259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmsN1NYJwv
As of the thirty-first of May, Rainy City got attacked, specifically the high school that sat in the center of the city.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa34yOzSHmn
No one expected it at first. People went about their day as usual.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPe6bjnqnbI
Grey first noticed it when he sat with Winter during their free period, watching his artistic friend carve away at a block of wood, carving out a flower shape. It was beautiful, watching him work his magic.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXmSV0hyJp
Winter placed his carving knife on the table, and began to feel around for a different one, gently running his hand along the smooth surface, waiting until he felt the handle of the knife he needed. Grey sat up and looked at the carving, where Winter’s other hand was gently tracing the tip of a petal.
“Do you need one of the small precision knives?” Grey asked.
Winter nodded. “Yes.”
Grey glanced at the array of tools, and found the one he thought Winter needed, with the tip of the knife coming down to an extremely thin point. He wrapped his fingers around it, gingerly took Winter’s carving hand, and placed the handle in his open palm.
With pale fingers, he felt the tip as gently as possible, as to not hurt himself. “Is that the one?” Grey asked.
“Yes,” responded Winter, the corners of his lips turning upwards. “Thank you.” He turned back to the carving and continued his work.
Shhk, shhk, shhk. The sound of the wood being shaped filled the mostly empty art room, and Grey continued to watch his friend work.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoAiQhNDM3
The room was mostly silent, though, minus the sounds of the carving and the snoring teacher, who slept at his desk, a few empty coffee cups littered around it. So, to fill the noise, Grey hummed softly, ignoring how high his voice sounded.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjrnh2pDv4
A few more minutes of doing art passed by, and the rose was really beginning to take shape. Even though it was solid wood, it looked so- alive, so natural.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5Z060HxoI
He enjoyed spending time with Winter like that, even if they didn’t talk.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkcVpsVFzq
It was peaceful… until Winter stopped carving and shot up, dropping the knife on the table.
“Winter?”
“Be careful-”
SLAM!259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tQoVDQlWP
The door slammed open, and Grey’s head swiftly turned in the direction of the sound. At the sight he saw, he squeaked in shock and jerked back, causing him to fall off of the painted stool he sat at.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxZML0NZAi
He got up fast, and had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing it right. There were a bunch of kids- children, in the high school, wearing odd-looking clown masks on their heads, jumping up and down, hooting, laughing.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwKubrn8dW
Then, they started ravaging the room. Taking boxes and throwing them to the floor, opening the shelves and chucking everything they could find out, anything you could think of. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL93zXLOiSx
The initial shock wore off, and he took a few deep breaths. What were these kids doing here? And what were they doing? “WHAT THE HELL, KIDS!?” Grey shouted, and stepped forward to stop them. They were making a mess, and Mr. Principal definitely was going to blame him for that!259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbm6fvL7bBe
Winter stood up and reached out, finding Grey’s form and putting his hand on his shoulder protectively. “Spirits.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpGs2cJT44
Spirits? They had appeared as normal children to him. Short, a little pudgy, and wearing all types of bright clothes.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jit2zKGSC
But then he noticed, like last time. The tips of their limbs were slightly transparent, and it looked like they were fraying at the edges ever so slightly… their heads didn’t have the same effect though, simply the plastic-like texture of a dollar store mask.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLg6xd5ynaF
So they were spirits… wearing masks. Mid-level spirits, possibly? That’s what he remembered.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2O6pK7iPmd
That didn’t give them an excuse to destroy random stuff, though! 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzsV2m9NMf
Grey stepped forward once more, crossed his arms, and glared at them. “STOP!” he yelled, but they didn’t. Of course. What reason did they have to listen to some random teenager?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFycRLHFAD
They just kept giggling, and laughing, and smashing everything around. One particular clown-child approached the desk that they had been sitting at, and Grey leaped for it just as the kid did. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbAyJjxEhh
The young spirit reached it just a few seconds before Grey did, and he stumbled and fell through the apparition. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqDc8KPUQd
The child raised a hand, and slammed it down on the table.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYfOeShY9s
Snap!259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2wCQKMcn6
No.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJ9Q6lBHIM
Winter’s rose, the beautiful rose that he was carving, was snapped right in half, a delicate stem broken in two and petals shattered.
