January 24th. Wednesday, 3:12 AM.
"Aryt, let's go".
Malakai put down his phone and pushed himself upright, quickly peeling his blanket off his body. A shiver crawled over him as the cold attacked him instantly. His bed was flirting with him to stay and lie back down, but he resisted the temptation and got out of bed.
He swung his legs over the edge and stood, letting his soles touch the cold floorboards. He yawned and wiped his face before lifting and stretching his arms.
Half-asleep, he quietly stepped out of his room and went to the restroom. He took a piss and washed his face after with cold water to shock his system. He stared at himself in the mirror for a few seconds, questioning his life before leaving and returning to his room.
Once he came back into his room, he switched on the lamp on his desk to light up the room. Then he went straight to his wardrobe.
Malakai opened the doors and, without thought, picked out the outfit he was going to wear to complete this mission. A black tracksuit. His trusty black Nike Tech. A UK streetwear special.
That wasn't the only thing he picked out. He crouched down and opened a smaller compartment built into the bottom of the wardrobe. To complete his blockout, he needed black socks and black gloves. Pure blackout.
He changed quickly.
Tracksuit on.
Gloves on.
Socks on.
His entire body was covered in black. No skin was showing except for his head. He paused and turned his head to his door. His eyes landed on his black puffer jacket hanging from the door. He didn't need it, but having it on would be nice.
He went over and grabbed his puffer jacket. He shrugged it on and zipped it halfway. His body instantly felt warmer.
His outfit was almost done. He just needed one more thing.
Malakai went over to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out one more piece. His black ski mask. The same one he wore for Halloween. His whole outfit was basically the same, the only difference was that he wore white contacts, and he never had a puffer jacket
He slid the ski mask over his head and adjusted it around his eyes. The only part of his body exposed was his eyes. To complete the look, he pulled the hood of his tracksuit over his head and then the hood of the puffer jacket.
He grabbed his black backpack from beside his desk and unzipped it. He tipped it upside down and emptied everything on his bed. His notes, books, pens, and wrappers. He needed to completely empty it to make it light. Then he picked up the device lying on the desk. A cylindrical capsule with a smooth, metallic finish. It was quite big. It was the size of a water bottle. There were a few useless compartments that were there for decoration, but the only section that mattered was the top. The lid.
Malakai twisted the lid off and pulled out a Polaroid image. The picture was of him and Melody together. He was holding the device to his ear like a phone while Melody had a microphone to her lips. A fun photo of the two of them. The image was vital because it served as the device's ID.
He stared at the image for a moment, and a small smile formed under his mask. Then he slid the image back inside, sealed the lid tightly and placed the device carefully into his backpack.
Zip!
Backpack over his shoulders.
He was ready to go.
Malakai snuck out of his room and crept to the front door. At the door, he picked out his black trainers from the shoe rack. The last piece of the puzzle. His whole body was smothered with black clothing. He was a living shadow.
Without making any noise, he grabbed the handle, pressed it down slowly and eased the door open without a sound. He stepped out into the dim corridor. The lights were faint, but still lit the hallway enough. Malakai checked both ends. Left, then right. After seeing no other living being, he started making his way to the stairs. He didn't want to use the elevator because he wanted to be totally silent. Once he reached the bottom floor, he slipped out through a fire exit to avoid passing anyone in reception. The metal door closed behind him with the softest thud.
Malakai was outside.
He was in the cold. Despite having multiple layers, the cold still managed to touch him. Malakai was used to these temperatures as he was from England, but he still didn't like the cold.
After getting semi-used to the temperature, he started walking towards the academy. He'd done this walk multiple times, but this time was different. It was 3 AM, and he had no earphones. He had no music in his ears. The only thing serenading him was nature. The wind brushing past him, empty branches, and his own footsteps. It would've been nice for him to have music, but he needed no distractions. He needed full awareness of his surroundings.
Malakai checked his shoulders every couple of seconds and scanned his surroundings. Flinching at every abnormal sound. He wasn't taking any chances.
The walk was a lonely one. He hadn't seen a single person. He thought he would see one or two people roaming around the campus, but it was dead. Malakai felt like he was in a zombie apocalypse. He'd seen the campus empty before, but this time it felt a little too eerie.
