User blog:MockingJester/His kind voice

[ It happened again, I see.] A voice, shining in the corner of his head. An accomplice since long. Gentle and bright, the shape of pure light.



"Why? Why this? Why me? What did I do to deserve this?!" Sullivan's hands collide on both side of his head, brought low by her words, her threat. A magnificent woman tinged in green and sky blue hair, unkempt as expected of her kind. One with scouring words, a promise to claim him. Hard.



Another, among the departing crowd, watched him grovel. Beset by glasses, affiliated with a singular leaf, her caramel eyes squint in interest. In here, a man hearing that a woman interested with him would be only somewhat perturbed by the direct confession and mostly expecting with mysteries on his mind. Here, one was having a breakdown.



Her curiosity further heightens as his sobbings suddenly stop. His moisten visage, calm. Eerily calm. Walking away like the rest, a shelter of a glint in his irises. One quick enough for her to jolt "Hmm...I wonder..." She walks the walk, thoughts of collecting his background fiercely present.

---

The middle day came to pass, leaving its spot to the evening. The end of classes. Sullivan running from everyone long before they could take to the streets home "No...no...no! I won't--! It won't happen again! No, no more! Nevermore!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[ That is why I am here. Your guardian spirit. Your friend.<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">] The voice bounces in his head again, ever gentle, ever guiding [ Do you remember what I asked of you at noon when the wretched thing walked away?<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes. The street. The street--the corner! The corner! A corner far from every one where we can meet. Like last time. The last corner we met. Where you imparted me".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[ Yes. And they never did since. An unfortunate reality that you had to move. It was times before I found you again. Your heart bleeding out for aid. But, I am here now. Here to help again. To impart you.<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes...yes" Sullivan eventually finds a corner of street abandoned by the neighborhood. Within, he huddles up in the darkness, hugging his bag closely. The evening spans to the beginning of the night. Then, morning.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">But not really. A light shines dimly in his immediate vicinity, pretending to a new dawn. From it, a man, transparent, pouring with light, approaches. His head, hidden by a hood. His face, concealed by a mask of metal and circuits. All translucid, depicted only by the light that measures him. He kneels to the sitting Sullivan, the latter's eyes rattling with incomprehension. A sentence to which to last the night [ I am here now. Close your eyes and let me impart you.<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes..." Sullivan clenches his bag, his eyelids hiding the world from his eyes. A pouring persistence is the light shaping s guardian angel, wanting to impart him, to be part of him. He feels the light disassemble, rushing to inhabit his being, adapting...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The day sees the school fill anew. Sullivan among others, this time, sheltered in a cowl concealing his head. An obvious target for one awaiting one such as him, casually standing in his way where he bumps on. Feelings of soft muscles, capable of hardening in an instant, implant on his side, but burn just as easily.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">He falls to the floor, still hindered by his hood. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Trying to scurry away, are we?" A hand grasps the back of his hoodie, dangling him in silence back to his feet where jade eyes meet his hidden gaze. A luscious voice continues, this time with a hand on his shoulder "You went missing yesterday, sugarplum. I hope you didn't think I forgot about our little 'us' time. Did you?~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Other students take notice of this interaction, mostly with Sullivan's getup of white and yellow. Of the gas mask tethered on his lower jaw. Of his hands folded deep in his pocket, hidden.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Perhaps the most intriguing is the manner of his presence. Quiet and removed where once, he would be shivering in fear. The boys clamor what they see as an inherent bolster in courage. But the women, the monsters, they shudder at a bleaker absence of emotion, stirred in their core.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Hey, Jess..." Another monster, a red Oni partaking with a gourd on her hips takes a step forward "Jess, hon', perhaps you should drop it".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her rattling voice is dismissed by the emerald Ogre "What? Louise, it's fine".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Seriously, Jess" The occidental Oni approaches further, a hand on her shoulder "Let's just let it go now. He's obviously not sound".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Louise, why are you so up in your panties like that--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Jess, look at him!" Her fingers close strongly "He's not right, Jess! He's not right!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Oh, that's right". Jess the Ogre turns from her friend to meet the hidden gaze of Sullivan, the latter still devoid of any voice "What's with the getup, hon'? Trying to muster a thug-look? Maybe once you get yourself some gain. Until then, though..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her fingers' claws close in on the front of the hood, fiercely pushing it back "...you're better off not--what?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">From the top of the school, a pristine window shines on the perfect brilliance of the sun, waiting for the room's occupant to take her daily gaze at it. And she does, leisure steps being her pace.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Mrs. Belville is etched on her desk's name tag assorted with a cup of coffee, grasped by its handle with a hand embedded in a silver ring.