Grey let out a garbled cry in his throat, and Winter must’ve sensed that something was wrong, as he rushed over to the table, frantically grabbing around to reach the carving. His fingers touched the tip, and he pursed his lips as he did so.
The clown children destroyed a few more things before running away, cackling amongst themselves at the destruction left.
There Winter sat, holding his broken carving. Simply blinking.
“I’m sorry,” Grey apologized. “You worked so hard on it…”
“It’s okay,” Winter said, but Grey knew it wasn’t. He was already quiet, but his voice was now reduced to the smallest of whispers that could’ve been lost in the wind. His broad shoulders slumped a little as well. “Not your fault.”
Still, Grey moved over and hugged his friend, leaning into his chest. “I’m still sorry.”
They stood like that for a few seconds, until a small crashing noise echoed from the back of the room, where the teacher had been sleeping.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8plRTwJ7vY
“What the- what did you do to my room, kids?” came a tired voice, the tired sound of the teacher. He had somehow slept through most of the reckoning, but now he was awake, and pretty mad.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92R1kO99d2
“I can explain,” Grey said, the worst sentence one could possibly tell when they actually could explain.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWT6FH0lkg
The teacher rolled his eyes, and pinched his nose bridge. “Don’t care.” He took out his left hand, one with a small, silver band on his ring finger, and pointed it at them. “You kids are going to have to clean this up. And I’m going to call the principal to deal with you.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG06jg0WaY3
Grey’s heart basically stopped then and there. “Not Mr. Principal. Anything but Mr. Principal-”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXn20UM7H7Q
He had called Mr. Principal.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdeUEAyarx
The man in yet another ugly pinstriped suit stepped in through the door, this one a burnt orange and puke-colored yellow. Was he trying to wear hideous suits on purpose? Grey had to strain his eyes to look at it.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPOBs68sOv
He surveyed the damage with his usual judging eye, making a displeased sound in his throat. Then, his eye landed on Grey.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohIg0SoaMo
“Pierce. Of course this is your fault.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjLJonY3nR
Grey wanted to do nothing more than yell out that he didn’t do it, but there was no reasoning with Mr. Principal. That man hated him, and he hated the man in turn.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5Ex6RClpI
He huffed and simply crossed his arms, looking at the ground. No point in covering for himself. It wouldn’t work.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJv4huU31Z
But then he looked up at Winter, and the subtle mourning for his artwork that was laced in his expression, and Grey sighed internally. He didn’t want to be responsible for his friend’s sadness. Or even look responsible for it. Especially when the blame lied on some stupid spirit clown-kids.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlOzODnTYB
Well, he could at least try to explain. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfz5mmls84
“I didn’t do it, Mr. Principal.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pJO1WdPOP
“That’s what someone that did it would say,” he replied, raising a nearly hairless eyebrow. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9L32pExea
“I mean, fair point,” Grey said, and he scratched the back of his neck, huffing to himself. He felt warmth overtake him, not a nice one, but the kind that appeared when one got interrogated and began to sweat with nervousness. “But, still, I didn’t. There were these clown ki…”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXVGZ0YzSE
He then promptly remembered that normal people were not able to see spirits, and it would look… suspicious, if he did. And he wasn’t from an exorcist family, either.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvecZkPEVqy
To a normal person, it would probably just look like a bunch of floating clown heads attacked them, since they were spirits wearing masks.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8akIVrPpgA
Ignoring the cold stare of the principal, he cleared his throat. Ah, okay, so… how could he say it? Shoot, this was hard.
