Time flew quickly after the incident with shorter days and longer nights but that didn't phase me.
Not even the fact that Valarie made it her life's mission to corner Jake before and after school to talk with him.
"You said you were the real deal but Emma doesn't realize that. It's a good thing I did and that's why I am better than her."
I chuckle at her words because the disinterest in Jake's face made it clear she was fighting a losing battle. Getting to the shoe lockers, I take off my shoes and open my locker to grab my school shoes.
Unfortunately, they were ripped to shreds.
'Man,' I turn to my right and see Agatha leaning on the wall with her arms folded smirking at me. Giving her a rueful look, I slam the locker shut with my shoes in hand and walked over to her.
"Still bitter about the blowup assh&le?" I ask.
"Nope," she replied still keeping that smirk.
The look on my face did not fade away. "Just so you know, no matter what you do or what you say will change my mind."
She laughed scornfully. "I don't need you to change your mind. I need you to suffer as much as I have suffered."
Now it was my turn to laugh as I showed her the shoes. "And you call this suffering?"
"It is in my opinion." she turned her back on me and walked off. "Have fun walking barefooted."
The smirk in her voice made me wish that I had killed her when I had the chance but I smile instead and head to the storage room.
"She did it again didn't she?" asked the kitsune.
I nod and watched the shoes transform back to their normal size.
"That should do it." It said. "I will advise you to drop your shoes here in case she tries something again."
I thank it and walk out of the room wearing brand-new school shoes. On my way to class, I hear a commotion in one of the rooms and stopped at the entrance to see boys lined up behind a desk where the new student; a red-haired girl wearing glasses was typing away on her laptop.
'Wow. New yet she's established business in that room.'
'I'll say. Just look at that money.'
Yep. All the boys who lined up had money in their hands and the box sitting on the table next to the laptop was bulging with it. The girl adjusted her glasses, looked up at me, and waved.
I wave back and continue on my way. "She seems nice but what is she selling?"
Getting to my desk in the classroom, I frown at my desk for they had abusive words written on it with permanent marker. Taking out a magazine from my bag, I placed it on top of the desk and wait for the teacher to arrive.
Unfortunately, it was the Math teacher and he gave us our test sheets before he started the lesson.
"I have to admit that some of you did very well during the test." he stopped by my desk, eyed my 'decoration', and sighed. "And some of you did poorly."
Slamming the script on my desk, I take a look at it and was shocked. '33%?'
"Umm, sir?" I call out raising my hand.
He turned. "Yes?"
"Can I see you after class regarding my test scores?" I ask.
Some of the students whispered amongst themselves while something sparkled in his eyes. "Of course. Emma-chan."
I take my seat. 'Emma-chan? Who calls someone that?'
The lesson went on with him repeating the same topic because 'most of us didn't understand it and once it was over, I stay behind to ask him about my test scores.
"You wanted to see me Emma-chan?" asked Mr. Fredrick.
'Ugh, the nickname.' I show him my test sheet.
"And?"
"I have never got anything below 88% during in tests sir. So I just want to know why you gave me such a low score."
He took a look at my script and sighed. "I am sorry Emma-chan. I will review your script and give you a proper score. Met me by the end of the day."
I nod and go to my next class which went smoothly until it was time for lunch because when I got to the roof, Agatha was sitting on the bench, and my friends were nowhere to be seen.
"Alright what are you up to?" I ask.
She shrugged. "Nothing except telling your friends you wanted to have lunch with them near the incinerator."
I cocked an eyebrow because that's where the delinquents were and there is no way on this earth my friends would be there.
"Why do you like dancing around my issue, Agatha?"
"Why are you acting like a tough b!tch?" she fired back.
I tilt my head up. "What makes you think I am like that?"
"From your attitude." she stood up and walked towards me. "Cut the cr%p Emma. You aren't tough. You are just a p*ssy trying to be tough."
I smirk. "Now choosing verbal abuse eh?"
"It's not verbal abuse because it's a fact," she replied. "Besides, I have your friends wrapped around my little finger."
It was my turn to turn my back to her and scoff. "I refuse to believe that. Good luck trying to make them like you."
"Why do I need it?" she asks back.
"Because unlike the rest of the students in our former school, my friends aren't idiots."
Then I walk out to her to have lunch in the school's corridors but the minute I take a seat on the bench, the student sitting on it jumped up to leave.
Soon whispering was heard across corridors.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yeah. It's unbelievable."
"So she was stalking her?"
"How comes?"
"Maybe that's how she knew Agatha was cheating on her."
"That's creepy."
I roll my eyes and look at the girls sitting across from me and their faces turned pale. "Don't you know it is rude to gossip in front of the victim?"
The leader (probably) stands up to leave and the rest follow suit. Shaking my head, I take out my bento box and opened it.
