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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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJWkW3qb6k
No one expected it at first. People went about their day as usual.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzNueVsc2u
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBnwnU4YXZ
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaT1rZwRlB
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmahMcvTwPp
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuCx8fJpfH
He enjoyed spending time with Winter like that, even if they didn’t talk.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3WhYtlsYT
It was peaceful… until Winter stopped carving and shot up, dropping the knife on the table.
“Winter?”
“Be careful-”
SLAM!323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TnZMyxU5k
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV86RXgjCfO
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqT7Kh9AgG
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. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAp3p81y2cP
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!323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDTyYxh7YW
Winter stood up and reached out, finding Grey’s form and putting his hand on his shoulder protectively. “Spirits.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡut9XLcnXPO
Spirits? They had appeared as normal children to him. Short, a little pudgy, and wearing all types of bright clothes.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmtQoUDiQ3
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPP2qJ4ViW
So they were spirits… wearing masks. Mid-level spirits, possibly? That’s what he remembered.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡge9pn30dXf
That didn’t give them an excuse to destroy random stuff, though! 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqRW1DEkGL
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?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwmlwfdQ5d
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. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjFUolg4cl
The young spirit reached it just a few seconds before Grey did, and he stumbled and fell through the apparition. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gO2PvJbXS
The child raised a hand, and slammed it down on the table.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI12AMGjCjf
Snap!323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSxrw0uy2n
No.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SCYuiRz5N
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLltOkzPB4
“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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWDjEq2tQu
“I can explain,” Grey said, the worst sentence one could possibly tell when they actually could explain.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNxGL2UN1B
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvJdtWsSy4
Grey’s heart basically stopped then and there. “Not Mr. Principal. Anything but Mr. Principal-”
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpfGRLeETj
He had called Mr. Principal.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCA9Z5lp2vl
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DHQlt4PoS
He surveyed the damage with his usual judging eye, making a displeased sound in his throat. Then, his eye landed on Grey.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRwULrQyQi
“Pierce. Of course this is your fault.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU57LBzQlp
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4JSWKW85r
He huffed and simply crossed his arms, looking at the ground. No point in covering for himself. It wouldn’t work.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtB0DrpbEOj
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpycCHAM3CE
Well, he could at least try to explain. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnwmV67r2e
“I didn’t do it, Mr. Principal.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6R00k5CuYr
“That’s what someone that did it would say,” he replied, raising a nearly hairless eyebrow. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilEhSOet3m
“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…”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6TlRPkd8O
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I5lk47AIv
To a normal person, it would probably just look like a bunch of floating clown heads attacked them, since they were spirits wearing masks.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0h2d9NnT5
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yOLZ4F3pC
“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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWsPjbuTpJ
If Mr. Principal's eyebrow could raise up even higher, it would, and Grey heard a small snicker from behind him.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyRJ5zTAGd
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 him323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGS8aiL8roJ
As if he could feel Grey’s stare, Winter raised a hand to cover his mouth and turned his head away slightly. “Sorry.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4oj5mbnyb
“Let me guess. It sounds like a lie?” he whispered exasperatedly.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuE7LTD9CQ
Winter nodded.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxaOEb446l
“That absolutely sounds like a lie,” the principal declared loudly. “You, Ms. Pierce, are getting detention.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A9CFL9lj0
A nasty taste formed in his mouth. “Seriously?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7iXmSTXFX
“Yes, seriously,” said the principal.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVSZIXEm2h
“There are witnesses,” Winter mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Grey’s innocent.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTUavyskli
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36DDMp7PN2
He walked over to the man that slept at his desk, snoring once more as brown curls covered his face. “Mr. Cooper, wake up.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLNigvG5kP
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.” 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi2ig8JQEm
“Please no.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUA58qBEGa
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINKRDjby1X
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSTklY0SJZ
“Oi, Pierce!”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCnIHLbLA6
Grey sighed, and turned around. “Yes, Mr. Principal?” 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9APJWT0o8
“No escaping. Clean this mess up and then go to my office.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoLwiaI90C
Aw man. That absolutely sucked. “I’m telling you, I didn’t do it-”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qy4EKNjKS
“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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcleK2khG9H
“You don’t believe the clown heads?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalYuCIdRr0
“Of course not.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMPhqOgGQK
“It was spirits,” Winter mumbled.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPLX20t8zz
“Detention for talking back, erm… What's your name?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UlSbcmrHu