“Well?” Mr. Principal asked, arms crossed. “I don’t have all day, say something.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT1LbZnb0a
“There were these… floating… clown… heads?” he tried to say, but what was meant to be a confident statement ended up sounding more like a question. Dammit! “And, and… they came and destroyed everything! It was so chaotic! They wrecked it all, and even destroyed my best friend’s rose!” he waved his hands up in the air to symbolize the clown-children.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi67H9qL4Bh
If Mr. Principal's eyebrow could raise up even higher, it would, and Grey heard a small snicker from behind him.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSKgFkEFwi
He turned to face the sound, and Winter was smiling a bit. He was… laughing at him? Come on, the first time Grey ever heard the serious boy laugh a lot, and he was laughing at him259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EaQGC1JIV
As if he could feel Grey’s stare, Winter raised a hand to cover his mouth and turned his head away slightly. “Sorry.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyjqkDNTjN
“Let me guess. It sounds like a lie?” he whispered exasperatedly.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtXd9CbCLV
Winter nodded.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1LKckPhKO
“That absolutely sounds like a lie,” the principal declared loudly. “You, Ms. Pierce, are getting detention.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxMUGuzR05
A nasty taste formed in his mouth. “Seriously?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZz4eVfOG9
“Yes, seriously,” said the principal.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7gLU7op2k
“There are witnesses,” Winter mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Grey’s innocent.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYZpvdpdj2
Grey smiled at his friend standing up for him, but the principal didn’t seem too happy. “Well, what did the teacher see?” God, that man was just desperate for a reason to throw Grey in detention.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvRDA4XdTt
He walked over to the man that slept at his desk, snoring once more as brown curls covered his face. “Mr. Cooper, wake up.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFP3VD4CntU
The man grumbled, and woke up as if he was a zombie rising from the dead. “What,” he asked rudely, but when he realized who he was talking to, he brushed his hair out of his face and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Apologies, please don’t fire me. What is it?”
“Did Ms. Pierce destroy the classroom?”
The man simply shrugged. “I dunno.”
“Were you asleep again?”
“Yeah.”
“I am going to fire you.” 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7d0TTRwZz
“Please no.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjymfUviBk
The two men began to bicker, and Grey took it as a sign to escape the classroom before Mr. Principal called him to his office once more. He silently grabbed Winter’s hand, and the two of them tried to tip-toe out of the rubble the clown-children created.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb80MIKcPvN
In fact, the duo had almost reached the door, had it not been for Grey stepping on a pencil on the ground, causing him to slip ever so slightly. He shouted involuntarily, causing Mr. Principal and Mr. Cooper to look at him.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBnnjBqIiQ
“Oi, Pierce!”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRaGY3yA7h
Grey sighed, and turned around. “Yes, Mr. Principal?” 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgEmw5GHi2
“No escaping. Clean this mess up and then go to my office.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxa6NLjM8oM
Aw man. That absolutely sucked. “I’m telling you, I didn’t do it-”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTQDVOK94r
“Yes yes, floating clown heads did. Unless you can get them to clean this mess up, somebody is going to have to. And that somebody is going to be you.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsdfwPNvbw
“You don’t believe the clown heads?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwOQBrWA4s
“Of course not.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKMWWTYJku
“It was spirits,” Winter mumbled.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkgknaoNvv
“Detention for talking back, erm… What's your name?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjewkb1CMnh
“Winter Duke.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQgGsJ7Vej
“Detention, Mr. Duke. For aiding Pierce in her lie.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQHVvjKsDE
“His,” Grey corrected quietly, but Mr. Principal continued on talking.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonm33oqY8T
“Oh, and even if it was spirits, I still highly doubt it. One of our local exorcists would have taken care of it by now. There’s really not that many spirits anymore, you know.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZJcfMSPqF
Grey let out a quick chuckle under his breath. Sure. He’d let Mr. Principal believe that. He couldn’t see the sheer amount of spirits that wandered about the world, he could only see hostile ones.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsITZdrTpwo
Wait, hold on a second… normal people could only see spirits with harmful intentions. Which meant that they’d be able to see the spirits under the masks… and so they would just appear as kids with clown masks. Aw man! He should've just told the truth. Say they were clown-kids. Maybe, if someone else saw them too, that would make his claim believable.
