Chapter 3

“Hey, Abby.” Nigel greeted, cackling in the inside. The half an hour of sitting in that leathery chair and the disappointment from Madelin made worth it with Abby’s befuddled grimace. He didn’t have the same fun with the other newcomers, and keeping his position a secret from Abby just for the shock value was very funny to him.

Before he could start a sentence, Nigel dodged a flying shoe before it could nail him in the head; the projectile bounced off his fancy chair, and he grabbed it mid-air.

“What the hell are you DOING?” He shook the shoe at Abby.

“Did you just make me come here just to annoy me?!” She growled.

“Well…” Nigel reluctantly shrugged, Abby aimed the other shoe. “Okay, calm down! I'm kidding! We really do have something to talk about. But first, how about some tea?”

Abby huffed in anger. She can't believe she had her lunch ruined by this four-eyed asshole. She sourly sat down on the opposite end of the table. Nigel threw her shoe back to her. Madelin brought her a cup of camomile tea. She stared at the competent secretary, she couldn’t believe that she was working for that grinning jerk.

“You two know each other?” Madelin asked as she walked back to Nigel's side.

“Yeah we live in the same building.” he took a sip from his cup.

“Oh, where?” She flatly inquired.

“That’s not important.” Nigel rubbed his hands, “Let’s get to business.”

Madelin placed a folder in front of him. He read the file once again and couldn't be more impressed. “So I'm here to personally congratulate you on passing the entrance exam with flying colors, Abby. Well done…”

Madelin smiled at Abby, softly clapping her hands.

Abby felt a little bit embarrassed getting compliments for doing the bare minimum. It’s just the entrance exam, she thought. In fact, she spent weeks studying just to get into the University; without pulling off multiple all-nighters, she doubted she could've passed.

But that didn’t stop her from feeling butterflies inside her stomach.

“You're one of the fifty out of one thousand and four hundred and fifty six who passed.” He continued, “Well done.”

Abby’s jaw slacked, the butterflies turned to a lump on her throat. “F-fifty? You only let fifty people pass?!”

“I don’t decide who get in, the exam does.” Nigel exhaled, “And only three percent passed, even lower than I expected.”

She stared at Nigel as he leaned back on his chair, that intimidating pressure was back again. “I even provided the study material for the exam itself, yet only a handful seemed to put in the actual effort.” His playful sapphire eyes suddenly felt cold and cruel as frost, the tone of his voice harsh and disappointed.

“You did accept the parents’ bribes.” Madelin interjected, “That may have made the would-be students complacent, there may have been worthy among the ones you tricked.”

“If they were worthy, then the bribes wouldn't have been necessary.” he rebutted. “Besides, we've collected a really nice extra… funding, thanks to them. ”

“Um… Won’t that be bad?” Abby asked, “You’ve just tricked a bunch of really rich and probably influential people. Won't they… try to get back?”

Nigel made that wide grin, his eyes hidden by the bright light refracting off his glasses. Abby thought his teeth looked sharp. “If they value their reputation… I doubt they will.”

Abby squinted at her housemate. She never expected this goofy guy who cooks her meals and cleans around the Inn would be an expert on the art of blackmail. Her doubts about the rumors she heard are starting to fade.

“Hey, what’s with that look?” Nigel called out, that annoying personality back again. “It better not be-”

Madelin smacked the folder at his head, “I think you should do the thing you were supposed to do now.”

“Ah right,” He took the folder from her, he walked down towards Abby. “You have quite the achievements back in your middle school, your softball career is especially impressive.”

He handed her the folder, “Here’s the list of clubs and other extracurricular activities available in the university; you can join any number of them, but I do suggest you continue playing softball for the university.”

“I’ll … Uh… i'll think about it.” Abby flipped through the papers, gawking at the list. “There’s a lot of clubs…”

“Ahhh, there’s no hurry.” He waved his hand passively, “And also, I have one last gift.”

He fished out something shiny from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

“A pin?” Abby picked it up. It was small and polished to a shine. It was shaped like a flower with the stem. The flower itself was silver with diamond encrusted petals. The stem was shaped like an “S” and leaf jutting out the side, all in gold. “It’s beautiful. What flower is it?”

