This is one of those chapters when a really important character is
introduced, but I'm going to be mean and not tell you which new character
it is, as there are several. But as the story progresses, I think you'll
get an idea of who it is. Anyhow...thanks for the reviews, and I hope you
enjoy the next chapter! Oh, and HAPPY EASTER!! (for next week.)
Chapter 6- Introductions
The hall was packed to the brim with students, new and experienced, chattering to each other excitedly at the prospect of a new term. There was table after table of scrumptious food, the smell of breakfast wafting up to the great beams of wood which supported the church-like ceiling above. Glimmers of sunlight peeked through a whole wall of sparkling glass at one end, whilst, at the other, a giant stage rose out of the floor.
Randall entered the hall, suddenly greeted by a huge, wobbling mass of bodies, all trying to find seats for themselves, Jay by his side looking tense.
"I guess we should find some seats...right?"
"Yep." They shoved their way through the crowd, manoeuvring themselves around all the full tables, until they found one that had a few spare seats. But just as they were about to sit down around the circular table, a shrill, pompous voice spoke up from behind them.
"You are forbidden to sit there- this table is reserved for the Seniors." Randall and Jay spun around, expecting to be faced with some kind of a Professor, but instead, the elected Captiness of South House smirked at them from behind, clearly savouring the fact that she could tell them what to do.
"I'm sure that yesterday I mentioned something about a little meeting with Professor Fern..." Jay focused on the floor mutely while Randall folded his arms. "You are to report to her immediately at her Monster-World Science Room, and I," she said with just a hint of satisfaction, "am to escort you there." Jay shook nervously, but Randall replied as if this was just an annoying errand.
"If you say so." Carmen turned heel (or tentacle, as the case may be) and began to make her way out of the room, turning every now and then to make sure of Randall and Jay's presence. She was very hasty while trying to leave the hall, and Jay couldn't help but wonder whether she was doing it on purpose to make them look foolish as they got stuck behind crowd after crowd of unseated students. Randall got fed up of this lark rapidly, and an idea came to mind. He stopped following the Captiness, Carmen, knowing where she was headed and shoved his way through a final group of students to reach a pale-yellow wall. He put a hand on it, testing its aridity, and, once content, crawled up it, a smile flickering across his face. Randall slithered across the wall so speedily that all most students could see was a faint purple blur but, by the time he had reached the mammoth doors of the hall, he was barely out of breath, and managed to leap off the wall with the grace and stealth of a cat, landing on all fours.
Casually leaning on part of the door frame, he couldn't help but grin at Carmen, who didn't manage to find the humour of the situation.
"What took you so long?" he said showing off, the arrogant side of his personality being revealed. She just pushed him aside and growled in his ear.
"That wasn't funny, Boggs." She burst out of the hall and disappeared, slamming the door behind her. Jay finally came side to side with Randall, looking quite disturbed after having to push his way through all of those bodies, each one dripping with sweat in the heat that was intensified by the many fires dotted around the hall. Randall tilted his head, signalling that he and Jay should catch up with Carmen, and pushed open a door. He jogged into the Entrance Hall and, as he did so, found himself caught in the midst of a group of nattering girls, all giggling and pointing at the sudden interruption. Jay stayed in the shadows and, seeing the trouble that Randall was going to get trying to escape the clutches of these sniggering girls, waved to his friend and scooted out of the Entrance Hall.
Randall wasn't in the mood for this- it was enough to already be in trouble so early in the term, but to have to put up with all these girls pointing and poking fun at him was just plain unnecessary. They quickly encircled him, but Randall just decided that if he couldn't get by them by their leniency, he would have to do it by brute force.
"Excuse me." Several girls giggled, and there was whispering to be heard.
"Look, I'm sorta busy right now. Maybe some other time, huh?" More giggling. One of the girls squealed with delight.
"Oh, aren't you handsome?" Another spoke up.
"Yeah, you don't see many scalies nowadays that aren't butt-ugly!"
"You can say that again! This guy must be SO unique!" said one girl, pretending to yearn for Randall. He growled in annoyance, and was just about to shove one of them over as a last resort when someone called out to him.