While Mr. Principal continued to lecture Grey about how absurd his lie (or half lie, really) was, on the other side of the school, a certain student council president happened to witness them as well…
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7O4NDbj6ez
Vesper was crowded by people as always, however, she was not fooling around during study hall like many other students had.
She was actually helping one of her teachers grade tests, sitting next to Ms… ah, what was her name? She didn’t exactly remember, the history teacher was quite forgettable. But that didn’t matter, she was happy to help whoever needed it.
With a red flare pen, she crossed out wrong answers and wrote the correct ones, what not to do next time, going above and beyond so that they could learn from their mistakes.
If they even read her notes. She knew a lot of people wouldn’t, but if at least one person got help, she was fine with that. She just wanted them to know that she was helping, and that she was nice enough to do that.
Other students crowded around her in the classroom, talking to her about random things. She didn’t know half of them very well, but she tried her best to keep up the conversation while grading.
It did get very tiring, though. She wished she hid in the janitor’s closet like Mika did during most study halls, because at this point, most of her energy was drained.
Still, she kept going. But… she did hope the bell would ring soon.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtpXpK4WG1
However, something other than the bell happened to interrupt the grading time, and it came in the form of… floating… masks?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZs4zQBbtB
A wave of confusion overtook her, and she squinted, trying to see if she was seeing that right. The masks were made of cheap plastic, paint smeared over it to look like the makeup of a clown. Curly wig-hair from the dollar store was also glued onto it.
A really sloppy job, as if a child had crafted it for halloween.
But also… Why were they floating?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6J6GPOwFX
Her fellow students, (and the history teacher) stared at the hovering masks in confusion, and the painted faces stared back.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4mrztulYw
Then, all hell broke loose. The masks launched themselves all through the classroom, to every corner, messing it all up. Throwing desks, grabbing the papers she was grading and crumpling them up, breaking every single piece of chalk on the chalk-board.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0rBGDKMYs
People screamed, and a lot of them pushed and shoved to get out of the room in a panic.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLi3QEWceS
Vesper was scared as well, but she stood her ground, and motioned for the few students left in the room to get behind her. A guy with glasses, a cutesy girl with pink afro hair, and some other people frozen with fear.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsMvJqHaOq
They got behind her, as she motioned, and she took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to do, but she hoped they would at least feel a little safer.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJ9qUD3EIj
Ignoring the shaking of her hands, she yelled out to the clown heads: “STOP!”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KXvYsicFo
Of course, they didn’t listen to her. One of them glanced at her for a second, but then it laughed, and random items continued flying across the room, these creatures beginning to delight in chaos.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJevdqdAF7T
A clown head picked up a blue school chair and threw it against the window, causing the loudest shattering noise to echo across the room. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWFPJFTKhI
The rain that was pouring outside as always started to drizzle in through the window, spraying water everywhere.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlEDhsmLig
Vesper looked at the chaos that wasn’t ending anytime soon, and took a step, then turned around to face the group behind her. “I’m going to try to find Mikaela. Or the principal, at least.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX6eoHRMJL
The poor things were too shocked to respond, but she noticed that they nodded or mumbled “okay.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fu3ewlLkH
“Stay safe, okay,” she said, then gestured to the empty space under the teacher’s desk. “I recommend hiding there or going out to find a closet.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3oUtlP2hJ
They followed her instructions, and one by one, crammed themselves beneath the desk. One kid, the one with glasses, got hit in the face with something the clown-head threw, and he jerked back, clutching the injured area with his hand. Through his fingers, blood was leaking out of his nose and down his hand.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8FaRv1v1L