“A snowdrop. Take it as a token of recognition from us.” he nodded. “It has been tradition that every well performing student is awarded a pin to recognize their achievements.” he tilted his head, showing two shiny pins on his right collar. ”That one however, is a new one. I’ve have them specially made for the few who passed the exam.”

“Wow… Thanks but…” Abby smiled, “I still don’t believe you're the president though.”

Nigel snorted, “Get outta here. You’ve still got thirty minutes till the next class. Go on now.”

Madelin opened the door to the staircase, urging Abby to follow. She looked at Nigel as he went to his seat. Abby pinned her accessory on her right collar and happily went her way.

It was already Seven in the evening, and Nigel was still not finished with paper work. He had been toiling away in his office while Madelin was just sitting on the recliner for a while now, and yet the papers seems to keep on coming. Maybe it’s because Madelin kept piling them on his table? He doesn’t know. All he knows is that there’s orders for more boxes of printer paper to be confirmed.

He was starting to get hungry. Since this morning he had been meeting up with the newcomers, he had no chance to get lunch. Maybe if he asked Madelin nicely...

He slowly turned to his secretary, “Hey Madelin, I don’t suppose you can help me with some of these?”

She raised an eyebrow, looking over her phone. “It is the duty of the Council President to tend to all the businesses of the university.”

“Is that a…”

“No.” She heartlessly declined, nonchalantly tapping away on her phone.

Nigel nodded. He guessed she still doesn't trust him yet. He did just show up out of nowhere and made changes to the university, and ultimately ruined her plans. He got a feeling she had her sights to the presidency, but Nigel got to it first. But despite this strained situation, he trusts her. She was, after all, the first person he talked to on the first day of college.

He continued with his paperwork in silence, getting a nice flow state signing papers without reading most of it. Even with the pace he’s on, he knows he’ll barely make a dent on the piles on his table now. I’ll just do this next time.

He sneakily turns his eye to his secretary, he knows she’d rather be somewhere else at the moment. “You can go now Madelin, I’ll finish this up in an hour and close the building myself.”

She stared at him with those scary amber eyes. For a moment, he thought she saw through his plan.

“Alright, good night.” She didn’t skip a beat, she immediately stood up her chair and bee-lined to the door.

“Good-” Nigel said, but Madelin closed the door behind her, “-night…”

Nigel waited for a few minutes just to make sure she left the building. When the coast was clear, he opened the cabinets under his desk and neatly hid the stacks of paperwork inside it.

“I’ll just come in early on Monday.” He convinced himself, knowing well he can’t wake up that early. "I'll be fine."

He slung his backpack over one shoulder and went around turning off the lights inside the Council building. First, his office where he enjoys his tea with his secretary who hates him. Then the kitchen where he cooks his lunch because a trip cafeteria is too expensive. Next was the meeting room where he discusses business with his council members who plan to depose him. He came to like this building after a while, everything seemed so sophisticated and elegant; like the theatre where Caesar meets with his senators.

As he turned off the lights in the living room, he caught something’s shadow dart away outside the left window. He squinted through his glasses and found nothing but the silhouette of the hedges around the building

There’s someone outside…

“Nah, I’m just tired.” He surmised. His eyes must have been tired reading through piles of files for hours.

He locked the council building’s door behind him and made his way to the parking lot. Nigel noticed how the some street lamps of the courtyard needed their lights some changing, the constant flickering was hard for him to look at. The college courtyard was looking like a Christmas panorama, with it’s snowy trees, powered hedges, and little metal benches lining the outskirts too cold to sit in.

The university is a different place when the darkness sets in. The high modern buildings cast large shadows in the courtyards, creating dark recesses where things could lurk. The older buildings seem abandoned and derelict at night, their facades forming scowling visages looming upon over. The blanket of snow hushed the sounds of the night, only his footsteps echoed around the empty school.

Sometimes, Nigel thinks the place is unnecessarily too big. Who needs a school the size of a small town anyway? He grumbled. He read a book that says the school was once part of the city itself, and the first headmaster walled-off what he thinks is part of the school. He decided to have the library books reevaluated that day.

