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Ch 10: The Red Door

"Welcome to English 1101..." The classroom was as a classroom. The people the same, the groups the same, his spot the same. Theo didn't bother opening his notebook. His head had been laying on the desk since the start of class, and bore no intention whatsoever of getting up. Even while the teacher took attendance it did not move a smidge. His hand was quietly raised, and equally so lowered. He closed his eyes. No one disturbed Theo.

So he slept.

The class ended and the people left. He left too.

The rest of the day passed by in a endless blur, because he sat on a bench.

Bells rang and people jangled. The sun slowly retreated to the corner of the sky. He got up. He wandered, not looking towards the ground or where he was going.

In the end, he ended up right back in that back alleyway. Like destiny set it to be so.

The alley way was just as it was. Mossy. Viney. Unkempt and uncaring for the world. Theo walked forward.

The concrete was cold and echoed his steps softly among the walls.

There he was again, at the red door. It was open.

"What are you doing? This area is off limits."

Theo turned around and stared straight at his accuser.

She was wearing a simple black suit with a white dress shirt. Her face buried deep in a grimace.

""I asked you a question. Answer me."

"Walking."

"This area is off limits to students. Come with me."

She briskly walked towards him while her hand had been reaching towards his arm to grab him. Her fingernails dug into his forearm through the uniform jacket.

"Why? I thought you wanted all your students STABBED!"

She froze her grip on him, like a deer caught in headlights, for only a split second. Immediately thereafter, both of her hands were pulling at his collar, lifting him slightly off the ground. She kept him there, and stared at him. Her eyes frantically scanning over every inch of his face.

"My office. Now." Her words were sharper than most kitchen knives. She let him down but never let go of his collar. She had practically dragged him by the scruff of his neck across campus. Like an angry mother cat dragging a wandering kitten home. Students gave a lot of very concerned stares, and one dude gave a thumbs up. He's a bit confused but he's got spirit.

The door to her office was still the same. A dark oak with a gold name plague. She opened the door while rushing him inside. She slammed the door shut.

"Sit down." Mrs. Thorne had already sat at her desk and was glaring at Theo.

His body screamed to instinctively assume the position in the chair. It was obvious that he was struggling against this as he sat. Theo sat there, every fiber of his being had been convulsing, every hair was raised on end. The chair had been tying itself into his legs, it was as if it had transformed into a different kind of wooden chair. A twinge of electricity bounced around the restraints.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What happened?" The thunder, the explosion, the blast never came.

She shifted, the glare faded away. First, her shoulders relaxed, slowly falling down. Naturally, the rest of her head followed in the gentle falling. She softened.

"You can tell me about it." Her words were neither hard nor vicious yet not smooth like silk or any other delicacy. Soft, like it was being held back so much that the volume naturally restrained.

Theo stared at her, at her eye's staring back at his own.

There was something running down his right cheek.

Theo leaned forward, his arms had landed on the desk, and moved to meekly cover his face.

"I trusted her. She was so sweet and so kind and, and"

"It's okay. You can tell me." Her hand found its way to his wrist, but there was no heavy grip this time. She rubbed tenderly.

"She...She kissed me. She loved me. "

His arms shifted, and his forehead quietly plopped onto the desk with a soft thud.

"She took me, said it was something special. She loved me and dragged me down into the basement. There were people in robes with knives. They stabbed me in the heart."

Theo lifted his head, leaning back to look towards the clouds through the roof.

"I remember them dragging me to some kind of alter."

"She was stabbed. She was screaming. She screamed so loud. So long."

"Then I was back. I was running here but I wasn't me. I was angry. I was crushing. People didn't move. People got crushed. They screamed too. Not as long."

"Wait wait wait." Her hand was raised and open, shaking for a stop. A pause.

"There was a cat in a suit. He said I could try again and then Nora appeared and told me I should say yes so I did and then I was back home and I was back here and it was all the same"

"Stop, just stop! Give me a moment here!" Her voice had been raising, yet still barely went above a whisper. Still heavily restrained.

"You were there too but..., you were trying to expel me. You kept calling me. Telling me I was expelled."

She let out a small gasp but it did not reach Theo's ears.

"...What else did I do?" Her words were prodding towards him cautiously.

"You told me I was gonna be expelled for entering a restricted area. But before that you made me work for you, you wanted me here everyday at 5pm but... I died before that."

"hm." Her words hadn't been particularly directed towards Theo anymore.

"That does sound like me but. It's just crazy."

She shook her head.

"Right. let's get going on your expulsion!"

Her mouth had formed into a wide, genuine smile that had spread into her eyes as her head tilted and her hands clapped together. In the next moment, she was typing away on her computer with the frenzy of a storm,

"Alright, just sign here, here, and here!"

A stack of papers, with the fragrant smell of fresh ink, sat proudly on the desk like a proud old man on a park bench.

"Wait no! I can't!"

His head shook violently, like a growing repulsion.

"No, you need to. It's the best course of action, okay?"

"I can't! there's a reason I'm here!"

"And what would that reason be?"

Theo stared at her. She stared at him. They stared at each other.

"...I need to save people"

"I'm going to need you to speak up."

"I need to save people!" Cheeks flushed, his hands were bound tightly into balls. Hand balls.

"That's a sweet sentiment but that's not your job. You just worry about keeping yourself safe."

"I'll do anything! Please just don't expel me!"

"...anything?"