Or maybe he was just too paranoid. He didn't need to be this paranoid, though. He was acting like a wanted criminal. All he was doing was breaking into the academy and hiding something. (It still sounds bad).
Malakai moved through the campus and approached the academy. Making the long walk down the pathway to the main entrance. Unlike the campus, the academy was secured. No one can roam around the academy at any time. The academy locked up at 10 PM. Anyone entering after that wasn't normal.
But not impossible.
Malakai's first challenge was getting inside.
The main entrance had the biggest gate. Trying to climb over that would be the hardest route to take. The whole academy wasn't gated, but it was protected, and some gates were smaller than others. Malakai obviously wasn't going to go through the main entrance, even though it was appealing to climb the gate for his own fun.
He changed route and walked towards the east entrance. After another ten-minute walk, he reached the east entrance.
The gate was still tall, but climbing it was much more achievable than the rest.
"Aryt... how am I gonna do this?" Malakai muttered under his breath, staring up at the gate in front of him.
The east gate wasn't designed for climbing, for obvious reasons. It had tall vertical bars and only a few horizontal crossbars, spaced annoyingly far apart. Just straight metal bars. The walls beside the gate were smooth concrete. It was completely unclimbable.
There were lights in the distance to dimly illuminate the setting, but Malakai had to use his phone's flash to get a better look. He flashed the gate, then scanned around to try to find something that could help him.
"If it's up, then it's up. There's no other way around it", Malakai exhaled, turning off the torch and putting his phone back in his pocket.
He stepped closer. His breath fogged lightly through his ski mask. He pulled his gloves back, making sure they were on tight, and stretched his arms. He did a few small jumps on his tiptoes to warm up his legs.
He wasn't scared. Just cautious. He was small and athletic, so climbing stuff isn't a problem for him. But this gate would be a problem if he took it easy.
Malakai smirked under his mask, "Hope I don't slip".
He took a step back, bent his knees and exploded upward. Malakai had a good vertical jump, so he managed to grab onto the highest bar he could, which was a good seven feet up.
The metal shook and softly clanged as he gripped and hung onto it. He hooked the tips of his shoes onto the lower bar and pulled himself up, pressing his chest against the gate so he wasn't hanging.
He was in position. Now he needed to climb.
Hand up.
Foot up.
Shift weight.
Repeat.
Finally, he reached a horizontal bar. As both his feet were on a horizontal bar, he could stand and rest. He took a look down to see the progress he had made.
"This is high...".
Malakai wasn't scared of heights, but he was cautious. He'd already climbed nine or ten feet, and he had a couple of more feet to go.
"Aryt, c'mon", he said, hyping himself up.
He climbed more slowly now, placing more weight through his legs whenever possible. The bars were thin, but he used the edges, turning his feet sideways for a bit more stability. He had to be more careful now because one slip would lead to an injury he didn't want.
Eventually, he reached the final horizontal bar. The one close enough to the top for him to finish the climb. He was at the top of the gate.
Malakai took a deep breath. His heartbeat picked up. Before, he was too focused, but now he recognised his rapid heartbeat.
This part was the real challenge. Not climbing the gate, but getting over it. He thought climbing would be a challenge, but it turned out to be easier than expected. This part was tricky. He had to get his leg over the gate and place it on the horizontal bar while making sure he didn't fall.
He slowly lifted his right leg upward and kept his balance while his foot was getting over the gate. Once his leg was over, he slowly placed his foot on the horizontal bar. Both his hands were tightly gripping the gate, so he didn't fall. Once one of his legs was over, getting the other one over was easier.
Malakai was now on the inside of the academy gate.
He took a look behind him and saw the academy. He grinned, proud of what he'd just done.
Getting down from the gate didn't cause any issues. It was a piece of cake compared to climbing. He carefully glided down, and when he was low enough, he let go and jumped off. He landed with finesse. It was unfortunate that no one was there to see it.
Malakai straightened.
He was inside.
The east entrance was one Malakai hardly ever went through. He'd only entered through the main entrance, and occasionally through the west if he wanted a quick route to the campus mall. So, walking around this area was unfamiliar to him.
Malakai walked down the entrance path, planning his next move. Getting onto the academy ground was one objective. Now he had to break into the building itself.
