Chapter 1

Another day, another fine trip riding into town on my motorcycle. It had been early in the morning when I left my home; traffic had a habit of getting real bad, especially on Mondays. Some might have called me a little crazy for waking up at five o'clock in the morning just to get some milk. And, seeing as it was raining pretty heavily on the roads, I didn't want to find myself sliding into a puddle and go skidding into a concrete barrier. So, I had to take the long way. Not that I really minded; I loved to ride, often found an excuse just so that I could get out of the house. There was a certain chill to air that came with strange weather. Indeed, it had rained last night. It was the kind precipitation that befuddled you; the meaning of which it wasn't cold enough to snow, but remained warm enough so that it was still liquid when it came crashing down. Icy drops falling upon the back of my neck inadvertently made me shiver, my breath escaping the vents of my helmet like a thick fog. In short, it was fuckin' freezing.

As I rode along, I stole a glance at my watch; perchance I would get there early?

Five thirty.

I was making good time. Strange enough, there were no cars on the road. Normally people would already be up at this point, commuting to work or wherever folks went when they got up at the crack of dawn. Regardless, there really wasn't a reason to think much of it. When the street began to dip into the earth, I looked up, noticing that I was approaching an underpass.

Quite peculiar, it was to me. You didn't have to go through a tunnel to get to the store.

Eh, whatever. It's probably just my GPS acting up again, nothing a simple U-turn couldn't fix.

Never would I have thought that going into that dark underground...I'd never return.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, like a one way street into infinity, a highway into oblivion. It was dark in the underpass, pitch black even with my high beams on. The only thing I could see was the neon glow of my engine monitor and gaslight, and I squinted as the rather bright LED lights shot their scintillating gloom into my retinas. Too bright on the dashboard, for sure. I'd have to fix that later. Onwards I went, staring ahead as the dim light of the other side grew brighter and brighter. Soon I'd be out, only to head back. Heh, it was funny how things worked themselves out at times.

But the moment I rolled past the last inch of the underground, my eyes widened in shock at what greeted me on the other side. The sky flashed and darkened into bloody shades of crimson, lighting scattering across the skies as rolling thunder echoed all along the cliffside that dipped into a deep red ocean.

"Jesus fuck!" I yelped, swerving my bike to the side as rocks and dust kicked up all along my back wheel, the engine roaring as the tires struggled to sputter to a stop before I went over. My leg swung over the ridge and span briefly in a tanglement with death before fate ultimately won out. Lucky break.

My bike all but crashed to the side, sending me tumbling to the earth and rolling across the rocky ground. I spun and twirled along the floor, my limbs sprawled out and bouncing as physics began to take effect. Of course, I began to slow down, but I was being battered and bruised in the process. And as I lay motionless on the floor, my gloved fingers digging into the dirt, a single thought came to mind.

Thank God for helmets.

Feeling unsteady, I stumbled to my feet and began to walk forward to where my bike lay inert in the dirt. Wrapping an arm around my side, I watched the wheels slowly turn in the breeze, shaking my head as I once again couldn't believe how close I had come to a rather painful end.

"Fuck." I hissed, gingerly poking my ribs. "That's gonna be a bad bruise."

With extreme caution did I make my forward, half limping to my ride before another sound reached my ears, deafened by the helmet on my head. Turning, I lifted up my visor, blinking once, then twice, as a bright yellow object filled my vision. When the blurriness from my eyes dissipated, it was too late. A bright yellow bus with a straight green line spanning its length, began to groan to a halt. Tires screeched, the headlights flashed their imminent warning, like a herald for my impending journey through pain.

"Oh shi-"

If sprawling to the ground was bad, this time I went careening a good three or so feet into the air as the vehicle roughly tapped my body. Falling once more, I felt my visor shatter upon impact, ears ringing as my head hit the floor. Everything went dark as the world tumbled, and as my head rolled to the side for the final time, stifled shouts filled my ears. When my eyes began to narrow, when the inevitable hold of unconscious took hold of me, I could only stare at the sight in front of me.

A scarecrow was propped up against the cliffside next to a broken tree that leaned in dangerously close. It's happy go lucky, pumpkin-faced grin seemed to mock me, as if welcoming me to a place where I shouldn't have been.

Huh...strangely...familiar.

Two fuzzy silhouettes encroached, their blurred forms looking upon me with a mixture of fear, nervousness, and concern. But one of them had something I'd never forget. Glowing eyes. Eyes that burned into my own bloodied gaze. I felt indifference coming from it, or perhaps it was intrigue. Either way, disorientation had a bad habit of slapping you in the face.

Lights out.

