She couldn't see anything in the dark room, but a cold metallic scent held her nose hostage. Not until the first strike of lightning did she notice the red liquid flooding the floor she stood on. Wearing nothing but socks she felt the liquid soak in her feet. It was warm. When the second strike of lightning flashed, she noticed the body resting against the bed, and by the third flash her eyes grew wide in horror as she stared at the dark figure with glowing red eyes, standing over her brothers dead body.
.
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The morning sun shone brightly through the dark tinted glass of the Maserati Ghibli. It was a new day in the city of Newark and Mazekien Shcmidt was ready to start her final year at school. With an anxious smile she took in a deep breath and centered herself.
"Okay girl, let's get this show started." She told herself. The Maserati came to a halt and Mazekien took in another breath before her driver opened the door for her. Stepping out with an air of confidence she scanned the school before her. The high fences and surveillance cameras was a bit extreme for your average high school. But Rosemary high wasn't your average high school, with facilities that would put most universities to shame it wasn't surprising that they needed that much security. Compared to the other schools in the city Newark was still relatively young being built only 50 years ago.
After a line up of trees that retained their green color even in the winter you'd come across a beautiful red clay brick building. The admin building. Behind it was the rest of Newark's most prestigious school with Facilities that supported mainly engineering courses with a few outliers like food science and clothing and textile.
"Chin up, back straight and shoulders back." Mazekien said to herself as she started going through the motions. She strutted confidently in the school gates. The wind was light but her hip length dark hair swayed effortlessly. As usual eyes fell upon her as she made her way inside the school. Her onyx eyes demanded respect, yet her soft and kind smile could trick anyone into a false sense of security.
"Good to see that you are in high spirits Ms. Schmidt." Maze rolled her eyes and turned to address this person.
"Well of course Mr. Reynolds, As Head Girl I can't be anything less." She said in her own rich girl tone.
"Alright let's drop professional act before you forget to give me my daily dose of hugs." The guy spread his arms for a hug and with a slight giggle Maze wrapped her arms around him.
"Good morning, Duncan."
"You went ghost on us after the Varsity cup bro, what happened?" He said while adjusting his square spectacles.
With blonde hair slicked back and only a single bang going down half the length of his face. His calm dark blue eyes put behind square glasses and pink lips that went along with his sharp jawline and light skin. He was handsome to say the least, with a charm that could captivate most of the opposite sex. Something that he was well aware of.
"I find it hard to believe you're working alone, where's your plus 1?" Maze asked, noticing the bag of flyers in his hands. They were flyers for the combat club and as president of the student council he was expected to take favors like that from teachers.
"She was with me a second ag---"
"Ahh---!" Mazekien shrieked before covering her mouth.
"Morning bitch!" A snarky voice singed from behind her. A girl with chocolate brown skin had her arms snaked around Mazekien's waist and her hands grabbed a handful of her D-cup breasts. Maze slowly and calmly removed the girls hands off of her chest and turned to face her with a visible flush on her face.
"Tiffany Williams. Since it's the first day I will excuse your act of sexual harassment, but I do ask that you refrain from touching me inappropriately." Maze said trying her hardest to keep professional.
The dark beauty before her had big ocean blue eyes with a hint of green thrown in. Her lips were plump and full, and besides being a few inches shorter than Maze she was blessed with a pair of large E-cup breasts, her thighs just as thick as her chest, her waist had a few chunks of fat, but that only added to her fluffy look.
"As representatives of the school we should always---"
"Blah, blah, blah, now are you gonna hug me now or what?" Tiffany cut her off before she could start with her scolding. She spread her arms expectantly, watching as Mazekien's face changed from mad to annoyed to happy as she wrapped her arms around her best friend.
"Okay, now when are we gonna discuss the party after Orientation, I already got a bar tender and a DJ on lock down, but are we sure that we have enough drinks for 300+ seniors?" Tiffany asked after breaking their hug.
"Listen ladies, we can discuss this later, but for now Me and Ms. Williams have to hang all these fliers before school starts." Duncan interrupted just before Maze could answer Tiffany.
"Argh, Duncan stop being such a stick in the mud, this is your last year, live a little!" Duncan rolled his eyes at his energetic partner.
"I've lived enough for two lifetimes because of you. Now can we finish our job? I don't want Head master Vander on my ass on the first day of school." Tiffany looked to Maze for some support.
