JINX

CHAPTER ONE

   Bianca Porter hurriedly made her way into North Brook High's empty art studio. As she closed the door behind her, her other hand reached for the light, but stopped mid-way. All someone would have to do was walk past the door, see the light shining through the small crack separating the door from the linoleum tiles, and then all her hard work would have been for nothing.

   The soon to be valedictorian groped around the cluttered room, hoping that after countless hours spent there during the day, her body would automatically direct her to the bottle of red paint that lay god-knows-where. The dark cloud that had been positioned in front of the moon made its way across the sky, and in the blink of an eye narrow slivers of moonlight managed to escape the blinds covering the windows, granting the 17 year old aide in her mission. Unbeknownst to her, a hooded figure lurked in the corner now more than five feet away from her, cloaked in shadows. Finally spotting the bottle of blood-like acrylic, Bianca grabbed it and crept out of the studio, not once sparing her silent observer a glance.

She never did. Not once in over four years.

   The following morning, the whispers of just over two hundred students and staff vibrated through the prestigious academy's thin walls. There was a low buzz in the air, one that wove its way into Bianca's bones, causing her body to jerk in an involuntary shiver. Nobody, however, felt any shred of sympathy for the man who hung from the entrance hall's bannister, his very own tie wrapped securely around his scrawny neck.

Mr. Kidman had been North Brook's very own Umbridge 2.0 (not that anyone but him had taken pride his accomplishment of beating one of the most notoriously hated book characters of all time at her own game). He had found immense pleasure in the misery of both his students and colleagues. More particularly in the cries and screams of young teenagers, neither gender were exempt. Bianca couldn't help but recall the time she had spent with him. What she had endured. And so the sight of him hanging there, features forever frozen in obvious pain brought a slight smile to her lips. The crimson letters dripping down the wall behind him, in plain sight, only made it stretch wider.