Intro
This story is a direct follow on from 'The Hidden Room.' I know it's been awhile since I wrote that but here's a kind of sequel anyway. (You may want to read that story first). Anyway, Max is our lead character, he is a high achiever having finished a double major at university by age twenty one. He's reasonably good looking and not your typical nerd. Toni his girlfriend is nineteen and a budding musician. The couple have just returned to their cottage after the summer holidays. Max had retained his job as head of the IT dept at Deanwell School for Girls, while Toni had decided to take a gap year and practise her song writing and musical skills before furthering her education. Both were looking forward to spending time in their hidden room (the den) voyeuring via the spy camera network Max had found the previous year. Six concealed cameras showed bedrooms and bathrooms thru one way mirrors into a senior girls dorm, a matrons room and the principals apartment. All this had been setup by a previous IT teacher at the school who had died leaving not only the camera network but also a large sum of hidden money from a lotto win.
Chapter one -- An ending
It was our first night back and we had celebrated with sex!
I propped myself up on one elbow and looked across the bed at the naked body sprawled beside me. Toni was lying, eyes shut, as she basked in the afterglow of a huge orgasm. Her left hand was gently teasing a nipple while her right hand was positioned between her open legs, a finger lightly caressing the nub of flesh that was protruding out of her wet labia. To my delight she shuddered occasionally as the still sensitive area sent little electric shocks through her body. A bead of sweat rolled down her breast and dripped onto the damp sheet beneath ... a small thing but it looked so sexy!
"Life can't get better than this!" I mused sliding off the bed and heading for the bathroom to fill the old rolltop bath. Toni always enjoyed a good soak after a torrid time between the sheets.
As the bath filled I lit some candles and positioned them around the cottage causing a romantic glow to fill the rooms. The candles were more than just a romantic gesture on this occasion though, as the power had been cut to the cottage the previous day. In fact the whole campus was without electricity due to a major fault in the old wiring system. Not an ideal situation just a week before 180 girls arrived back to further their education at the prestigious Deanwell School for Girls.
The unavoidable power outage had meant all the staff had evacuated the premises for three days while the problem was fixed. A faculty retreat had been hastily arranged for the teachers and the rest of the staff had extended their holiday time.
Our small cottage on the outside of the school campus had gas hot water, we could also drive into town and use the cafes internet each day so Toni and I had decided to stay.
It was on the way back from town on the second day of the power crisis that we encountered a new problem. A road contractor had mistakenly dug up a supply pipe resulting in a small part of the area being without water, Deanwell School being one of those affected. The council workmen had informed us that the water would be off for the rest of the day and that night. It hadn't seemed like much of a problem at the time, as we used bottled water to drink at the cottage anyway.
But as the saying goes 'bad things come in threes' ... and that night bought credence to those words. First it was the power, second was the water and then came the third.
It was just after midnight when Toni nudged me awake.
"Do you hear that sound?"
"What?" I mumbled still half asleep.
"Listen! It sounds like cracking or fireworks."
Sitting up I heard the same sounds that Toni had described. I concentrated on the sounds trying to identify them. Suddenly understanding what they were.
'That's a fire. Something is on fire!"
I jumped out of bed and fumbled in the dark for a torch to light the room. We both dressed quickly and headed outside.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed as we stood out on the road. I pointed to the outer wall of the school campus. Above the twelve foot stone wall there appeared a yellow glow in the sky.
"The school is on fire!"
We both ran along the outer wall to the corner and then headed to the main gate. The cracking and popping noises grew louder as we approached the entrance.
I already had my phone out when we got to the locked steel gates. My worst fears were confirmed, the ground floor of the three story Edwardian mansion was engulfed in flames.
I was about to dial 999 when I heard a voice behind me.
"I've already called Max."
Jim Young a local farmer appeared out of the dark and into the glow of the fire.
"Thanks Jim."
'You got a gate key." Jim asked staring at the padlocked gate.
"Fuck! It's on my key-ring at the cottage." I took off running at full pace back the way I'd come.
By the time I returned the fire had taken greater hold of the old building, with the second story now glowing from inside as windows exploded outward.
With the gate open we waited just inside for the fire brigade to arrive.
"Doesn't the old girl have a sprinkler system?" Jim asked as the fire raged on.
"Waters off." I explained. "We're in the area of the broken water main down the road."
"Well I guess that's that then." Jim stated resolutely. He glanced around for a place to sit.
Toni and I joined him and we sat in silence watching part of local history burn. Toni had tears in her eyes as she rested her head on my shoulder.