"Hey!" Randall turned. A bright white, short girl, the only one there that hadn't been making fun of Randall, had stepped to the side leaving a small gap for Randall to escape. Her lavender eyes glimmered as he passed by her, and she whispered something into his ear that only he could hear, the smile that had been on her face having been abruptly wiped off.
"Freak."
Randall went down the corridor that he had seen Jay going down, but not without turning around just the once, to glare at the girl that had let him by. To his surprise, she hadn't turned around and her eyes followed after Randall, pressing into his back. He suddenly felt sick, but shook it off, thinking that it was just the effects of being discriminated against, especially by that one girl who had had the kindness to let him go- her skin and features were quite reptilian themselves. But it wasn't.
At the end of the dimly-lit corridor was just the one door which was slightly ajar. Randall opened it cautiously and, once having spotted Carmen leaving the room, entered. The room was a reasonable size with rows and rows of science utensils laid out in preparation for the first classes that day. Randall met up with Jay and they inquisitively wondered about, Carmen staying by the doorway.
"Have fun," she said spitefully before gently closing the door behind her. There were no windows in this square space; just a throng of benches and tables along with test-tubes and Bunsen-burners; conical flasks and tweezers, all reflecting the light from the stifling fire at the front of the room, the flames licking the wood around itself. Randall noticed a shadow on the far wall which looked quite disfigured and gruesome...scary in fact...
Randall shook the nervousness away, and turned instead to an old friend of his, or an enemy perhaps- anger. This was meant to be the start of a fresh new era in his life, yet already he was in trouble just because of the idiocy and plain stuck-upedness of the people around him- Jay, the Captiness, all those stupid girls; and he was certain that there were to be more.
The shadow stirred once again, now moving across the wall. Randall stayed standing where he was, calmly rubbing the rounded ends of his fingertips while Jay clacked his claws behind him.
After what seemed an eternity, the producer of the shadow emerged from under a large workbench, her wings fluttering relentlessly. Suddenly, she spoke.
"Is there someone there? Don't lie- I can feel your presence. Is it a student?" Professor Fern stood directly in front of Randall (Jay cowering behind him) yet she was asking these questions. "Can't she see me?" Randall pondered. "Or is this some kind of a game?" She reached out a hand and swept it across one of Randall's scaly arms. He flinched, but remained standing where he was. The Professor had an eerie look about her, but Randall couldn't quite make out all of her features- she had a black cloak wrapped tightly around her skeletal figure.
Then, for the first time, she looked up at Randall making eye-contact with him. Randall's heart-beat intensified in rapid shock, and he had the feeling of just having been just covered in a boiling-hot, soaking wet blanket. But, his previous queries were answered.
Two, white pupil-less eyes stared up at him, and Professor Fern smiled.
"By the feel of it, you're a new student...a scaly. Is there another here?" Randall nodded, but, remembering that she couldn't see his motions, managed to choke out a suffocated "Yeah..."
"So you two are the late arrivals, then? Carmen told me a lot about you, and, by the sounds of it, she doesn't think very highly of you."
"Well, we didn't exactly get off to a very good start," Randall responded, becoming more certain of the Professor; she seemed nice enough, after all.
"Well, I'm sure you two have a good explanation. But you'll have to save it- I'm due at the South House Hall now; unfortunately, being the Head of House means that I have to make up some sort of a speech to say in front of all you eager young students." She laughed heartily. "Oh, if only I knew what to say! I'm sure that you young uns' don't want to listen to an old hag like me!" Randall smiled warmly, and turned around to talk to Jay. But he was gone.
"Jay...?" Professor Fern laughed once more.
"I was going to tell you that he had gone, but you were enjoying my company so much, well, it seemed a shame for you to go as well." She limped her way up to the door, the tips of her giant green wings touching the ground, supporting her.
"Oh, my days are numbered. Laddy, promise me one thing."
"Uh...yeah?" said Randall, helping her into the corridor.
"Enjoy your life while you can, because if you don't, one day you'll look back at it and regret every moment."
This time, Randall just nodded even though he was tempted to reply. "I already do..." he thought sullenly. But, rather than dwelling on what life he had already wasted, he closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat.
Five minutes later, as Randall and Professor Fern were making their way into the South House Entrance Hall, Randall fired up a conversation.
