Noire Nightshade stared off into empty space past the houses in her field of vision, past the trees and gates and people scurrying to and for around the neighborhood into the far distance while her physical body remained still as a statue. She didn't move an inch or react any stimulus around her. Nobody could tell what she was looking at or what was going through her mind, if indeed she was considering anything in particular, the others just maintained a safe distance around her. Her blank empty thousand yard stare matched her outfit. A frilly gothic black dress, a gothic black frilly shirt worn over a tight black shirt, black bat thigh high black socks and black buckled gothic reign of terror boots. Her long black hair were worn in long unbraided pigtails. Empty though her expression might be her pale skin was surprisingly beautiful to behold with a cute face and amber eyes. A black backpack with white skeletal print designs on it was slung over her shoulders with a small black gloomy bear plush attached on the side of it. She continued to stare off into space until the bus to Tranquillum High School pulled up and opened up. The students filed into the well designed, surprisingly fancy, clean and comfortable bus. Noire took a random spot and sat in the soft cushy leather seat and set her backpack down at her feet and resumed staring off into the distance. She didn't even react when Phoebe Doyle sat down next to her and began her usual inane ramblings. The topic of which was beneath her. Phoebe was an annoyance but Noire cared little for her insane beliefs. So she just stared off into the empty void only she could see as they grew ever closer to Tranquilium while the rest of the students glowered at Phoebe's comments. She At one point a loud argument broke out between Phoebe and one or two other students but Noire just ignored them even as it quieted down.
They finally began closing in on their school and Noire began coming back to reality just in time to finally bother hearing Phoebe's ramblings. "-entitled rich guy who might kill someone because he has a tiny dong! Am I right? You know, like how your family has too much money that they could be giving away to people who need it! Your house would be better off as homeless shelter! You should be living a more modest life! Give your house away to the people who need it and go live in a small apartment somewhere!"
Noire finally turned her head as the bus pulled up. She grabbed her bag and stood up to leave only for Phoebe to lean back and raised her leg up to stop her from leaving. Noire looked at her face.
"Uh uh uh uh! You aren't leaving! You know I'm right about everything I said and I want to hear you say it! If you want to get off this bus then you need to-"
Noire's hand lashed out and grabbed Phoebe and pressed her palm against her face and pushed Phoebe's glasses into her face. The previously smug expression of the brat being replaced with one of pure shock. Despite her thin small frame she began dragging Phoebe up off of her seat into an awkward position where her head was held up straight and her knees buckled. "I don't find conversing with you to be productive. Escort thyself from my existence, and consider not another utterance." Noire informed her coldly and shoved her forward sending Phoebe careening backwards into the seat across from her. She hit it and fell over onto her back on the seat while the students who'd been sitting there previously jumping backwards to get out of her way. As Phoebe tried to sit back up only to end up slumping down to the floor and she quickly began adjusting the glasses that were hanging off of her face now while Noire walked away and got off of the bus.
If Phoebe didn't get the message then she definitely would after she found the surprise Noire had waiting in Phoebe's locker.
A few of the other kids laughed but Noire paid them no mind. She simply descended the bus out into the schoolyard where students of all sorts were going about their day to find their respective classes. She wasn't sure who first came up with the idea to put countless children, adolescents and adults in a single solitary location for hours at a time run by other adults whose dreams and ambitions had been crushed years ago but she had to admire the sadism. Phoebe meanwhile finished adjusting her glasses and got back up on her feet. She was still utterly bewildered as to how a twerp like Noire was able to pull that off though. Phoebe wasn't overly large but she was certainly heavyset and taller than Noire but the Goth Girl just wo-man handled her like she was nothing! This could not and would not stand! Her pride would not allow it. She adjusted her backpack and stormed after Noire.
The Goth Girl walked past everybody en route to walking inside of her own sector of the school casually until Phoebe finally caught up with her. "Hey! Lich!"
Noire tilted her head and gave her a look that let Phoebe know she was giving her the bare minimum of attention. It was the least she could do after a compliment like that.
"Yeah I'm talking to you! You know that attitude is exactly what I'm talking about! That smug privileged elitist snobby attitude towards everyone you deem to be lesser than-HEY COME BACK HERE!" She shouted as Noire walked away bored of her already. Phoebe had to power walk just to catch back up. She put on the speed to get in front of Noire. "That's it! That's it exactly! That's the attitude that is bringing down the world and ruining it for the next generation! Quite frankly I-huh?" Noire handed her a small piece of paper and placed it in Phoebe's hand and walked away again. Phoebe blinked and opened it up to reveal a small simple message.
