God Loves Angels

In the grand hall, we chose a place right under the clock. Now was a good time to check the time. My watch showed the time almost an hour ago. I set the time, glad that I had shown prudence and had not forgotten about it. Not far from us, Matilda was waving her magic wand. She tried to cast some kind of charm, but they did not work. Matilda was impatiently shaking her «artifact», and Bridget seemed to have lost all interest and looked sideways at us.

– This stupid school stick is to blame for everything! Matilda hissed. – I always did it! There are only problems with this piece of wood!

– Maybe you mixed something up? – Bridget told her.

– What is Bridget doing there? Lily looked at them. «I don’t know this new one.

– Matilda. – I suggested dryly.

I noticed that James stands apart from everyone. The overhead clock chimed and began to strike. The ringing sound of a small bell shook the air menacingly. The whole mechanism of the clock seemed to tremble along with this ringing. All silently looked at the dial.

And when the echo of the last blow rang in the air, several unfamiliar students appeared in the hall. Three girls and one boy. They were older and from the second Grant, as I noticed from the stars under the emblem on the chest. They slowed down and now looked at us appraisingly. It seems that something confused them. When the ringing died down, a quick knock of heels was heard from the side of the main staircase. The Water Charm teacher was heading towards us.

Chapter 10. In Depth

– Good afternoon, class. I’m Mrs. Wannelsker! – The teacher said in an imperious voice. There was something about her that I didn’t like right away. As I thought about what worries me about this sorceress, a chaotic chorus of greetings from my classmates was heard around me:

– Good afternoon, Mrs. Wannelsker!

I was confused and only had time to open my mouth, scolding myself for my forgetfulness. The guys from the second Grant saved the situation. Their voices sounded louder and more harmonious than anyone else. Our greeting, that is, Allan, Lily, Cornelia, did not resemble much the way we greeted Frau Mendelssohn. Just unsure babble! But Mrs. Wannelsker wanted nothing more of us.

– Please follow me! Mrs. Wannelsker said.

The teacher quickly walked away, and we all rushed after her.

Allan walked in front of me. Lily kept up with him. And I decided to stay close to them. Mrs. Wannelsker stepped around the front staircase, turned into an inconspicuous door.

Under the stairs, we woke up through a small door and stopped. Mrs. Wannelsker lit a flame in the air with a graceful wave of her hand. Bright flash. I covered my eyes with my hand, when the light became soft and even, to my surprise I did not see either a candle or a torch. Mrs. Wannelsker held a ball and chain in the palm of her hand. And I realized: «This is her artifact!» Although, having seen such a thing during the day, I would definitely have decided that it was a keychain or jewelry.

We crowded into a cramped, low-ceilinged room. And then the back door gaped. Our teacher stepped into the darkness, and immediately fell halfway down, went under the floor. One of the girls gasped. I leaned forward to see a new miracle, and saw a winding spiral of high, steep steps, and on them a teacher illuminated by a magic light.

She, like a firefly, fluttered on the stairs, going down below. The sound of her heels rang out over and over in the echoing room.

Lily took a shaky breath. Allan and one of the boys immediately rushed forward. I decided to keep up. Stumbling, leaning on the icy rough stone walls, I walked up the steps in almost darkness. The other guys were blocking my light. Their shadows slid across the floor. Everyone hurried after the teacher, afraid to fall behind her and find themselves in darkness.

The staircase wound in a spiral around the stone pillar and within a minute my head began to spin. It looks like the teacher led us through a vertical stone pipe, the shaft into which these steps were laid. I can’t imagine that it would be a tower.

Descending in the twilight was difficult. Every now and then other girls stumbled, groaned, fell on me or their neighbors. And I was no better. Itself almost fell on Allan, who was walking in front of me, inadvertently pushed him in the back. After scratching my knee and nearly breaking a nail on my right index finger, I finally found myself on a flat floor.

Mrs. Wannelsker stood facing us and waited for everyone to come down.

– So, everyone here? Have you lost anyone? – And without waiting for an answer, she continued, looking around the guys a little strangely: – We are now at the bottom level. It runs below the dungeons and cellars of the castle.

The girls from behind were pushing me, striving for the light, or just because of a joke. They pushed me towards the teacher. I had to take a couple of steps forward. Then I felt a stronger push. Someone poked me painfully in the back. I gasped, looked around, but could not make out who it was.

Mrs. Wannelsker looked at me sternly, fixed her gaze on her soiled right palm and scratched knee. Her face was disapproving.

– Behave like a real lady! – She announced loudly, looking through me. The fussing behind him immediately subsided. And I felt insulted.

