The good news was that the one, or rather ones, that entered the clearing weren't The Teacher. The bad news? Dunce had never seen anything or anyone like them before.

They couldn't be children; they were much too tall for that, and wrongly shaped to boot. But there's no way they could be adults, either. They were nowhere near as massive (or as ugly) as any adults he had encountered before. Granted, he had only seen The Teacher and The Lunch Lady in real life, so that might not be the best thing to go on.

The two… people were carrying a massive cardboard box between them, and they carefully lowered it to the ground. "Maybe we shouldn't have used cardboard for this." The one on the right said, straightening up.

The other person sighs, walking over to the pile of dead Bullies. For once, Dunce is grateful for his empty sockets; because of them, he can watch these two without giving himself away. "It's not like we had a lot of stuff to work with," he says. His voice is deep. So, they're probably adults? If they are, they are definitely the weirdest out there. "I mean, we're still getting everything sorted out and all that." He picks up two Bullies, one in inch arm, and heads back towards the lady next to the box. She opens it up, and the man slides the bodies in with a grunt. Are they taking them away? What do they want to do with them?

"These things are heavier than I thought." He grunts, wiping his brow. "That, or I need to get in better shape."

The woman snorts as she also heads towards the pile. "Y'know, I've always wondered what's inside these things. Like, do they have organs, or have they been stuffed like that poor family we saw in The Hunter's cabin?"

Who's Hunter? Dunce wonders, before nearly blowing his cover as the Bully the woman picks up looses its head, and it falls inches away from his own.

"Damnit, Nevaeh!" The man swears, bending down to pick up the head. "These things are creepy enough without their heads falling off, andwithout you making me think about their insides."

"Sorry, sorry." The woman, Nevaeh apparently, bends down to pick up another body, a girl this time. Too bad is not Jennifor, Dunce can't help but think. "The heads are hollow; did you notice?"

The man can only nod at his companion's question.

"How does that work? I mean, how can they even be alive without—"

"Magic is real, Nevaeh." The man interrupts, adding more bodies to the box. "We've established that."

"Yeah, I know. Speaking of, do you think Valentine would be mad if we cut one open?"

It takes all of Dunce's willpower not to whimper, or wince, or both. He'd be lying if he said he'd never thought about this sort of thing before, but the thought of being vivisected, like the frogs in the science room…

Fortunately, the man did it for him. "You're joking, right?" He splutters, eyes wide.

Nevaeh sighs. "Mmm, a little? But you're probably right. Someone's likely gonna do it eventually, though. Hey, Travis, look over here!"

Dunce's heart, if he has one, sinks. Nevaeh is looking right at him.Their gazes meet, even though she doesn't know it.

"That one looks more together than the others." He remarks, also looking at Dunce now. "Less dirty, too."

"There's no way he was left here recently, though; I'm pretty sure all The Bullies and The Teacher were captured weeks ago."

Dunce didn't have time to even begin processing what that meant, when he found himself being lifted. All pretenses of being dead were forgotten instantly, replaced with the fear of what was to come. He shrieked, striking out desperately. His fist connects with something, and the man shouts in surprise and pain, letting him fall. Dunce hits the ground running.

"Oh, shit! It's alive!" Travis yells, then there are two sets of footsteps thundering after him. Too close! Dunce forces his legs to move even faster, darting into the trees.

Branches scrape at his limbs as the Bully runs through them, like thousands of sharp, probing hands. He gasps as one of them snags his vest. He yanks it free, not caring if the uniform is damaged. No, at present, he feels only fear of what might be to come and desperation to escape it.

"Damnit, he's fast!"

"We can't let him get away!"

The peoples' voices are still too close for comfort, and even though they'll probably tire before he does, the Bully thinks it's probably a good idea to find a way to lose them. So, he clenches his fists by his sides, and tries to think through the panic clawing at his mind. He thinks back to his days at The School, to all the tricks he'd learned.

The woods were thinning out slightly up ahead, and it looked like there was a fork with two paths. On the left, the trees thinned into another clearing, and on the right, thorn bushes. There was a singular tree in the center of the left clearing, taller and thicker than any he'd seen until this point. Furthermore, unlike the others, the branches looked suitable for climbing. Not knowing what else to do and mind reeling with a sense of terror he'd never quite known, he went for it.

Before he quite knows what's happening, Dunce is almost halfway up the tree. The bark is rough against his palms and twigs snag on his uniform, but there's a part of him, a rather large part, that feels giddy in an almost primal way, despite his fear. He was made for this.

"What the—I didn't know they could climb!" Travis exclaims from below. They'd caught up already? Dunce would be impressed, if his life wasn't on the line.

"Do you think we could go up after him?" Nevaeh asks tentatively, fiddling anxiously with her messy hair. "I don't know if it'll be safe…"

Whatever Travis was going to respond to this with, he doesn't get the chance because suddenly, there's a loud, inhuman shriek. The Bully huddles closer to the tree; whatever that thing was didn't sound too close, but hearing it at all gave him an awful feeling.

"W-what was that?"

"I don't know, but if it's got him freaked out, then I'm sorry, but I don't wanna be anywhere near it." With that, Travis begins dragging his companion away from the tree, much to Dunce's relief. She struggles in his grasp.

"But what about the Bully?"

"It's only one. He can't do that much on his own."

And with that, they're gone. Instantly Dunce begins untensing, but not fully. Whatever had made that horrible sound was still in the woods not too far away. Pretty close actually, if the persistent feeling that he was being watched is any indication.

A/N: I've tried to make it a point to post something on my birthday. This time, it's this.