"Do you want to deal with Vander?" Tiffany groaned at Mazekien's question, realizing that there was no way out of it.
"Fine, but once I'm done you better be ready to give me details." Tiffany said before swiftly turning to blind Maze with her pink braids.
"Guess I'll speak to you later Mazekien. Make sure to check in with Principal Vander for the yearly plan." Maze nodded as Duncan began to chase after Tiffany who was trying to rush her work.
Mazekien giggled at how goofy her friend group felt for holding such high positions in the school. After locating her locker she began all her textbooks in it. Digital textbooks were an option, but she learned better with the physical copies. Every student's locker was located by their home room class and each needed a fingerprint to open.
Gathering all the books she would need she closed her locker before feeling a large set of arms wrap around her waist and a warm chin resting on her shoulder.
/Am I that easy to sneak up to?/ She thought as she had to hold herself from jumping from fear.
"Guess who has the club room keys for the day?" Maze's body shivered as the mans deep voice vibrated her insides. Those big muscular arms and that deep husky voice belonged to only one person.
"Good morning, Bastien." She greeted.
"You didn't answer my question." He whispered. Unlike highschool most people knew how to mind their own business, not like anyone there could stop them. Maze turned to face him as his grip around her waist loosened. Bastien was easily twice Mazekien's height and possibly triple in size. 130 kg of muscle standing tall over her small frame. His icy blue gaze meeting hers with a great sense of softness. A softness that was given to her and her alone. Or so she wanted to think.
He lifted her to be level with him, pinning her on her locker and she instinctually wrapped her legs around his waist. He came in for a kiss but was stopped as Mazekien whispered into his ear.
"Pretty bold of you to think that I'd do this in public." Bastien sighed.
"Damn it, and I was so close too." He cursed. Slowly he began to put her down.
"I'm supposed to see principal Vander after this so I can't be entertaining your little games Leclue." She spat. Bastien flinched after hearing her use his surname.
"Oh come on, what did I do this time?" Bastien asked.
"I never said you did anything." Maze answered coldly as she began straightening herself up.
"Come on babe, I won't know what's wrong unless you tell me." Bastien pleaded seeing as she wasn't gonna remove the scowl on her face.
"My problem is you not respecting my boundaries while we're at school, we can mess around after, but for now I have an image to uphold." She complained.
"Well, I'm sorry, It's just been so long since I received my weekly dose." Bastien said as he began closing the distance between them. Cupping her chin in his hands, he descended slowly to kiss her. She violently turned her head away, stopping Bastien before he came any closer. The boy was about to leave disappointed before he saw the pink blush forming on her cheeks which brought a smile on his face.
"I love you Maze." He said before walking away. Mazekien turned back to her locker, opened it and silently screamed her frustrations out. Her heart raced like a rabbit on steroids. She wanted to hate the effect she had on her, but every time she thought she could he would pop up and destroy all of her progress. Then again it was her fault for not telling him. Telling him that they were done.
Taking a deep breath she calmed herself down. She wasn't sure if he did cheat on her, but merely thinking about it made her heart sink and the rumors going around didn't help. She wanted to ask him, but she knew he'd be mad if he figured out the reason why she was so cold was because of a rumor.
"Stay focused Mazekien." She said to herself. "We still got to check in with Principal Vander." She was about to close her locker before a letter flashed by her peripheral. Buried under all her books. How did she not notice it?
Sliding the piece of paper out of the pile she opened and read it. Almost immediately her eyes shot open.
"I wish you were dead!!!" The letter read and it had a phone number with a name under it. "Marionette."
______________________________________________________________________________
"Is something wrong, Ms. Schmidt?" Head Master Vander asked. She had been staring at the list of students he had given her to look through.
Maze jolted awake from her daydreaming, blinking twice before she faced the Head Master.
An old and neat gentleman he was, his suits were always tailor made, but that was to be expected of the Head Master of the second most esteemed school in Newark.
"It's nothing sir, just thinking about the Seniors party later this week." Vander scoffed,
"When you're done pondering about such trivial matters you can return to matching the seniors with the freshman they will be mentoring. I need that list done by the end of today."
