by Quil Carter
I passed them, my smile broadening, and nodded towards a group of men a year or so older than me. It was about then I saw a pearl of red fly from the black drawstring bag I was carrying, and I watched it sail through the air before landing unassuming on a blue locker.
It dripped down the sky blue, now a purple hue instead of red. The men I was walking past gawked at it, the colour draining from their faces.
Oh my, look at how scared they were; look at how scared everyone was, this was wonderful. To treat myself, I even focused my hearing on the heartbeats I passed, and thoroughly enjoyed the rapid thrums, like dozens of fists beating against hollow walls.
They were showing such fear and consternation… solely over me entering this school.
Which made me wonder… How would they react if they knew what was in that bag?
I glanced at my reflection as I passed the glass windows towards my english class. A smiling young man with his hair parted to the left, bangs hanging down over two slabs of deep kunzite. I was wearing my best outfit today: a purple dress shirt underneath a black blazer jacket, black trousers, and shining Doc Martin shoes. My smile had brought a brightness to my eyes, one that lit up my entire face.
I certainly did look my best today.
But it wasn’t my face that I was looking at, nor was it my backpack slung over my shoulder. No, my eyes were on my hands stained with blood, and the drawstring bag that had a damp patch on the bottom.
A lovely little bag I’d collected this morning…
One that contained Todd’s head.
Yes, I’d decided this morning to saunter down to the kitchens to speak with the kitchen sengils. I brought them a bottle of Crown De Vi reserve and a box of chocolates and came back with Todd’s severed head.
And instructions for the very special dinner I was planning. I’d been hoping to have that dinner tonight, but the sengils had informed me that arian meat was best aged for several days. Well, you learn something new every day, don’t you? Since a meal with the Prince of Skyfall must have only the best food, I relented and moved it ahead several days.
It was okay… I like to play with my food anyway.
I carried on past the staring eyes of my fellow school mates. It looked like all they were going to do was stare. There were no hushed whispers and no one spoke to me. This delighted me to no end. I should’ve done this long ago! To think that all of my problems could’ve been resolved if I’d have just butchered the people who’d been harassing me.
Well, I would from now on.
Because, like Master Silas had reminded me, I was fucking Prince Elish Dekker, and the day Mario stabbed Sacario was the last day that I took anyone’s shit. There was nothing that remained of that cowardly boy but the thick residue of shame and regret. Shame that I let mere peasants insult and disrespect me, and regret that it had taken my best friend getting stabbed, and my first boyfriend rejecting me, for me to realize that I had to start acting my status.
I came through these doors telling myself I would rule this school… only to be harassed, bullied, beaten up, shunned, and snickered at. Well, I was through being that boy.
He was dead. And the new me wasn’t going to take a single ounce of bullshit.
“Yo, Elish!”
I looked over and saw Tiberius standing around the vending machines with his friends. He nodded towards me in a gesture of recognition. “How’s Sic?”
His concern over Sacario was appreciated. Tiberius might’ve started out being an asshole to me but he’d learned quickly that it was best for him to align himself with the royal family, not cause friction. If only Todd and Mario had learned this.
“He needed surgery on his liver but he’s going to be okay in time.” I told him, slowing my pace I didn’t stop.
Tiberius nodded. “Good. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. It looks like Todd pussied out. He wasn’t on the bus today. I was looking forward to a rumble. Fuck that guy. He’s probably hiding under his bed in a puddle of piss.”
I smirked, and as I looked down at my bag I said, “Oh, I think he may be closer than you think.” My eyes flickered back up to Tiberius, and I was amused when I saw his eyes narrow in both suspicion and confusion.
Before he could comment on it, I gave him a nod and bid him a good day, then I covered the last several feet to my english class. There were students in there already, almost all of them from the looks of it, and each of these precious little parasites were sitting rigidly and nervously, every one of them demonstrating their own unique displays of anxiety.
I walked in and was greeted by silence. Not just a normal silence, but a silence that was so dead, so void of any sounds whatsoever, it seemed to suck in any vestiges of auditory stimulation, like the room itself had become a black hole.
I put my backpack behind my chair, not feeling like dropping it off at my locker, and placed the black drawstring bag on the edge of the desk. This garnered me many nervous looks, and I could practically hear their thoughts as they analyzed that bag. Most likely they thought it was a weapon of some kind. Perhaps I should’ve brought one of the thien’s bushmasters just to stir up some more trouble.
But no, not today.
I folded my hands nicely in front of me and put a smile on my face. This smile caused ripples amongst my classmates, heartbeats spiked and sharp inhales filled rattling chests. They didn’t like to see me smile; it scared them. Well, too bad, I was having a nice day today.
My eyes fixed themselves forward and I watched the empty chair, waiting with that same smile for my professor to walk through the door. It looked like everyone was here now, Tiberius even wandered in, giving me another nod. He reminded me of a low-ranking member of a wolf pack, always walking up to the alpha with his tail wagging between his legs, cowering down with a submissive posture to get reassurance that everything was okay between them. Tiberius would be loyal towards me until the end. I wouldn’t forget it. His loyalty seemed to mean more to me since he’d started out being a confrontational asshole. I wasn’t sure why, but it did win him more points.
