It was mid day when I finally returned home, both of my parents were out and I was left wondering what to do with the rest of my day.
Going to school was the last thing I wanted to do but… I’d have to catch up on my classes at some point, I was also somewhat anxious to see if anything else had happened there, what had become of Ellie, Javinka and Heather.
It had only been a few days, but it felt like I had been gone for a long time.
It was lunch break when I arrived at school, I’d only have two more classes after this so it wouldn’t be too bad. From first glance everything seemed to be otherwise normal but as I walked further in I realized that I was attracting the attention of a lot of students, they even were halting their activities to watch me.
I guess I had been away for a while but surely my absence hadn't been that big a deal? Deciding ignoring them was my best course of action, I simply kept my head down and pressed onwards.
Why are they staring at me like that?
Heather and Javinka were sitting down at the end of one of the benches, apparently with a large group of other girls. Some of which were from Scarlett’s posse.
“Hey guys, how's it going?” I asked them, ignoring the piercing stares of the rest of the gathering.
“Hello Liz.” Said Javinka, slightly less monotone than usual.
“Hey, how have you been?” asked Heather.
“I’ve been better, but I’ve been worse-“
“-what on earth do you think you’re doing here?!” a voice shouted at me.
I turned around to see a girl with bracers, a buzz cut glaring at me. Her face wrought with an expression of righteous indignation.
“eh?! Who the hell are- Wait, Ellie?!”
I had barely recognized her.
“Get the hell away from them!” she stormed over and positioned herself between us.
“Excuse me?!”
“How dare you come back here you sick fucking psychopath?!” she had snapped at me before but this was like nothing else.
“What did you just say to me?!”
“I knew- I always knew there was something wrong with you but I never- ever imagined it would be something like this!"
“What the hell are you even talking about?!”
“you fucked a corpse and ate its heart!”
Her words unraveled in my head like some kind of shrapnel bomb.
“WHAT?! I did not!”
“There were pictures of you Liz! Naked and covered in blood!”
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“What?! where?!”
“Did you miss the reports?!”
OH NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
“I-I- that’s not-!“
“-get away from them, right now! You goddamn subhuman degenerate!” she shouted, the other girls were nodding their heads in approval.
“After everything-!? You bitch! I did all that for you! I saved you!”
“You’re insane, get the hell out of my sight! Or I’ll call school security or the fucking police if I have to!”
I managed to walk away from everything- the demon, kestrel- all mostly unscathed- only to meet the consequences here of all places?!
Fucking Ellie! The person I did all that for!? I put everything on the line to save her and this is my thanks?!
“you don’t know a goddamn thing you-!“
I was cut off by the sound of a siren playing over the school loudspeaker, it was only a short two tone burst preceding a transmission:
“Lizbet Maclamont, please report to the principal's office immediately.”
Oh what now?
“you heard him, get going.” She stared me off.
Heather and even Javinka gave me sympathetic looks, but said nothing.
Christ…
I headed to the principal's office, facing the same piercing gaze from almost everyone around me this time.
The principal was nervously awaiting me in his office, though we had no prior direct interaction he recognised me immediately.
“Lizbet, how- how have you been?” the principal looked around almost desperately.
“eh, I’m fine, look I think there's been a misunderstanding.”
“ah yes, yes that's right, you already know.”
“Well yeah, I was there, do you think you could make an announcement clearing things up?”
“Of course, of course yes.” he spoke anxiously
“thank you, just tell them that shite about me- just tell them everything they heard about me is a lie… I didn't do any of that stuff and the whole-... naked and bloody thing was because I was possessed you see- it all happened entirely out of my control. If you could make that announcement that would be… great, thank you
“Yes , I would of course be happy too.” He seemed to look behind me.
“Then you’ll do that now then?”
“of course, I would of course do that, but I can’t.”
“eh? Why not?”
“it’s just a matter of- well you see we… weren’t expecting to see you back here.”
“What do you mean? Everything is sorted out, I got released.”
“That's right, and you’ve been transferred.”
“what? where?”
“the school board and your parents both agreed that given what you had gone through, a different learning environment would be more beneficial for both you and the school.”
Oh no.
“You didn’t answer my question? And what do you mean ‘And the school’? where does the well being of this school come into it?”
“we just feel that- ah yes!” he gestured behind me.
Two large men entered the room.
“These gentlemen here will escort you to your new faculty.”
They were wearing indistinct light blue nurse uniforms, but they were well built and carried restraining apparatus on their waists.
“are these-?! Are these fucking tard wranglers?!”
“they’re trained professionals who work in the field of-“
“-You’re sending me to a nuthouse?! You can’t be serious!?” I leaned forward, slamming my hands on the desk and causing the principle to leap backwards.
The wranglers immediately jumped me, seizing me by my arms.
“Get your filthy hands off me!”
I tried to pull my arms away but they tightened their grip, pining me in place between them.
“Release me at once you mongrels!”
I struggled and kicked but to no avail.
“damn it, let me go!”
They did not.
Seeing no other option I relaxed myself.
“fine! I’ll go- I’ll go quietly, just let me go.”
They did as I asked, slowly releasing me.
The two men escorted me off the school grounds, the piercing judgment of each and every student searing through my flesh to charr my soul into pitch black ashes.