The Brief

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira sat in the same chair she had last time, looking warily across the desk at Professor Hoodham. Everything was exactly the same as it had been when they'd been called here, and given their new positions and powers- after all, why shouldn't it be?- and yet it felt strange to Kira. So much seemed to have changed since then... how could this room not have changed with it?
Although the room itself had not actually changed, the atmosphere couldn't have been any different. Before, Kira had been bored by the whole affair, lazy and sourly unimpressed. Now... now she was sharp, and alert, waiting intently for Will and Madeleine to arrive. Professor Hoodham's eyes were not full of warmth as he surveyed her now, but a terrible cold. His long fingers kept twitching nervously as he shuffled through papers on his desk, barely looking at them as he gazed at Kira and the door behind her.
Kira couldn't bear to look at the three seats beside her. When all were assembled, one seat would still be vacant... one seat, that so few days ago was filled by the newly appointed Head of the Academics. Kira's insides were burning with a horrible mixture of guilt and horror. As she'd sat in classes throughout the day, memories of the dance came drifting back to her; like remembering a horrible nightmare.
The thing was- she'd seen them leave.
Why- she kept asking herself- why hadn't she stopped them? Why hadn't she called out to them, and gone over to speak with them? Those few seconds could've been vital. In those few seconds... she could've saved Macy.
So she had to do what she could now- she had to. She owed Macy that; and she might as well prove to herself that she could do it.
She could.
Yet the more she thought about it, the more doubts clouded her mind.
She was spared thinking down this track any longer, because suddenly there was a knocking at the door.
Another Head had arrived.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine took a deep breath before knocking on Professor Hoodham's door.
She hadn't slept. All night, her thoughts hadn't been occupied on the happy (but brief) moments of the dance laughing with Lee and Kira, but on Macy.
Madeleine wasn't under any false impressons of their enemy; she knew exactly what they were capable of, and she wasn't harbouring under that the delusion that Macy was okay, that they were only going to hold her to ransom. No, she could guess what they were going to do to her, and it proved the old adage - "ignorance is bliss". All night long, her mind had been occupied with thoughts of what they could do, and with plans to get her the hell out of there... and Holden's screams.
She'd heard what Holden had said when asked about what had happened - he'd blamed himself. He had been by no means left alone, he'd been beaten up terribly, receiving a broken nose and several shattered ribs. It didn't help that he was mentally beating himself up through guilt, thinking that it was all his fault. But as he'd been being healed, he'd sworn:
"I'll do anything to get her back, and I swear, I will get revenge."
Madeleine shivered involuntarily. Holden reminded her too much of herself.
And the thought that if she hadn't been in such a bad mood with Levi, she wouldn't have scared Holden, and they would have stayed put in the hall, and none of this would have happened haunted her. If she had had been able to control her annoyance... if she had only kept Macy talking for five minutes...
But now, she just had to focus on gathering up the warriors and fighting the battle to get her back. She was no fool, she knew that this was just like chess - they'd just made the opening move and were waiting for the school to make the next move.
She doubted that they knew that Macy was Head of the Academics. She'd just been there, and the other side was using her as a pawn.
They just hadn't realised that she wasn't just a pawn. She was an important player in the game.
Madeleine suddenly wished fervently that Macy wouldn't tell them just exactly who she was. No matter how bad her treatment was now, it would get much worse if they knew.
Or they could know. Madeleine was just making assumptions.
She heard Professor Hoodham's deep, sombre voice say "Come in," and she opened the door and stepped through.
Kira was seated in front of the desk, but Will hadn't arrived yet.
Madeleine slipped into the seat that she'd occupied when she'd been told she was head - was it really only a few days ago? - and waited, her mind heavy with thoughts of Macy's fate and the battles and hurdles ahead.