Then second bell came, and moments after it rang, the memories of the tone still hanging in the air, Professor Britain, my boyfriend Ryan, walked through the doors. He looked haggard, his goatee lost in a thickening brush of facial hair and his eyes sunken in and framed by a gaunt face. His clothes were wrinkled and unkempt as well, my boyfriend certainly hadn’t been taking care of himself.
The first thing he did was look in my direction, to the desk where I always sat, and when he saw me, the shock drew out several reactions. He visibly recoiled, like his body had been electrocuted; his face paled; his lips retracted in what could only be described as a cross between a grimace and a shudder; and his eyes – oh his eyes – his pupils enlarged, as if my physical presence were needles injecting horror right into them.
“Good morning, Professor,” I said in a singing voice, tight ribbons of cheer wrapping themselves around each octave. My words were obediently followed by dozens of jumping pulses. I surely was the Pied Piper of Terror today.
Ryan stood there frozen, each pointed out reaction on full display on his face. The students around us looked back and forth from me to Ryan, knowing without a doubt that there was more to this then what met the eye – but, of course, they would never say a word.
“Good – Good morning, Elish,” Ryan stammered. He put his briefcase on his desk and clicked it open, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. I noticed as he took out his papers for today’s lesson, that his eyes scanned the room. A flicker of annoyance prickled me when his gaze briefly stopped on Todd’s old seat, now cold and empty.
That didn’t look right. Not at all. English just wasn’t english without Todd in the class.
I should remedy this.
The entire class stiffening with nervousness as I rose to standing. At one point in time their gazes would’ve had me burning with embarrassment, roasting on the spot as they picked me apart and judged me with their eyes. I’d cared so m
uch what they thought of me.
I was such a fool back then.
I picked up the bag and flashed everyone a smile. “Is anyone wondering where Todd is today?” I asked cheerfully. My smile split into a grin, causing widened eyes and shifting seats.
“Anyone?” I looked around, then my eyes fell to Ryan. He was standing in front of the white board, his eyes now bulging out of their sockets. When we made eye contact he slowly shook his head back and forth, a subtle warning. But for that? Please don’t do this, Elish?
You had your chance, Ryan.
“He…” I turned to the girl who had summoned the bravery to speak and recognized her as one of the wenches that was interviewed last night. “He’s probably taking time off after… after the incident.”
“The incident?” I said with a barking laugh. “You mean when Mario stabbed Sacario in the stomach? You mean when he severed a piece of his liver? That incident?” I glared at the insects around me. So dearly did I want to squash each and every one. “Where’s the worry about how he’s doing? Where’s the concern? Or was he not charismatic enough for you? Were his clothes too old and worn? Or perhaps he wasn’t sucking every gay man’s cock like Todd was which reduced his popularity?”
Someone, a female at the front of the class, rose and began speed walking to the door. She was trying to escape. “Tiberius,” I barked. “Lock the door.”
I didn’t even have to look in his direction. I heard the scraping of a chair and Tiberius soon appeared in the corner of my vision. He passed the woman and there was an echoing click as he locked the front door and stood beside it, arms crossed. That man reminded me of my brother. I decided then those two would be friends. I’d invite him over before I left this school. He was going to become a dear friend of the family.
͠
And how right I was. Except it wouldn’t be him that ended up becoming my brother-in-law, but rather his first born son Tiberius the fifth.
͠
The woman put her hands over her mouth and turned around. The black-haired woman gave me a fearful look, then sat back down at her desk.
“Elish…” Ryan said breathlessly. “I… I must start the… the class.”
I smiled at Ryan, my head tilting slightly to the side. “Yes, my apologies, Professor,” I said, my voice switching again to singy and cheerful. “You do need to start the class. Which means every student should take their seat.” I turned and grabbed the black drawstring and pulled it open. “Every… student.”
I grabbed a tuft of Todd’s black hair and pulled his severed head out of the bag.
The chaos that came after pleasured every sick transgression inside of my body.
Horrified screams ripped the air in half, as if the terror was so prominent inside of their shrieks it had physical consequences. Scraping chairs joined in milliseconds later, followed by a stampede towards the doors. The doors being blocked by Tiberius.
“Take your seats!” I snarled, elevating my voice so it carried above the orchestra of panic. I felt like a leopard that had just been spotted by a herd of wildebeest.
“Let us out!” a woman screamed to Tiberius. She grabbed his shoulder and pushed it. “Fucking let us out! I’m not staying in this room with that fucking psycho!” A man pushed Tiberius as well, but my military friend stood his ground, his muscular arms crossed over his chest and his narrow eyes looking at them with disinterest. Tiberius was legion to the bone, from his thick-necked, broad-shouldered appearance to his loyalty to obey his leader’s orders to the letter.
“Take your seats,” I snapped again, Todd’s head still dangling by my hips. I looked over to see what Ryan was doing, and saw him keeled over his desk, both hands on the surface to hold up a body that seemed to want to do nothing more than collapse where it stood. He looked like he was about to pass out; I even saw him sway.