Finally after what seemed a lifetime we heard the sirens of the approaching fire trucks. By the time they sped in though the gate it was far too late to save the main building as all three floors were ablaze. The brigade of local volunteer fire fighters set about trying to stop the flames jumping to the various nearby out buildings using what little water they had on board the two engines.
Over the next hour the 120 year old building started to collapse in on its-self. The crowd watching had grown to around fifty as the locals came to see the last rites of a well-known icon.
By sunrise it was all over. Four more fire trucks arrived during the night including a water tanker and they were now solely focused on stopping the huge smoking pile of rubble from flaring up again. The only good thing was the nearby dormitories and apartments had been saved, although the stonework on the closest ones were stained black from soot.
I made my first phone call to my dad, the chairman of the board for the school. It wasn't till I started speaking that I realised how emotional I'd become. Between deep breaths and a few tears I explained the situation. My Dad was in the car on the way before we hung up. My second call was to Gloria Steadman the school principal, she calmly replied she too was on her way.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Gloria arrived first and stood staring at the smoking ruins for five minutes in silence before I approached and took her hand in mine. There was a bit of history between the two of us over the last year and we had formed a friendship, all be it a strange sexual one at times. Gloria turned and embraced me as she cried on my shoulder, I held her until she had no more tears left.
My dad was next to arrive and other board members had followed during the day as did the rest of the staff. More tears flowed and words of disbelief were spoken by the stunned gathering.
It was mid-afternoon before staff were allowed to rescue their possessions from their apartments. Suitcases and boxes were packed and loaded into cars and vans.
My father and Gloria addressed the staff and answered questions as best they could. The fire chief had told them no one could stay on site. It was still classed as an active fire zone, plus everything smelt of smoke anyway. Dad promised the staff they would all be contacted over the next week. It was clear that some were openly struggling to comprehend the situation but I suppose we all were really.
Eventually everyone got into their cars and drove away. Some would need to return to get more of their possessions some would be leaving for the last time. I had only been at the school for a year while others had spent decades teaching here. It was so sad seeing them drive off into the unknown.
Tony and I decided to pack up our gear and go to my parents and stay. As we were leaving the campus a council workman arrived and told us the water was back on. I told him to let the fire crew who were still inside know. They would be there all night damping down the fire.
When we got back to the cottage it was almost dark. I fired up a small generator that Jim had leant me and we used an extension cord and some LED floodlights to illuminate our small space. Fortunately the smoke had not reached our side of the wall and only the clothes we were wearing smelt.
"I'm too tired to pack tonight." Toni slumped onto the sofa and curled up into a ball.
"How about I run a bath and we stay one more night." I suggested.
"Yes please," was Toni's tired reply.
We stripped off our soot covered clothes and threw them outside before getting into the warm bath and relaxing. Toni sat in front of me, leant her head on my chest and cried.
The next morning we started packing up my truck with our belongings.
"What about the cameras?" Toni asked as we placed a box in the back of the vehicle.
"I was thinking about that and I guess we take them with us. No point leaving them behind for anyone else to find, they'd certainly guess what's been going on." I replied.
"They won't fit in here with all this other stuff."
"Yeah I know. So I was thinking that I'll make a trip into town and get a rental trailer while you finish packing."
"Sounds like a plan. I can even start dismantling the viewing console while you're gone." She said.
"Keep all the connections you never know we might need them all in the future."
"Planning on doing a bit more sneaky viewing are you." Toni grinned and gave me a playful nudge.
"I think we both might like that if the occasion arose." I grinned back.
It took the remainder of the day to finish the packing. While picking up the trailer in town I also had gone to a second hand music store and bought a half dozen touring cases. They were made of plywood with metal corner protectors and internal padding, perfect for the six hidden cameras, monitors and computer gear. We stripped out most of the camera cabling as well. I also took time to re-insert the wooden panels that had been cut out behind the two way mirrors in the tunnel, they'd been stacked up against the wall. My last task was to screw shut the swinging bookcase that led to the secret room No point in leaving any evidence of our little spy network.
We drove away just before 5pm and stopped briefly to give Jim his generator back before taking one last look through the gates of the school. A lone fire truck remained in the grounds and we could see water being hosed onto remaining hot spots.
"Fuck me! What a mess." I stated the obvious as we took our last look before pulling away and heading for the city.
My parents were pleased to see us when we arrived, and we had a late dinner before retiring to bed.
It was strange to be back in my old room in the attic space especially with a girl. I felt a bit like a teenager who'd sneaked a date upstairs after school. The room still had my old movie posters on the wall and my study desk in the corner. At least the bed was a double size.