Throwing it to the floor she once again stormed over to Noire and grabbed her arm. Noire stopped and turned her head to face her with a look in her eyes that let Phoebe know that she was in a
veeerry precarious position right now and that she should choose her next move
very carefully. Students in the hallways backed away to give Morgana a wide berth and their rambling started dying down to low murmurs as they felt the temperature in the school take a slight but noticeable drop. Phoebe felt a chill run up her arm and she let her go and backed off. It was if her whole body had sensed danger and put distance between them before she was even consciously aware of it. It was like knowing that there was a Lion or a Tiger or a Bear hunting you before you're even aware of it and that you absolutely HAVE to get away and hide before it's too late! A chill had run up her arm and it went numb from the ice cold sensations like she just plunged her arm into a bath full of ice! Phoebe placed a trembling hand on her chilled arm and rubbed her sleeve to warm herself back up as Noire returned her attention to her locker. She put in the code and opened it up to reveal a plethora of Gothic paraphernalia. It was the most Gothic School Locker she could have made like she'd stuffed it full of Halloween Decorations. She grabbed her books and casually put them in her bag as the other students went back to their business.
"W-w-well...I-I'll let you go this time! B-but you should watch your attitude! It could get you into trouble. I mean it. You don't wanna mess with me. You hear me? Try anything and you're cancelled!"
Noire closed her locker away. Still not caring.
"HARR-RUMPH!" She stomped off. "Honestly. Some people." She took out her phone and tried to log onto Social Media to send a message to her cohorts but found that her trembling fingers refused to cooperate. She was so scared she was shaking like a leaf! Phoebe ended up slumping against her own locker and took a number of breaths as she calmed herself down until she was able to finally stop shaking and she punched in her own locker code. "Honestly....what the hell was I so scared of? She's just some snobby Goth Chick! Just because she's from some rich asshole family doesn't mean she's scary...but still...it felt like...I was staring down a Monster back there." Phoebe shook her head and reached up to her locker to open it up. "Ridiculous. It's just mind games. That's all. Just mind games." When Phoebe opened her locker she was met by an explosion of Pig's Blood And Entrails bursting forth from the locker and spraying all over her while toy spiders launched forward from the locker, bounced off of Phoebe and landed on the floor and began crawling around covered in the blood and guts from the locker. Phoebe was covered in Pig's Blood and shaking toy spiders from head to toe.
Phoebe's screams and those of the other students throughout the hallways echoed through the hallways of the school and the slightest hint of a smile spread across Noire's face.
Noire continued making her way through the schools hallways until she arrived in class and she took her seat in the back of the room where she was surrounded by the other students, Carly, Blake, Hilton, Ceila, Jade, Roberto, Lara, Melba, Tristan and most importantly Maxwell Arsenio Saunders. Maxwell was one of the few students whose name she actually bothered remembering. Primarily because she'd discovered he wasn't quite as lacking in intelligence or wisdom as the others. He'd intrigued her. So much so that she put together an entire whiteboard in her hidden room detailing his weekly routine in the event that said information becomes useful. Noire had been considering requesting a date night with him but she would have to wait until after Hunt Night. Her family had something special planned this year and they'd spent weeks preparing for it. They'd promised her a big surprise that they could really sink their teeth into this year and she wouldn't miss it for the world.
"Seriously? Blood everywhere?" Maxwell asked Roberto as he walked into the room.
"I saw the whole thing. There little spiders all over the place and blood and guts everywhere! All over everyone! Security's already roped off the area and called the police. They're calling it a sick prank but the cops are going to be investigating her locker anyway."
"Sounds like we've got a long day ahead of us. They're going to be questioning everyone and in a school this big anybody could be the culprit." Maxwell commented.
"Any idea on who it could be?"
"The likely culprit would be someone who's been antagonized by Phoebe in the past which is...about everyone in school, plus there's the chance of someone doing it for a sick laugh, and given that she's even mouthed off to teachers even they aren't off the hook, so we'd have to look into finding out just who in the world could have possibly snuck into the school, unlocked her locker, rigged all of that up, close the locker and then get out without anybody seeing them. Adivíname esto, who's the school ninja then? The most likely culprit then would be a Janitor but that's too obvious and there's no motivation there. She has a number of other students around her who would have seen her put in her locker code but..." Maxwell paused in his thoughts. "You said they were as freaked out as her, right?"