But the professor surprised me. “Take your damn seats!” he suddenly bellowed. But it was no authorative bellow of a Skyland professor, it was desperate, said in a tone that was more suited for someone screaming for mercy.
The students were all clustered around the door, like they were made out of liquid and the room was on a tilt. All of them looked to the professor, more than half of them in tears, women and men, and the rest in the same terrorized state as the professor.
“NOW!” Ryan yelled. His hands clenched, then one raised and was slammed down onto the desk. I smirked at this. He was in agony. Good. I wanted him to feel what he’d made me feel. I may not be able to make him feel that same sense of rejection, but I could at least cause him the same level of suffering.
The cattle were still for a moment, before in front of my eyes they turned into sheep. The first one turned and made her way back to her seat, and several more followed. Then, after many shifting glances, others joined them, and soon the only one by the door was Tiberius.
The grin appeared back on my face. I walked to Todd’s empty seat and slammed his head down onto the desk. There was a noticeable clunk as the severed tip of his spine hit the desk.
“Go ahead, Ryan,” I said. “You may–” There was a knock on the classroom door followed by a rattling of the knob. Tiberius looked over his shoulder and we all saw the principal looking through the small viewing window.
I sighed and got up. I walked past the students and their tears of fear and whiny little whimpers, and opened it.
“We’re fine, Principal Henshaw,” I said smiling, before he could open his mouth to ask what was wrong. “Continue about your day. I’m just teaching the classroom a lesson.”
“Mr. Henshaw. HELP!” the same woman who’d initially run to the door cried. “He killed Todd. He has Todd’s fucking head here! He’s insane. He’s fucking insane!” She burst into neurotic tears and started wailing hysterically.
Mr. Henshaw’s face dropped. He looked past me and gasped, but the smile on my face remained. “One second, Mr. Henshaw,” I said casually. “Stay where you are, that’s an order from the acting King of Skyfall.” I inclined my head. I turned from him.
I walked over to the hysterical dark-haired woman, sobbing with her hand still covering her mouth.
Then I raised my hand and slapped her across the face. She yelped like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, but the shock of the sudden blow shut her up.
Problem solved.
I turned and walked back to the principal. The man standing there with his mouth opening and closing, sputtering and spitting but rendered stupid and speechless.
“We’re fine here, Principal Henshaw,” I said happily. I picked off a piece of lint from his suit jacket and flicked it. “Have a good day now.” I closed the door behind him and walked back to my seat.
The room now dead silent.
“Okay, Professor Britain,” I said. “I believe we were supposed to discuss chapter three of The Giver? Let’s get on that, yes?”
Ryan stared at me, an anguished expression carved into his face. A face that used to have all the smiles in the world for me. Oh what happened, Professor Britain? You used to be the light of the classroom. My charismatic, happy teacher eager to teach the world something new.
“Y-yes,” Professor Britain said faintly. “Chapter three…” He picked up a piece of paper with trembling hands and slid it onto the classroom’s projector. “G-get out the worksheets the substitute gave you and – and… find the one for chapter three.”
The atmosphere in the room was so anxious I thought I could taste it. The students were all sitting like sticks stabbed into the ground, ridged and stiff with their movements robotic.
I couldn’t explain just how empowered I felt in that moment. Power was addicting, it was intoxicating. All my life I’d had control over nothing. I’d watched those I loved get butchered in front of me as I stood helpless. I’d been mentally, emotionally, and physically abused to the point of a mental break, then patched together by Silas with hasty fingers. I had not been fixed, only placed inside of a glass dome and left untouched. My master then guarded me, too fr
agile to be taken out of my see-through prison, until the king turned his back to me to cry some place far away, and I slipped through to see just what was on the other side.
Only to have the place I wandered into, try to break my fragile frame again.
Unbeknownst to those who’d broken me, once I became a shattered shell, I’d quickly shed off my damaged exoskeleton and had stepped out stronger. But not just stronger, I’d emerged with a thirst for power that had parched my throat.
This may not be much, but all those great had come from humble beginnings, and I knew this was just the first taste of what would become my favourite thing.
The rest of the class was spent with the students and Ryan walking on eggshells. Ryan taught as best he could, his voice strained and leaking anxiety. His shaking body made him drop his pencil and the dry erase pen several times, and each time I enjoyed the collective seizing of over twenty-five hearts.
I also was amused that none of the students were looking at Todd’s head. And not only that, the man, a friend of Todd’s I believed, had shifted his desk over so much there was only an inch of space between him and his neighbour. I caught him several times wiping away tears, and chewing on his lip with such vigor I smelled blood by the end of the class.
The most amusing thing came when the bell rang. The silent room let out a collective gasp of relief, even several women and two men muffled cries, then all eyes shifted nervously to me, waiting for the Prince of Skyfall to rise from his seat to exit the room.
But I wasn’t going to leave first. I nodded with my chin towards the door. “You may leave quietly,” I said to them, knowing that if I didn’t add the last part there’d be a loud assault of chairs scraping against tile, and most likely a stampede towards the door. My instructions were respected to the letter, and all of the students slowly rose, and fast-walked to the door, Tiberius the first out.