BEL AND THE FOUR OF HEARTS

My face on the cold hard surface; bones aching from having laid on the the bare floor for as long as I failed to calculate. I winced, slowly pushing my body to sit upright. It was after a few more blinks I realized where I was. With a frustrated groan, I sprung up. My bones ached even more in that short and swift movement. My head was pounded, and my body was sore and stiff from lying on the ground for who knew how long. I impatiently wiped my face from forehead to chin with my hand, feeling my heart continuing to thump harder than usual, finally taking in the bearings of the environment I was in—the staff room. Wait, the staff room? I quickly sprung up to my feet, my brain going foggy as I struggled to remember what had happened. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but the effort made my head ache even more. The last thing I remembered was standing there. So how did I get here? Everything beyond that last memory was a blur. And why wasn't there any "staff" in the "staffroom" it seemed weird. Taking a deep breath, I tried to relax my mind, focusing on the sounds and sensations around me. I could hear the distant hum of machines and the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside. The room was cool and still, and I could feel the cold concrete floor beneath my barefeet. Again, why was I barefooted? I had no idea. My fingers rested on the silver door knob with suspense and I yanked on it, unsuccessfully. I could feel the frown resting on my forehead as I added a few more tries to open the door. The fear that I might have to spend the night in there was more than that of getting caught. I impatiently wiped my face from forehead to chin with my hand, feeling my heart continuing to thump harder than usual. I took a few steps away from the door as soon as my ears picked up on approaching footsteps. The reflex action was to hide behind one of the shelves. I wouldn't have been able to defend why I was in the staffroom without permission. I heaved a sigh of relief after the footsteps walked past the door and further disappeared. The door knob clicked for the first time after several tries as I turned it. The warm wind that kissed my face as soon as I pulled the door opened accentuated the feeling of relief that washed over me. I felt like a prisoner who had just been let out from behind the bars. Except that in my case, I didn't know who put me in this prison. I shut the door behind me and proceeded as naturally as I could out of the room, I felt my gut crawl slowly up my chest and drop back down into my stomach. I heaved, relieved on seeing Keisha in front of me. "Keisha” I chuckled nervously. “You even came here?” She questioned calmly, yet heavily. I could sense the bile in Keisha's words, even though I didn't understand why that would even be. And the disappointed look she had on her face as her eyes pierced through mine scared me. Something must have happened. “Trust me, I don't even know how I got here…I only remember standing outside the…” I tried to argue. “But why did you do it? This wasn't the plan, was it?” Keisha frowned. I chuckled uneasily, not understanding what exactly was making her to act up. “What do you mean by this not being the plan, Keisha. I told you I don't even …” "Belinda Omeilia Elrod!" I heard a loud booming voice echoing through the hallway. I shut my eyes for a second, knowing who else would bellow my full name in such a manner; it could never be good. In those few stomps Principal Munroe made her way towards me. I added two and two together, turning my face suspiciously to Keisha, giving her the ‘did-you-tell-on-me’ look. Her failed eye-contact with me said it all. And for the first time, rather than worry about the predicament I was in, I felt my heart sink lower into my ribs. “You have no idea how much trouble you've just gotten yourself into,” Munroe scowled at me. I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes on her dusty legs. More unknown pairs of legs stood behind hers and I could feel the eyes of their owners drilling holes into my bowed as I kept it bowed. **** I followed behind the principal, Keisha and a few others with a puzzled expression on my face. As we walked out of the staff area, I noticed that the further we got, the louder the siren noises became. I furrowed her brow in confusion. Soon, my eyes widened in shock and horror as I took in the scene before me. The school's storage area, which doubled as the school's private museum, was completely destroyed, reduced to a heap of debris that lay scattered across the ground. The area was cordoned off with yellow police tape, and several ambulances and fire trucks were parked haphazardly around the scene. The air was thick with dust and the acrid smell of smoke, and the sound of sirens blared loudly in the distance. I could see that the destruction had extended a little beyond the storage area, with several nearby buildings also damaged by the force of the collapse. Glass windows were shattered, and pieces of debris littered the ground. The wreckage itself was a jumbled mess of twisted metal, shattered glass, and broken pieces of wood. It was impossible to tell what had once been there, as everything was so destroyed and disfigured. I felt itches all over, watching as several emergency responders were frantically digging through the wreckage, searching for any other survivors. There was a big lump forming in my throat as I thought about the possibility that there might not be any survivors. It was a struggle between me and myself to let sound out of my throat. "What happened?" I finally managed to choke out, my voice raspy. “The orb of unstable magic was tampered with,” I heard Munroe's voice filter through my screaming ears. I looked up at the principal and saw that her eyes were cold and accusatory. They were narrowed and seemed to be scrutinizing every inch of me. Her gaze seemed to cut through me, causing her to feel exposed and vulnerable. It was as if the principal could see all of my flaws and weaknesses laid bare before her. I felt my heart racing in my chest, and a sense of panic began to rise within me. They didn't think I was responsible for this, did they?