"Yeah. Screaming their lungs out."
"Pfffff....so either they're very good actors or someone else did it." Maxwell sat down and set down his backpack and rested his head in his hands. "I'll have to think about it some more. Figure out who has the motivation and narrow down the suspects."
"Or, hear me out, we could just let the school faculty handle it." Roberto pointed out.
"Yeah but what fun is that?" Maxwell asked him with a smile. He was boyishly handsome like he'd just walked out of a fashion magazine with his dark hair slicked back in a classy style and his dark eyes looking out at the room with a bright shine to them that matched the light emitting from lighting up the room. He noticed her staring at him while resting her face in her hand. He smiled politely at her. "Hi Noire!"
"Buenos días, jovencito. ¿Qué tal va tu mañana?"
"Oh hey that was really good! Have you been practicing?"
"I read a few books." She replied. A little lie, sure, but it was easier than letting him know that she could understand any language.
"You're a fast learner. Have you considered teaching the Spanish Classes?" Maxwell joked.
"I have little patience for teaching and I'm still learning myself. Perhaps in the future."
"I think you'd be a great teacher, Noire, and I'd be happy to help you learn." He told her. "¿Soñaste con los angelitos?"
"Something like that." If she told him even half of the things she actually dreamed about she would break his mind.
"That's good to hear."
"Bro." Roberto whispered to him.
Maxwell looked back to him.
"Bro. Don't you think the Draculina over there might be kind of an obvious suspect?"
"Not until we have evidence. Keep cool until then. We're not starting a Witch Hunt in our own school. Cool as ice."
"Cool as ice. Got your back."
"Thanks." They quietly fist bumped and Maxwell returned his attention to Noire and smiled.
Noire continued staring at him while pretending like she didn't hear all of that.
"OH! MY! GOOOOOD! Did you see that? There was blood everywhere! I can still hear their screams! It was like a damn murder!" Jade exclaimed. "What kind of psycho does something like that?!"
"Ahem." Lara pointed across the room straight at Noire.
"Ohhhhhhh. Yeah that checks out. Psycho freak."
Noire finally turned her attention away from Maxwell and instead stared down the two girls. Practically daring them to try starting something with her but it was the more level headed Maxwell who stood up and raised his hands.
"Hey guys come on, look we're all freaked out over what happened, but there's no reason to start throwing around accusations without evidence."
"Oh come off of it, Saunders, that little psycho is guilty! You can see it on her evil little face!"
Noire simply kept up with her poker face. Her poker face being her usual death glare. "I assume you have evidence of your accusations?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about the fact that you're the school psychopath, you're mean to everyone, you had beef with Phoebe, and now there's blood all over the
hallway?!"
"I appreciate the initial compliment but I simply speak exactly what is on my mind, Phoebe has a history of antagonizing everyone and there is an entire campus full of suspects who could have set up the crime."
"Cram it psycho! We all know you did it!"
"You have no evidence!" Maxwell reminded them.
"I mean, he's right." Roberto replied. "Just because she's a suspect, at best, doesn't mean she's guilty."
"Your chivalrous defenses of me are appreciated but unnecessary. They have no proof of their baseless accusations and are merely grasping at straws. In fact their actions make me question if they are in fact the actual guilty party and that this whole song and dance is nothing but a sad attempt to frame me."
Jade walked up to her desk and slammed a hand down on Noire's desk. "You see that? That's it. Right there. That snobbish, stuck up, I'm always right asshole attitude of yours that grinds my gears so much. You wanna pick a fight you freak?! Because I'll slap the truth right out of your mouth."
"You may test that assumption at your convenience."
Maxwell shoved his arm in between them. "That's enough. Jade, sit down, we are not going to start fighting each other over this. If you want accuse anyone of anything do it after you have evidence of their wrongdoing. Until then, lets all calm down, take our seats and take some breaths. If you want to team up with us to investigate the situation with us after class and over the school day, then you can but I won't allow any infighting in our class. Got it?"
Before the situation could escalate any further the other students filed into the classroom followed by their professor.
