Hayward was in his house about to go to bed. He took off his reading glasses and placed them on the table that was just beside his bed. He was about to land on his bed, but stopped after hearing footsteps downstairs.
He picked up a long black cane from underneath his bed and held it up straight as he held it and slowly sneaked out of the room trying to tiptoe his way downstairs.
The closer he walked the louder the noises got. it was dark and he could barely see that much.
"You've picked the wrong house," he warned whoever had broken in then swung his cane through the darkness.
"Stop! it's me!"
He heard a familiar voice that forced him to stop. He was surprised to see her here in his house, "Kendall?!"
He noticed she had taken a hard hit from her bleeding nose, and bruised face and one of her wings had been fractured.
"I didn't know where else to go Mr. Hayward," she exclaimed.
Hayward tried to calm her down as he led her to the sitting room, "It's okay Kendall, I am going to patch you up real good. Your brother won't notice a thing."
He then started using recovery magic to revive her body back to its original state.
"What happened?" he bothered to ask
"Alex Kay happened..." she answered with anger in her tone.
"What!" he gasped a little and was able to recover his cool before Kendall could even notice.
"That's supposed to be impossible for her to do this to you," he was puzzled because he knew Alex as a magic type she wasn't strong enough to defeat a hybrid like Kendall, "What kind of spell did she use?"
"It wasn't a spell, it was an attack which involved reinforcing all her magic into her leg to make her kick way too strong for me to stop," she flinched, feeling the pain in her left wing.
"Interesting, so you are saying she used an attack like that to knock you out meaning It's a triumph card she can't use that twice in a day. What of scarlet, did she do anything differently?"
"No, all I saw her do was teleport, that's all," she said.
"Teleport, huh..." he said inwardly. He realized he had finished patching her up.
"Okay, now go back home and forget this night happened. You went back home tired and slept immediately," he commanded her, and then without any hesitation or question, she walked out the front door and flew away.
Eva then suddenly took form behind Hayward.
"At least tell me you have good news for me," he said,
"The boy is a fifteen-year-old called Argus. He has no origin in this world and he is a chaos lord."
"How did you know he is? he asked,
"I could sense his energy and I have never felt it before, it had a different vibe to it like it was split in two." Eva explained, "meaning he isn't as strong as our Argus."
He then sighed deeply with relief,
"Good then," he muttered. "Go get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow,"
"Okay master." she bowed and vanished in the blink of an eye. Hayward then picked up his cane and walked back to his room, hoping for slumber after the long day.
.
.
.
The next morning, Hayward had to get himself ready for the meeting with the school's board of directors following the events the previous night. He was nervous and didn't know how to explain it, but he had to win the case either way, or else he would lose everything he had worked so hard to build.
He was now in his office waiting for further instructions from his bosses as he sat on his very comfortable office chair while staring at his phone.
He noticed that Kendall's fight was trending all over the news platforms and they were talking about how this may want to start another civil war with humans. He heaved out a loud sigh of frustration and turned the phone's screen off.
The room suddenly got murky and frigid meaning it was time and the directors had arrived. They didn't come in their physical bodies, but instead astral projected to his office.
Their bodies were intangible like ghosts. First, an African bald man in a black suit appeared just in front of Walker, followed by three Asian women who looked the same each dressed in traditional Japanese wear. And lastly three English men all in suits like lawyers and businessmen.
"Mr. Hayward," said one of the English men standing in the middle.
Hayward stood up and bowed to the directors, standing before him.
"Welcome to America my colleagues," he announced, was about to continue when he interrupted.
"Stop welcoming us and give a brief update on the school. We have things to do, Mr. Hayward," one Asian woman complained, "and what is this I hear of the New York train fight. Were those our students?"
"Yes," he answered in a gentle tone.
She was disappointed by the looks of it and said nothing to him, but rather made a harsh scoff and turned away from him. She looked on tension and seemed the train fight had them on the edge.
"We discovered a girl with abilities similar to those of chaos," Hayward continued and all their attention was suddenly brought to the room.
"Impossible!"