"I...I thought you wanted to talk to us about something important...the Captiness seemed to think that what we had done-"
"Now, now, don't you worry! Azra always enjoys making a big fuss of things. I expect she just didn't want to help me to the hall, as you have done. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she were talking to the new headmaster this very second."
"New head?"
"Oh yes, you wouldn't have heard about him yet. His name's Mr Stefani- he's taking over Crynferse."
"You're right- I didn't know about that."
"And, so I've heard, he's got two children of his own. Both of them are in South House...I can't seem to remember their names, though. He's already visited West and East, and now, I expect in a few minutes, he's going to introduce himself to us." Randall raised an eyebrow.
"You had better be going to the hall," the Professor continued. "Don't want to miss anything now, do you? Especially not in your first year!" Randall smirked.
"Of course not."
"Goodbye, then, and I look forward to having you in some of my lessons." Randall put up a hand, "Bye," and turned back into the hall. There was a deadly silence about the place, and Randall could see, in the distance, a large, red and blue character upon the stage, Carmen standing next to him (along with South House's Captain) like a black shadow. Randall could barely get into the hall, but managed to squeeze himself by a wall, next to a group of girls who were all chatting to themselves, taking no regards to the rest of the student body's silence. They all turned in unison as Randall approached, and the giggling that he was becoming all too familiar with began once again.
As Randall had suspected, it was the same group of girls that had tormented him before. They were all there- the short, stocky one with layer upon layer of thick, brushed down brown fur; a slightly taller one with numerous arms all dangling and flailing about and the head of a fly; a pink, snake- haired Cyclops with a slim figure; and, of course, the one that had let him by previously. The one with those dull lavender eyes that looked as though in need of a good buff, those sharp, filed claws, intricate patterns decorating them, those bright white scales- or were they scales? They were more like indentations in her skin, little marks that gave her a patterned appearance in the light...
She turned around with the others but, unlike them, the second she saw Randall, her eyes narrowed and a disgusted, almost revolted look played over her features. Randall immediately ignored her and her friends, and turned his attention to the stage. The white girl also turned back around, not interested in Randall whatsoever.
"...and our new headmaster, Mr Stefani..." the monster was saying, and, as he did so, a small figure became apparent at the corner of the stage and stood by a microphone which had been lowered for his height. He had big eyes- three of them, to be precise, all a dark shade of muddy brown- and they scanned the audience in front of them nervously. Sweat trickled down his immense forehead and he coughed into the mike, feedback blasting from the speakers around the hall. Students cringed and grumbled as the screeching echoed. The new head smiled lopsidedly, feeling guilty, and coughed once more.
"H-hello there, members of Crynferse University's South House. As you should know, I am the new headmaster of Crynferse and, because of this, I've decided to lay down a few rules just to get us started." The whole hall groaned as one. Randall leaned on the wall, bored. The girls had forgotten about him now, to Randall's relief, as a child does an old, unwanted toy. The headmaster dribbled on in the background, his words hammering on closed ears.
"...shall not be allowed to leave the grounds until having reached Senior year..."
The girl that had turned her back coldly to Randall suddenly faced him once more, her eyes blazing. Randall's blood ran icy cold as a frozen hand gripped his arm, and he looked up, panicked. The girl pushed his face towards hers, her eyes boring into his, and her breaths were quick and sharp, the only thing Randall could hear other than a distant drone from the new Head. They stayed as they were for several long seconds until she spoke, her voice etched in a dark tone.
"Why are you here?" Randall tried to tear away his gaze from hers, but it was no use; it was as though she had taken control of him. She carried on. "We have worked so hard, toiling under evil watching eyes, and now, as our task is nearly complete, you come. Why? Why? Why?" Randall shivered, the new, warm world that he had discovered only a day before turning lifeless and numb.
"You have no idea what you've got yourself into, have you?" the girl continued, her claws digging deeper into Randall's scales. He seemed entranced by what was happening, yet was, for some reason, really very scared, vulnerable...and...empty. Yes, that was the word. Empty...
"I pity you. I really, really pity you." The girl's eyes continued to look deep into Randall's, her gaze seeming to cut through his body and enter his soul. She let go, yet stayed where she was, still staring at Randall with her heavily bagged eyes. He came back to his senses after a moment, and turned back to his usual self as the strong grip was released.