The teacher moved her hand along the walls of the dungeon, illuminating them with the light of her magical flame.

«As you may know, there is a lake called» Living Inshon «to the north of our school. In fact, it is a small bay from the north sea. It connects with it underground flooded caves. During high tides, the water level in the lake rises significantly. So, these flooded caves come close to the castle itself. We can say that the castle is on the water… Please follow me!

I was scared. These words gave me terrible thoughts. So, the castle is about to collapse under water?

Hurrying to follow Mrs. Wannelsker down the corridor, another thought struck me: why then is she talking about this so calmly and even indifferently?! It means that there is definitely no smell of flooding here.

We soon found ourselves in the vaults of the oval hall. Mrs. Wannelsker said to stop and wait for her. And she herself disappeared, and when she reappeared against the wall, the vaults of the hall lit up with a yellow-red light. About two dozen torches flashed together with fire, which rustled and caressed the ear. The vaulted arches reminded me of the vaults of a church. On the far wall I could see mountains of some kind of scrap metal. Large parts of an unknown mechanism. The large toothed discs were like train wheels.

I shivered. Someone touched my elbow, and I pulled my hand away. It was Bridget. Only now I noticed that I was trembling all over. I rubbed my palms. They were icy. Of course, it was cold in the dungeon.

Mrs. Wannelsker walked over to the metal door on the left. This door was «unusual» to say the least. Then I noticed that the entire left wall of this oval hall was special. It consisted of brown metal plates in which large rivets were visible.

Not without effort, the door gave in, and with a resounding groan, a creak showed us a black mouth. Mrs. Wannelsker stepped briskly into the new room.

Through the dungeon, amplified by the echo, a formidable rumble of thunder rolled, which immediately turned into a quiet uterine muttering. Everyone shuddered. And I even screamed out of surprise. For this roar also vibrated the floor beneath me.

A second later, in the bowels of the room in which the teacher had disappeared, a gray light shone, more powerful than the teacher’s amulet or her conjured fire.

– well! Mrs. Wannelsker said, appearing in the doorway, and beckoned. – Come over here!

I didn’t want to go inside, and I stepped aside. All the sounds that came from the new room were strange, with a kind of tinny echo. And it was more frightening than ever.

Other girls walked past me, someone pushed me. Matilda. But maybe this is one of the guys from the second Grant. I stood in the way, and it could have happened by accident. I stretched out my neck and tried to consider what awaited me inside the new room. The room looked more like a classroom than everything in the dungeon. But unusual. There were chairs, wardrobes, and electric lights. Half a minute later, I was left alone in the oval hall and looked back longingly, regretting that I had come down here. In the dark darkness of the tunnel, I dreamed of mysterious monsters waiting for me and hiding until a certain time, but now ready to attack and tear to pieces. And this mechanical rumble, quiet and uterine, still continued to tickle my nerves. There was no way back.

– Miss Burling. – The teacher suddenly spoke in a completely different tone, softer, which I did not expect from her. And also that she knows my name. She came up to me, but I did not notice it.

– Do not be afraid. This fear will pass. Sometimes students get scared of my lesson. But only the first. Come on.

She took my arm.

Oh, how I needed that touch. To feel that I am not alone, that there is a strong and fearless person nearby.

Unbeknownst to myself, I found myself inside a metal room.

All the guys were looking at me. In some eyes, I caught a contented malice and superiority. For example, Matilda and a girl from the second Grant. Someone has pity. Although James himself looked no better than me. Most of my new acquaintances, Lily, Cornelia and the other guys, looked scared themselves. It means that I am not the only one who crushes.

The teacher released my hand and walked across the room. Now I could familiarize myself with the environment of the classroom in new details. Tables and chairs lined the walls to the right and left. All have already taken their places. Above the tables, almost in front of their very surface, were large round windows that were not curtained. Behind them is darkness. Two closets stood against the central wall. One with books, the second had four doors that securely hid their contents. A strange smell reigned in the stale air. Synthetic rubber and cabbage.

Mrs. Wannelsker stopped in the center of the room at a round table with an elegant stool and commanded:

– Have a seat!

And it seemed to me that she was addressing me. I squinted at the tables in disbelief. Hesitating, I slowly walked over to the nearest free chair and sat down. The surface of the table was, as I imagined, cold.

Cornelia was sitting in front of me. And I was glad of this neighborhood. Say what you like, but she will be better than this Matilda.

– Why windows in the dungeon? What will we see in them? Cornelia spoke in a whisper, pointing to the round window above her desk. – Really … – And, without finishing, she broke off.