Vesper swallowed. She had to hurry up and find Mika so that he could get rid of these spirits.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRmvARIiQG
She rushed to the door, and placed her hand on the doorknob, but then she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around once more, she came face to face with the pink-haired girl, who… she didn’t believe it, but she just socked a clown head in the face. Like with a punch. It was sent flying to the ground.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidS2Eum3sU
Vesper’s mouth hung open. “I- why are you coming with me? Please stay safe.” 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpCx2TYtLf
“In here?” the other girl responded, an expression of disbelief on her face. “You think this is safe?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SUaw4IRMA
“Fair point,” Vesper mumbled, but pointed to the window in the door. Through that window, it was clear to see that the hallway was overrun with even more of the spirits, chasing students and terrorizing everybody. “There’s more outside, though,” she warned.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCqXstspwT
“I can see that, are you stupid?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviFFUQ68Ql
Vesper swallowed her words. Okay then.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3cyWXKM0c
“Anyway, I’m going with you. After all, I can clear a path for you through there by punching them smack in the face.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDDkO0f4zl
“Yeah, how did you… do that, even?” Vesper finally asked. Normal people can't touch spirits, right? She could certainly touch the mask, as it was a solid object and not connected to the spirit, but it would just fly through the mask and put it back on, right?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKEPSDHvFE
The girl just laughed. “You remember me, right? I’m Cherry Glass,” she said, though she didn’t really answer the question. “I’m just special that way.” Then, before Vesper had time to respond, she punched yet another spirit that strayed too close. The plastic mask it was wearing smashed into the wall, then fell, crumpled. “Let’s go.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkTcXx7lGg
“Er… well, thank you for helping, even though you might get hurt.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5ILwdJ8pe
Cherry laughed again. “I won’t get hurt, I promise.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14e518xc3A
Vesper opened up the door, and the two girls rushed into the hallway, looking for somebody, anybody to help, but they were immediately swept away by the flow of people rampaging down the hallway, bodies pressing against bodies and screams echoing as people rushed to the exit.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIMspzjgE0
Spirits gaped and threw items, backpacks, heavy textbooks.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7Gvz95oal
This was a mess! An absolute mess!259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjHM2iSWPl
Where was Mika? Any of the local exorcists!?
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfQLpdBZ6s
Mika was in the janitor’s closet.
He was reading a book, something boring from a couple hundred years ago, a stupid book about a silver-haired vampire and a beautiful vampire-hunter. It was written in the form of letters that were supposedly “discovered.” 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUpSQ0zo1W
The book was from before the time of Dracula, but it still sucked.
(Better love story than Twilight, though.)
The redhead shut the old book and sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. At least it was quiet. Ever since that dumb idea he had, it was so hard to get quiet. Everyone was always crowding him. “Oh, Mika, you’re so perfect!” this or “Mika, are you free this afternoon!?”
It was… a little annoying, to say the least. Okay, very annoying. He hated annoying things. Especially that guy.
He enjoyed the lack of sound for a while, simply the ambient noise from the hallway and the soft blowing of the fan from the ceiling.
“AAAAH! RUN! EVERYBODY RUN! DOOM IS UPON US!”
Mika’s eye twitched. So much for peace and quiet.
However, screams of terror usually meant something was wrong. Most likely, spirits.
He stood up and sighed, brushing some wavy red hair out of his face. Duty was calling him, and he hoped he could get it over with quickly. Eliminate one or two spirits, then find a different hiding place. After all, once he exited the janitor’s closet, someone was sure to see him leaving, and then he’d have a whole fanclub waiting for when he returned. He didn’t exactly want that.