"What are you talking about? Do I even know you?" he demanded angrily, looking down at her. "I don't have any idea what you mean, so this is pretty pointless."
"You will," she finished menacingly. She then turned, impolitely shoving a clan of monsters to get out of the hall. Randall shivered again.
What happened there?
He blinked a couple of times to try and forget the somewhat unsettling experience that he had just been through.
Oh...well. I guess I'll have to find out myself. How I'm gonna do that, though, I have no idea...
He turned back to the Head, listening once more.
But I'm gonna find out somehow. No-one puts Randall Boggs through something like that without an explanation.
What Randall really couldn't figure out, though, was why he was so freaked out by such a little thing. All she had done was speak to him, after all, even if it was in a rather disconcerting manner. Once again, there was that horrible nauseating feeling that seemed to wash over Randall in little bouts, though all it really did was bug him slightly. He couldn't help but let his mind drift to the panicked look in the girl's eyes; the urgency in her sharp voice...but he couldn't let this little thing spoil his first proper day. No, he was going to have to concentrate on the task in hand- to block out all of those unwanted thoughts and to focus on what he should be focusing on, not some little tiff between him and a girl- I mean, a girl of all things.
The Head had finished his ridiculously long list of rules and, now becoming more confident, addressed the whole of South House as one.
"So, now we've hopefully come to an understanding, all I have left to do is to say goodbye for now, and wish you a happy start of term." His speech having ended, he strolled off the stage. The usual chattering amongst the students resumed and everyone made their way to the exit, all preparing for their first lesson. Randall stayed where he was, letting everyone pass him by unnoticed. He was still confused, and a cloud of worry began to overcast the beginning of his day. Randall was snapped out of his thoughts as Jay tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Ran. You okay? You look as though you've seen a human or something!"
"What? Oh...right. Yeah...I'm fine."
"If you say so! Well, we'd better get to the Monster-World Science room. C'mon, let's go." Randall followed after Jay, trying to forget about what had happened. But no matter what happened, those words still stuck in his mind.
I pity you. I really, really pity you.
They seemed so familiar, so much like someone else he knew...but who? But not only was Randall bewildered. He was also angry- angry at the girl who had spoilt this new phase of his life for him, who had frozen this incredible new world. She had ruined it for him.
Ruined it.
Chapter 6- Introductions
The hall was packed to the brim with students, new and experienced, chattering to each other excitedly at the prospect of a new term. There was table after table of scrumptious food, the smell of breakfast wafting up to the great beams of wood which supported the church-like ceiling above. Glimmers of sunlight peeked through a whole wall of sparkling glass at one end, whilst, at the other, a giant stage rose out of the floor.
Randall entered the hall, suddenly greeted by a huge, wobbling mass of bodies, all trying to find seats for themselves, Jay by his side looking tense.
"I guess we should find some seats...right?"
"Yep." They shoved their way through the crowd, manoeuvring themselves around all the full tables, until they found one that had a few spare seats. But just as they were about to sit down around the circular table, a shrill, pompous voice spoke up from behind them.
"You are forbidden to sit there- this table is reserved for the Seniors." Randall and Jay spun around, expecting to be faced with some kind of a Professor, but instead, the elected Captiness of South House smirked at them from behind, clearly savouring the fact that she could tell them what to do.
"I'm sure that yesterday I mentioned something about a little meeting with Professor Fern..." Jay focused on the floor mutely while Randall folded his arms. "You are to report to her immediately at her Monster-World Science Room, and I," she said with just a hint of satisfaction, "am to escort you there." Jay shook nervously, but Randall replied as if this was just an annoying errand.
"If you say so." Carmen turned heel (or tentacle, as the case may be) and began to make her way out of the room, turning every now and then to make sure of Randall and Jay's presence. She was very hasty while trying to leave the hall, and Jay couldn't help but wonder whether she was doing it on purpose to make them look foolish as they got stuck behind crowd after crowd of unseated students. Randall got fed up of this lark rapidly, and an idea came to mind. He stopped following the Captiness, Carmen, knowing where she was headed and shoved his way through a final group of students to reach a pale-yellow wall. He put a hand on it, testing its aridity, and, once content, crawled up it, a smile flickering across his face. Randall slithered across the wall so speedily that all most students could see was a faint purple blur but, by the time he had reached the mammoth doors of the hall, he was barely out of breath, and managed to leap off the wall with the grace and stealth of a cat, landing on all fours.
