~Meredith Hillard~

After she had made her grand entrance, things started moving much faster. That was good - it was having the intended effect she desired. At least, that's what she told herself when in reality she didn't have any such plan to begin with. Or maybe she did. Either way, it was good things were moving along smoothly enough.

"So, Anyone else think we've seen entirely too many horrifying monsters today?"

This response elicited a melodic laugh from meredith, a laugh someone wouldn't expect - or maybe they would, from something that looked as she currently did. Whoever this girl was, was probably going to be fun to mess with in the future. Even if she was probably currently dazed, she would be easy enough to mess with probably.

"I don't know, but you look tasty to me, I've never eaten something like you, you must taste quite exotic. So are you going to be my lunch today?"

Before she could reply, however, she was interrupted by...a thing. It didn't faze her, however. Very few things fazed her. All of her eyes focused on the creature before her, her head doing an unnatural 180 turn on her shoulders to look at him. Yuck. He didn't seem very appetizing. He looked like he had a lot of biomass to be sure, but he also looked quite acidic. He probably would give her a bad stomach ache, and she wasn't sure there was enough tums in the world to cure something like that.

"Vous ne pouvez pas manger Madam Hillard!I refuse to allow you to eat Miss Hillard! Madam! Did you have a good summer? I had a brilliant one! We jetted off to the Far East! Japan was magnificent!"

Ah, french. The language of love some might say. Meredith laughed again at hearing Olivia's voice, as her face started to turn back to its original shape. "Ah, Olivia! Au plaisir de vous revoir! Non, mon été a été très calme. Mon travail me tient assez occupé, plus quelques choses avec l'école je ne peux pas vous dire kiddies." She spoke french quite fluently. She spoke several languages quite fluently, actually. The other students would probably be quite bewildered, but she wasn't one to spoil it. By now though, her face had taken a completely human appearance. Brown eyes, blond hair, and pale skin. It was an appearance most would probably find quite attractive, if it wasn't for the whole 'eldritch horror' thing.

"I have seen more scary than you. Hell I have killed scarier than you. I wonder what whatever in the nine hells you are tastes like."

It was then, someone threatened her once again. She was growing tired of these threats, though. The first one made by the walking stomach-ache made her chuckle a bit, but this one merely caused her to sigh. She would have liked to keep talking with Olivia.

"Tsk tsk. Threatening a teacher is grounds for detention, young man." She replied, as her tentacles reformed into her left arm, a few snapping noises being heard as bones snapped back into place. "I would love to see you in my room after class, though..." She grinned, a bit menacingly as she turned towards Paul. Whatever that meant, she left up to interpretation.

"Miss Meredith, this isn't the time for fighting! Some of the students are injured! Yep, definitely broken, And she's bleeding heavily! She needs instant medical attention!"

"Paul, paul, Paul. You should know by now I don't like fighting unless I have too, lest I get carried away." She nervously chuckled at the though, but it didn't seem like she was really nervous about doing it. She seemed rather eager, actually. However, instead she spoke to both Paul and Tony, the older students her currently had enough sense to actually try to do something.

"Paul, Tony, be a dear and go take those who are seriously injured students to the train platform. The nurse should have been alerted the moment the emergency breaks were pulled, and already should be on their way here." She asked, well, more like commanded them by the way she hefted that bone saw that was currently resting on her shoulder.

“HEY YOU! Come on! We gotta go. Come on! GO GO GO! EVERYBODY, GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND MOVE! COME ON, LET’S MOVE IT.”

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" She called out to Graham, perhaps a bit too harshly. It was just to get his and everyones attention. "I'm going to have to ask anyone who is not in need of immediate medical attention, please stay on the tram. Someone was fighting here, and I intend to find the culprit. So please, calm yourself and take a seat on the nearest thing used for sitting, and I will start trying to figure out what exactly happened here, Bein?"

