"Please show me your next time!"

"Goodbye teacher!"

"But I want to play more."

"Behave yourselves, and watch out for anything along the way!"

Helena Forren sees off her three students. Today was delightful for her, and it pleases her to see them mature.

I wish I could see them every day, she thought.

She returns to her cabin and sits on her chair to relax, unaware of the presence who is silently watching.

----------------------------------------

Night has fallen, and Helena has just finished her meal. As she slips into bed, she hears the distinct sound of her front gate being opened.

Did the children return? They shouldn't be sneaking out to see me, or so she thought.

Just in case, she takes a long wooden pole before approaching the door. She opens it, then uses to light the torches outside. What Helena saw chilled her to the bone.

In the middle of her yard, halfway to the entrance was a dark cloaked figure. They wore a crude wooden mask with no features, other than a nostril-less nose and two pitch-black holes gouged into the piece. In one hand, a stained leather glove held the decapitated head of a boar, while the other dragged its corpse by its hind legs. The stranger carried the smell of blood, dirt and decay. Using , Helena could sense a dark aura emanating from their body.

They stop moving, as they notice Helena at the door. She warily looks behind them to see skeletal footprints left in their wake. The undead being carefully drops the boar's head, before offering the body at her doorstep. She takes a step back, which seems to perturb the thing before her. It lowers the carcass, before raising its open hands.

Of course it has a hidden weapon. How else could it have severed its head? thought Helena.

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She discards the pole as a show of trust, but silently prepares a behind her.

Unexpectedly, something begins to squirm under the dark one's cloak. Irritated, the ghastly figure reaches inside, followed by a disturbing yet hollow snap. She accidently stops her incantation, as she watches in horror until the last quivers cease.

After the longest seconds of silence in her life, Helena regains her composure. A small is now hidden behind her back, providing solace within her palm.

Then, without warning, the vile creature begins to speak with a friendly yet unnerving tone.

"Plea... show... your ..."

Once again, Helena loses her composure. As a result, the is extinguished.

I-it saw through my ruse. What can I do?

While she frantically looks about, the inhuman fiend continues to say, "Goodbye."

Goodbye to who? Goodbye to my life!? I never imagined it would end like this...

Her legs lose strength and she falls to the floor. The abomination reaches out, but holds itself back.

"... I want... to play... more..."

"Just end my suffering already!"

The unholy demon stiffens at her tears, then walks to a corner of her yard. The monstrosity points at the children's words scratched in the dirt.

Come to think of it, it's been saying the same things as the kids. Don't tell me this walking horror is planning to...!

With renewed life, Helena jumps to her feet and quickly conjures a . But before she could throw it at this manifestation of pure evil...

... it starts scribbling letters in the ground.

The teacher has a sudden epiphany. Her new student eagerly awaits a response.