Casually leaning on part of the door frame, he couldn't help but grin at Carmen, who didn't manage to find the humour of the situation.
"What took you so long?" he said showing off, the arrogant side of his personality being revealed. She just pushed him aside and growled in his ear.
"That wasn't funny, Boggs." She burst out of the hall and disappeared, slamming the door behind her. Jay finally came side to side with Randall, looking quite disturbed after having to push his way through all of those bodies, each one dripping with sweat in the heat that was intensified by the many fires dotted around the hall. Randall tilted his head, signalling that he and Jay should catch up with Carmen, and pushed open a door. He jogged into the Entrance Hall and, as he did so, found himself caught in the midst of a group of nattering girls, all giggling and pointing at the sudden interruption. Jay stayed in the shadows and, seeing the trouble that Randall was going to get trying to escape the clutches of these sniggering girls, waved to his friend and scooted out of the Entrance Hall.
Randall wasn't in the mood for this- it was enough to already be in trouble so early in the term, but to have to put up with all these girls pointing and poking fun at him was just plain unnecessary. They quickly encircled him, but Randall just decided that if he couldn't get by them by their leniency, he would have to do it by brute force.
"Excuse me." Several girls giggled, and there was whispering to be heard.
"Look, I'm sorta busy right now. Maybe some other time, huh?" More giggling. One of the girls squealed with delight.
"Oh, aren't you handsome?" Another spoke up.
"Yeah, you don't see many scalies nowadays that aren't butt-ugly!"
"You can say that again! This guy must be SO unique!" said one girl, pretending to yearn for Randall. He growled in annoyance, and was just about to shove one of them over as a last resort when someone called out to him.
"Hey!" Randall turned. A bright white, short girl, the only one there that hadn't been making fun of Randall, had stepped to the side leaving a small gap for Randall to escape. Her lavender eyes glimmered as he passed by her, and she whispered something into his ear that only he could hear, the smile that had been on her face having been abruptly wiped off.
"Freak."
Randall went down the corridor that he had seen Jay going down, but not without turning around just the once, to glare at the girl that had let him by. To his surprise, she hadn't turned around and her eyes followed after Randall, pressing into his back. He suddenly felt sick, but shook it off, thinking that it was just the effects of being discriminated against, especially by that one girl who had had the kindness to let him go- her skin and features were quite reptilian themselves. But it wasn't.
At the end of the dimly-lit corridor was just the one door which was slightly ajar. Randall opened it cautiously and, once having spotted Carmen leaving the room, entered. The room was a reasonable size with rows and rows of science utensils laid out in preparation for the first classes that day. Randall met up with Jay and they inquisitively wondered about, Carmen staying by the doorway.
"Have fun," she said spitefully before gently closing the door behind her. There were no windows in this square space; just a throng of benches and tables along with test-tubes and Bunsen-burners; conical flasks and tweezers, all reflecting the light from the stifling fire at the front of the room, the flames licking the wood around itself. Randall noticed a shadow on the far wall which looked quite disfigured and gruesome...scary in fact...
Randall shook the nervousness away, and turned instead to an old friend of his, or an enemy perhaps- anger. This was meant to be the start of a fresh new era in his life, yet already he was in trouble just because of the idiocy and plain stuck-upedness of the people around him- Jay, the Captiness, all those stupid girls; and he was certain that there were to be more.
The shadow stirred once again, now moving across the wall. Randall stayed standing where he was, calmly rubbing the rounded ends of his fingertips while Jay clacked his claws behind him.
After what seemed an eternity, the producer of the shadow emerged from under a large workbench, her wings fluttering relentlessly. Suddenly, she spoke.
"Is there someone there? Don't lie- I can feel your presence. Is it a student?" Professor Fern stood directly in front of Randall (Jay cowering behind him) yet she was asking these questions. "Can't she see me?" Randall pondered. "Or is this some kind of a game?" She reached out a hand and swept it across one of Randall's scaly arms. He flinched, but remained standing where he was. The Professor had an eerie look about her, but Randall couldn't quite make out all of her features- she had a black cloak wrapped tightly around her skeletal figure.