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sworn hooves stop at the edge of the window, marked with a black tattoo-like ornament, all hidden by a formal suit stopping at the ankles.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She sighs in relief, ready to relish another day flooding her district with the youth, still living off the few minutes spent with her significant other, likely waiting on the door for his students.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Only...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Huh?" Her short horns hanged sideways dress down as her face rises, amber irises wincing at the sky "I do not remember precipitation in the forecast".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Just as then, the security enforcer barges in, forsaking her usual greeting. The ocean blue carving itself into her security attire is a stark contrast to her coal texture and fur, further distanced by the burning glare of her crimson shades.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ma'am, we have a problem!" She spouts, relentless in her poise, standing on the precipice of bouncing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Tell me about it, Jasmine. Today seems to have a storm in hand for us".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, ma'am the stench in the air. I know its pungent taste". Her teeth show in a growling display "Someone doesn't belong here!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Really? Well--" A ray of thunder slams down, followed by a blinding jet of light and a violent crash of bricks spewing about the ground prompting Belville to rush at he window with no space between "Oh no! Jasmine, I'm afraid your intuition has proven right yet again!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"On it, ma'am!" The black hound barges back through the frame, flames to her feet with the principal following behind.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The lightning dances on the gravel floor, unmarked by any street paint. The people around shudder. The men, in astonishment. The women, pure fear.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">At the center, Sullivan holding a gilded pistol etched with symbols. His eyes, corrupted by a yellow shade, a luminous bath, yet devoid of light in them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"He's...!" A voice starts, unable to finish its own sentence, laced in dread at the mere sight of the teen drenched in an aura of ocherous light.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"He's a...!" Lightning strings in his second hand, rushing through his body. His gaze remains fixated on the hole manmade. A hole filled with the injured Ogre, just now struggling out of its grasp. Her cheek is rashed with the aftermath of intense heat scorching it. Thin blood strings from her arm, the worst victim of Sullivan's act played in a loop in her mind.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The moment of reveal, where she forced his hood off his head, unveiling his lifeless gaze, stunning her. "Hey! Are you--" Her worry rendered her unguarded for his pistol whip pulled about from thin air, scorching her cheek with its light and strength, pushing her far from him.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And another, more blinding light screaming from the heavens as thunder, now re-directed at her by a simple bullet. One with killing intent avoided with but a half-second to spare.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her teeth grit, wincing at her wound as she gets up "Hey...where did ya get that?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"HE'S AN ORDER MOB!" a voice finally screams, spurning panic among the students.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Oh, shit! They're real?! I thought that stuff was nothing more than rumors!" Some boys, once impressed by Sullivan's press of seeming courage, now feared as much as the teenagers of opposite genders, demonstrated by their inability to move, frozen in fear at the thought of being singled out.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">All but Jessie's best friend taking a decisive step toward the radiating Sullivan, launching her ceramic jug against him. One filled with strong sake, capable of kicking any man or woman out of consciousness.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She thought of distracting him with a flying object to then neutralize him in the split-second, already moving on his flank with a fist on her side.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her crimson blur...never moves. Her sight, blinded by his surging speed placing him in front of her "What?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">For a second, she sees it. Sees the spirit stationed over Sullivan, the disgust on its face, mimicking the teen's movement. For a split-second, she sees the murderous glint on its eyes, radiating in a foul light. And his...his kind voice [ Your end is next, creature<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her face falls victim to a counteracting hook of lightning hurling her against the school's grills screaming. Her body, alive still, twitches, rendered incapacitated by the lightning coursing through it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Sally!" Jessie screams on top of her lungs, spurned to a feat of hidden prowess. Ultimately pointless as her rising body is yet again brought low by Sullivan's staggering jab, imparting her with lightning.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The students surrounding them in distance are frozen in place, powerless against this wanton violence, one even those considered bullies wouldn't inflict.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Another teenager gazes at Jessie, a mix of terror and outrage twisting her features "Of all the people you could have teased, Jessie!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What?!" The Ogre staggers still from the rubble, confounded by the raccoon woman's words, her interest on Sullivan ushering her too fearful discoveries.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"This...! This isn't the first time he snapped like that! Not his first time..