"Al-right everybody! Listen up! This has been a rather awkward morning with the locker blood explosion, can't believe I just said that, but I want you all to know that security are handling it right now and the police are inbound to investigate it further. Let the professionals handle everything from here, alright? Nobody jump to any conclusions. Let the law handle everything. Phoebe and the others will be okay. Nobody was hurt except emotionally. Rest assured we will be investigating other student lockers to ensure that no other blood bombs or whatever that was go off on anybody else. The situation is contained and everyone will be okay. Lets just continue our day. To ensure your nerves calm down we will be skipping today's test for a video day instead. So everybody sit back, relax, calm down and enjoy your hour of rest."
A few of the kids cheered but primarily everyone was left to rest after the horror show from the morning. Jade made a face at Noire and then she sat down for class while Noire ignored her.
The video in question was an interesting lecture by Neil Turok about Physics. His presentation style was impressive and he reduced the more complex details to a level that Noire's classmates could comprehend.
Noire followed along easily while writing down her notes in The Elder Futhark.
ᚲᚢᚨᚾᛏᚢᛗ ᛈᚺᛁᛊᛁᚲᛊ ᚠᛟᚱᛗᛊ ᚦᛖ ᚠᛟᚢᚾᛞᚨᛏᛟᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚲᚺᛖᛗᛁᛊᛏᚱᛁ, ᛖᚲᛊᛈᛚᚨᛁᚾᛁᛜ ᚺᛟᚹ ᛗᛟᛚᛖᚲᚢᛚᛖᛊ ᚨᚱᛖ ᚺᛖᛚᛞ ᛏᛟᚷᛖᚦᛖᚱ. ᛁᛏ ᛞᛖᛊᚲᚱᛁᛒᛖᛊ ᚺᛟᚹ ᚱᛖᛚ ᛊᛟᛚᛁᛞᛊ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛗᚨᛏᛖᚱᛟᚨᛚᛊ ᛒᛖᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚺᛟᚹ ᛖᛚᛖᚲᛏᚱᛁᚲᛁᛏᛁ ᛁᛊ ᚲᛟᚾᛞᚢᚲᛏᛖᛞ ᚦᚱᛟᚢᚷᚺ ᚦᛖᛗ. ᛁᛏ ᛖᚾᚨᛒᛚᛖᛞ ᚦᛖ ᛞᛖᚢᛖᛚᛟᛈᛗᛖᚾᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚱᚨᚾᛊᛁᛊᛏᛟᚱᛊ, ᛁᚾᛏᛖᚷᚱᚨᛏᛖᛞ ᚲᛁᚱᚲᚢᛁᛏᛊ, ᛚᚨᛊᛖᚱᛊ, ᛚᛖᛞᛊ, ᛞᛁᚷᛁᛏᚨᛚ ᚲᚨᛗᛖᚱᚨᛊ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚨᛚᛚ ᚦᛖ ᛗᛟᛞᛖᚱᚾ ᚷᚨᛞᚷᛖᛏᚱᛁ ᚦᚨᛏ ᛊᚢᚱᚱᛟᚢᚾᛞᛊ ᚢᛊ.
Quantum physics forms the foundation of chemistry, explaining how molecules are held together. It describes how real solids and materials behave and how electricity is conducted through them. It enabled the development of transistors, integrated circuits, lasers, LEDs, digital cameras and all the modern gadgetry that surrounds us.
The Elder Futhark, also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones in Scandinavia, from the 2nd to the 10th centuries.
In Scandinavia, beginning in the late 8th century, the script was simplified to the Younger Futhark, while the Anglo-Saxons and Frisians instead extended it, giving rise to the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. Both the Anglo-Saxon futhorc and the Younger Futhark remained in use during the Early and the High Middle Ages respectively, but knowledge of how to read the Elder Futhark was forgotten until 1865, when it was deciphered by Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge.
The Elder Futhark runes are commonly believed to originate in the Old Italic scripts: either a North Italic variant (Etruscan or Raetic alphabets), or the Latin alphabet itself. Derivation from the Greek alphabet via Gothic contact to Byzantine Greek culture was a popular theory in the 19th century, but has been ruled out since the dating of the Vimose inscriptions to the 2nd century (whereas the Goths were in contact with Greek culture only from the early 3rd century). Conversely, the Greek-derived 4th-century Gothic alphabet does have two letters derived from runes, j (from Jer Runic letter jeran.svg j) and u (from Uruz Runic letter uruz.svg u).
