We're guided into the auditorium with military precision. I already feel the enthusiasm leaving my body. We're seated alphabetically, and I can already tell that this new principle is on one hell of power trip.
Once we're all seated, he begins by telling the same story my brothers heard, my parents heard, and even my grandparents heard. He's a short, broad man. Not fat, but not muscular either. Wide? I'm not sure. His suit is sharply pressed and tan colored. His shoes are Oxfords, polished to perfection. He wears a sky blue tie.
The Principle is wearing a very good wig. I know that, but I'm not sure anybody else does. It's blonde, and he's got a naturally round face that's rather red. On his tie is a large broach, indicating he's one of the priests of Light. His blue eyes seem to be full of... I don't know what that look is.
He looks like the kind of man I would like to avoid usually. His voice is stern and hoars. He's trying too hard to pretend he's a military man, those medals proudly pinned onto his suit pocket. He goes quiet, letting the I.T. crew set up a PowerPoint while he stands with his back straight and shoulders back. How do I know he was never in any kind of military? Because of how hard he's trying. That and his medals are cheap replicas. I saw the paint chipping on them when he has us walk last him in single file. "Greetings, students. I'm Principle Marcus and for the next two years you will be in my care"
"Now, as you're aware, the previous Principle retired. I was the previous Vice Principle and I have been promoted to whip this school into shape. Dyed hair will no longer be acceptable. Neither will piercings other than single ear piercings in girls. Boys are forbidden from having long hair, and we have a uniform now. You may wear a watch, but no other jewelry other than a small pair of stud earrings no bigger than three centimeters in diameter.
No outside food or drinks are allowed, which includes gum. Unless you are diagnosed as sick, you will not be allowed to leave school premises until classes finish on Friday, and you must return by 9 pm on Sunday or be locked off-campus. The girl's football, rugby, baseball, basketball, and hockey teams have all been disbanded and so has the boys gymnastics team as well as other useless clubs like comic books, the women's rights club, skateboarding, hairdressing, and that queer club. The alphabet people. You know what I mean. Cell phones are banned in class, as are all other electrical devices.
Girls will be required to take cooking classes, sewing classes, and dance and music lessons and will be removed from history, math, and science classes. Boys will be exempt from these extra classes, and will also have to take part in at least two after school activities.
Girls may not enter the library, and every morning you will recite our prayer to our mighty god of light, Gaia, and the darkness, as well as your pledge that you will live by as long as you are in this school. Those of you who are confused about your gender and claim to be transgender will be separated and given therapy instead of History, Geography, and ability control.
Art, Music, and drama are also disbanded, and you will all be required to learn Italian and German" Is this man for real? Seriously??
"We will also be welcoming a new student as well as the vice-principal. Please welcome the new representative of Darkness on the Council Of Enlightened Individuals, and the last of the King family, Cain King, and his sister... Mania King-" Everybody is already in an uproar from all these stupid, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, creativity killing excuses of toxic masculinity, nobody really seems to care about this new vice principal and his little sister.
But then somebody notices some smoke... Everybody begins to panic, even Principle Marcus. He looks over at us all, clearly uneasy "...It's not a fire. The smoke is cold. Please all remain seated while we-" he's cut off by the doors swinging open violently. Smoke floats into the room, and that's when I realize it's not really smoke. It's fog. Two hooded figures step into the room and the much taller figure raises a hand and the fog suddenly clears, lingering around their ankles like a shy, wispy cat.
They take down the hoods of their coats and there are two of the most terrifying, beautiful people I have ever laid my eyes upon. The tallest is a slim yet still muscular man. He smiles brightly with those brilliant, perfect teeth, and that defined jawline. He's sharply dressed and seems to be around six foot eight. He has fluffy looking, neatly groomed brown hair. Like a perfect blend of caramel brown and pine wood. He has an even, well-groomed beard that makes him look mature. His eyebrows are thick but also very well-groomed and neat, it really accentuates his eyes. Oh, they're so deep and green... This man is a man with a secret.
He wears a full suit, but with military boots. Smart, yet rugged I see. His hands are covered with black leather gloves and he has a piercing in the side of his nose as well as a small stretcher in one of his ears. "Hello Everybody, I'm Mr. King. Vice Principal King, but provided it's in the appropriate context y'all are welcome to just call me Cain. I'm a toxicologist, and for those who don't know what that means; it means that I study the effect of different poisons on humans. It helps us find antidotes and also figure put fatal doses of things like medication too.
I play the cello, I have two pet alligators called Ammit and Sobek. Ammit is albino and twelve feet long, and Sobek is just a regular alligator but he's fourteen feet long. I also have a green anaconda called Naga. I and my sister have a large collection of animals, and I bet most of you are wondering why I have two pet alligators. Seems cruel, right? Well, they have our man-made river flowing through our property, as well as their own room in our house for when it's too cold. We feed them more than enough, they are kept in peak physical health and seeing as we rescued them from a voodoo priest in Louisiana while I was studying there, who was just going to sacrifice them to our mighty god of darkness. It was revealed to me in a vision that this would have displeased Darkness. When I rescued them, they refused to leave my side. They would not go to any zoo or wildlife park. They chose me. As did Naga.
