The way home was surprisingly uneventful. Galatea kept an eye on the firefighting and rescue operations at the warehouse, mainly watching the firefighters standing back, watching it burn. They were not insane enough to go in due to the sporadic explosion of ordonance within the warehouse. The League heroes were standing with them, shielding and guarding them, just in case the gang came back. The gang members had surprised me by rallying incredibly fast and being gone before authorities arrived. That was something to be glad about, because like this, my involvement was probably not known to anyone outside the gang and I doubted that they would tell the police about it.
I stopped watching the surveillance when the fire burned down, I did not want to know what they found inside. I suspected they would have to carry out the burned corpses of those I had killed, I did not want to watch them do so.
That night, my sleep was restless, disturbed by nightmares no doubt evoked by the guilt I felt. I saw the warehouse explode and a burning Sophie stumble out of the inferno. I saw burned corpses, asking me why my freedom was more important than their life, why I killed them. I saw Clark, asking why he was supposed to marry a murderer. My father, turning away in disgust. Sophia, crying over my own, burned corpse. That was the last image I could take, it drove me from my bed and into the shower.
A cold shower and a large cup of coffee later, I felt almost human once more. There was nothing in the paper about the fire, it had happened too late to make it into this days issue, I could retain my ignorance until tomorrow, if I was lucky. For once, I understood the expression that ignorance is bliss.
When I got to school, I sadly did not see Sophia. We had agreed that we would have to keep our relationship in the closet for now or at least try to do so. But just her presence would have been a tremendous help to me.
I heard various people talk about the explosion, it had been loud enough to be heard pretty much everywhere in the city but there was nothing concrete, just rumors. Some were even funny, I really liked the rumor that a Guild-led team had destroyed an alien attack-craft piloted by lizard-people bent on taking over the world. Others were not as funny, for example the one that there had been a huge battle between League and some terrorist-group and the terrorists had been destroyed by the league as their bomb-stash blew up.
I slowly made my way through the day, feeling a little loopy thanks to guilt and lack of sleep. The high-point was lunch with Sophia but she was not feeling that much better than me, I guess the weapons and the explosion had driven home just how problematic her fight could be. Those weapons had not been purchased at the next Gangs’R’Us store, those had been some rather serious military hardware, meaning that the gang had some sort of background. But we would have to cross that bridge when we got to it. And bomb it afterwards, just in case.
At the end of my school-day, I was done. I wanted to go home, into my bunker, close the door and forget that the world existed. Sadly, it was not to be. Just as Sophia joined me at my locker, Clark had to butt in.
“Scum, I told you to leave her alone.” he growled at Sophia. I noticed that he looked exhausted but his words made me forget any sympathy I might have had otherwise.
Before Sophia could even speak, I did. “I told you before. You do not have any right to call her scum. She is my friend and there is nothing you can do about it. Leave her alone.” I told him, anger ringing in my voice, but I managed to speak, not shout.
He turned to me, his face clouding over with an angry scowl. “You will not talk back to me. I’m will be your husband, you will obey me!”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
His arrogant tone almost gave me pause. Just who did that fucking asshole think he was?!
Now, I could no longer keep myself from shouting. “Obey you?! Even if we ever get married, you do not OWN me! You will never own me, not as long as I draw breath.”
The world turned black for a second and my head hurt. I heard shouting and was disoriented for a moment. Blinking away the disorientation, I discovered that I was lying against my locker and Sophia was kneeling next to me. Holding onto her, I tried to stand and saw my science teacher, ligthing into Clark.
“Mr Tannenbaum. Could you accompany us to the principal's office?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. My hand went up to my head, trying to find out why my head felt wet. Pulling the hand back, I discovered that it was bloody.
“Wha…? Yes, of course Ms. King. I suspect you want Mr. Greene there as well?” he asked.
“Yes please.” Turning to Sophia, I asked “Say, Sophia, do you have a tissue? And please steady me on the way.”
Clark was surprisingly silent, I guess he realised that he had mucked up. Holding a tissue against the wound on my head and letting Sophia steady and guide me, we made our way to the principal’s office and quickly got shown in. The angry look on Mr. Tannenbaum’s face made sure of that.
“Yes? Ms. King, are you alright?” He asked the moment our procession entered his office.
“I think so, Principal Meyers. But I believe you should listen to Mr. Tannenbaum first, I think he can give the most independant account of what happened.” I let myself be guided to a chair and seated by Sophia, before she took up a standing position behind me.
Clark was seated on the other side of the room, with Mr. Tannenbaum standing between us.
“Well, sure. I was just on my way out, when I heard raised voices, so I looked over and saw Mr. Greene and Ms. King standing almost toe to toe with each other, with Ms. Collins standing close by. Ms. King was rather agitated and shouted at Mr. Greene, when suddenly Mr. Greene struck Ms. King, causing her to crash into the lockers, causing that wound on her head. I was unable to hear what words were exchanged but I saw the rest.” Mr. Tannenbaum recounted with a steady voice.
During the telling, Principal Meyers was developing an impressive scowl. “What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Greene?”
“She had it coming! She is supposed to listen to me, not shout at me.” Clark answered with anger in his voice. The scowl was getting more impressive. The moment before he could speak, I did.
“Principal Meyers, Clark believes that just because my father has offered my engagement to his family, he owns me and can tell me with whom I associate. It was not the first time that he insulted my friend Sophia and I told him before, I would not stand for it. Today was the first time that he physically assaulted me. Could you call the police, so I can press charges?” I asked in a calm voice.
“Press charges?!” Clark shouted. “Why would you want to press charges against me, I’m your fiance!”
His arrogance was still in full force, clouding his vision at reality.
Principal Meyers spoke. “Why don’t you sleep on that, and talk to your family? I promise, if you feel the same tomorrow, I will help you press charges and I’m sure Mr. Tannenbaum will testify.” Seeing Mr. Tannenbaum nod, I nodded my acceptance.
“I will sleep on it. We will probably see each other tomorrow. Are we allowed to leave?” I asked.
“Yes, you and Ms. Collins are allowed to leave. You will stay, Mr. Clark.” Principal Meyers said with a kind smile, even if I would bet that he was sweating inside. I did not envy his position, between a King-rock and a Greene-hard-place.
As I rose, I dabbed my scalp-wound once more, but it had stopped bleeding, it had only been a small cut. Relieved that I would not need medical attention, I let myself be helped out by Sophia and we made our way to my bunker.
Once there, Galatea used the medical bay to scan my head, making sure that there were no ill effects lurking around. When she was done with that, Sophia and I settled on the couch. Sophia was rather quiet after the whole episode and even now, she was not speaking but tried to bury into my embrace.
“You might want to look at that.” Galatea spoke and activated the large screen, showing a message to the two of us. But what was surprising was not the message itself, it was a request for a meeting, to discuss an operation. No, surprising was the fact that it came with a guarantee of safe conduct and even more surprising was the sender.
It came from the Guild itself.