The angular shapes of the runes, presumably an adaptation to the incision in wood or metal, are not a Germanic innovation, but a property that is shared with other early alphabets, including the Old Italic ones (compare, for example, the Duenos inscription). The 4th century BC Negau helmet inscription features a Germanic name, Harigastiz, in a North Etruscan alphabet, and may be a testimony of the earliest contact of Germanic speakers with alphabetic writing. Similarly, the Meldorf inscription of 50 may qualify as "proto-runic" use of the Latin alphabet by Germanic speakers. The Raetic "alphabet of Bolzano" in particular seems to fit the letter shapes well The spearhead of Kovel, dated to 200 AD, sometimes advanced as evidence of a peculiar Gothic variant of the runic alphabet, bears an inscription tilarids that may in fact be in an Old Italic rather than a runic alphabet, running right to left with a T and a D closer to the Latin or Etruscan than to the Bolzano or runic alphabets. Perhaps an "eclectic" approach can yield the best results for the explanation of the origin of the runes: most shapes of the letters can be accounted for when deriving them from several distinct North Italic writing systems: The p rune has a parallel in the Camunic alphabet, while it has been argued that d derives from the shape of the letter san (= ś) in Lepontic where it seems to represent the sound /d/.
To be honest there was no particular reason for her to take her notes in this fashion other than she loved seeing the confusion and surprise on everyone's faces whenever they saw her notes and assumed it was some insane gibberish. Explaining it time and again could be annoying at times but that look was always worth it.
Maxwell relaxed and enjoyed the lecture video, a refreshing break after the morning insanity, and continued down his own notes. While doing so he glanced over to Noire to make sure she was alright after Jade's accusations and noticed that she was still staring forward. Same intimidating intense focused glare as always. She was an oddball even among the other Goth Kids. Nothing ever fazed her and he'd never seen her lose her poker face.
When people tried to mess with her they ended up on the worst side of the confrontation even if, as far as he knew from second hand sources, she'd always give them plenty of room to leave her alone before she'd even bother with taking action. Of course he had no idea what she was like in her personal life but he thought it might do her some good to open up more. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't guilty of Phoebe's blood bombing. Maybe, just maybe, she was trying to reach out to him. Maybe she wanted friends underneath it all. Maybe all she needed was a friend. After all, one friend can be enough to change anyone's life. Before he could continue with his personal thoughts though he looked down at what she was writing but he was completely unable to decipher it. He'd have to ask her about it after class.
The class continued until the video ended and the students packed up their belongings. Jade waited for Noire to begin walking forward and stuck out her foot in an attempt to trip her up but Noire just stepped over her and bumped Jade's shoulder with her bag. Jade grunted but let it go for now. She would get her back later.
Maxwell however went out of his way to catch up with Noire. "Hey. Noire. Hi."
"Salutations." She replied dryly.
"Right. Well. You know. I was thinking about what happened this morning and I think it might be best for everyone to stick together and you know, I noticed you eat lunch alone a lot, and I was wondering if you'd like to eat lunch with us today? You know, something different? Break up the mundanity?"
"Very well. I could use a break from the usual monotonous rut. I will see you then."
Alright, cool, one more question though, if you don't mind."
"You may ask."
"What was that weird language you were writing in your notes?"
"The Elder Futhark. One of the oldest runic alphabets, used in Old Norse society between the 2nd and 8th centuries."
"Woah. So, you know how to write and understand that?"
"It's simple to learn with a little bit of effort. The Library has books on the subject if you wish to educate yourself."
"Oh, alright, uh, I'll check that out. Thanks."
"Will that be all?"
"No, yes, I think so."
"I will see you at lunch." She walked away and disappeared into the crowd.
Maxwell sighed and watched her leave. "I think this is a good sign."
Roberto clapped his friend on the back. "My man. My man. Have you ever seen Audition?"
"Don't think so. What's that about?"
"Ohhhh boy. This will not be easy to hear. Come on. We'll talk on the way to class."
"Is it good?"
"Yeah but I'm about to spoil the hell out of it for you anyway."
Noire continued walking through the school like she owned the establishment and everybody else was a mere peasant compared to her. Not even worth her attention. Which did raise the question towards her fascination with Maxwell. Certainly he was the complete opposite of her family members and she heavily doubted he would be remotely interested in their proclivities. They were night and day. Logically speaking it would never work out between them. However that was the exact reason why she found herself gravitating towards him. He was so different from her family while still being good looking, athletic and smarter than the standard rabble around her that he held her interest. She would have to get to know him of course but Noire figured she could make it work. Whether it was just a chemical reaction compelling her to mate or something else remained to be seen of course but it would be interesting to explore.
