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As of the thirty-first of May, Rainy City got attacked, specifically the high school that sat in the center of the city.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxOKOzw17y
No one expected it at first. People went about their day as usual.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAkLkK28EU
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4e2Z8FH5Sn
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzF4fRrJ5g
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxW8p5Un2E
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHWe1oq0Tb
He enjoyed spending time with Winter like that, even if they didn’t talk.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8j2Qsyw8U
It was peaceful… until Winter stopped carving and shot up, dropping the knife on the table.
“Winter?”
“Be careful-”
SLAM!180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47fkxZP6lr
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImdCW25a0X
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7T6KEm8cT
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKb7qTXnqY
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!180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Rvl3vvETV
Winter stood up and reached out, finding Grey’s form and putting his hand on his shoulder protectively. “Spirits.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgkthsGNX6
Spirits? They had appeared as normal children to him. Short, a little pudgy, and wearing all types of bright clothes.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9MtkTZudq
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaSlmOzl4w
So they were spirits… wearing masks. Mid-level spirits, possibly? That’s what he remembered.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbt5L0YMoj
That didn’t give them an excuse to destroy random stuff, though! 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkFUzSe5Mg
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?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JwM6mvV5C
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9v4UP0gpX
The young spirit reached it just a few seconds before Grey did, and he stumbled and fell through the apparition. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtgUQlUYod
The child raised a hand, and slammed it down on the table.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Bxztwz6c6
Snap!180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3Ncp8dpCn
No.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZxni8PsZs
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYu0nEHkeG
“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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnkVrfvfQ5
“I can explain,” Grey said, the worst sentence one could possibly tell when they actually could explain.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10TOYJA1Pw
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNpOx1bN8i
Grey’s heart basically stopped then and there. “Not Mr. Principal. Anything but Mr. Principal-”
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7PAJMaDvH
He had called Mr. Principal.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmflfzhUQ6i
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJAoFJIrKm
He surveyed the damage with his usual judging eye, making a displeased sound in his throat. Then, his eye landed on Grey.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLMsLkH2hj
“Pierce. Of course this is your fault.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzC4e7WmoE7
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9uodIyDIG
He huffed and simply crossed his arms, looking at the ground. No point in covering for himself. It wouldn’t work.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjjyh6zFVW
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscqcgo1cw6
Well, he could at least try to explain. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkDMPxmQm5
“I didn’t do it, Mr. Principal.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOppTMu2I5N
“That’s what someone that did it would say,” he replied, raising a nearly hairless eyebrow. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDwIq2DwdF
“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…”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz74GsWjUGt
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIotjkAov3w
To a normal person, it would probably just look like a bunch of floating clown heads attacked them, since they were spirits wearing masks.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkGrynl9db
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhxPFMwZSf
“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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9J6YjxIWa
If Mr. Principal's eyebrow could raise up even higher, it would, and Grey heard a small snicker from behind him.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpCgttwilM
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 him180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCUzwGtfHY
As if he could feel Grey’s stare, Winter raised a hand to cover his mouth and turned his head away slightly. “Sorry.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDeHRVaTTh
“Let me guess. It sounds like a lie?” he whispered exasperatedly.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55mJGZY95b
Winter nodded.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdDxSmlx0B
“That absolutely sounds like a lie,” the principal declared loudly. “You, Ms. Pierce, are getting detention.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFJ51S4CAD
A nasty taste formed in his mouth. “Seriously?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnoCSR4cG6
“Yes, seriously,” said the principal.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQKukxAcqj
“There are witnesses,” Winter mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Grey’s innocent.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EyFHHNOMG
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlt1mYrAjH4
He walked over to the man that slept at his desk, snoring once more as brown curls covered his face. “Mr. Cooper, wake up.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsn3KhJSuX
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.” 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekoSY3rJ0d
“Please no.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcJ0rkq4KN
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodSwTm2aYf
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuKbPxSoPC
“Oi, Pierce!”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjKsZos8Jh
Grey sighed, and turned around. “Yes, Mr. Principal?” 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9hu4UbVmo
“No escaping. Clean this mess up and then go to my office.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrjZM6lraz
Aw man. That absolutely sucked. “I’m telling you, I didn’t do it-”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl95ofOQ6hr
“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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gBb01iQBa
“You don’t believe the clown heads?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoMxkXp5Ei
“Of course not.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRcEcd7nvb
“It was spirits,” Winter mumbled.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4k3DcPAlA
“Detention for talking back, erm… What's your name?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1wvVzI995