Then, for the first time, she looked up at Randall making eye-contact with him. Randall's heart-beat intensified in rapid shock, and he had the feeling of just having been just covered in a boiling-hot, soaking wet blanket. But, his previous queries were answered.
Two, white pupil-less eyes stared up at him, and Professor Fern smiled.
"By the feel of it, you're a new student...a scaly. Is there another here?" Randall nodded, but, remembering that she couldn't see his motions, managed to choke out a suffocated "Yeah..."
"So you two are the late arrivals, then? Carmen told me a lot about you, and, by the sounds of it, she doesn't think very highly of you."
"Well, we didn't exactly get off to a very good start," Randall responded, becoming more certain of the Professor; she seemed nice enough, after all.
"Well, I'm sure you two have a good explanation. But you'll have to save it- I'm due at the South House Hall now; unfortunately, being the Head of House means that I have to make up some sort of a speech to say in front of all you eager young students." She laughed heartily. "Oh, if only I knew what to say! I'm sure that you young uns' don't want to listen to an old hag like me!" Randall smiled warmly, and turned around to talk to Jay. But he was gone.
"Jay...?" Professor Fern laughed once more.
"I was going to tell you that he had gone, but you were enjoying my company so much, well, it seemed a shame for you to go as well." She limped her way up to the door, the tips of her giant green wings touching the ground, supporting her.
"Oh, my days are numbered. Laddy, promise me one thing."
"Uh...yeah?" said Randall, helping her into the corridor.
"Enjoy your life while you can, because if you don't, one day you'll look back at it and regret every moment."
This time, Randall just nodded even though he was tempted to reply. "I already do..." he thought sullenly. But, rather than dwelling on what life he had already wasted, he closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat.
Five minutes later, as Randall and Professor Fern were making their way into the South House Entrance Hall, Randall fired up a conversation.
"I...I thought you wanted to talk to us about something important...the Captiness seemed to think that what we had done-"
"Now, now, don't you worry! Azra always enjoys making a big fuss of things. I expect she just didn't want to help me to the hall, as you have done. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she were talking to the new headmaster this very second."
"New head?"
"Oh yes, you wouldn't have heard about him yet. His name's Mr Stefani- he's taking over Crynferse."
"You're right- I didn't know about that."
"And, so I've heard, he's got two children of his own. Both of them are in South House...I can't seem to remember their names, though. He's already visited West and East, and now, I expect in a few minutes, he's going to introduce himself to us." Randall raised an eyebrow.
"You had better be going to the hall," the Professor continued. "Don't want to miss anything now, do you? Especially not in your first year!" Randall smirked.
"Of course not."
"Goodbye, then, and I look forward to having you in some of my lessons." Randall put up a hand, "Bye," and turned back into the hall. There was a deadly silence about the place, and Randall could see, in the distance, a large, red and blue character upon the stage, Carmen standing next to him (along with South House's Captain) like a black shadow. Randall could barely get into the hall, but managed to squeeze himself by a wall, next to a group of girls who were all chatting to themselves, taking no regards to the rest of the student body's silence. They all turned in unison as Randall approached, and the giggling that he was becoming all too familiar with began once again.
As Randall had suspected, it was the same group of girls that had tormented him before. They were all there- the short, stocky one with layer upon layer of thick, brushed down brown fur; a slightly taller one with numerous arms all dangling and flailing about and the head of a fly; a pink, snake- haired Cyclops with a slim figure; and, of course, the one that had let him by previously. The one with those dull lavender eyes that looked as though in need of a good buff, those sharp, filed claws, intricate patterns decorating them, those bright white scales- or were they scales? They were more like indentations in her skin, little marks that gave her a patterned appearance in the light...
She turned around with the others but, unlike them, the second she saw Randall, her eyes narrowed and a disgusted, almost revolted look played over her features. Randall immediately ignored her and her friends, and turned his attention to the stage. The white girl also turned back around, not interested in Randall whatsoever.