Oh! But how would she explain Annual Events like The Hunt?
No, no need to worry. She could ease him into that.
"Hey there! Hey! Hey hey hey hey! Excuse me! Hey! Hi there! 'Sup? How's it going? Hey, hold up! I just want to talk!"
Noire was dragged out of her own thoughts and she looked over to the student power walking next to her. A tall and slender young man with neck length straight pale-blonde hair, green eyes and handsome features. His physique is very elegant. His clothes were form fitting and notably more high class than that of the usual students. This was Gideon Gordon Vanderbilt. The Prince Of Pacific Grove and younger son of The Vanderbilt Family.
"Hey Noire. Can I call you Noire? What's up? Hey, listen, I heard what you did to Phoebe and I just wanted to say that...that was damn cool. I don't like to insult people but she was a total bigoted jerk. I feel sorry for the other kids who got splashed, yeah, but as far as I'm concerned that was just karma finally slapping her in the face. Or, well, splashing her face but you know what I mean." Gideon complimented her. "But seriously how did you even do that? I've been wracking my brain since this morning but I can't figure it out. Did you have a man on the inside? Like a superspy? Did you do it Mission Impossible style? Also, why the toy spiders instead of real ones? Come on, you can tell me."
Noire continued walking. "Whether I did it or not is irrelevant. I see no reason to ruin the first intriguing mystery this establishment has ever seen."
"To be fair it isn't much of a mystery."
"There are approximately sixty-six thousand six hundred sixty-six students attending this institution and Phoebe has antagonized hundreds of them with her bigoted madness and you believe yourself such a skilled detective that you have narrowed down the culprit the same Morning of the blood prank? Impressive. But you need proof and evidence and as you can see my hands are clean. Now then, assuming that I was in fact the culprit, why should I reveal my methods? A magician never reveals his secrets."
"Ohhhhh okay. So you're playing the trickster role, huh? Alright. We'll just see what the law can find in the locker."
"And let the pieces fall where they may."
"Hey so are you really a magician?"
Noire held her hand up, waved it in front of his face circled her hand around and then she flicked her wrist and pulled a card seemingly out of nowhere which she dropped into his hand before walking away. Gideon paused and looked down at the tarot card in his hand. The Moon. A card of illusion and deception, and therefore often suggests a time when something is not as it appears to be. Perhaps a misunderstanding on your part, or a truth you cannot admit to yourself. In other words, Noire was basically telling him "Yeah, I did it, but you can't prove it, and I'm not stupid enough to admit it or tell you how I did it. Neener-neener-neener."
"Real cute." Gideon commented and pocketed the card.
Officers Marjorie Kramb and Officer Denise Kirwin looked over the locker. The blood bomb had resulted in the blood splattering everywhere! The inside of the locker was completely drenched in it! Everything inside was ruined and whatever didn't hit Phoebe had sprayed all over the walls and splattered across the floor filling the air with a pungent metallic, rusty odor like rotten eggs. It was obvious that the culprit had been planning this for a long time and while Phoebe had been the primary target the culprit obviously didn't care about anyone else getting caught up in the splatter. In all likelihood the culprit only saw them as collateral damage. In other words they were dealing with one sick son of a bitch. This left the questions of who, how and why the culprit had even done this. It was going a little too far for a school prank. This was done by someone with a grudge.
"Okay. Here's how I see it: The culprit, whomever he or she may be, filled the bag or container of choice with blood and the toy spiders, infiltrated the school, got the locker open, shoved it inside and rigged the pull pin to the locker door before shutting it. That way when the victim, whether it be Phoebe or someone else, opened it up, they would be drenched by the erupting blood bomb. As for the toy spiders it's likely that the culprit didn't trust real spiders to burst out or survive in the blood, so toy spiders were placed inside with it. When it went off they were launched out and onto Phoebe. The result was that there were now blood drenched jittering jumping toy spiders all over the floor making the scene even more nightmarish. While I'm glad that nobody was physically hurt...those poor kids are going to be in therapy for years. I'm still at a loss as to how the culprit managed to pull this off in the first place though. It had to have been an inside job." Marjorie explained.
"Ugh, the police are going to have to speak with everyone on this aren't they? We'll have to start with the night shift and students who were here last night to even begin to narrow it down. With any luck the cameras caught the culprit red handed or can at least give us a clue as to whoever they are." Denise added.
"Well there's not much else we can do here. Lets let forensics get to work while we proceed with questioning."