~Alexis Sinclair~

Alexis wasn't entirely sure what had happened. One moment, she was punching some uppity chick in the face, next, she was on the floor with what felt like a hangover. Not that she would know what one was - she had just seen her dad go through so many before to know what the effects were. The hell did she get such a massive headache? She hit her head twice, but she was sure that wasn't enough to give her one this bad. Either way, she was fairly certain she blacked out a bit too - just long enough to miss the entrance of the other horror.

By the time she came to her senses, Meredith had already assumed a more human form, and was telling everyone to stay put. What happened? She vaguely remembered hearing Kitty say something about medical attention, but other than that...damn, this was her fault, wasn't it? Alexis sat up with a groan, holding her head as she rubbed a sore spot.

"The hell happened?"

"STOP RIGHT THERE! I'm going to have to ask anyone who is not in need of immediate medical attention, please stay on the tram. Someone was fighting here, and I intend to find the culprit. So please, calm yourself and take a seat on the nearest thing used for sitting, and I will start trying to figure out what exactly happened here, Bein?"

Positively stunned, Graham didn’t dare move an inch. That thing had noticed him, had addressed him. It didn’t sound pleased. It...also didn’t look like a monster anymore. It was a woman? An attractive woman at that. Others had been talking with her, not even remotely the response he had expected. They were all...wait, they were older. And, they had called her Meredith.

Miss Meredith.

And she(it?) had spoken of threatening a teacher.

No.

Please no.

This thing wasn’t actually a teacher...was it? This place wouldn’t be as cruel as to… Graham thought of the other abomination, previously a student, albeit a rather hungry one. An almost audible click when off in Graham’s head. His mouth started moving, forming the word “No” repeatedly, yet no sound came out.

“Where...the hell are we? What the hell is going on?”

Another new voice. Graham slowly moved his gaze to see the boy he had shaken awake now voicing his confusion. Poor kid. He picked a helluva time to open those eyes. Then again, it was his fault for waking him up. Oops. So Graham gave him the truth, slowly and gravely.

“Welcome to hell, buddy.”

And what that, the strength in Graham’s legs gave out and he collapsed into the seat, eyes now locked firmed on the teacher-creature. He didn’t know what to even believe. He took some solace that there was a chance that he had imagined all of this. He could be locked up in a nice, cozy, squishy room, ranting and raving about hellish beasts turning into women and schools kidnapping people via train.

Yeah...that didn’t sound too bad.

~Alexis Sinclair~
~Meredith Hillard~

Alexis wasn't entirely sure what happened, but there was some lady with a...was that a saw made out of bone attached to her arm? Well, she had to admit to herself that was pretty cool, actually. Still, where had she come from? She wasn't here when she was knocked out, nor heard the conversations that took place during her little daze. She stood up, a bit shakily as she ignored the slow throb from where she had hit her head twice as she walked over to Graham, taking a seat by him and another kid who looked like he had just woken up.

"Yo, graham." She started, glancing towards the woman currently seeming to be directing the shots. "What happened? I kinda got...knocked out there. I think." She said, wincing a bit as she continued to rub her head. "Gah, I feel like I have a massive hangover. That's the second time I've hit my head in an hour..." She grumbled. "And who's the chick with the saw for an arm?"

Meredith herself didn't seem to hear the question or she would have most likely introduced herself to the both of them. Instead, she seemed content with inspecting the tram. It didn't see to terribly damaged - aside from what she had done to it, a broken window and a busted light. It didn't seem the fight had been to violent. She probably had stopped it right before it turned ugly, thanks to Paul pulling those emergency brakes. Still, she needed to find out who was starting the lessons early.

"Alright, so, if I could have all of your attention please!" She called out again. "Anyone want to tell me who was fighting? You'll get bonus points in my class for being a good little human!~" She hummed to herself as she looked around at everyone, before suddenly turning, and looking right at Aspen, pointing the saw right at her.

