"I'm glad you're here to do all the technical side of this. Computers confuse me a lot more than I'd like to admit." A gruff voice growled as its' owner carefully placed objects into cardboard boxes. The supplies consisted mostly of medical supplies, and then, in another box, bottled water. His mask suspended from his neck rather than covering his face, something he rarely let other people see. Several freckles ran along the bridge of his nose, cheeks, and lower face, almost coating it in small, brown dots.
"Yeah, yeah, just keep stocking. We need these boxes all in order for Spring Break so we can put on the event." Abigail snapped back, carefully typing lines of code into her laptop. Her eyes did not stray from the screen.
"When are you going to tell useless to make the announcement, babe? She's pretty much the mouthpiece for us." The werewolf boy asked, stacking two stuffed boxes on top of each other. The Superintendent's Office felt much gloomier at night. Ezekiel grumbled as he worked, always having something to complain about or detest.
"If you mean Taylor, he'll make the announcement in a while. After all, it's only the end of January. Spring Break isn't until the end of March. We have plenty of time." Abigail hummed to herself, tapping along the keyboard and watching the screen. She pulled up another window, keeping her eyes steadfast and inspecting the layout of the school that cane up.
"We're getting the top floor. I want the auditorium as our home base." She tapped the image on the screen, causing Zeke to look up from his tedious work. She tapped the room labeled 'auditorium' on an old, washed out blueprint of the fourth floor.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I think this office would be best for your solo setup, though. Keep all the computers and stuff in here." He shrugged his shoulders, and then, opened the drawer at her side. When his hand reemerged from it, he curled his fingers around a small, gleaming pistol.
"Ugh, put that away. You're acting like a small child." Her frown only showed distaste and immediate dislike for his brutish nature and immaturity that he linked with it.
"Just as long as I get one in our final event, I really could care less whether or not I have one right now, princess." He grumbled, throwing it back into the drawer like a rag doll instead of a dangerous weapon. The girl continued to frown.
"Yes, well, darling," Abigail grumbled tentatively as a forced smile infected her lips. The brunette pushed her chair back so that it fit into the space previously left empty between them. "That will all depend on what happens in the upcoming weeks. So be patient, and be a good dog."
He gritted his teeth at the comment, gripping the side of the chair so tightly that the fabric of his gloves strained. Only she could get away with that comment, and he knew it. Eventually, his green eyes softened and the brute muttered out an affirmative response. He strolled over again to the boxes, stocking new ones with a gruff and annoyed look on his face.
When she finished the program, Abigail rose from the chair of the Superintendent with a happy sigh. All she worked for to make this the best event started to spiral into motion like the first push that started off the marble down the track. If the real version of her possessed the fangs of her character, they would have gleamed in her demented, happy scowl.
"We're done, let's go. Now we have to start setting up the auditorium. Taylor's in the drama club, so I'll tell him not to let anyone touch the stuff behind stage. Then, you can come home with me." Abigail strode towards the door, confident and ready to take on anything that would try to oppose her in her path.
"What do you know, she is useful." The voice paused, thinking about her last sentence. "And why is that?" Zeke rose from the boxes that he fully stocked and pushed into the corner.
"Why do you think?" The vampire gave him a look of utter and pure annoyance, as if he knew what she spoke about the entire time. Her eyes swept over him slowly. "I can't pin my dress myself. Someone has to pin it on me so I can sew it afterward."
"Oh, right." The werewolf shrugged his shoulders, but something in his eyes and demeanor suggested that he anticipated another reason. He gruffly followed her through the door, closing it behind him and locking it, leaving the room exactly as the two found it.
"Your mom approved the final event?" Zeke lifted an eyebrow as they both walked through the darkened school hallways, lit only by exit lights and the duo's flashlights on their cell phones.
"Of course. She's excited to send the results to my dad for his research paperwork. He's the one that really benefits from this game, you know. I'm pursuing the same field of study as him, too." Abigail treaded along the hallway, descending the stairwell to the third floor. No other sound than the voice of the two and their footsteps echoed through the stairwell.
"Psychology research, huh? How much does that pay?" The werewolf shrugged his shoulders along to the tone of his uninterested voice and followed her down, but he could swear he heard someone else near them. He turned around, looking into the bleak, dark hallways to find no one.
"Just think about it. All five teams warring under one roof, and we can reset everything for the next kids. They all can take over the ashes of what we've made and turn it into something new and beautiful just like I did." Her eyes sparkled when her feet hit the fourth floor, holding all of her emotions in to the largest degree she could manage.
After the group traversed the hallway a bit more, a large bang sounded out from behind. A person, who tripped in their heeled shoes, leaned against a locker for balance with terror drenching their face. Stringy red hair swished about their face, covered at the top by a leather-bound hat swathed in gears. Their eyes looked like the face of a clock because of cosmetic contacts. Their dark tan shirt's fabric twisted from the potential fall, covered by a tie that, just like the hat, bathed in many gear decals. A vest similar to a corset wrapped around their stomach and some of their chest, pulled tight, along with dress pants.
"What's up, Krieger? You up for a midnight walk?" Zeke snarled, eyes narrowing significantly when his flashlight beam hit the terrified junior. They stumbled backward, shaking their head. "C'mon, Jules. For a cyborg, you're really, really stupid." He snarled, reaching for his back pocket. His fingers curled and drew out a pocket knife with its blade already out and ready for a fight. Unlike the knife that Arthur used against Fey, this blade gleamed under the light, indicating the lack of plastic material.
Abigail's hand shot out to grab Zeke's wrist, causing Jules to yelp rather loudly and fall backward onto the ground. They thought that Zeke intended to charge them.
"Now, now, calm down. I'm sure there's a way we can get through this. Jules, come back to our base and we'll have a little chat." The vampire's voice called, ending the rest of the forced conversation in the building.