"You know they're backlogged for the next couple of months, right?"
"I know." Marjorie replied with a sigh. "And the press and their parents are going to be on our butts until we solve it and find the culprit. It's a pain but there isn't much else we can do. Come on."
"Yeah."
They stepped over the tape and walked up to the principal. "Sir, I ask you again: Do you know any way the culprit could have gotten access to the student's locker?"
"Not unless the culprit knew the password or somehow hacked into the locker's security system. The only ones with keys to open any locker are the school faculty and staff. Nobody else." Principal Bytheseashore replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black device with a button and a key on it. He held it up a locker's keypad and pressed the button. The locker's keypad numbers lit up one by one followed by the # and ENTER signs lighting up and then the locker unlocking. He pulled it open, showed them the student's locker and then he closed it. "It's just in case we ever need to help a student with their locker or get inside for whatever reason. But as to how our mystery blood bomber pulled this off? I'm at a loss."
"Okay what can you tell us about the victim, Phoebe Phillip?"
"Ohhhh boy. I think it would be best to discuss that in my office. I'm going to need a tall drink before we start discussing her history."
"Non-alcoholic I hope?"
"As much as I might need one at times I refuse to consume alcoholic beverages on campus in order to set a proper example for the students."
You're a good man, Seashore."
"Bytheseashore, but thank you. Please follow me."
"Is that your real last name?"
"God given!"
www.names.org/n/bytheseashore/aboutThey arrived in his office and the principal got set up with a tall drink of coffee and then he pulled out a large file on Penelope Phillip from his desk. He took a long drink from his coffee, set it back down on a coaster and then he opened up the file. "Okay so here we go. You might want to get comfortable. We're going to be here a while." He began taking out papers while listing off every complaint they'd received about her but it boiled down to: Severe or continual disruptive behavior in class in the form of Aggression Toward Other Students Or Faculty, Threats Of Violence, Unyielding Argument Or Debate, Yelling Inside Or Outside Of The Classroom, Untimely Talking/laughing/crying, Snoring In Class, Engaging In Content On A Laptop That Others Find Disruptive, Listening To Music At A Volume Disruptive To Others, Threatening To 'Cancel' People, Sexual Harassment, Potential Cyberbullying, Announcing Bigoted Views And Tardiness among many other problems.
The two policewomen were left sitting there with coffee cups of their own before he was finished.
"Well. Shit."
"Yeah."
"Hey, uh, can we have some copies of those? For evidence purposes?"
"Certainly. I'll have my secretary print them." Principal Bytheseashore poked his head out of the door. "Hey, Miss Gutierrez? If you're not too busy, could you please make some copies of these and hand them to our officer friends?"
"Sure thing." She accepted the file and walked into a backroom to begin making the copies.
"You're the best!" He called after her.
"Forever and always, sir!" She called back.
He leaned back into the room and sat back down. "So, yeah, as you can see...unless forensics finds something in all that blood or the cameras caught the culprit, we're out of luck. We could try creating a psychological profile based on who she's interacted with and narrow down a suspect that way but her repeated rude behaviors have caused problems with so many students and faculty members that it would be impossible to narrow it down!"
"Virtually impossible." Marjorie corrected him. "For nothing is ever truly impossible! But....yeah I agree." She admitted sheepishly. "I would still like to question the students and teachers though. Do you have a list of her classes?"
"Oh certainly." He produced the list for them and the two officers looked it over.
"Okay. We'll question the teachers and students in her classes first and see if we can begin building a case from there."
"Two more questions though: Was she ever disciplined?"
"Multiple times. She even recently came back from a suspension but I can't be sure if that curbed her behavior or not when her previous punishments did nothing."
"I see. One last question for now then: Where were you last night?"
"At home with my family going over paperwork. I can call my wife if you'd like to check with her."
"No. That will be enough for now. Thank you." The officers stepped out of the room and walked away to go meet with Gutierrez to pick up the file.
Principal Bytheseashore sighed and slumped in his chair staring forward blankly at the wall, his thoughts drifting back to the decisions that lead him here.
"I have come to speak with you regarding a mutual annoyance in our lives."
"Gonna have to narrow it down, kid, I've got a lot of headaches I'm dealing with."
"Phoebe Phillips disorderly conduct is disturbing the peace and undermining the authority of this institution is it not? Normally I would not concern myself with such trivialities but she has become an inconvenience to me as well."
