Though the principal’s office was not far from the cafeteria—just a few doors down the hall and to the left—the walk to the principal’s office seemed to take an eternity. The hallways of Alexander Fry High were well-lit and clean. Still, with all of the students and faculty at lunch, Alanna’s footsteps echoed off the tiled floor like she was walking in the cave of a ravenous dragon.

  Alanna shook her head. Don’t psyche yourself out, Alanna. It’s just Principal Classen. He’s just a normal middle-aged man. You’ve faced worse.

  What really worried Alanna about her meeting with Principal Classen was what would happen if her parents found out that she’d been summoned to the principal’s office. Even if it turned out that Principal Classen wasn’t planning to punish her for some unknown infraction she had committed, Alanna had never been called to the principal’s office before during all of her time in school.

  Alanna wasn’t sure what would horrify her parents more: Her midnight excursion to the Destiny Manufacturing plant investigating the origins of the Anomalies or the knowledge that she’d been sent to the principal’s office for the very first time in her life.

  Regardless, Alanna held her head high as she stopped in front of the wooden door labeled ‘PRINCIPAL’s OFFICE’ in the hallway. The frosted window at eye level on the door obscured the principal’s office, but it seemed dark in there for some reason. Either Principal Classen had not turned on the lights in his office or the frosted window was even darker than it seemed.

  But knowing that Principal Classen likely wouldn’t take kindly to her delaying her arrival more than necessary, Alanna took another deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.

  As soon as Alanna closed the door behind her and looked at her surroundings, she realized something was wrong.

  For one, the principal’s office was indeed dark. The lights on the ceiling and the lamp on the wooden desk set in the center of the room had both been turned off. The window blinds had been closed, allowing only a small trickle of sunlight to leak through onto the carpeted floor. The office was also much colder than the rest of the school, as if this room had been isolated from the school’s heating system. A strong stench of pine lingered in the air, which was at least normal, as Principal Classen was infamous among both students and faculty for his overuse of pine-scented deodorant.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  For another, the chair behind the desk was completely empty. She saw no sign of Principal Classen, a broad-shouldered, stout man with a face like a bulldog. A quick glance around the dark room showed her that she was alone. She also doubted that Principal Classen was hiding behind his desk, because it was too small for a man like him to hide behind. That seemed out of character for Principal Classen, anyway, as he was a very serious man who had never played a practical joke in his life before, at least from what Alanna knew of him.

  Pursing her lips, Alanna stepped forward and called out, “Principal Classen? Hello? It’s me, Alanna Lane. Where … where are you?”

  Alanna felt foolish even saying that aloud. She was clearly the only person in the room. Principal Classen must have been having lunch with the rest of the school faculty or maybe he had left campus to get lunch. Of course he wouldn’t be in his office right now.

  But that was definitely the vice principal’s voice I heard over the sound system earlier, thought Alanna, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, the hair on her arms standing up in the cold office. Although who knows? Maybe one of the boys made a voice clone of Ackerman and hacked into the sound system to play a prank on me.

  That did not explain why they would single out Alanna, but then again, Alanna had just gone viral. Maybe the hackers were jealous or just wanted to clown on her for their own amusement. Not something she would put past some of her male classmates, many of whom made obnoxiousness and immaturity into an art form.

  Alanna sighed. Stupid boys. At least Lucy and Katie probably won’t laugh at me. Well, Katie won’t, but Lucy at least will only giggle at me. Though I probably deserve it for falling for such an obvious trick. I haven’t even done anything wrong. Of course Principal Classen wouldn’t call me to the office for no—

  A freezing cold hand fell on Alanna’s shoulder and she shrieked.

  Or tried to before another hand clasped over her mouth and a dark, oily voice in her right ear said, “Now, now, Miss Lane. If you are too noisy, I will have to get violent, and I hate getting violent. Especially with pretty, pretty girls like you.”