“Winter Duke.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy4GkTRDbc
“Detention, Mr. Duke. For aiding Pierce in her lie.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMYpt5B0Cr
“His,” Grey corrected quietly, but Mr. Principal continued on talking.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKY8L0r4uD0
“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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9d5B2yR487
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVIMGrjI6x
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…
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQtC8jP6oa
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylhm4HqhsF
However, something other than the bell happened to interrupt the grading time, and it came in the form of… floating… masks?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEsSpHkxYe
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?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJiVYPrwjq
Her fellow students, (and the history teacher) stared at the hovering masks in confusion, and the painted faces stared back.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDbAFJEu0z
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegTyNfRR9K
People screamed, and a lot of them pushed and shoved to get out of the room in a panic.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoIsHf7rmm
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuRk3F96LN
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRflnMOkpvf
Ignoring the shaking of her hands, she yelled out to the clown heads: “STOP!”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugSKOaQaXf
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0kaOOFG7K
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmzcRHQjeZ
The rain that was pouring outside as always started to drizzle in through the window, spraying water everywhere.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ufuoIfL4y
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQDL8oECo8
The poor things were too shocked to respond, but she noticed that they nodded or mumbled “okay.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnCYi3WEVG
“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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodv763UojC
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfKMl8WIU4
Vesper swallowed. She had to hurry up and find Mika so that he could get rid of these spirits.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6yz4hbI7k
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnx1F0xoUH9
Vesper’s mouth hung open. “I- why are you coming with me? Please stay safe.” 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WWBlgQI5h
“In here?” the other girl responded, an expression of disbelief on her face. “You think this is safe?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoez9RWD1V
“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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGGOwC5YZF
“I can see that, are you stupid?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tZqBzVcVp
Vesper swallowed her words. Okay then.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrasMwVG07L
“Anyway, I’m going with you. After all, I can clear a path for you through there by punching them smack in the face.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfihGJPfyh
“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?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6CeWZyEUK
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCkI3SuXcs
“Er… well, thank you for helping, even though you might get hurt.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaFOANPDN4
Cherry laughed again. “I won’t get hurt, I promise.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMXQ2viaC3
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVXLj7sb7M
Spirits gaped and threw items, backpacks, heavy textbooks.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4xrfsUKQH
This was a mess! An absolute mess!180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wS7jffEzf
Where was Mika? Any of the local exorcists!?
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBS51D9HYCb
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.” 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgR7NGMEJb
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR4x8dDjZu
The door to the janitor’s closet creaked open with a single push, and Mika saw…180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNwxAoBVgn
Children with clown masks!?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1A17ciil6w
They were storming the hallway, chasing students and causing chaos, a barrage of mischievous children and terrified teenagers everywhere.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuR2nX70J4k
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFj3Lj91kH
Oh well. He could deal with it, even if it was a headache.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83ZdMdH0CK
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0odTbAi4MN
Okay, well, the time was as good as any.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR55yckEQzA
Time to eliminate some spirits.
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQvUVLvVqJ
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5I6j7ZHpV
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6JOSE5GOQ
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcJ9yuOd93
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdAeSWTcAU
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyulGAzU91
“Grey, I have something to ask you,” Vesper said, sounding just a tad bit nervous.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPX9cRP5FI
“Shoot,” he replied, ready for anything.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDGPwqeNmz
“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?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsDtHS35GZ
His expression dropped. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “Have you tried asking Mika?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCbLD03cvt
“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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZn50q3csos
Grey nodded. He recalled Mika had said something similar to him as well.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrVX2AlMJm
“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?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFfIwRSgw8
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ7DdJTq7H
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU16ctoHmr2
“I-” Vesper said, but Cherry spoke louder than her, cutting her off.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjghJibkbKK
“Well, am I right or what?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtV90n4HlKC
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.”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQH7Djl6ZTO
Cherry giggled, as if she knew she was lying, but didn’t say any more. “Well, Grey? Will you help us?”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kwzAVseHL
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnAnqoKLIm
Cherry didn’t answer her question, and instead clapped her hands together and smiled. “Wonderful! We get to stop the spirits!”180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbcNLiPV41
“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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