From the college courtyard, he turned towards the faculty building where he can cut through most of the university. The faculty rooms closed and empty; the old fluorescent lights outside glowed dimly and sometimes flickering off, only supplemented the winter moonlight. He walked through the long corridor, its pillars that support the second floor created shadows that look like people standing a line. On the other side of that corridor was a little garden with flower bushes.

There’s someone behind you…

Nigel frowned and stopped in his tracks. He looked behind him, yet the corridor was virtually empty. He waited for a moment for something to happen. His spine tingled; he held his breath for a moment and there it was, some breathing could be heard. If there was someone hiding somewhere, he had to flush them out. It must be some students who were up to something.

He turned and took a step, and he saw how the shadow of a pillar stirred. He pinpointed the pillar four rows in front of him, he noticed how it’s silhouette was not the same as the others; like someone was hiding behind it. He grinned in anticipation and approached it.

With every step he took, he eyed the pillar closely. He realized the figure was inching away as he got closer. He had to catch this guy while he had a chance. He bolted right to the opposite side of the pillar to where the person might run. Right before he could tackle the trespasser, he saw a metallic glint in from the silhouette.

Go right…

Nigel barely dodged a rusty kitchen knife gripped by a gnarly hand with equally gnarly fingernails. Its blade grazed his left cheek right under his glasses. He landed on the snow on his side and looked up; the knife was raised again. He twisted his body, tucked in his legs, and kicked the thing in the midriff. It felt like kicking a log, nonetheless the thing went flying away.

The moment it landed, it scurried away in between the buildings.

“Ah SHIT!” He got up and chased after it. Whatever it was, Nigel can’t let it run around the university. Junkie?! Was that guy a junkie?! Questions ran through his mind as he scanned for the guy. Could a junkie move like that?

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He concentrated for any sounds or movement. It couldn’t have gone far. He did hit it square on the ribs, that should've incapacitated it. He positioned himself in the center of the garden trying to look out for it, his footsteps crunched in the snowy blanket.

The snow… dumbass…

He realized his stupidity and looked down; he found there were bare footprints on the snow leading back towards the college courtyard.

He ran after the footprints. I should request more patrols around here, he made a mental note. More importantly, he's gonna know how this guy slipped through the gates. He can’t have accidents like this during his term, not on his watch.

The tracks did lead to the courtyard. A breadcrumb trail snaked and curved around bushes and trees. Nigel carefully followed, making sure he wasn’t gonna walk right into an ambush. At the far corner of the yard almost next to the council building, Nigel saw a body slumped on the ground salted by snow.

“Did he pass out?” Nigel whispered to himself.

He slowly approached the junkie, freshly baked or suffering from withdrawal, he knew how dangerous these guys are; he readied himself for the worst. But as he got closer he noticed the familiar blue coveralls the guy was wearing; the scent of iron wafted in the air. Nigel’s heart sank as the man groaned in pain, he turned over the hunched man and recognized him. It was one of the sanitation crew, Jack; one of Will’s coworkers in fact. He was pale and cold, he was stabbed in the right shoulder and his lower right back. He looked like he was just attacked.

But Nigel realized his mistake, he just walked into a trap. The snow crunched behind him.

“Eat shit.” Nigel scooped up a handful of bloody snow and forcefully threw it behind him.

The audible sound of someone gasping, he spun around and launched his fist to the perpetrator’s face. A solid hit to the nose. Nigel’s knuckles stung, it felt like he punched the face of a statue. But he was able to stagger his opponent backwards, and Nigel was able to get a good look at it.

It was short, shorter than Abby. Wearing a stained wife-beater and basket-ball shorts over his gaunt body, it held its knife menacingly. Its head was a size larger than his body with long wiry hair growing out the sides all topped with a red baseball cap; plastered on a unnaturally wrinkly face was wild wide-set eyes, a mouth filled with gnarly set of teeth, and a large scrunched up nose in the middle of that mess. Nigel couldn’t comprehend how someone can get so deformed to such an extent.

“I see you’ve got some balls in ya, doncha lad?” The guy had a thick Scottish accent. “Why don’t we forget all this happened and get your friend over there some help, aye?”

Nigel scowled at him. He was confused and unsure what to do next.

