Coincidental Haven

She had a quick pace going up the metal bars since she didn't have much time left before more students were leaving the building and the teachers would go to the back of the building to inspect the area of those who were skipping and would end up catching her.

The metal ladder was cold and dingy, and Alice would make sure to wash her hands later since she could feel the residue clinging to her hands. She wasn't going up carefully and ended up slipping when the center of her foot tilted to the side, and Alice ended up shrieking before tightly holding onto the ladder despite having a cramp in her leg from the tension.

Alice froze, her heart beating wildly, and closed her eyes for a second to mentally get herself together. Luckily, she didn't hear anyone come out back or react to the sharp noise she let out earlier. It wasn't her usual style to be a rambunctious student, but she could try something new for the day.

Despite that, she had never planned to risk her life for only a moment of peace, but she was already here and needed to get up as fast as possible. Gritting her teeth, she didn't dare change to look over at her watch in case she slipped up once more since she didn't think she would have the strength left to be able to save herself again.

Alice threw one leg over the brick wall, half of her body practically hanging off of the building. The air blew past her, making her body wobble, and she gritted her teeth, pushing all her body weight to one side.

The rough material of the brick wall scratched her bare legs, but it didn't deal too much damage that was worrying. She tumbled onto the rooftop in one piece, and Alice sprawled on the ground full of relief.

She sat up with her chest rising and falling rapidly, still trying to catch her breath as she took in her surroundings while rubbing a hand down her legs. It was as barren as she expected on one side that was facing outward, but where she was it was a mess with random wooden crates and other various sporting materials from the athletic department in black bags.

The shed was to her right with the door ajar. She could tell from the angle where she was that it was full of other storage materials and piled high with boxes. The shed was small but offered shelter from the sun underneath it, and Alice saw a wooden bench that was underneath some bags which she pushed off and aligned neatly before picking up the bench and placing it directly next to the shed's exterior wall.

Alice sat down and stretched her legs straight out in front of her before sliding her briefcase down her arms and off her back, placing it in her lap. She closed her eyes with a sigh, as her head rolled to the side.

The wind was relaxing, as the breeze started softly luring her to sleep when the bell of the academy rang. The melody rang through the air while students burst out of the building full of energy and excitement.

The students were laughing and bumping into each other, as they all made the trek back to the main campus where most of the students ended up eating since over there had the most intricate meal plans. Otherwise, all the other buildings on the academy campus offered cafes and whatnot as well.

She watched from above, taking in the view of the pond and the flowing water that the students were joyously going over before setting a timer on her phone so that she would be able to leave on time back to class.

For lunch, she had an hour to kill, but it wouldn't be hard to eat and watch a TV show in the meantime. Alice took out her water bottle from her lunch box and unscrewed the lid to pour some into her hands.

Shaking out her hands to dry, she took out the meal that her mother had prepared for her while propping her phone next to her, leaning up against her water bottle.

There were some shuffling noises above her, and Alice turned a questioning gaze up to look around. Nothing was different, but Alice pushed away the uncomfortable feeling.

She was alone on the rooftop, right? The suspicions went away a second later, and Alice lifted a shoulder to continue what she was doing. It might have been the wind, but the soft low muttering was filtered out.

Alice happily put in her corded earbuds and slid up her phone to pull up an episode of a show she was watching in her free, uncovering the sandwich wrap in the meantime. She took a bite of a sandwich and hummed to herself while she chewed. Alice would have to compliment her mother later after school.

It was delicious, and Alice closed her eyes to enjoy the flavors. She loved to eat and honestly was surprised at the fact that she was hungrier than she first expected which was often since she tended to forget to feed herself when she was occupied with other things.

Moving her attention back down to her phone after the commercial had passed, she laughed at a joke from a funny scene of the television web drama only to have a chill run down her spine when she got the uncomfortable feeling that she was actually not alone.

Her eyes darted to the ground to stare at the shadow coming from above her. The black blob seemed to stare back at her intently. It was too large to be a bird, yet the shape wasn't human.

It moved once more to the left in a languid motion. Her heart was pounding strongly, and Alice was gearing herself to start sprinting immediately after she grabbed her phone.

Was this the start of a horror drama? Alice grabbed her phone next to her water bottle and turned around and covered her mouth in shock when she stared at the ground where the shadow appeared above her and shifted around once more.

What was that? Furrowing her brows, she knew she needed to get out. From the corner of her eye, she glanced up at her with her mouth still chewing when her eyes widened when she met the eyes of the person above her.