“Winter Duke.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioFuQp7MDx
“Detention, Mr. Duke. For aiding Pierce in her lie.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYIdaAKNzx
“His,” Grey corrected quietly, but Mr. Principal continued on talking.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUivnflLHDJ
“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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyThEzXXvMl
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpF3vrtqxD
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…
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUjUdprylR
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjUFFjASGz
However, something other than the bell happened to interrupt the grading time, and it came in the form of… floating… masks?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkuHpmBcPQ
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?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2YhYWMvSJ
Her fellow students, (and the history teacher) stared at the hovering masks in confusion, and the painted faces stared back.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvpr9d6eho
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKbvydeRlX
People screamed, and a lot of them pushed and shoved to get out of the room in a panic.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF9PQisDbY
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjStyIxpHzR
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurvbeNFZ1y
Ignoring the shaking of her hands, she yelled out to the clown heads: “STOP!”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZFGFhnDZl
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgXwZiP7ng
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. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe13rfmEGVu
The rain that was pouring outside as always started to drizzle in through the window, spraying water everywhere.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfp3WoFMgd
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOVErIvrCF
The poor things were too shocked to respond, but she noticed that they nodded or mumbled “okay.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBMKNIUf2s
“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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgIzCWACCa
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XmgsIGLJD
Vesper swallowed. She had to hurry up and find Mika so that he could get rid of these spirits.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWOVmDVpBw
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp2bEe8d8a
Vesper’s mouth hung open. “I- why are you coming with me? Please stay safe.” 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8nGgtJWTa
“In here?” the other girl responded, an expression of disbelief on her face. “You think this is safe?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILXhcXTsNU
“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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtZnpfOJxK
“I can see that, are you stupid?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjWTP5JV8U
Vesper swallowed her words. Okay then.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXTvGJxpTG
“Anyway, I’m going with you. After all, I can clear a path for you through there by punching them smack in the face.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANig0Hh6di
“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?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVtS5Zhn6L
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2BdIB4XRo
“Er… well, thank you for helping, even though you might get hurt.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWTeALB1zv
Cherry laughed again. “I won’t get hurt, I promise.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP2NVlGa86
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnKh3eVFsK
Spirits gaped and threw items, backpacks, heavy textbooks.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IOsCIXDBN
This was a mess! An absolute mess!323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbHaI9NJrE
Where was Mika? Any of the local exorcists!?
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKyoywSszB
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.” 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ih7FcMSMn
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. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKU3sKokKF4
The door to the janitor’s closet creaked open with a single push, and Mika saw…323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4VKAh8kDG
Children with clown masks!?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25uNl0Dmxv
They were storming the hallway, chasing students and causing chaos, a barrage of mischievous children and terrified teenagers everywhere.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TT7GpwF7o
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGBLB4MGke
Oh well. He could deal with it, even if it was a headache.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4ti7NCNmR
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9nLmY2Oho
Okay, well, the time was as good as any.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLi3nKWm4k
Time to eliminate some spirits.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzxpIIz4ER
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. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC6LU1O5eq
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxHeg7ywE0
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkOeX8U3e8
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDf8fkdlSom
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGRrsqiRmd
“Grey, I have something to ask you,” Vesper said, sounding just a tad bit nervous.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rulzhqwT5
“Shoot,” he replied, ready for anything.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnT9FdEsgqc
“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?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJ7ALYDb1B
His expression dropped. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “Have you tried asking Mika?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJh0ct8XL5
“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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1HPwTtViU
Grey nodded. He recalled Mika had said something similar to him as well.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYrOyM6Nbl
“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?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvLgOse7de
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMddp6HePk
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK1uT0Y3Bc
“I-” Vesper said, but Cherry spoke louder than her, cutting her off.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7blmffqYMm
“Well, am I right or what?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4q8RTqFq9
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.”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vFOR35HKR
Cherry giggled, as if she knew she was lying, but didn’t say any more. “Well, Grey? Will you help us?”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KCevoi13G
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cKyyyAebF
Cherry didn’t answer her question, and instead clapped her hands together and smiled. “Wonderful! We get to stop the spirits!”323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLizs8G9qww
“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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