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Jessie's eyes widened in consternation "Not his first time?! The hell do you--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">" They thought they could get me! Make me dance in their threads for money and humiliation! Like you did! Again! And again! But his voice, his kind voice! He helped me reject them! Like you! Like he is helping me reject you!"<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> His voice is scorched in distortion, the mask attached to his face moving with his words.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Wait...you were...you were bullied before..." Her knees buckle, seemingly by the loss of strength from two consecutive blows. Only...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I see...hey" Her hand, so close to the exalted Sullivan, takes hold of his gilded firearm. Her eyes wince at the burning touch it radiates, yet wraps it in her fingertips "I'm sorry..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sullivan's face, hindered by his mask, spawns a second of confusion tracing his glare. Said hesitation is soon consumed by the returned ire of vengeance, only to further step into doubt "I'm sorry..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The hand singed against the barrel of the pistol slowly approaches its edge on her forehead, eyes lowered "I'm sorry. That was only some prank I thought to play. You know, to ease the new guy in since teenager boys are well versed in our behavior and all. Thought you'd play it off as some tease when I'd laugh instead of going through with it, hoping to make you laugh in relief and all. Then, we'd be friends, like the rest..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her free hand, twitching in empathy for her scorching fingers, rise to meet her bloodied shoulder, free of any sleeve "I didn't think you were a victim. I didn't want to throw you in the arms of...some debased little bastard with little kids in his sight. But..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">" No..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I placed you under some freak's handle. If snitchy-Daisy's words are to believed here, then you can it out on me. Beat me up, rough me up, do whatever you want..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, stop..."<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> Sullivan's hand begins trembling.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"As long as his willy is satisfied enough to kick himself out. Pricks of his kind are doing enough without turning some kid to a mindless gunner..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Stop, stop! Do not do this!"<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> His hand had long been removed from the trigger. His lifeless face screams in denial, unable to believe what he was seeing and hearing. "Bullies do not apologize! Bullies do not regret their acts! They laugh and spit more vitriol at people like me! He said so! He says so all the time!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"And...what do you think?" Her eyes rise to meet Sullivan's struggling glare, reflecting a remorseful look. She laughs a bit in spite of her burnt cheek "I'm sure you have a fair bit to say...after you're done, at least" A faint smile stretches on her lips, waiting "I'll...look forward to it..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">His hand trembles more so, the innocence in his mind seeing a gesture of true capitulation. A will to rescind her behavior, if only to see the newcomer's back to his self. He could shoot her, beat her, inflict grievous burns on her, anything currently at his grasp. And she wouldn't budge or retaliate.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unlike his previous aggressors...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This. This robbed him of his swirling hate. He couldn't lash out at someone depicting a tormentor's demeanor. His hand lowers--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[My friend. What weights on your hand?] <span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The voice of his spirit speaks in the confines of his mind, speaking in a tone of disbelief [The beast has capitulated. It wants to make reparations. Show her the consequences of threats]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, no...she's...not them. Her words weren't--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[Do you remember her tone, my friend?]<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> His kind voice spoke in reminiscence, words of violent violation to claim him. Sullivan recognized them as false. A tease. A prank, common among the Ogre kind.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Yet, his grip is forced back on his gun, no longer his [The beast has surrendered its heart. You will carve out it and set a warning to the rest]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No! No! Spirit, this is wrong! She's not bullying me anymore, there's no need to anymore! It's not like them, it's not like them!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[The beast merely awaits your weakness before inflicting suffering. They were merely boys, with a warning sufficient. Kill her. Kill her...NOW! KILL THE BEAST! MAKE IT SUFFER! MAKE IT CRY! THEN, KILL ITS FRIEND! KILL THE SPEAKER! KILL THEM! KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!]<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> His kind voice...was no more. It was violent, like the aura embedding his shoulders. He could feel it, she could see it. The sight of a man translucent, his expression, twisted to a blood-thirst.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And then, a struggle. A struggle between Sullivan and his 'spirit'. The gun rattles in his hand, contested by an invisible one. Tears squeezed out of his eyes, returned to his old self. Sullivan hadn't taken a life before. He knows how terrifying the feeling is, already tasting it, seeing it. Jessie, dead by his hand. Her friend, dead. The raccoon woman, dead. Every monster, one he only now saw at his second day of school, all of them dead, littering the floor in their bloodied corpses.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Stop...stop!" Sullivan joins his second hand in the struggle, seeking to pry his finger off the firearm as it slowly pointed at Jessie, the latter, a witness to the unwilling. Instinctively, her hands join his side, looking to aid his strife, making little of her wounds.