"How about you? You seem like you saw what happened clearly." At least, she asked before she noticed the student bleeding. "Ah, wait." She interrupted herself. "You're bleeding. I said anyone who was seriously injured needs to be escorted out, little miss. That glass should probably be taken care of. You there!" She called out, before turning her head and saw both towards Cheol, who had just woken up. "If you would be so kind as to escort miss here towards the arrival platform, it would be most appreciated. It's at the end of the rails, just follow the tracks in-" She twirled, pointing her blade arm towards the front of the tram. "That, direction!"

"Yo, Graham. "What happened? I kinda got...knocked out there. I think. Gah, I feel like I have a massive hangover. That's the second time I've hit my head in an hour...And who's the chick with the saw for an arm?"

Alexis. She seemed pretty fine, it not a bit out of the loop. Graham broke his gaze of Meredith and offered her a weak smile and shook his head. How did he explain any of this? He wasn’t sure what had happened himself. Not fully, at least. It all happened so fast. But he couldn’t just leave her in the dark. Might as well spill what he thought he knew. He opened his mouth and-

"Alright, so, if I could have all of your attention please!"

Well then. Little Miss Monster was probably going to save him some trouble.

"Anyone want to tell me who was fighting? You'll get bonus points in my class for being a good little human!~"

Graham gulped silently. If she WAS a teacher, he supposed that would be what she wanted to know. Well, she wouldn’t find out from him. Don’t narc. Narcing gets you shanked. Or at least, that’s what television would have him believe. And when had television ever steered somebody wrong?

"How about you? You seem like you saw what happened clearly. Ah, wait. You're bleeding. I said anyone who was seriously injured needs to be escorted out, little miss. That glass should probably be taken care of. You there! If you would be so kind as to escort miss here towards the arrival platform, it would be most appreciated. It's at the end of the rails, just follow the tracks in---That, direction!"

Another gulp. Graham felt bad for the bleeder. Having it look at him made him feel uneasy. Having to talk to it? A silent shudder rippled through the boy. Still, he saw a chance. While she was busy directing the injured to safety, he might be able to fill Alexis in a bit.

“Train stopped. Not sure why. Most of us fell. Kitty got injured, not sure how. So did some others. That woman’s a monster, ripped a hole in the ceiling. Be glad you didn’t see it. Upperclassmen tried to stop her and…”

Graham spoke quietly, but quickly. He paused for a moment, looking down toward Sam. He hadn’t noticed what had happened on that front. He gave a quick nod in that direction then went back to his recap.

“...and now we shut up. I think you know why.”

Good. That should cover most points. And he felt like he spoke quietly enough that the monster didn’t overhear. God, he hoped so.

------------------------

~Meredith Hillard & Alexis Sinclair~

“Train stopped. Not sure why. Most of us fell. Kitty got injured, not sure how. So did some others. That woman’s a monster, ripped a hole in the ceiling. Be glad you didn’t see it. Upperclassmen tried to stop her and…and now we shut up. I think you know why.”

Alexis silently listened to Graham. Kitty go injured? Damn it. That was her fault then. They probably somehow knew that they had gotten in a fight and tried to break it up by stopping the train or something. She didn't know for certain, but she had her suspicions. These government types always knew what was going on in their facilities. Hell, she doubted if this 'school' would be any different from...that other place. She shivered a bit at that, though she didn't let Graham know why. However, this offered a rather...unique opportunity for her to get back at little miss princess if this lady was a teacher and looking for a culprit.

"Hrmph. Shutting up was never my strong suit..." She quietly replied to Graham, before giving him a mischievous grin. "Hey, back me up if I need it, alright?" She quietly whispered, giving him a sharp nudge in the side. She didn't actually expect much from him actually. In fact, she expected that he wouldn't say anything whatsoever. But on the off chance he did say something, she'd welcome it.

"Uhm...Hello? I don't think I got your name." She said to Meredith, reaching into her pocket to silence her headphones which were still playing music, rather loudly. Meredith turned to face Alexis, a grin plastered on her face.