"Yes sir, I'll be right on it." Maze said before sitting on her side of the Table. The amount of each Freshmen class was always equal to that of the Senior class. This had always been the case in the school's 50-year history. But that year was different three new seniors would join on a Scholarship that promised them free schooling. This was known as the school's outreach program, where the school would invite promising students from different schools to come to Rosemary to "Better their studies" or so said the Principal.
Maze knew that this was the principal's plan to up the school's ranking as no other high ranking school did this. On the chance that the school did reach the number 1 ranking it would receive double in the amount of sponsors and become the poster child of Newark City.
Maze wanted to roll her eyes at her Principal's distrust in his own students' ability, but she knew better than to question his tactics. There was a lot she knew, but chose to keep quiet about which went with her job description as Head girl.
After she finished sorting the student folder of each freshmen she handed it to Principal Vander. Off the corner of her eye she noticed a few different colored folders. She turned to get a proper look at them.
"Those are the folders for the new seniors, you're free to have a look at them. I've already given them the school's stamp." Vander said as he noticed Mazekien's interest with folders.
Not one to argue Mazekien took the three folders and went back to her seat. Opening the first one she began to read the students description.
/Chris Macklemore, 3-A/
A bright and young academic. He has the highest gpa in the whole continent, a mild mannered and gentle young man who is sure to bring some great achievements to the school.
The student picture was of the student and just like the description he was quiet young looking, with gigantic circle glasses. His hair was a messy patch of brown and his eyes a similar shade of brown. He had a few pimples here and there and Maze could tell that he had braces under that smile of his.
Putting the folder down she picked up the next and began reading it.
/Mohammed Binyam, 3-A/ That surname jumped out at her as she was sure she had heard it before but couldn't put her finger on it.
He had silky black hair that was cut into a fade, his skin was a caramel brown and his eyebrows leaned more to the bushy side. Though the feature that jumped out to her the most was his bright amber eyes. She caught herself slowly being pulled in by them, menacing yet captivating.
A student plucked out of the trenches of the South. A promising addition that is sure to get us a few math and science awards, and possibly shine light on the hidden gems of the South.
Maze didn't think that Principal Vander would use his scholarship on a student from the South, It was rumored that all children there are born criminals. Maze didn't believe those rumors but she didn't ignore them as well. Every time the news would speak of robbery or a murder it would always be the doing of a Southerner.
I wonder if he'll be like that. Maze shook thought out of her as she began to pick up the next folder.
"I wasn't sure on picking the Southerner." Head Master Vander started as he saw Maze linger on the folder. "As his surname suggests he might have ties to the infamous Ahamed Binyam, but I've checked his record and he's oddly clean for a Southerner. I would need you to keep him under the microscope for me, we can't afford the school gaining bad press." This confused Mazekien further as she didn't know why Vander would make such a risky move and then she tried to think of it from his perspective.
Should the Southerner bring back any awards he will bring a lot of good press around Rosemary and boost the school's status. Should it fail however, Principal Vander was most likely going to cut ties with the Southerner and act like he was never there. A risky plan, but one worth the risk Maze had to admit.
Maze eyed the last folder before opening it, feeling an odd excitement about doing so, but that soon turned to a look of confusion as she stared at the name on the folder.
/Nami, 3-B/
No surname? She continued to read her description to clear her curiosity, but it didn't answer much. Her hair was cut in a short and curly fade. Her skin a vibrant brown. Her full lips reminded her of Tiffany and they looked just as good. Her eyes were light brown and try as she might Maze couldn't get a proper read on her. She checked the description for assistance.
A student praised for her prowess as a fighter and allegedly a master in the wind and water God styles.
Woah, She thought. Not even Bastien was a Master in Earth-God style and he had been training in it for years.
"That student, Nami, is another one I'm not too sure of. Her last school didn't give us much in terms of information. I mostly chose her out of recommendation from Mr. Leclue." Vander explained.
"He told me that she ranked 2nd in the Kami cup." Maze thought about it for a minute, she remembered Bastien speaking about the Kami cup being so bloody that it couldn't be televised worldwide, and so only a select group of people were invited. Most being Royal knights and retired swords.
"Other than her first name, there was another given to me by Mr. Leclue. Out of one hundred men it is said that she was the most ferocious, with a miss leading small physique she was able to defeat even the most frightening foes, this earned her the nickname, BlackSilver Nami."