I awoke to the sound of crickets chirping, the far off hoot of an owl causing me to stir and crack open an eye to see what happened. To my pleasant surprise, I wasn't dead. Instead, I was underneath the covers of what appeared to be some sort of hospital bed, closed curtains bordering me on all sides and preventing me from looking out. Pale moonlight came into the room, filtering past the blinds and bathing the vicinity in soft shades of grey and blue. With a groan, I sat up, hunched over as I felt a dull pain wrack and pulse throughout my entire body. My right arm was especially numb, and upon looking down I noticed it was firmly secured and wrapped in a cast. A sling was fastened over my shoulder for support, pushing my arm against my chest and restricting my movement. Deciding to see how bad the damage was, I tried to wiggle the fingers on my broken appendage. They moved decently enough, so it's not like I'd be losing a limb. Small blessings, I suppose. The only bad part was I was right handed, so there'd be some adjustment needed should I ever get out of here.

The slight parting of the curtains made me snap my attention to the sudden intruder, causing me to raise my good arm up should the necessity arise to defend myself.

"I advise you to put your mind at ease." The figure said as it stepped next to the bedside. A dim room didn't help appearances, but I could tell they were wearing a robe. The alabaster garment flowed in the nonexistent wind, draping across their form loosely as it ended- just barely touching the floor. They shifted for a moment, a burning candle appearing next to them as they raised it up to their face.

No fucking way.

Standing before me was none other than the headmaster from some age old manga I read years back. If this was some sort of cosplayer, then they were spot on with the whole get up. From the headwrap, to the wooden cross...hell, even the glowing eyes were lifelike. The possibility of this being real and not some sort of dicked up fever dream was slim to none. Confidence was on my side. My logic and reasoning was sound enough, assured was the notion that this reality was a falsehood.

He spoke again, his voice suave and refined. Such was his finesse when it came to speaking with others.

"It heartens me to see that you are doing well. I must say, being the first person to get into an auto accident with our beloved bus driver is no easy feat. The man has been driving for well over a century." The Headmaster chuckled softly behind closed lips,

"I…" I opened my mouth to speak, yet failed to find the words. "What...how?"

"Ah, yes." The Headmaster replied, shifting away from me and standing upright. "Befuddlement is to be expected. Our doctor was quite surprised to see you alive after what you've just endured. To think, you somehow managed to find a way past our barrier through one of the entrance tunnels in the human world…" He trailed off, glancing away as his luminous eyes became tinged with thoughtfulness. "You'll have to forgive my intrigue and comparative fascination I have towards you. It is not everyday we have a human stroll through the gates of Yokai Academy, and yet…" He looked at me again. "Here you are."

"Which comes to the discussion of what to do with you. I've managed to convince the infirmary staff that you are nothing more than one of our newly hired faculty members who decided to travel here on his own volition."

I remained silent, simply staring at the man. Finally, and quite hesitantly, I began to speak.

"How?" I replied. "How would that work? I'm only twenty years old, haven't even finished college yet…"

"A simple problem requires a simple solution." The Headmaster smiled, placing the candle down next to the bedside table and continuing. "You are American, correct? I've taken the liberty of going through your belongings, and before you protest, it was necessary." He reached into his robes, rummaging through his outfit as if searching for something. If the way his eyes glowed brighter was any indication, I'd say he found what he was looking for.

A stack of four sheets of paper fell upon my, followed by a black-inked pen.

"Registration forms for a teaching assistant position. You will be assisting Mr. Maki in the English department. I'm sure he'll find the presence of a native speaker in his classroom to be most…" He paused. "Excellent."

His face took on one of sheer smugness, his pearly whites showing and glimmering almost as bright as his eyes.

"Nice to know I'm appreciated." I said with a groan, beginning to sign the papers. "Remind me why I can't just forget this whole experience and leave? I mean, I have no idea how I got here, and even if I did tell anyone about this, I doubt they'd believe me."

"Consider it an exercise in building trust." The Headmaster replied, taking the forms from me. "Should I find you to be a reasonable asset to our school, as well as being able to keep a secret, I don't see why you could not return from whence you came." Tucking the papers into his robes, he turned away, parting the curtains and glancing over his shoulder. "For the time being, at least. Your first day begins to tomorrow. I'll have the nurse hand you an orientation packet as well as the keys to staff housing."

"Alright…" I trailed off, unsure.

"Oh, and Anton, is it?" He suddenly interjected.

"Sir?"

"I would advise you not tell anyone too much about yourself. After all, you are no monster."

"My lips are as good as sealed, Headmaster." I replied, giving the Exorcist a firm nod of my head. "See you around…"

All he did was smile.

And then he was gone.

What the hell just happened to my life?

Hey, wait a minute! Did this guy just get free labor?