Why isn't he hurt?, he asked himself. He knew he hit him in the nose, those holes should've been bleeding. Yet the guy looked fine, relatively.

The Scot feinted a lunge forward, making Nigel flinch and raise his arms to defend. “HA! Getting a wee bit jittery, aren’t we?”, he jeered at him.

Pissed off, Nigel lunged, delivering a right straight to the face, then a left hook to the jaw, and finished with a knee to his stomach. The imp staggered backwards, clutching his sides.

“Gah!” Pain rushed through Nigel’s arms and his knee,the knuckles on his right hand were bleeding. He looked at his bloody fist and back at the Scot.

That’s not… human…

He was convulsing, in laughter. He straightened up from his stupor to reveal he was uninjured at all. His grin was getting wider than his face. His shoulders barely holding up his wife-beater as he guffawed. “That’s some fancy-fancy moves right there! Issat kung-fu? That won't work on me.”

Nigel huffed, tired and hungry. He had to find some sort of weakness before he gets taken down. “How’d you get inside here?” Nigel asked, trying to stall for time till he recovered.

“Why would you give a shit? You look like some posh turd, not security!” He licked his lips, readying his knife, “Well nonetheless, I’ve always wanted to know if toffs really do have blue blood.”

That is not how it works. Nigel dodged a slash to his neck. The guy was swinging his knife wildly and without finesse, a blur of murderous intention. The knife wasn’t able to evade some attacks, catching a slash on his left thigh and his forearm. Nigel had to stop this guy before he causes more damage. He hesitated on throwing a punch, the guy was somehow invincible. His punches would only hurt him.

The cold air chilling his bones, the pain from his injuries, him getting really hungry. Anger boiled in Nigel’s chest. His breath steamed, blood boiling, and mind going blank.

Calm down…

He charged blindly at the attacker, without a plan or strategy. This caught the guy in unawares, he instinctively held his arms up to defend. But instead of punching, Nigel grabbed the guy’s skinny arm, lifted him off the ground, and repeatedly slammed him into the ground. Snow shook off the trees as the ground quaked with every impact.

Calm… down…

Nigel cocked his shoulder and flung him to a street lamp. The thing hit the steel pole with a clang, the body bent in a painful form and slumped to the ground. Shook off his anger, taking big gasps of air. It was lighter than he thought. Nigel had exerted himself too much, but at least he was able to take off some steam.

“You absolute tosser!” The guy cursed as he slowly stood up, grasping the arm where Nigel grabbed. “That… FOOKIN’ hurt!” he looked disheveled, but ultimately unharmed. He snapped back his dislocated shoulder with a click, and pulled out a much sharper and larger knife. He patted his head, in realization that his hat wasn’t there anymore. He furiously searched around the ground, then very slowly he glared at Nigel.

Nigel felt something under his foot. He scraped his shoe over the snow, revealing a bright red cap crushed under his heel. Then it clicked.

“OI, you fuckwit!” He called out, angrily pointing his knife. “Git your grubby foot off me cap! I’ll fuckin’ gut ya! I swear!”

Nigel turned to him idly, he couldn’t believe he missed that obvious clue. All of this could’ve been done in a minute if he just made the connection early on. His anger started to boil again, he picked up the grungy head-wear. “You’re… a Redcap.”

“What of it?” The goblin’s eyelid twitched, clearly irritated. “Give. Back. me Cap!”

Nigel stared at him straight in the eye, wrung the cloth with both hands, and ripped the cap apart into two.

The Redcap shrieked like a dying dog, pulling the skin on his wrinkled face as he gawked at his torn cap. Nigel observed a vein forming on the thing’s forehead as it huffed in absolute rage, his blood-tinged eyes bulged . The redcap charged wildly as it shrieked through his foaming mouth, the knife held up for a final strike.

Nigel couldn’t be more happier to pull his rosary out from his jacket pocket. Iron-forged beads, strung together by silver silk, tipped by a pure silver crucifix. He spun it around his hand until it wrapped around his fist. He cocked his shoulder and aimed at the flailing goblin.

A direct hit to the jaw. This time, he felt no pain through his fist, only the bones on the Redcap’s face crumbling. Blood splattered the snow as he was flung a few meters backward before skidding to a stop.

