Don't worry, this one isn't really a cliffie. Enjoy!
The students and teachers of Viventi were horrified. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. My nails dug into my palm, tearing the hard, callused skin, developed from so many years of fighting Catrops, and drawing a drop of blood. The crimson liquid wet my fingernail and I pushed my nails in even more. My anger and feeling of hopelessness threatened to overwhelm me, pushing me ever closer to the black void of insanity. My home had been overrun by worthless monsters and they had killed so many in the process. I made the mistake of looking at a wall where bodies were piled up and saw a face that I recognized- the terrified face of Skylar Whiteheart, a fellow fourth-year who was my neighbor and had become a friend to me and Kiara after we'd had our Catrops Anatomy books stolen. She had let us borrow hers, and every summer, when Kiara came over, the three of us would spend nearly every day at the pool together. Skylar was the smartest kid in the school, and she had won a scholarship to the best college in Sirotren- Innolios University- by collaborating with three other scientists from Innolios to create a homemade remedy for ordinary Catrops bites. The cure was brilliant, really, and it saved hundreds of lives of people who couldn't afford to go to a hospital. I suddenly wanted to punch something, because it was extremely unfair that Skylar, who had an amazing future ahead of her, was dead, and the Order of Chaos members weren't.
Suddenly, the leader of the Order of Chaos- presumably Mistress, given that she sounded like the woman who possessed Kiara- cackled evilly. "YOU THERE!" She pointed to the back of the hall, where a third year was standing. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I LOOK LIKE, DO YOU?"
"N-n-no," the boy stammered.
"WELL, YOU ASKED WHY I HAVE A MASK ON!" screamed Mistress. Then she pulled the mask off in one swift, fluid motion and threw the mask across the hall. The hall was filled with screams and gasps. "YOU LIKE IT?" screeched Mistress.
Mistress grinned, her wrinkled lips pulling up to reveal rotting gums and yellow, holey tombstone teeth. Warts were peppered across her green, mottled face, and her eyes were pure black. Evil magic tendrils seeped from her pores. But it was the pure hatred in her face that was the worst part. It intensified every flaw on everything in the hall. Mistress leered at us, her ancient face warped and distorted. I wanted to bleach my mind of that sight. The old hag hissed and beckoned the third-year forwards. He looked terrified. When the boy didn't move, Mistress scowled and pointed her index finger at the boy. A wisp of smoke flew out of her finger and wrapped around the boy's neck, then dragged him to where Mistress stood. The boy whimpered, obviously frightened out of his mind. I tried to run to his aid, but Mistress had frozen the hall with a wave of her hand. She made a fist, palm facing up, then opened her fingers. A bolt of lightning rose from her palm as she turned her hand so the lightning was facing the boy. It shot from her hand and hit the boy, who screamed and turned into a pile of ashes. "DO NOT QUESTION ME," Mistress addressed the occupants of the hall.
The people got eerily quiet. "ORDER OF CHAOS MEMBERS, RETURN THE CATROPS TO WHERE THEY BELONG. VIVENTI ACADEMY STUDENTS AND STAFF, I AM IN CHARGE HERE. YOU WILL ANSWER TO THE ORDER OF CHAOS. THE WINDOWS WILL BE ENCHANTED TO NEVER OPEN. YOU WILL HAVE TO GET SPECIAL PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE SCHOOL. FROM TEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT TO FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE YOUR BED. VIVENTI ACADEMY IS DEAD. THIS IS NOW THE SCHOOL OF THE ORDER OF CHAOS. YOU BELONG TO US," said Mistress. Many members of the Order of Chaos pulled out ropes, started tying up Catrops, and led them out the open main doors.
"And what if we don't comply with your stupid rules?" yelled a first year. Mistress turned her cold, black eyes on the girl.
"THEN YOU DIE." Mistress hit the girl with a burst of lightning and the girl dissolved into a pile of ashes. "YOU HAVE LOST AROUND TWO HUNDRED OF YOUR PEOPLE, RESIDENTS OF VIVENTI. I DOUBT THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LOSE MORE. IF YOU WOULD, KEEP BEING SMARTASSES. IF YOU WOULD NOT, SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND OBEY ME." Mistress grinned evilly at the students and teachers. "IT IS ALMOST YOUR LUNCHTIME, IS IT NOT? CHAOS MEMBERS, PLEASE GO... PREPARE... THE FOOD FOR THE SCHOOL. ALSO, CAPTURE THOSE INFURIATING AURGES. THEY CAN COOK THE MEALS, BUT FOR OTHER MATTERS, CATROPS WILL REPLACE THEM AND SERVE US- WELL, CHAOS MEMBERS, AT LEAST." The "Chaos members," as Mistress called them, marched in an orderly line into the dining hall. "MANY THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE HERE, RESIDENTS OF VIVENTI ACADEMY. MANY, MANY CHANGES WILL OCCUR AT THIS ACADEMY."
Mistress had the Chaos members who had just returned force us into the dining hall. Instead of the usual delicious food, there was gray lump number one, gray lump number two, and gray lump number three with a side of brown lump, and to drink, thankfully, we got normal water. Everything smelled funny, and I was about to just throw away the food, but a Chaos member hovered over the table that Kiara, Tessa and I were sitting at and forced us to eat it. The Chaos members aren't all that bad, I thought after my first bite. When the Chaos member at our table finally left, I tried to shake off the mind suppressant. "They're drugging us," I muttered.
"Assholes," Tessa commented. "It's bad enough that they ruined Viventi, but they didn't have to ruin our minds and food too!"
Kiara laughed. "Wow, Tess. You'd rather have your food taste fabulous than having a normal school?"
"Don't call me Tess," Tessa hissed.
"'Kay, Tess," I responded. Tessa rolled her eyes.
"I hope Ella feels better soon," Kiara fretted. "She might not know about the whole invasion thing."
"Mistress's voice was loud enough to hear in the attic," I replied. This time, it was Kiara's turn to roll her eyes. My stomach growled. I hadn't taken more than the few bites needed to make the Order of Chaos member to go away, and for some strange reason fighting made you hungry. "Ugh," I said. "We either get to starve to death or become the lapdogs of the Order of Chaos."
"I'd rather starve," Kiara told us. I hesitantly took a sip of water.
"I don't think the water has drugs in it," I informed my friends. We chugged down the contents of our glasses and threw away the food when nobody was looking.
"I can't believe that in just a few days, we went from regular students worrying about homework to oppressed children worrying about being drugged and killed," sighed Tessa.
"It does seem kind of surreal," I agreed.
"Best life ever," Kiara quipped.
"I'm gonna see if the whole invasion thing is on the news," I said, unlocking my screenpage. I tapped the News icon, but all that came up was No Interweb or Cellular Access. "WHAT? THEY CUT OFF OUR INTERWEB AND CELLULAR ACCESS!" I cried.
"No!" exclaimed Kiara and Tessa simultaneously.
"Well, there's no way to get help now, " I groaned.
"Ugh. We're in really big trouble," sighed Kiara.
"You didn't realize that from the whole school-being-taken-over-by-an-evil-witch speech Mistress gave?" Tessa grimaced.
A/N: Ermahgerd no interweb access. That was just me failing to be funny. Ugh I still feel kinda sick, but you guys get three updates in a row (I think) so it's all worth it in the end (Not- if I don't get better by Wednesday my trip is cancelled) but anyways, hope you liked the chapter!
-Deepio the Slytherclaw