[Will Wright]

Will knocked the door and went straight in and took her surroundings in; Prof. Hoodham sat in his chair and was thinking, Kira and Madeleine sat in their orginal places when they had been told they were heads. But Will, no, Will prefered to stay standing.
"I healed him and got him to talk of what happened. They were ambushed so suddenly, the biggest and the strongest one of them had knocked him out first then the others went for Macy and then they scramed," she told the headmaster. He looked into her deep blue eyes. She shifted a bit, his eyes still fixed on her as though trying to see if she was holding out on them; as if she had seen more or if he had spoke more, she felt that he felt she was hiding something. Then suddenly he stood up and walked around to the front of his desk and looked at each of them in turn and started to speak.
"I'm sure they did, after all they didn't want him to try and save her. But the question now is how will we save her, how will we act and most importantly how will we go about it all?" Will stared at him. She stood there confused about what he was getting at.
"Will did you have a premonition?" he gazed into her. Will felt highly uncomfortable. Kira and Madeleine were also staring at her.
The she spoke, "Yes I did. But I don't think it will help,"
"What did you see?" he coached her.
"Well it went by so quickly. But I think I saw them...hurting her, but I can't be sure."
"Go on,"
"But the strange thing was, we were there," she gazed at Kira and Madeleine, " But we just stood there, then we all split up and went in different directions, then it all changed and the enemy's were many and it was the four of us with massive army's of the four groups and we all ran at the enemy and vice versa. I don't know what it means or what happened in between," she concluded.
Prof. Hoodham sighed. How did he know I had a premonition, how does he know so much, she asked herself. She walked around the room to a giant portrait of a man and lent against the wall waiting for him or one of the others to talk.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

They sat in silence after Will's premonition. Madeleine shivered involuntarily, then spoke up.
"I think that they probably will hurt her."
Everyone turned and stared.
"I know what they're like, these people," she said, staring at a single knot of wood on the desk. "They will hurt her. But I don't think that they realise that she's head. It's like ... chess. They've made the first move by taking a pupil. If you ask me, they took her knowing that we would fight back. They want us to fight, and they know we will."
She paused, focusing on the twists and turns of the not, keeping her thoughts determinedly away from what could happen to Macy. "I'm guessing that they took her thinking she's a pawn, when she's really at least a castle," she glanced up at Kira, remembering their chess game. "That's why they didn't made a big to-do about it. And it's better that way. If they knew who she was, they'd treat her even worse."
She glanced at the others. "What do you think?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira sighed. "Yeah... you're right."
Madeleine's chess board was a perfect example. Chess was a war game; and they were the fighters. If only this war was as complicated as a chess game- and chess was hard enough as it was! But this war... this war was crazy. In this war... you didn't just win a game and shake hands. People's lives were being destroyed.
Macy was just one of a million.
It had to stop.
"So," she said sharply, looking up at Professor Hoodham. "It's obvious what's next. We get our groups together- we do something- we fight!" She turned to look at the others, her jaw set. "I'll gather my army- and don't worry, I will figure out who's taken her, the where, and the why. Once I know what's happened, you'll be the first to know. Madeleine, you save her and... Will. Just make her better. Make everyone who gets hurt whilst out there gets better. Ok?"
"Miss Norris," came Professor Hoodham's grave voice from behind her. "I appreciate that you are enthusiastic about helping retrieve your friend from our enemies, but I need you to appreciate that we have already lost one Head- we cannot afford to lose you."
"I'm still going," she said quickly. "You can't stop me."
"No," he said softly, and if Kira was not quite mistaken, she saw a flicker of a smile flit across his face. "No, I'm not going to. I'm just expressing my concern that you must be careful- " his eyes snapped to the others. "All of you must be careful. Be alert; be careful; and be safe. Wear your necklaces. They will protect you."
Kira felt a guilty twinge, fingering the bat chain that lay now in her pocket. She decided it wouldn't make the best impression if she took it out and put it on now.
Professor Hoodham gave them all a swift, piercing look, then sighed and turned away from them. "Dismissed," he said softly. "I will see you all again soon..."