Nigel looked at his knuckles and confirmed he wasn't hurt, “Should’ve pulled this out earlier.” he quipped. He calmly walked over the Redcap who was shakily trying to get up, spitting blood and some teeth.

“I didn’t think you were…” He wheezed, eyeing Nigel's rosary warily. “One of them…”

“i just happen to off duty.” Nigel shrugged, “ Now… let’s make this easier for both of us. I'll let you go for now, but tell me.” he glowered over him. “How did you get through the barrier?”

“Ah… you're the one who put up that crappy mosquito net?” He coughed out a chuckle, “The whole thing’s full of holes.”

Nigel furrowed his eyebrows. He had no time for jokes. He’s aware of some vulnerabilities in the barrier, but there’s no way there are holes he didn’t know.

“Alright, so… where is this hole?” He inquired further, crouching in front of him.

“I couldn’t remember,” He grinned, “It wasn’t me who found it after all.”

“Then who-”

As soon as the question left his mouth, a hand grabbed his shoulder then a sharp pain jolted through the other. Nigel grunted in pain and tried to turn around but the hand and the knife held him down. A mouth with very sour breath whispered into his ear, “That would be me.”

He pulled out the knife and stabbed him again on the back. Before The other goblin could put in more damage, Nigel elbowed him on the side. He squirmed out of the grip and rolled away to the side.

Pain surged throughout Nigel’s back, the wound on his shoulder was deep and one on his back was bleeding like crazy. His vision blurred and yellowed, he kept hearing this faint buzzing sound. His breath was shallow and ragged. He can’t afford to pass out now.

Well, You messed up… How about… you let me-

“Just… Shut up.” Nigel grumbled, he groggily got up. He gripped the rosary tighter, readying for another bout. “I… got this.”

The other goblin helped up his brother, he was wearing dingy yellow jacket and sporting the same red hat.“This kid botherin’ ya, Fred?” he asked.

“This ain’t just some kid Andre,” The Redcap snapped his jaw back, “He’s with the church.”

“Oh, is he now?” The other guy sneered, flipped his knife in the air. “Then let’s make a martyr out of him.”

“He ripped me cap, Andre!” Fred lamented, “Me CAP!”

Andre glared at Nigel, “He… what?”

The two of them slowly approached Nigel, wary of his fist. The deep guttural growls allude to their determination to finish him off. Nigel could barely keep himself from toppling over. He raised his fists, challenging his opponents. His rosary gleamed in the moonlight. He took off his glasses and tucked them into his pocket.“How about… you two get this over with?”

The two goblins growled in anger. They gripped their knives and wildly pounced, Nigel stood his ground and-

A blue blur swept in, a spade hit the Redcap with the jacket with a crunch.

“Andr- AGH!” A boot hit the other one’s chest. Both of them went flying in opposite directions. The metal spade of the shovel shone in the moonlight. A man wearing blue coveralls with the upper half wrapped around his waist. His silver hair is as white as the snow.

“Didn’t expect to see you… Will.” Nigel coughed, as Will ran to him.

“I fucked up.” Will cursed, “Ah shit, you’re really hurt.”

“Nah, I'm fine…” Nigel assured as he shook off his daze, “How-How is this your fault again?”

Will scratched the back of his head bashfully, “Uh… these guys are my contract. They ran as soon as they saw the shovel.”

He turned back to the Redcaps as Andre was starting to get up. He had a large bleeding gash where will hit with his shovel, running down his shoulder to his chest. “Y-You think you're hot shit?! I’ll-!”

Will shoved the shovel into Andre’s mouth and forced him into the ground. The redcap squirmed and shrieked with a mouthful of iron as Will put a foot on the shovel head and pushed. His head squelched as the shovel blade split it into two.

“These two were wreaking havoc in the nearby residential areas.” Will continued as he walked towards Fred, who was trying to crawl away. “They gave me the slip but I managed to track their scent back here, as unbelievable as it is.”

“You found the hole they passed through?” Nigel asked.

“Yeah… It’s pretty big.” Will stepped Fred’s leg to keep him still,”It’s pretty well hidden, no wonder you didn’t notice.”

Will raised his shovel.

“Wait!” Nigel interjected, “Let me have a talk with him.”

