleeping.

The poor girl looked tired out, I wondered why no one had decided to wake her up. I made a mental note to wake her up when we finished our meeting with Professor Treadwell.I helped her down and walked with Stephanie over. Students were filing out of the lecture room to head towards their other classes or back up to their dorms to collect things for the next period.

Professor Treadwell was speaking with one of our classmates for a moment before turning to face us. "Hello, you two! How can I assist you today?" They asked us, our professor was quite the bubbly spirit, considering the course matter they spoke on.

I do appreciate it though, prevents me from falling asleep during the more boring aspects of class. Stephanie seemed to speak the words out for me. "We'd like to talk to you about a case." She said, Stephanie paused for a moment when Treadwell gave us a look of questioning."We're not asking for help- well kind of, more on the fact that it's a live case and not a cold one. It's a bit harder to get ahold of information." Stephanie explained. Treadwell gestured for us to follow them to their office and we both complied.

Treadwell opened the door to the office, letting us inside and closing the door behind us. They walked over to their windowsill and leaned against it. "Now speak." They said, their gaze was neutral.

"Professor, I think we're in lockdown, because of the case we're investigating," I say quickly. "Students outside were collecting kianuts for the police, and the guards had the gates closed."I watched as the professor got up from leaning against the window sill and paced around the office. I followed them with my gaze as they walked to their bookshelf.

Stephanie seemed concerned with the professor's silence. Was she stricken with the same thought I was?  I glanced at Stephanie as she watched Treadwell leave the office for a moment. I look around for any sign of a camera, before spotting one in the top far right corner of the office, immediately silencing any words I planned to say. This felt strange. Since when were there cameras in campus offices?

The academy never felt the need to have cameras on campus before with all the guards placed around. The culture prided itself on honesty, were people starting to become deceitful?The fear this killer is causing people to change, it breaks my heart that the safety honesty provided is being compromised. I silenced my scattered thoughts as I heard a set of footsteps click down the hallway. High heels or flats, on the tile floor echoed so loud in the silence. It felt like the ticking of a clock grew legs and were moving.

I heard the lecture hall door swing open, the metal doorknob slammed into the brick wall inside the lecture hall room. An older man was visible, he looked around the empty lecture hall, and he looked angry. He had fair skin, with curly black hair, and his hair had gray streaks done into it with sapphires in his braids. He had a scowl, his eyes looked determined and motivated from what I saw.

Thinking quickly I grabbed Stephanie pulled her down, under Professor Treadwell's desk, and placed a hand on her mouth. Stephanie quickly looked at me with a concerned stare as I glanced at her. Do not move, stay quiet.