'This doesn't smell like the bento I made at home.' I open the box and see an entirely different meal and the heart-shaped rice balls gave me a hint to who the culprit is.
'I was taught it's rude to reject one's gift especially when it's food but when it's made by someone insane...'
With that, I cover the box and put it back in my bag. 'Looks like I will go hungry for the rest of the day.'
Deciding to skip class for the rest of the day, I go to the Martial Arts Garden to look for sensei for the lesson on 'How to Use A Knife'. As I walk into the garden, I am greeted with silence.
Uncomfortable silence.
"Sensei?" I call out. "Sensei are you here?"
My ears pick up movement behind me but I walk on. "Sensei are you here?"
The feeling of dread continued to hit me as the sound came closer and closer. Slowly taking out my knife from my bag, I look behind me to see a male student staring at me with lifeless eyes.
'He is hypnotized!' I pose for battle.
He smiled. "Master wants you alive."
I feel the wind and turn around just in time to stop a knife aimed at my head. Struggling, I see my attacker is a female student and shove her away only to be grabbed from behind by the male student. Like a zombie brought back to life at a fast pace, the female student rose and tried to attack me but I kick her violently sending her flying back with pain. Stomping on the male student's toe had little effect on him but he held me tighter so I throw him off me and stab him with the Imperial blade.
The life in his eyes disappeared leaving them vacant. I look up just in time to see a female student charge over to me with the knife. I moved out of the way and she tripped falling face down to the ground. Not wasting another second, I plunge the knife into her back and she stopped moving.
'Two upperclassmen hypnotized to kill me yet their Master wants me alive.' I get up from my crouching position. 'But how did they know I was here?'
I push that thought aside. 'No time for that. I have to dispose of the bodies before anyone sees them. Luckily, the Martial Arts garden was near the Gardening club and from what I could recall, they have a wood chipper there. I hope it works.'
It was easy to take the bodies there because no one was around and they were surprisingly light. Placing one inside the wood chipper, I watched expecting blood and little chunks of flesh but what I saw was dust.
Grey black dust.
'What the...why did it do that?'
Curious, I put the next body inside and it produced the same thing. Taking the bucket, I pour out the dust and watched it disappear with the wind.
'Well, I wasn't expecting that.' I look back at the machine. 'Come to think of it, there was no blood when I stabbed them. Could this mean their spirits have been laid to rest?'
The question bothered me until school was over. During cleaning time, I go to the teacher's lounge where Mr. Fredrick the Math teacher was waiting for me. With a plain look on his face, he hands me the test sheet, and I was shocked.
"14%?"
He sighed. "I am so sorry about that."
I knew he wasn't. "Why?"
He shrugged. "But I can help you change your grade."
There was a sense of Deja Vu as a lustful look appeared on his face. Closing the distance between us, he placed his hands on my hips and inched closer to kiss me, but I speak up.
"Why are you doing this?"
He moved back. "What?"
"We both know what you are doing is improper." I snap.
His eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "Don't talk to me young lady or else..."
Then he moved closer to touch me again but I move back. "Mr. Fredrick, if you are not going to change my grade, I am going to leave."
At this, he laughed and circles around me. "Too bad it won't change anything would it Emma-chan?" I felt him peck my cheeks and run his hands over my body. "It's best you comply with my terms, Emma. If you don't, you fail and repeat the class. You wouldn't want that do you?"
Irritation filled me as he pecked me again.
"Your future is in my hands you know," he whispered into my ear. "How about we meet at Lovesick Hotel after school tomorrow to discuss things?"
I turn around and slap him.
"I think I gave you my answer sir."
Then I walk out of the room while he cursed, calling me a b!tch but I ignore him. Soon I was on my way home.
'What are you going to do?'
I take out my phone and smile. 'It's a good thing I recorded the conver....'
A notification pops up on my screen and I frown. Clicking on it, my frown turned to that of shock when I saw a picture with a caption underneath it.
'I have caught you.'
It was from an unknown number. Panicking, I send a message.
'Okay, what do you want?'
'I want you to do something for me.'
'What is it?'
'Meet me at the Black Bar on the Eastside of town tomorrow by 9 PM.'
'Don't disappoint me.'
'Be there.'
Earlier that day in the Gardening Club...
The sound of a shovel ripping through the earth was heard in the Gardening Club's abode. Jake stopped digging and pushed the corpse of the Martial Arts teacher inside, covered it up, and planted sprouting carrots on the soil creating an illusion that they were growing.
'There,' he thrust the shovel into the earth satisfied. 'Now my Beloved would depend on me from now on.'
"I see you are busy." a voice said.
Jake turned around to see a man wearing a trench coat and hat staring at him with a death glare. "Snaky."