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Alas, it was too little, too late. The gun now pressed against her forehead, waiting to be squeezed, to be shot. And it--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Gah!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Sorry youngling, it won't hurt! Bastard ingrained in you is what I'm aiming at!" Sullivan's torso experiences a hefty push, launching him high in the air by the press of a charcoal palm. Confusion assails him, further strengthened by two powerful grasps on his shoulders with a knee diving deep in his thorax.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The security woman, Jasmine, had seen enough to recognize a case of possession and suggestion. Kneeling the teen, he was not the target of its bone-crunching cap as per her words. Instead, Sullivan felt...light. As if the weight of another no longer afflicts his shoulders.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">[HHHnnnn!] <span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The spirit, washed from his body in fiery pain, is flung from the youth's body with momentum. The firearm was now in his hand. His other hand cups his stomach, the full front of her spike.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The students, once immobilized in dread, now watch in awe the display of their security takes the confounded teen in her arms. With a great sprout of rage, she kicks the air, literally making a double jump to reach the man now aiming at them both "It'll be a cold may in hell when I let one of you deluded bastards spill youth blood in my courts!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Jessie was on the receiving end of Sullivan's possessed blows. Sullivan was entrapped in a path he never wanted. But now, with a second knee clambering the possessor's thorax, inflicting enough pain for him to lose his grip on the pistol, he had become the victim of another's might.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With an elbow, she slams the back of his head, tumbling straight at the gravel floor, landing a certain distance from him, carrying poor Sullivan in her arms. Of course, even that wasn't enough to keep the possessing agent down, planting a hand on the floor to move his face off the rubble [ You are weak, creature. You think this was enough to--KKhhh!]

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">His voice is snuffed by the sudden press of weight down at his exact space. Mrs. Belville had come to the scenery, wielding gravitational magic in her palm. Speaking no words to him, she instead turns to her second hand "Jasmine, take him, her and her friend to the infirmary, asap".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yep!" The hound from hell sprints to meet a disbelieving Ogre on her second shoulder and a stunned Oni on her back, soon rushing indoors.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Children!" The principal's voice is one of authorial soothe, dispelling the concept of dread from their hearts "School is canceled today! Go back home and prepare for tomorrow morning!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The yard is emptied as quickly as she spoke, leaving but her and her prisoner still clogged to the earth "Now, you!" A subtle shift sees the man helplessly hovering in the air "You're coming with me! I'd like a few words!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sullivan had the least of injuries, sitting by the nursery's door. His face, down in the dumps, so to say. Jess had been within for hours, struggling in her recovery. But there she was, now sitting beside him, an array of bandages on her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her emerald eyes turn to him "Hey..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"..." He keeps to himself, sunk in his mind.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Going to mope, are we? Nah, I don't feel it, come on, sunshine!" Her relatively uninjured arm couples on his further shoulder, dragging him close "Come on, I said I'd want to hear your piece!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I'm sorry..." He breathes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Still about that, huh?" Her face slips in a more somber expression "Same. Actually, I'm the one that should have...damn it, I didn't know you were already being tossed around before!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, I guess you know now..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"So, what are you going to do now?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, I'm probably going to be moving elsewhere. I doubt they take well to kids running around with guns". His head lowers still "Besides, after this little stunt, I doubt people here will be willing to take a guy like me anyhow".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Tsk, you think so? News flash: we all saw that little sweat goblin getting his shit kneecapped out of you! You don't have to worry about a sudden change from timidity to violent warmongering prick barring anyone from coming around!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But, you saw everyone! They were all terrified of me! They--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ok, look! The next person that brings this up like it's your fault is getting their asses beaten! By me! How about that?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Dude, you heard me! The one guy or gal that prances around with the notion of some white-washed asshole making you do creepy shit is getting a knuckle sandwich up their jaw. And then, their ass!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sullivan shakes his head "You're saying this like you're going to follow me around".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Nah, I ain't doing that!" Her hand fiercely clings to his shoulder, dragging him close to her chest, a witness to her booming voice "You're staying with me, dude! I already know your schedules and made changes to have us converge!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Wait, what?!" A blush creeps to his cheeks, the unnatural aroma of monsters slowly rubbing on him "What?