Grabbing the old book with dark hands, he stood up and placed his hands on the door. Okay. Time to go. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22A6FXZoao
The door to the janitor’s closet creaked open with a single push, and Mika saw…259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzFJ3hPwvF
Children with clown masks!?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMy7QJYzyQ
They were storming the hallway, chasing students and causing chaos, a barrage of mischievous children and terrified teenagers everywhere.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmdE3VB6za
But his focused eye could see just the tiniest thing in the children with masks. They were a little bit blurry at the edges, the tiniest bit transparent at the ends of their limbs. Middle-level spirits.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPFrcO4arS
Oh well. He could deal with it, even if it was a headache.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ0OGoBHuD
He chucked the book behind him, (he would get it later), cracked his knuckles, and reached into his pants pocket to pull out his golden scissors.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjwkGbiQSQ
Okay, well, the time was as good as any.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tioIbvwCN
Time to eliminate some spirits.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzraYlJxCVN
Grey had gotten dragged into the principal’s office, along with Winter, for another lecture and a call to his parents. Winter was there too, for… aiding Grey, or something.
Honestly, Grey didn’t know what Mr. Principal was doing. He was scribbling some stuff down on paper and typing stuff into his computer, but for what? He didn’t know, didn’t really care, either.
He slouched in his chair, (it was a nice chair with a cushion, he could at least admit that,) and just stared at the green floral wallpaper, listening to the maddening ticking of the clock.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Eventually, he just got tired of it. “Mr. Principal, why are we here?” he finally asked. “You’re not even lecturing us.”
Winter nodded, agreeing with Grey.
Mr. Principal sighed, as if it was such an inconvenience that he had to explain to them why they were there. “Well-”
The door to the office slammed right open before he could fully give a reason, two out of breath girls ran in, slamming the door right behind them.
Grey recognized one of them, as it was Vesper. Her long, dark hair was tied into the usual ponytail she wore at school, and her clothes were… cut up and damaged?
The other one was someone with tan skin on the darker side, adorned in accessories that looked like they were for five year olds. Her coily hair was dyed a bubblegum pink.
Vesper’s eyes were wide as she leaned against the door, looking through the peephole. “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir,” she apologized, her voice breathy as she tried to keep up a steady breathing pace.
Mr. Principal furrowed his brow, wondering why such a perfect star student was bursting in unannounced. “It’s all right, Ms. Solaris, what is it?” He quickly forgave her offense because of her shiny clean track record. “Oh, and Miss…”
“Glass,” replied the pink-haired girl that was next to Vesper.
“Sir, I think we’re being overrun with spirits. There are these floating clown heads everywhere.”
“Spirits, you say…?” Mr. Principal questioned, genuinely surprised, and he looked over at Grey, wondering if perhaps the troublemaker was actually telling the truth.
Grey, on the other hand, was equally shocked. He went over this before, but he knew that normal people couldn’t see spirits, and the only exception was if they had hostile intentions, like to cause harm. That was the only way that normal people could see them.
Those in exorcist families could see all spirits at all times, though.
Anyway, spirits running around and causing mayhem seemed pretty hostile. How could it be that she couldn’t see them?
“Yes,” Vesper confirmed.
“Well, surely Mr. Crowmore should be taking care of them, correct?”
Vesper hesitated, and held her other arm. “Well, I haven’t been able to find him, but I’m sure he’s taking care of as many as he can.”
“As many… as he can?”
She nodded. “It’s not just a few spirits, sir. The school is full of them.”
“I can attest to that,” the cutesy girl agreed, jumping into the conversation. “They first ran into the classroom, and destroyed stuff. We thought it was just their group, but then there were more, and more. They’re flooding the hallways.”
“I…” Mr. Principal trailed off, the crease in between his brows even more prominent. Of course it was, what other reaction would there be for learning that your school was full of mischievous spirits?
“I’m not lying,” the cutesy girl said, as if that was the reason why he was at a loss for words. “I don’t lie.”
“Right, right,” Mr. Principal finally said, standing up and adjusting his tie. “Thank you for telling me, girls.”
“Of course, sir,” Vesper said, nodding. “What should our next course of action be?”
Mr. Principal scrunched up his face, trying to think of something. “Well, just try to keep people calm.”