"...and our new headmaster, Mr Stefani..." the monster was saying, and, as he did so, a small figure became apparent at the corner of the stage and stood by a microphone which had been lowered for his height. He had big eyes- three of them, to be precise, all a dark shade of muddy brown- and they scanned the audience in front of them nervously. Sweat trickled down his immense forehead and he coughed into the mike, feedback blasting from the speakers around the hall. Students cringed and grumbled as the screeching echoed. The new head smiled lopsidedly, feeling guilty, and coughed once more.
"H-hello there, members of Crynferse University's South House. As you should know, I am the new headmaster of Crynferse and, because of this, I've decided to lay down a few rules just to get us started." The whole hall groaned as one. Randall leaned on the wall, bored. The girls had forgotten about him now, to Randall's relief, as a child does an old, unwanted toy. The headmaster dribbled on in the background, his words hammering on closed ears.
"...shall not be allowed to leave the grounds until having reached Senior year..."
The girl that had turned her back coldly to Randall suddenly faced him once more, her eyes blazing. Randall's blood ran icy cold as a frozen hand gripped his arm, and he looked up, panicked. The girl pushed his face towards hers, her eyes boring into his, and her breaths were quick and sharp, the only thing Randall could hear other than a distant drone from the new Head. They stayed as they were for several long seconds until she spoke, her voice etched in a dark tone.
"Why are you here?" Randall tried to tear away his gaze from hers, but it was no use; it was as though she had taken control of him. She carried on. "We have worked so hard, toiling under evil watching eyes, and now, as our task is nearly complete, you come. Why? Why? Why?" Randall shivered, the new, warm world that he had discovered only a day before turning lifeless and numb.
"You have no idea what you've got yourself into, have you?" the girl continued, her claws digging deeper into Randall's scales. He seemed entranced by what was happening, yet was, for some reason, really very scared, vulnerable...and...empty. Yes, that was the word. Empty...
"I pity you. I really, really pity you." The girl's eyes continued to look deep into Randall's, her gaze seeming to cut through his body and enter his soul. She let go, yet stayed where she was, still staring at Randall with her heavily bagged eyes. He came back to his senses after a moment, and turned back to his usual self as the strong grip was released.
"What are you talking about? Do I even know you?" he demanded angrily, looking down at her. "I don't have any idea what you mean, so this is pretty pointless."
"You will," she finished menacingly. She then turned, impolitely shoving a clan of monsters to get out of the hall. Randall shivered again.
What happened there?
He blinked a couple of times to try and forget the somewhat unsettling experience that he had just been through.
Oh...well. I guess I'll have to find out myself. How I'm gonna do that, though, I have no idea...
He turned back to the Head, listening once more.
But I'm gonna find out somehow. No-one puts Randall Boggs through something like that without an explanation.
What Randall really couldn't figure out, though, was why he was so freaked out by such a little thing. All she had done was speak to him, after all, even if it was in a rather disconcerting manner. Once again, there was that horrible nauseating feeling that seemed to wash over Randall in little bouts, though all it really did was bug him slightly. He couldn't help but let his mind drift to the panicked look in the girl's eyes; the urgency in her sharp voice...but he couldn't let this little thing spoil his first proper day. No, he was going to have to concentrate on the task in hand- to block out all of those unwanted thoughts and to focus on what he should be focusing on, not some little tiff between him and a girl- I mean, a girl of all things.
The Head had finished his ridiculously long list of rules and, now becoming more confident, addressed the whole of South House as one.
"So, now we've hopefully come to an understanding, all I have left to do is to say goodbye for now, and wish you a happy start of term." His speech having ended, he strolled off the stage. The usual chattering amongst the students resumed and everyone made their way to the exit, all preparing for their first lesson. Randall stayed where he was, letting everyone pass him by unnoticed. He was still confused, and a cloud of worry began to overcast the beginning of his day. Randall was snapped out of his thoughts as Jay tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Ran. You okay? You look as though you've seen a human or something!"
"What? Oh...right. Yeah...I'm fine."
"If you say so! Well, we'd better get to the Monster-World Science room. C'mon, let's go." Randall followed after Jay, trying to forget about what had happened. But no matter what happened, those words still stuck in his mind.
I pity you. I really, really pity you.
They seemed so familiar, so much like someone else he knew...but who? But not only was Randall bewildered. He was also angry- angry at the girl who had spoilt this new phase of his life for him, who had frozen this incredible new world. She had ruined it for him.
Ruined it.