“You sure? Are you alright now?”

“Yup, all fine now…” Nigel stretched his back, rubbed the shoulder he was stabbed. The injuries were healed now. He recovered from his daze, although very worn out. He pulled out his glasses and wore them again

You're welcome…

Nigel walked towards Fred. He was clawing the ground trying to wring himself off Wills foot. When he saw Nigel he flailed even harder, “Wait! I'll tell you! I'll tell you where-!”

Nicked cocked his shoulder, and exploded Fred's head with a punch. Pieces of skull, and tufts of hair flew everywhere. His body twitched for a few moments before eventually dying.

“I thought you were going to ask him something?” Will gestured at the headless corpse.

Nigel just shrugged and wiped his rosary with his handkerchief.

The bodies on the courtyard started to crumble into ashes. Black smoke puffed out from the corpses until a misshapen humanoid outline of black soot and a bright red cap was left.

“Did you save Jack?” Nigel asked. He started to walk back towards the Council Building, Will followed.

“Yeah, ive already patched him up while you were busy dealing with one of the goblins.”

Nigel almost tripped on his step, “Wait, you were already there?!”

“Yeah, I saw you just as you discovered Jack.” Will nodded as Nigel grimaced at him, “I figured I’d wait till all two of them show up. Can’t risk the other one getting away again.”

“I-! You-!” Nigel choked on his words for a moment. All this time, as he was getting stabbed, Will was just sitting back and watching the show. “I can't believe you just left me there and be bait!”

“Ah it wasn’t that bad!” Will laughed as he patted his shoulder, “You had everything in control! Plus… Mike had your back.”

“Just…” He squinted, “just tell where this hole already.”

Will led him behind the collection of buildings in the storage yard. Huge warehouses where everything in the university is stored. extra tables, seats, and any other equipment. Construction materials and machines are parked in the garages. Its a labyrinth of wood and metal inside those warehouses.

Behind the biggest warehouse, a lone oak tree stood alone and in between the building and perimeter wall. Nigel recognized this place, just behind the tree is where he placed one energy point of the barrier. No wonder he forgot to check this place.

Back then, Nigel had to clean up the University, and to keep it clean he had to set up a barrier of pure spiritual energy. He slowly put up the barrier spanning his whole first year of college. A barrier the size of the whole university was time consuming at best, incredibly draining at worst. It was his best work, and everyone in the university was safe for a time.

Will gestured at the spot. To Nigel’s surprise, the paper talisman was almost ripped in two, with the bottom half still clinging to a small piece. The energy point was gone and a portion the barrier the size of the oak tree was agape. The Redcaps could have climbed over the wall and slipped through the gap.

“How did this…” Nigel carefully examined the paper talisman, “Someone ripped this.”

Will grunted and observed as well, “How do you know that?”

“An animal can’t reach this high,” Nigel touched the ripped paper, “This was peeled from the bottom, very carefully. Until, halfway though peeling it, the talisman tore in half. By either surprise, or fear… they left and left the talisman like this.”

“Mmmm…” Will nodded, “You ought to hide these things more securely, I think”

“It doesn’t really matter if someone sees this. No regular person can peel energy-infused talismans, especially these ones.” Nigel tried to reattach the paper again, but to no avail. “Unless...”

“Unless?”

Nigel shrugged, “I have no idea! Gotta find more clues before we can be sure.”

“What about this hole?” Will looked at the barrier.

“I’ll handle that. A couple of perimeter bombs would work just as fine” He pulled out two Talismans out his coat pocket and threw them up the wall. They stuck unto the concrete like they were just pasted there. “Yeah, that’s fine.” he tried to convince himself.

“Uhhh isnt that… A bad idea?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Just go and report in, confirm the bounty.”

Nigel was in a rush to get home. He’s too tired to deal with anything right now. He wished he hadn’t burdened himself with the responsibility of leading the whole University. He should’ve just slacked off while he had the chance. Now he had the worst of both worlds to worry about.

“And uh…” Will scratched the back of his head bashfully, “You won't tell them… how these guys escaped, right?”

Nigel squinted, “You get my shift on Monday in the inn?”

“Ugh.” Will groaned, “Fine…”