"So what do you want me to do? We've tried punishing her and it never gets through that thick skull of hers."
"That is because you are too soft. It is not your fault of course but the simple truth of the matter is that kids who are accused of bullying have lawyers too. If someone is genuinely guilty of bullying or sexual harassment in school, the current zero tolerance policies are very strict. It often results in expulsion or at least several months of alternative school. Police reports are taken. Interviews are held with psychologists. School board hearings with lawyers. In short, administrators have to make sure their i's are dotted and their t's are crossed before going forward with allegations. This is not because schools don't care, it's because our litigious society makes it nearly impossible to do the right thing without getting screwed or financially ruined. Because of this, most schools try and avoid the bullying route and simply go with a lighter accusation; one that can be quickly punished without legal repercussions due to their deluded parents who have been unfortunate enough to reproduce have deluded themselves into thinking that their spawn is either an angel or a victim. Rather than trying to work things out and figure out what is really going on, they want action that suits them. Because of this your hands are tied by the laws and morals of the world. Mine are not. I can solve this problem without physically harming anyone and leaves only psychological scars. There will be collateral in order to sell it properly but nobody will be physically harmed."
"...What are you getting at?"
"She returns to school tomorrow does she not? I can set up a surprise for her in her locker that she will never forget. One that will scare her straight."
"What do you want me to do?"
Noire leaned forward and held out her hand. "Look the other way.""What am I becoming?" He muttered to himself.
"Okay, so, like I said: Phoebe was a jerk to everyone but she didn't deserve that! And other students getting splashed too? What the hell kind of lunatic does that to people? Was that even real blood or food dye or paint?" Jade asked. This confident girl has bright blue eyes that are like two windows looking out to the bright blue sky. Her luxurious, curly, golden blonde hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a flower's petals. She is tall and has a feminine build. Her skin is light and fair. She has high cheekbones. Her wardrobe is businesslike and unusual, with a lot of red.
"We're not making assumptions until we know for certain." Marjorie replied. "Rest assured though she was rushed to the hospital to check her for any potential infections."
"Well...that's good...but...I can only hope she recovers because that was just a nasty, nasty excuse of a prank....and I can only think of ONE kid at this school who would be crazy enough to do that."
That got the officer's attention. "Who is it? Do you have a lead? Or Evidence?"
"Her name is Noire Nightshade. She's a creepy Goth girl. Antisocial AF, doesn't have social media accounts, lives in a big creepy mansion, bad mouths everyone, comes from a family of freaks and weirdos, and most importantly? I heard through the grapevine she got in a fight with Phoebe just this Morning."
"Leaving aside the unnecessary insults that is interesting. Could you tell us more about the fight?"
"Yeah, I heard she shoved Phoebe right out of her seat on the bus. Just bodied her and bodychecked her out of it and then walked away. Literally stepped over her. If you're going to suspect anybody? Then Noire is your culprit. The inside of her locker is chock full of all this dark and edgy and gothy stuff is right out of Hot Topic! I wouldn't be surprised if she's got human blood in there. Out of everyone in this school? She outright screams Prime Suspect."
"Okay, but, just having Gothic interests doesn't mean that you're a bad person automatically. Some of them are perfectly normal people. Besides, have you seen all of those ;Blank As An 80's Horror Movie' Videos? By your logic they're all guilty of crimes as well. We can suspect people but they still have rights. We can't put the blame on someone without evidence."
Jade nearly blurted out a comment on that but caught herself in time, swallowed her words, and pushed them down before nodding. "That's fair but trust me you'll understand when you meet this girl."
"Uh huh. Can you describe her?"
"Goth. Black hair with pigtails, black eyeliner, black lipstick, black painted fingernails, a short sleeved black shirt, black skirt, black boots, black skeleton backpack with bat wings, you know, Goth and dark." Jade shrugged. "She's got swagger but zero fashion sense."
"That is in the eye of the beholder. But we will question her and see what comes up. Thank you, Jade, but try not to go around accusing people without evidence." She handed Jade back her bag. "You may return to class now."
"No officers, thank you, for everything you do." She replied with a smile and walked out of the office.
Noire was in the middle of her class taking notes when her name blared over the intercomm.
"NOIRE NIGHTSHADE TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE! NOIRE NIGHTSHADE TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!"
Noire calmly packed up her belongings and zipped up her backpack and walked out of the room to begin her walk to the office. Everything was proceeding within expectations.