Luckily, he prepared for this. The spot he was thinking of hiding the device was in the main building, so he had to find a way to get inside. The majority of the windows on the first floor of the academy building had anti-access designs, so they couldn't be climbed through. However, Malakai found out that there were a couple of classrooms on the first floor that had suitable windows. Therefore, during the day, he secretly went to those classrooms and slightly opened all the windows. Only leaving them open by a centimetre or two so he could open them later.
The set-up was perfect. But there was one problem. Malakai had to hope that no teachers, cleaners or security noticed and locked the windows.
He moved towards the classroom block, keeping close to the walls and keeping his head on a pivot. The only lights he had were some distant lights. The moon was covered by clouds, so no moonlight could help him.
"I just need one window", he whispered. "If not, I'm finished. Then I'll need to pick a lock or something. Do I even remember how to pick a lock?".
He made it to the area and was ready to check. He approached the first window, slipped his fingers at the edges and pulled.
"Shit".
It didn't budge.
He tried the next one.
"Tch, they've closed the windows for this classroom", he said, shaking his head, annoyed.
He quickly checked the rest of the windows for that class, and the results were the same.
"Fuuuck. If I can't get in this way, I don't know how I'm gonna get in", he said, feeling pessimistic.
Malakai went to the next classroom. He half-heartedly pulled at the window.
Creak!
Malakai's eyes widened behind the mask.
The window shifted.
It wasn't locked.
He silently opened the window and wasted no time climbing into the classroom.
He was inside.
All the hard parts were done. Now it was the easy part.
Hiding the device.
Or at least you would think that. Malakai's hiding spot wasn't 100% guaranteed. He knew the room he planned to use, but the exact spot inside the room was still a mystery.
But Malakai wasn't stressing over that yet. Right now, he was excited that he was inside the academy. He'd always wanted to break into a school at night. A tick off his bucket list. He pulled out his phone and recorded a few videos while he walked around for memories. He wasn't afraid of any cameras or alarms. He didn't care about the consequences if he got caught. If anything, he felt like he could talk his way out of it if he did get caught.
Malakai didn't feel like he was doing anything wrong. Yeah, he broke into the academy, but he wasn't going to steal anything. All he was doing was hiding something.
"I wish I had my earphones with me".
He felt safest inside the academy. He should be more wary, but it was the opposite. He was walking around like he owned the place.
As Malakai mentioned to Melody, there were a few rooms around the nurses' office that don't get used often. Storage rooms, old utility spaces, classrooms and forgotten offices. The spot Malakai was going to hide it in was a room he had been in once before, about a month ago, when he was exploring this side of the building with Benjamin for fun during a lunch break. He remembered going into that room thinking it was old and messy. So when the question of hiding spaces popped up, that room instantly came to mind. Malakai hadn't scouted for other potential hiding spots because wherever he went, people watched him. Even slightly opening the windows in those classes was a mission for him. Therefore, he decided to roll the dice on that room. And even if that room didn't have any good hiding spaces, Malakai had free roam over the whole building.
After touring the building in its dark, silent form, he finally made it.
"This room shouldn't be locked", he said, grabbing the handle.
Creak!
"Yep".
Malakai switched the flashlight on his phone and stepped inside. The beam swept across the room. He froze.
"Ahhh shit...." he breathed.
The room was clean. Cleaner than he remembered.
The empty cardboard boxes. Gone.
The messy shelves. Cleared.
The random folders and papers. Disappeared.
The room wasn't only tidy, it was empty. There were only two tables and a few chairs around the middle of the room, and the shelves and storage boxes were neatly tucked on the sides.
Malakai stepped further into the room. He was too paranoid to switch on the light. He didn't want too much light. He scanned the room carefully, hoping for something. Anything.
"Where can I hide this?" he rhetorically asked. He tilted his head up, "Can I put it in the ceiling?".
It was possible. The tiles looked old enough to be removable. If he could lift one, he could easily hide it inside. But that idea fell quickly because there was no way he could reach the ceiling without a ladder. Even if he stood on the desk or one of the chairs, he wasn't going to reach it.
Malakai switched his view from the ceiling to the floor.
