Silence. Simple, broken only by the sounds of breathing, light scuffles, fluttering of cloth, flesh hitting flesh, blink-blink. Suddenly, a shrill noise breaks the bubble of quietness, a crack along glass, the bell signaling the end of the day. Students rush to their feet, snatching satchels, attempting freedom for the door. Then, a shadow grows over the door, tall and slouched, pulling towards the youth, soon taking form of an elderly woman, the teacher, Ms. Bitters.
"Return to your seats, I have something to tell you all." The horde of students sigh and moan, only two remaining recently in their desks. Skins, usually of no importance, were peculiar, one a moonbeam pale, in contrast with his dark clothing, the other a lima bean green, shown only on the face, all other parts hidden. Both had their large eyes locked upon the other with a steady glare, straying away not even when the students broke between them to get to their chairs.
"Alright, since the skool's been forced to give students a more.. creative outlet… I'll be giving you a project. It can be about whatever you want, just make a three page report over it…" She sounded absolutely bored with the topic she'd been given to preach, sour expression pulled tight as she glared back at the children in front of her. A few of them made giddy noises, already thinking of things to do their project over, but that brief joy was severed when Ms. Bitters spoke again.
"Oh, yes, and I have to pair you all up…" She made a disgusted face, as if the thought of acknowledging these snot-nosed runts made her ill. "Eh, let's see here…" Grabbing a sheet of white, yet stained, paper, she began to pair up students.
After a majority of kids had been joined, only a few remained, including the two strange children that continued to glower at each other. One of which was a young girl named Gretchen who watched the pale boy with sparkling eyes, the other was a boy wearing a partly green, stained tee shirt, smelling of hot poo, along with a girl with long, wavy black hair, eyes glued to her desk.
"Gretchen, you'll be working with…" Her eyes glowed, watching the boy with a big smile. "That.. strange, awfully wretched child over there." She sobbed as she followed where Ms. Bitters pointed at the nasty boy. The pale boy blinked, turning to look at the crying hysterically Gretchen who blushed deeply after seeing him look at her, then he turned his eyes to the gothic girl in the back of the room, face hidden behind thick, black hair.
"Zim, you can work with Dib…" The green kid blinked, looking up at Ms. Bitters, then other at the pale child, soon afterwards crying out,
"What? This cannot be! Me, work with that-that… Stink-Child?" He looked seriously disturbed with working with the pale boy, but Ms. Bitters wasn't looking up, she was scanning the paper.
"Hmm.." She narrowed her eyes. "It seems there's another student left…. Raven Hazel Bane… You'll be the third member of their… group…" She glared at the back of the room where the extra girl sat, staring downwards. A vein in the teacher's forehead throbbed, soon shouting, "Raven!" Soon, the girl looked up with bright purple eyes, small hands, which were concealed with laced black gloves, clutching a black cross. She narrowed her eyes sharply, turning her vivid pupils to glancing briefly at the two boys she was paired with. She stood, pushing the desk away, then, letting her hands fall to her side, right hand clenching the cross, she spoke in a accented voice,
"I know what happens; I've seen it beforehand." Pointing at the pale boy. "Dib. A mundane looking for the abnormal." Pointing to the green child. "Zim. There's something… other-worldly about you…" The green boy, Zim, glared at her, then turned around, sending a hateful stare Dib's way. "I already know what we're going to do our project on. D-"
"Alright, Raven, sit down and you can all leave." Ms. Bitters spat. The whole class turned to glare at her, and she hesitantly sat, holding the cross tighter. "Alright, get out of my sight!" The class erupted in cheers, everyone leaving the room as quickly as possible. Only the three remained, Raven, Dib and Zim, watching one another like equal predators. Finally, Dib spoke,
"So, um, Raven, is it?"
"Yes." The girl said with a layer of anger, Dib swallowing back words as he rethought his question.
"Uh, what did you say we were going to study?" Raven shook her head, holding the cross up to the two boys, both watching the holy object, both confused.
"What is this.. odd thing? Some kind of weapon?" The one called Zim asked, tilting his head. Raven rose an eyebrow, giving him a look.
"This is a cross, made to represent 'The Savior, Jesus Christ', it is a holy symbol of the Prince of Peace." Zim's eyes grew.
"Prince of Peace? Where is this Prince of Peace? There'll be no peace when I, Zim, take over this puny, filthy world!" Laughing crazily, Dib ignored the other boy as he asked,
"So, we're studying religion? You started to say something with a D." Raven nodded, letting her fingers constrict the crucifix.
"Yes, we're studying the darker side of religion… You like to observe the paranormal, correct?" Dib's eyes lit up, nodding with a grin.
"Yeah-" Before he could begin with stories and rambling, Raven cut him off.
"Well, you must know of.. demonic spirits, right?" He gave her a look of concern, as if he slightly feared where this was going.
"Uh, yeah…" He then shook that brief fear away, looking at her determinedly.
"Well, that's what we agree on…" Turning to face Zim. "Right, partner?" He watched her face angrily, then barked,
"Fine. Whatever. This project means nothing to me anyways…" Raven sighed, running her hair behind her ear.
"Great, another 'I don't give a shit' dude. Alright, boys, we've got two days to pull together a decent project for that old bat. Dib, you seem like a spirit expert. Where do you think we should go first to record data on this?" The boy thought, eyes upwards in obvious concentration.
"Hmm, what about the old manner house at the very outskirts of town? Seem, uh, good enough?" He glanced over at Raven who nodded, gathering her black winged bag from the floor.
"Perfect. Alright, I'll meet you two there at twilight. Cool with that?" The two nodded, Zim a little confused on the time; what was twilight? Didn't humans go by numbers and figures to represent measurements of time? Raven scanned him for a second, then said calmly, "That's around 6:00 PM, Zim." His eye twitched, but he nodded once, then turned to march out of the room.
"Okay, I guess I'll head home and… get some supplies…" Dib pointed to the door, slowly approaching it. Raven watched him leave with a skeptical expression, turning to trail them as they disappeared from the skool's view. Alone, she left the room in a quiet rush of air, slamming the door to the classroom behind her, causing echoes to roll through the building.
In the gleam of the glass doors, the smallest hint of a red glow could be seen, as if two floating eyes had manifested in the reflective surface. ~