Bells
(They Are All Bloody)
"How can we just stand aside? She's our friend! She's the girl that has always stood by us, and that we have stood by."
"If she doesn't want to be with us then we have to respect that. Angelus, we have to let her go."
"No! Why doesn't she want to be with us? The three of us are the 'inseparable three.' Even the teachers recognize we are all in on something if one of us is, Spike."
From the doorway, a flat female voice addressed the two boys. "How about we play the old game? The bell game."
"Drusilla?!" Angelus said, turning rapidly to see their topic of discussion.
Spike just turned his head. "That game…it's a forbidden game. The adults say we're not allowed to play here. They even created a dorm rule about it."
"That doesn't mean we can't play," Angelus said sharply. "We've broken the rules before."
Spike conceded. And Drusilla set down some new rules.
Rules
1. Don't eat food for six hours before the game starts.
2. Don't get outside help.
3. Don't try to get the prize through other means.
"You boys know the game. I hold the bells and whoever gets them from me within the time limit has their own wish. If no one gets them I get my way."
"Yes, we know, Eos. Now let's all get some sleep. As you know, girls aren't aloud in the boy's dormitory."
"I'm going. See you tomorrow."
Meeting the next morning wasn't as awkward as expected, but that could be because word had gotten out to the school. All the newbies were standing and waiting after being guided by their seniors to their place in these kinds of events. Everybody in the school took the game very seriously. Only something serious was settled with the game and everyone knew that. Usually the game was a somber place but it had been years since the ones who brought the game had played.
The school the three attended was a boarding school that went through the college level. All the dorms were separate by grade and sex, but people from junior high to college grads were there watching. All of them remembered the first time the game was played. These two boys had been up against the karate team each having three bells while the team consisted of eighteen people. Less than half would get the bells if all the bells were taken at all. Not one was though. The boys had been fighting because of an insult, to the girl that they were about to take on. Spike and Angelus had walked away without a scratch and the team fled out of fear not returning.
Now Drusilla held one bell in her left hand and a stopwatch in her right. "President, if you would do the honors," she called to the man standing in front of the others.
"Of course, Drusilla.
"Everybody," he said looking around, "a challenge has been issued and accepted. You are all aware what may happen if caught so please do not tell. These people are the ones who brought this custom here. It is not to be taken lightly, and children are not allowed to come because of the violence." He talked while walking, taking the stopwatch from Eos as he passed so he was in between the three people. "I will be timing so… On your mark, get ready, set, and go!"
At his signal Drusilla jumped backward turning around and racing to the trees. The woods behind campus were the place the game was supposed to take place. She ran for the shelter of the dense foliage just thirty feet behind her, while the students parted. Spike and Angelus both ran for the woods, right behind her.
Fourteen hours later Spike emerged from the woods at a dead run. His face was bloody and he clutched his obviously bleeding arm, but all the spectators could see the bell in his hand.
He ran to the president and showed him the bell. "I did it," he panted. "Now if you don't mind, could we get an ambulance or three?"
"Of course we can," the president barked at the student counsel, "Get a search going, VP. You secretaries call ambulances and inform the school that while playing hide and seek a fight broke out. That's our cover story people don't forget it."
All present coursed, "Yes, Sir."
At the hospital not one nurse or doctor believed their story. At the school not one teacher or counselor believed their story. However, one-hundred-twenty kids saying the same thing tended to hold up very well.
Anyway, at the hospital, Angelus and Spike sat with Eos. "So, what is your demand? I lost, you have the right to chose," she said.
"My demand is fairly simple, actually. You have to stay where you want to stay, not where your parents tell you you want to. That's all. So, sweetheart, where are you staying?"
"If that's the case, looks like I'll be staying in your rooms." Drusilla smiled, there is no way my parents will let me break game code. They're the ones that created it after all."
"Good to know you'll be sticking with us," Angelus said, "But really you shouldn't stay in our rooms."
"I have to. It's the rules. The whole school would be in an uproar if I didn't. Not even the teachers will be able to appose the arrangement. If they still want students that is."