"The floor..." he said, staring at it.
The entire room had bare wooden boards. No carpet or laminate. It was totally exposed.
He stood in the middle of the room and slowly spun in a circle, studying the planks. A smirk crept onto his face.
"This could work".
He dropped to his knees and began lightly tapping the boards with his knuckles like he was knocking on a door. Each knock made the same sound.
"Tch, what am I doing?" he said, shaking his head. "It's not gonna be in the middle of the room".
His eyes drifted to a corner of the room where an old cabinet was pushed against a wall. If there was going to be a place for a weak board, it would be a corner piece.
Malakai walked over and gripped the cabinet by its edges, sliding it aside. He knelt down again, raised his phone and flashed the light across the floorboard. It looked the same as the whole room, but he had hope.
Malakai pressed down on the floorboard with a little force.
Dip.
His eyebrows shot up.
Malakai pressed again, harder this time. The board dipped slightly, not enough to break, but enough to show the edge of the board next over. The dip created a tiny gap between the board and the one beside it. The gap was big enough that Malakai could squeeze his fingers through and lift the board next to it.
"If this works, no one is finding this".
He placed one hand on the dipping board and used it as leverage, pushing it downwards to increase the gap. With his other hand, he slid his fingers into the thin opening. He wasn't planning on lifting the loose board because it would be too obvious. Instead, he was going to take out the board next to it.
"Please don't break", he hopefully said as he hooked both hands under the plank.
Little by little, he was adding more force to his pull, trying to get the board out of place.
Krrk!
A low creaking noise filled the room as the board loosened. Malakai immediately paused. He didn't want to break the board. After checking that nothing broke, he slowly began to add more force again.
Pop!
The plank lifted cleanly out of place.
Malakai stared, wide-eyed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The board came out of place, and there was an underground space, like a secret compartment.
It was perfect.
He leaned forward and reached an arm into the darkness. He hovered his arm under other floorboards, and there was no end. Under every floorboard was this space. The space was perfect for hiding the capsule. It could fit multiple if he wanted.
Also, as Malakai had removed one of the boards, it would be easy to remove others. He could defloor the whole room if he wanted to. However, he was satisfied with his spot. He felt like he didn't need to do more than he did.
Malakai exhaled in relief. He slid off his backpack, unzipped it and gently took out the cylindrical capsule. He placed it under the plank, not in the corner, but one further inside the row. So even if someone thought to lift the dipping board, they wouldn't find anything.
He made sure the device was well hidden before sealing the floor back up. Then he picked up the floorboard and carefully angled it downward, sliding it back into the exact groove it had come from. With a little click, it settled and fit into place like a final piece of a puzzle.
Malakai stood up and flashed his phone across the floor.
"Yeah, I've cooked", he said with a satisfied smile. "No one is finding that".
The floor looked exactly the same as it did before. Untouched. No person is finding that device unless they get the idea to search the floor. And even then, if they do get the idea to search the floor, they would have to find that specific floorboard.
To finish off the hiding spot, Malakai slid the cabinet across the floor, back into place. Placing it exactly where it was before. Over the loosened floorboard.
And just like that, Malakai had successfully hidden his device.
He checked the time on his phone.
"It's nearly five... I've got a lecture in four hours", he said. "Yawwwwnnnn….. That lecture is not seeing me".
Malakai slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him properly. He started walking down the hall and stretched his arms. He smiled to himself,
"Mission complete".
9:58 AM
The 9 AM lecture had just ended. Students were pouring out of the hall, some yawning, some checking their timetable. Amid the crowd, Adam stood waiting.
"Alexander", Adam called out, stopping him with his monotone voice. "Have you already hidden the device?"
Alexander didn't even hesitate. "Yes", he said, briefly meeting his eyes. "You don't need to worry about it. No one is going to find it".
He kept walking with Frank beside him.
Frank glanced back, "Don't you think you should at least tell him where you hid it?" he said, feeling bad for Adam.
"I'd rather not", Alexander simply said.
Adam watched Alexander walk away and disappear in the crowd, "I know 'he' purposely put me with Alexander so I can get easy points", he thought. "Hmph. He's still trying to do favours for me, so I listen to him".
His jaw tightened.
"I could've done this myself".