Spirits: The Gatherers

Chapter 1: Search Party

The ticking of the clock was the only thing that could be heard in Ms. Mars' office. She sat just going through documents. She went about her normal day as principal when there was a knock on her door. It made her look up from her documents as she was jotting something down.

"Just a minute," she announced as she put the papers into the filing cabinet.
She brushed her dress off because she seen wrinkles in it as she stood. She then went up to the door and opened it. Standing there was a young man with black hair. He wore glasses and held, in his arms, binders.

"R-Reggie, how are you," Ms. Mars said with a smile.

"Mars, you and I both know why I am here," the man declared in a serious and emotionless voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Ms. Mars said nervously.

"May I come in?" The man asked in that serious tone yet again.

Ms. Mars gazed around the walls of her office and her desk. Her office was a mess, even for her standards. She turned back to the man and gestured him to hold on a second by lifting her index finger. The man closed his eyes, sighed, and shook his head. Mars then slowly closed the door behind her. She sighed.

"This is irritating," she said under her breath hoping that the man outside the door could not hear her. She quickly tried organizing her office as best she could. Once her office was cleaned, she smiled. 'No one could do a better job organizing' she thought to herself. She enjoyed the organization. It made her happy to know that she was the one who cleared out her desk perfectly. She had everything right where she wanted it.
Ms. Mars walked over to the door and opened it. She gestured him to come in with a smile on her face. She was nervous. Reggie seemed really serious. Usually, he does not come down to the school unless it was something serious.
Reggie sat and gestured Ms. Mars to hers. She sat and stared at him.

"So...what is this all about?" Ms. Mars asked.

"I believe that when this school year started, there was an incident with three of the students," Reggie said.

"Actually, it was an incident with a parent. The Spiritual Priests organization had to step in to help the situation," explained Ms. Mars.

"Which led to the death of some staff, am I correct?" Reggie declared.

"Y-yes...," Ms. Mars said.

"Thomas and Shores will be dearly missed, but we need replacements. We can't be sitting here trying to make this work when it doesn't. As superintendent, I order you to get more teachers for the blade's division. We are hanging on by a thread here," Reggie said as he glanced over the organized piles of documents on the principal's desk.

"Well, I am trying the best that I can, Reggie. Finding qualified teachers is harder than it looks," Mars said annoyed at the same question that was asked for literally weeks.

Reggie leaned back in his chair and glared at Ms. Mars.

"Any problems with students that you would like to tell me?" Reggie said like a parent scolding their child.

"Not at all, why?" Ms. Mars answered.
"I have received word that two students have actually gone missing, Mars. Any idea where they went?" Reggie said with a scowl.

"M-missing?! What? I haven't heard any...," before Mars could finish, Reggie gestured for her to quiet down.

Reggie looked at the door and noticed that it was open a crack. He gestured to the door and in came Ella, silently, tears streaming from her face.

"Ella?" Ms. Mars said.

Reggie then spoke: "this girl knows what she is doing. She has told me everything that I need to know,"

Ms. Mars tried interrupting Reggie for a second, but he motioned her to stop.
Reggie continued: "there was bullying going on on this campus and you have done nothing,"

"But it was just roughhousing, you know how boys are...," Ms. Mars said.

"It was more than that and you knew it!" Ella finally said. "Owen was bullied and it was you that let it drag on,"

"But...I am busy all the time here, I have no time to...," Ms. Mars then trailed off as he lost her train of thought in Reggie's angered expression.

Ms. Mars took a sigh and looked at Reggie once more.

"So these boys went missing? What do you propose that we do," Mars said.

"Send a search party," Reggie said.

As he spoke there was a knock on Ms. Mars' door.

Reggie then got up and opened the door for a man. He was a tall man with dark brown hair. He was dressed in a suit. The very sight of him made Mars feel uneasy.

"Mars, this is Michael, he has volunteered to find the missing students for us. He has a lot of experience with tracking and helping people and blades alike. The best in the business," Reggie said.

Ms. Mars took one look at Michael, and she knew something was off. The way he looked to the way he walked into the room. He smiled and reached out.

"Michael, I used to track down spirits at Py," Michael said.

Ms. Mars just gazed at Michael's hand and looked up at him. She gave him a cold stare and turned to Reggie.

"You must be kidding me," Ms. Mars said. "Just look at him. Another kill-happy moron to 'hunt' down the kids? No, I can do it myself"

"Now stop this, You cannot go to search for them Mars, your time is up," Reggie said. "Now I am taking matters into my own hands."

Reggie opened the door of Ms. Mars' office and waited for Michael to walk through it.

"You need to get your priorities straight, Mars," Reggie said closing the door to Ms. Mars' office.

Ms. Mars stood and folded her arms.

"What now?," Ella asked.

Ms. Mars looked at Ella and smiled.

"We will create a search party of our own to find them," Ms. Mars said with a smile.