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Boy, you heard me!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But why?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"As I said, I hate the kind of guy that picks on weaker kids to do their shit in their stead! It's grating as hell and boy did I see that with that white asshole flinging upward! Thing is, you're a victim! They see this vulnerability, smell it! So, I'm going to train you! Make you a true man, physically AND mentally! Just for the pleasure of telling the next warmongering, inconsiderate, dribbling and vapid pieces of shit dressed in his pansy white that got their asses kicked over and over in the highway to fuck right off with their little pissy high-school shooter attitude!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh...Ohh! So, you're going to--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her arm once again takes a gripping stance on his shoulder, this time, her face meet his affiliated with a grin "Yep! We're going to be best buddies! But, not like Sally! This little friendship, I'm of the intent on bringing it just a little further! If you catch my drift!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But, wait, I've--" Sullivan could recognize a confession when he heard one, more so directed at him "--you're seriously not thinking of going out with a guy who thought to shoot you?!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No! No. That piece of shit is getting lambasted by the principal as we speak! Nah, I'm looking at someone with a case for a strong soul, who just need a little pushing before he can really make a gal happy! And, I already called dibs anyway, so, don't worry about any other thinking of getting their claw on you!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, well..." Sullivan can't help but blush, a reaction mirroring Jessie as they now share the next parcel of minutes in silence. A brighter time now shines in the hallways, seeing his hands intertwined with a creature so many had initially mistaken to be no more than a brute. An inevitable girlfriend to tone him to his and her desire...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A bleaker future for another, however, straddled to a chair. His weapon, his mask, his attire, all sundered and broken.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Before him, Mrs. Belville and Jasmine glaring at the much less composed man. His confidence shattered like his mask, the source of his possessive power.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Yet, still taunting "Hehe, I know your kind! You won't kill me, that would be paramount to a scandal!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Why you little--"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Jasmine, it's alright. Let him gloat". The principal lifts a hand toward her rushing subordinate, the latter, retrieved to the background.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"You are right. We won't because we don't. We never have for millennia, but I guess they still omit this info to you zealots. Fortunately for me, we have other ways of extracting punishment".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Oh yes. Please do. I'm sure the people will appreciate the torture methods you have in store for me. My martyrism will be greatly appreciated".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, mister Belfrey<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...did you not listen to what I've had to say?" The principal crooks her head sideways, a benign but ominous smile on her. A subtle one in comparison to her companion's furious grin "We don't do torture here. Even so, I'm sure they already have discarded you as some psychopath after enlisting a child against his will. Overwhelming testimony from his fellow students looking to take the extra step to welcome him now. Quite the failure to your attempt at making a rift, don't you say?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What?! No, they saw him clobber two of your abominations! A human child--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yep! And they saw me knee-deep in your stomach after hearing him cleary screaming 'No! No! She's not like them!' like he was struggling with the equivalent of a third man in the mix" The hellhound plants a fist on the table "And, speaking of you..." She takes his collar in a sudden gesture "...I have the perfect community work for someone like you!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Do go ahead, Jasmine. I have everything I needed. Since we touched, actually". Mrs. Belville takes a stance from her seat, walking away "Try not to ruffle him too hard, alright?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Of course! Of course..." Left alone with the culprit, Jasmine tightens her grip "So...Belfrey, was it? I have a friend somewhere. A scorpion waiting for someone like you to violate the values we place in our youth. Lots of women over the edge having yet to find someone to share their passion with, willing to take a break and relieve some pent-up frustration".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Like I'd desecrate myself with abominations, beast!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, no. I don't need your consent. I'm sorry, having a mentally vulnerable kid kill other kids is a pretty transgressions crime. One that would likely have your head chopped off or at the firing lines. Here, however..." The man's face sinks in dread as he realizes. She grins "And don't you worry about your body not working right. As I've said, my friend has a stinger to remedy that. And the score of women looking to relieve themselves, ohh, the fun they'll be having once hearing that stunt of yours. I can see the lines foaming already".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No...no..." He struggles, the power he once held, gone.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Oh yes. Better get that mindset ready, lover boy. You're going to have women dying to 'meet' the man who thought to murder a pack of teenagers. Dying<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> to change this world view..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And thus, he never went back...