The Black man roared out in disbelief and anger because it sounded like Hayward wanted to make fools out of them by bringing up an entity that has been dead for five centuries.
"Possible, I even have proof if you want me to show you."
The directors glared at each other for confirmation and then turned back to Hayward.
"Show us." the black man accepted, he looked the toughest and meanest amongst them all.
After receiving confirmation, Hayward then smiled and lifted his arm, and released a red stream of magic that resembled a red smoke that flowed so calmly through the air.
"This is a small fragment of chaos I absorbed from the girl yesterday night. And after a few trials, I know that once a mage absorbs it he becomes stronger," he explained as he let the energy floor in between his fingers.
The directors looked impressed by his discovery.
"So you mean it can be weaponized?" asked the Asian women at the same time.
"Yes, lady Tamayo," he answered, the three ladies then nodded at the same time, and the angry look on their faces quickly shifted to a grin to show that they were impressed.
"Then what caused the train fight that attracted so much attention." the black man asked,
"Well, Mr. Andrew, It was the girl, she escaped as I was trying to study her powers, but then one of our students turned against us. Siding with her in the process, ruining the entire plan and causing a scene," Hayward lied.
Something about his story wasn't complete so it was difficult for Andrew to buy, but he just let it pass.
"Okay, but don't forget why this school was built in the first place; to make strong soldiers for the upcoming war. We've already lost Alex and Jack, who could have been very firm assets to this school."
His voice was deep and very audible,
"Alex with her strategy and tactics Jack with his ability to evolve and adapt now the girl with the potential to bring down a country. I expect you to remind us of why we chose you, Mr. Hayward,"
Andrew was on his neck for answers.
Hayward felt diminished, he was angry…..no ….furious at how Andrew spoke to him. But he just had to keep quiet and listen. He wished he could order his guards to kill him and he would be dead by dusk. But no, he had to tolerate it.
"I will. thank you for your time," he said flatly,
They all then disappeared and Hayward out of anger lifted his office desk and threw it through his room and across campus.
He was breathing heavily with only anger on his mind and pacing wall to wall in his office placing his hands over his head. He needed to get his hands on Scarlet but how? He didn't even know where she was, to begin with.
"Wait," he stopped,
An idea had crossed his mind. If he couldn't find her, maybe her friend knew.
He then picked up his microphone and announced, "Mr. Jordan Wade please report to the principal's office immediately."
Then placed the microphone down and began waiting.
A few minutes after Jordan walked in with a surprised look on his face, Hayward was standing reading a book,
"Umm...I didn't do-" Jordan lost his words on seeing the hole in the roof and pieces of concrete on the ground, "what happened in here?"
Hayward closed the book and turned to Jordan with a creepy and terrifying look.
Jordan moved a step back, "What the fuck!" he said starting to feel the dark aura within the room's atmosphere. It was like a horrible stench so terrible you fail to breathe. he realized it was coming from Hayward.
"I need you Jordan to help me find Scarlet Raymond."
He moved closer and closer till Jordan just reached the wall and couldn't back away any further,
"I don't want to," he said, trembling with his voice,
"You don't have a choice."
Hayward then opened his mouth and a red fog of energy moved its way from it and into Jordan's body changing his entire expression from fear to nothing.
Hayward pulled a hankie from his pocket to clean the blood that was now oozing from his ears and nose. Which was an effect of using chaos as a magic source,
"Go search the city and bring me Scarlet alive if you see a chance pretend you are one of them, then kill them and return my prize."
On those orders, Jordan flew through the roof.
Hayward then muttered what sounded like spells, the lights seemed to go out in the room. The shadows lengthened and dragged him in. The sunlight disappeared from behind the windows. Suddenly it was very cold, he heard the voice whispering in the room and was aware there was someone-or-something------ standing very close behind him.
"Find the girl," it said. "I need her. I must have her. Find the girl and bring her to me. Find her now."
Hayward didn't know if it was the darkness growing within him speaking or it was the god Walker spoke of, but one thing was for sure he needed Scarlet, his thirst for power and control was growing faster than he expected and would soon consume him into a power-hungry beast. His chaos was corrupted and had turned into something else.