I love to cook, I'm twenty-two years old, and in the rest of my free time, I enjoy a good book. I'm also a sucker for bad crime tv shows. Like most of your parents, I like a nice glass of whiskey at the end of my day to wind down with, or other times I will let my sister join me in a glass of red wine with dinner.
Now, the reason I told you all of this is so that we don't feel like strangers to you. You are going to be in my care for the next two years, I can at least make you all comfortable" I could listen to this man talk for hours. His voice is deep and smooth like good whiskey. He's got a little bit of a southern accent and goes down easy like honey on a soar throat.
Oh, he's mouthwateringly handsome. The things I would do to him... Then I realize that literally every other girl here feels the same way as I do. He's probably used to all the attention but I imagine he's not wanting a bunch of underage girls all over him.
Then my eyes drift across to his sister, who I hadn't focused on until now. My eyes widen as she steps forward and shrugs off the coat, which one of the teachers takes from her graciously. She has very very long black hair.
I don't mean just normal long. No. Her ebony hair is up in an intricate half updo, with free whisps and locks to frame her heart-shaped face. The long raven waves of hair reach her mid-thighs, I've never seen anybody with hair that long before. It flows so damn beautifully, like in the movies. I'm sure Cleo is jealous.
She's also tall, but she's wearing huge heeled boots so I'm not sure how tall exactly. Her boots look expensive. In those boots? She looks to be about six foot five. They reach her mid-calf, and lace-up nicely. Matte black too. Classy. She wears tight wet leather pants that hug those toned legs of hers, and an off-shoulder top that reaches just above her mid-thigh. It's long-sleeved with long draped fabric at the ends and a wet leather black corset belt on top of all that and a long chiffon sleeveless jacket with odd patterns printed onto it, pulling in her tiny waist even more which accentuates those wide hips.
Her shoulder sports a tattoo of a plant. Cool, I wonder which one. I can't see from here. And around her neck is a pendant with a blue, sparkly gem on it. It hangs between what I can only assume are large D cups. Oh her skin is so pale and perfect. White like the snow, just like her brother's. They have the same shimmering green eyes, But hers are accentuated by a heavy Smokey eye, and her plump lips really work with that matte black lipstick. She also wears a black leather choker with silver spikes on it.
She lifts a hand to wave at us all, very casually. She doesn't look all that happy to be here, but then again it works for her. Her palms are covered by a pair of fingerless leather gloves, and she has long black nails. She's a terrifying force of nature and I want her to step on me. She has the middle of her lip pierced, two nose piercings no the same side, way too many earrings in her ears, and an eyebrow piercing on the left side of her face.
She finally opens her mouth to speak and it's clear to me that most of the boys are drooling over her as much as the girls are drooling over Cain. "I'm Mania King, I'm a water elementalist and I like to study the supernatural. I have twenty-eight piercings, four tattoos, and I have three dogs and two pet ravens. I play harp, piano, and violin. I want to own my bar, and tailor shop considering I want to go into fashion design.
Yes, I am single, no I will not date you. I'm seventeen years old. I think that's all you really need to know about me. Whoever's dorm I end up in, I'll give you one warning. Talk shit, get hit and if you touch my stuff without asking, I'll put you in a body bag faster than a knife fight in a phone booth" Her voice is smooth too, deep but feminine. She sounds seductive all the time with some unfamiliar accent to me. She could purr and make just about anybody melt...
With that, Principle Marcus, being only five foot five at most, yanks Vice Principle King off to the side for a serious little stare down. Mania walks off to sit down in the front row in an empty seat next to a teacher where she crosses her legs.
Mr. King takes the floor and puts on his calm, professional face "While we have a meeting about all the new school rules, the teachers will guide you outside and if you could please form two single-file lines at the reception desk and state your full names so that you can get your student ID's, class schedules, and dorm room numbers. Once you have that feel free to head to said dorms where you will be allowed to decorate your dorm rooms as you please, within reason, which means you will be allowed to go home or have family members drop off your stuff. Please be back on campus for five pm, as dinner will be served in the dining halls at six.
Staff will be sent around shortly after to check it doesn't violate health and safety regulations. In each dorm, there will also be a designated room to practice with your elements safely. There will be no more than six people per dorm, and as you are aware you had to put in requests for who you wanted to room with. I believe that is everything you need to know, for now, other than the fact that classes start at 9:30 am and latecomers will be penalized.
Please have a good day, and come ask any member of staff if you have any queries" Principle Marcus has been more than a little shell shocked since the arrival of the Kings arrived. He's been speechless and pale in the fact. I assume the difference in character between him and Cain was a huge shock, to say the least.
The two men then leave to go for a meeting, and the other teachers guide us out. Usually, a hall full of around three thousand kids would be loud and bustling with chatter and boys being boys but... Everybody is quiet. Huddled and whispering as we shuffle out of the brightly lit auditorium. The stage is weirdly elegant and yet bland.
Everybody has questions. Is Principle Marcus for real? Is he insane? Why would he suddenly change the rules like that? Why did Mr King make such a dramatic entrance? Why did they need to introduce his sister too? Why are they both so intimidating? How did they make that fog? Why was the principle so cool about letting Mr. King close off the assembly and break several of his rules doing so? What's gonna happen to us when this school year actually starts? Who are our teachers? What is our class schedule going to be like?
I have too many questions to really know how to feel about all this. I'm so confused.