"Blake Oswald."
"Don't call me that." he barked.
"I know. Your new name is Jake Othello Brandon right?"
"Yep."
Nothing was said as the wind howled.
"So, how is school?"
The boy shrugged. "Same old, same old."
"Nothing exciting?"
"I should be asking you that question."
"Still using questions to answer your questions eh?" the man said. "You haven't changed a bit."
'This guy is pissing me off.' Jake thought through gritted teeth. "What do you want? I don't have all day."
"Let me guess, am I stopping you from stalking your love interest?"
It caught Jake's attention.
"I have noticed you have been stalking a certain school girl with huge breasts. Both of you entered a relationship but I heard she broke up with you."
Jake chuckled at that. "We didn't break up."
"What makes you think that?"
"I didn't agree to it so she is still my girlfriend."
"Is that why you tried to kill someone after destroying his kidney?"
"Willing to donate yours to him?" he asked smiling ruefully.
The stranger stayed silent while soaking in the joke. "Does she know who you are?"
He shrugged. "Yep."
"How?" he asked in shock.
"She looked me up and found out where I came from."
"And she decided to enter a relationship with you?" the man asked.
Jake didn't say a word because the smile on his face said it all.
"You forced her to be with you didn't you?" asked the man. "Then she must be really brave to break things off with you because she doesn't know the real you Blake."
"Don't call me that..."
"You were the wimp among the 'Novices' but rose to the 'Experts' after killing your roommates in one night. You excelled in both the physical and psychological tests perfectly. The commander praised you to the extent that a rumor sparked up about you offering 'services' to him. Many boys sunk into despair and died. Some let the training and the elements get to them but you.."
He paused and took a good look at the once skinny and fragile boy turned teenager and assassin. "What motivated you to become the youngest elite in our group?"
"It's none of your business."
The stranger wasn't fooled. "It was her. She was your motivation!"
At this, Jake gave a rueful laugh. "Did you think I had intentions of staying there for the rest of my life?"
"I guessed not. Because you did try to kill all of us in the 'Elite' group but only managed to kill four..."
"And you and two others were the last one standing." he spread his arms wide. "Do you want to be my next target?"
The stranger tsks. "No thanks. How you live your life is none of my business but I can't turn a blind eye to the fact that you will kill any boy that shows interest in her and Eric was your latest victim."
"How did you know I killed him?"
"You are not the type who uses poison to kill but your favorite chemical is Liquid Cyanide and that was the same chemical found in his body when they did the autopsy on him!"
Jake's grin grew wider.
"I thought you were going to frame me for it but you framed a female student with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder." he frowned. "What are you up to?"
"It is none of your business."
"I am making it my business if it involves people getting hurt."
"Then stay out of my way or you will be my next victim."
There was a long silence between them as the stranger had flashbacks of the terrible times in that army camp. It was so bad that it traumatized most of the boys into committing suicide. 'Only the strongest survive,' was the quote of the Commander but the boy was different. The night the boys in room seventeen were killed, the boy had a look of determination in his eyes when he admitted his guilt and the look had not left when he aced all the physical and psychological tests the commander threw at him. When the camp was invaded by the police, he never saw him again until now and the determined look had been replaced with something else, something deadly; an obsession.
'It is clear he is obsessed with this girl.' He thought as he looked at him. 'It would be easy to take him out if...' he looked at his feet. 'If I had the guts to do it.'
So he decided to use a different tactic to dissuade him. "What if she will use you?"
He tilted his head to the right. "Come again?"
"We both know that girl is up to some shady business." he looked deep into Jake's eyes. "What if she gets back with you to get what she wants from you?"
The thought of loving Emma was enough to make his heart skip a beat but her using him?
Jake smiled and clutched his face with glee. "Then let her use me!"
Those words shattered the little tint of hope the stranger had. "What?"
"Let her use me. I want her to use me! I want her to use me until she is satisfied and I don't care how she does it! Be it emotionally, physically, or sexually, I am all hers! She is my love, my angel, my queen and I am not going to let her out of my sight! She is mine FOREVER!"
The stranger took a step back as Jake's face twisted in pleasure and love. The glow in his eyes when he mentioned her name and the grin he gave said it all.
"It's official, you are insane!"
He giggled. "I'm I? Don't you DARE tell her ANYTHING about our little chat because if you do...You know how I work."
The sinister chuckle sent a shock down the stranger's spine as he took a step back. Suddenly, his phone rang and hearing footsteps coming their way, both men hid watching to see who it was.
Emma came into view carrying a corpse with her. She dropped it near the school's wood chipper, disappear and reappear with another corpse. The stranger watched as she put them inside the machine which ground them and poured the contents of the bucket away.
And shivered when he saw dust instead of blood.