At Valor Academy * EDITING *

Chapter One

   ❝A psychopathic god: 

                                                                 I and the public know 

                                                                   What all schoolchildren learn, 

                                                           Those to whom evil is done 

                                                                    Do evil in return.❞ 

                                                        W. H Auden, September 1st 1939

Z O E  W I L K E S

B E L P H E G O R

P A R T   O N E 

I

London, England, Earth

Was Ryan's friend, Gareth going to shoot all of us?

The question was permanently placed within my mind, the main focus of my vision was blurred and my head was throbbing. I heard shouts and screams, this couldn't be real I thought to myself. Sure Ryan appeared to be from crazy town but this isn't realistic he is a student – he isn't some gang leader that you would see in Waterloo Road or some generic teenage Hollywood Blockbuster.

I repeat a student, in civilised society or in the real world, students deal with problems caused by people with low intelligence levels via bitching about it to their friends, ranting on Tumblr or Facebook maybe an extreme substitute if you are angry is assaulting the said perpetrator perhaps giving them a bruise or to a major extent possibly broken bones if you went to that sort of school where you need self-defence as a necessity but you don't go and take out a mother fucking gun. 

Shit. 

Amelia howled as Demi was lying on the floor, I couldn't physically look at the scene. We all know about evolution how it took hundreds of years for us to advance but we have evolutionary fears, rational fears, practical fears, those fears that our ancestors knew that had an unpredictable outcome, it isn't wrong to be afraid of the dark because you can be attacked. Say if you are walking home in the dead of night, you can't predict what's going to happen you, the outcome is unknown, because you honestly don't know who's or what is out at night – it's out of your hands. My future was out of my hands, it was in Ryan's and that groupie, he had control – what he said obviously went. Control, being the operative word. It was his choice whether I lived or died.  

My eyes kept wandering to my stomach distaste, the blood was oozing out of Demi's out, which was mixed in with her newly freshly cut and dyed crimson hair. I remember her going to the hair dressers to dye it.

“ I fancied a change this year, you know no more predictable Demi, I want to do something for me you know, it gets tiring after a while organising all these events and doing all this volunteer work. I haven't felt like myself,” Demi paused as if she had said something wrong. “ That sounds incredibly selfish! I'm so sorry.” Demi twirled with her hair and crystal tears came into her baby blue eyes.

“ Demi there is nothing wrong with wanting time for yourself, it's human nature,” I stated as I analysed the cute freckled curly- haired brunette.

“ Demi please go to the salon as well,” Amelia stated fiddling with her own silky blonde locks. “ Honestly the state your nails are in, you need it and how do you expect to compete with all Richard's admirers – how do you think you'll compete with all those wannabe WAGS like my own sister for example,” Amelia spat.