“In this situation? Ha, keep dreaming if you think people are going to be calm,” the cutesy girl interjected, referencing the crowds of people rushing down the hallway earlier, but then she quickly shut her mouth when the stressed man glared at her. “Sorry. I forgot I’m supposed to be nice. I just say whatever I’m thinking usually.”
“Well, hold your thoughts,” was all Mr. Principal said, and Grey was even more shocked. Not giving people detention at the slightest offense? He must have really been under a lot of pressure. “Vesper, at least try to keep people calm. I trust your judgment, so do whatever you deem necessary. I’m going to phone the rest of our local exorcists to help with this.”
“Yes, sir,” Vesper said, and Mr. Principal then turned to Grey. And Winter too, of course, since he was sitting next to him.
“I’ll let you off the hook for now, Ms. Pierce.”
Grey smiled. “So you were wrong and I wasn’t lying?” he asked, trying to get him to admit defeat.
Mr. Principal sighed, as it really wasn’t the time for it. “Yes, you were… wrong. You weren’t lying. But you’re still a problem.”
The boy grinned. “I’ll take it.”
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The next day, everybody went to school as usual, and there were actually minimal mischievous floating heads around. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFLxkhJ6K6
For some reason, after a couple of minutes, they all floated out and disappeared into the city around them, leaving the school wrecked… but alone.
So, despite the damage, people still went to school. Apparently there was nothing more important than education.
Classes went surprisingly smoothly, despite the damage everywhere. Students and teachers alike were tense at first- would the spirits come back? But soon they all started to settle down and lower their guard, it happened.
Grey was almost about to fall asleep in class, as usual. He didn’t understand it, and nothing made sense, so there was no point in staying awake and wasting precious energy.
Head in his arms, he started to get groggy, and then…
CRASH!
He jerked back awake at the loud noise, eyes wide.
Everybody was looking towards the source of the crash, a broken window with glass scattered all around the floor of it. A rock lay in the shattered glass, with a paper wrapped around it.
The class stared at it, confused. Nobody wanted to pick it up and look at it.
But a brave soul stepped forward, wading her way through the cluster of desks and bending down to look at it.
Vesper Solaris.
She picked up the rock, flipping it over and examining it on both sides, then staring at the paper that was wrapped around the rock. It was still pretty crumpled, and she hadn’t unfolded it to look at it yet, but it was obvious that it had some type of handwriting on it.
“Well?” the math teacher asked, waiting for a response. Everybody was tense. “What does it say?”
She uncrumpled the beaten-up paper and read over the words. Her eyes narrowed in confusion, then widened.
“Run.”
“Excuse me?” asked the teacher, stepping back, worried.
“That’s what the paper says,” Vesper explained, standing up and holding the paper out for everybody to see.
Grey leaned over to look at it, along with everybody else.
Sure enough, it was scrawled out in big, sloppy red letters, and written in the brightest colored marker anybody could imagine.
Run?
Run.
It set in for everybody just a moment too late, and then they appeared.
Through the broken window, tons of those horrible clowns appeared, their heads popping up over the edge of it first, then the rest of their bodies. At least, that’s what it looked like to Grey. To everybody else, it was just a bunch of floating clown masks, the masks that had terrorized everybody just a day before.
They came pouring in through the window, laughing and giggling and causing as much mayhem as possible.
Grey stood up out of his desk in shock, and a few students ran out into the hallways, which were already filled to the brim with those mischievous spirit-children.
But, alas, there was nothing they could do, and the chaos repeated once more.
It went exactly as it had yesterday. Screams. Cries. The sounds of crashing and yelling and pulling.
A panic set in quickly. It was horrible.
However, a couple of minutes later, everything was completely silent. As if they had done their jobs, the clown-children simply cackled at their pain once more, and then simply left without a fight, floating out as quickly as they had come.
What?
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The day after that went exactly the same way. So did the day after that, and the day after that, until they had a solid week of clown attacks.
No one had been hurt, somehow, but it was terribly disruptive.
It was always brief, and at a random time in the school day, but it had left everybody exhausted. The school board was considering shutting down the high school temporarily, with how much destruction the place had undergone.
Yet, despite their consideration, no action had been taken.
None, none at all.
Eventually, Grey figured that someone had to do something about it. If the school wasn’t going to take action, he would.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3l8J0a9UXc
He didn’t care much for school, but he cared even less for children that paid no mind to others. For example: they didn’t care that he was just trying to take a nice, peaceful nap in class, and instead made it an environment that was hard for him to sleep in.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRcV7uvPHn
So, he figured he’d go to Aeris’ library, to find out how to defeat them. After all, it had the answers to everything there.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzbRhbfH2F
As the bell to leave class rang throughout the school, he swung the straps of his backpack onto his shoulders and prepared to leave, but was stopped by a girl just a bit taller than him.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpFCy0JXLL
“Grey, I have something to ask you,” Vesper said, sounding just a tad bit nervous.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEI4YYd6gN
“Shoot,” he replied, ready for anything.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNwiPAvJs2
“You seemed to be quite knowledgeable on shadow spirits the other week,” she started, and brushed some stray hair that had fallen out of her ponytail out of her face. “So I was wondering if you also knew anything about the spirits that had been attacking recently?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4pQaQpfQo
His expression dropped. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “Have you tried asking Mika?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GBTzu1nOu
“I have asked Mikaela. He simply said that it was an exorcist’s job, and he would handle it, so I had no reason to worry.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIv8Nfage9H
Grey nodded. He recalled Mika had said something similar to him as well.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ954lKM50pR
“But clearly he hasn’t been able to handle it,” came another voice, interrupting their conversation. The two people turned towards the speaker, the pink-clad girl named Cherry. She continued speaking, without mercy towards the exorcists: “I mean, he’s doing his job pretty badly if we’re still getting attacks. Do you also see how destroyed the school is?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPluEXwSJpa
Grey nodded. It was true. Vesper also agreed, nodding a bit, but first she checked the room to make sure that no one would be offended when she did so. It was empty, so she nodded as well.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStlH0SDPmU
Cherry sauntered over to a desk near them, and sat on top of it, confidently crossing her legs. “So,” she said, throwing herself into the conversation even more: “I was eavesdropping, and I think Vesper here wants your help in order to stop the spirits and leave the school safe, so she can continue her perfect, smart, intelligent persona.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPxm9RgyyR
“I-” Vesper said, but Cherry spoke louder than her, cutting her off.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRCJ2AS5wH
“Well, am I right or what?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAaSadyHUW
Vesper pursed her lips. “Yes, you’re right. But…” her voice was smaller as she spoke the next part of her sentence, “the second part is wrong.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ812XDaS9oT
Cherry giggled, as if she knew she was lying, but didn’t say any more. “Well, Grey? Will you help us?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzKz4arcvP
He kept looking from Vesper to Cherry, Cherry to Vesper, trying to figure out what was going on, but he ultimately failed, and just shrugged. “Sure! I’d be happy to help. And how do you know my name…?” He didn’t recall telling her.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXimlHylZF
Cherry didn’t answer her question, and instead clapped her hands together and smiled. “Wonderful! We get to stop the spirits!”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjs4r6msAL
“Yes, well, I’m glad you agreed to help,” Vesper said, though she did feel a little overtaken by Cherry. She had just butted into the conversation, as she had done with several other things in the past few weeks. Nonetheless, the point was across, and she had help now, so she had no reason to complain about the method in which she got help. “How are you going to, though, if you don’t have any knowledge on these spirits?”
“I know a place,” Grey said, not even thinking as he said it. He never really thought things through. He was more of an impulsive guy, and at that moment, that was his impulse.
And so, they were off to learn more about those spirits.
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