"Well hello to you too! Nice to see someone has some manners among all this...chaos." She chuckled. "Meredith Hillard, at your service. Biology teacher and world famous Biologist, if you keep up with that sort of thing. And you...are...?"
"Alexis Sinclair." She promptly replied.

"Well hullo~ Do you need something? You're not injured are you?" She asked, eyes quickly darting up and down to see if there were any visible injuries on the other girl.

"Other than what feels like a hangover from bashing my head into the floor twice, I'm good." The reply elicited a laugh from Meredith, apparently she found her response funny. Good, that meant she seemed like a nice kid to this teacher. She seemed just as easy to fool as those idiots back at the other place. "That person over there was the one fighting." She said, perhaps a bit too bluntly, pointing towards Brett without giving much further explanation.

"Oh? Any details?" Meredith asked, looking at Alexis a bit expectantly.

"Well...uhm, she attacked me. And I had to defend myself and my friends." She replied nodding her head slightly over to Graham. It wasn't an outright lie. Just...stretching the truth a bit. She knew she probably wouldn't get off free, but there was probably little she could do to keep herself out of this altogether. So, she'd just label that other chick as a troublemaker.

"Well well, defending your friends is quite admirable. And attacking someone is a very very bad thing." She finally replied after a few moments of silence. "Do you have anything to add? Is it indeed as your friend said?" She asked, looking at Graham expectantly.

Meredith wasn't entirely sure this girl was being truthful, but so far she had been the only one to come forward to say anything. She would have to work with the information that was given to her, even if said information was a bit wrong. If the two girls were the center of this problem, she'd just take them to her office and have a nice long...chat, with them. If they still didn't cooperate, then she'd have to get the Vice Principle involved. That, would be something she would not want to happen.

Too much paperwork involved.

"Hrmph. Shutting up was never my strong suit...Hey, back me up if I need it, alright?"

Back me up? And what’s with that grin? And the nudge?

Graham’s stomach shot sharp pains in all direction, revolting against what it knew was coming. It was as if his body was trying warn him to bolt, to get far, far away from these shenanigans. She didn’t actually plan to-

"Uhm...Hello? I don't think I got your name."

All of the color drained out of his face. No, not drained, just...disappeared. Completely. Gone off to a better place, a land of sunshine and rainbows. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she wouldn’t do-

"That person over there was the one fighting."

Nooo. Alexis, don’t. Don’t do it. Just eject. Was there still time to eject? No, probably not. He had been doomed from the start. He fully realized what she wanted. And it seemed like she was not about to give him an option in the matter. My Little Nightmare wanted details. Alexis gave her details. Those details were...uh...close enough to the truth? Right?

"Do you have anything to add? Is it indeed as your friend said?"

Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Alright. Graham pulled together his mind. Surely any nervousness on his part would just come across as fear from what had just happened. That’s good. That’s perfect. It comforted him quite a bit. But he couldn’t just lie to the teacher. He didn’t even really know Alexis, outside of her liking Pokemon. Was he really about to stick his neck on the line for her?

Yeah. Yeah he was. Idiot.

While he didn’t make lying a hobby, he was alright at it. Sometimes.

They were doomed.

“Y-yeah. We were just minding our business when she jumped us…”

Verbally.

“And we couldn’t really strike back.”

Kitty kept her cool at least.

“So Alexis, well, defended us.”

A good lie always had an element of truth. Even, y’know, blurry subjective truth.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say it was really a fight. Just a misunderstanding. Besides, I’d say whoever stopped the train did MUCH more damage. I mean, what kind of irresponsible asshat does that? Bit of a monster if you ask me.”

Graham punctuated that line with an uneasy laugh. Misdirection: the key to ‘getting away with shit.’ He was looking at Meredith, trying his best to hold his stomach at bay. If she could just not look at him, that’d be great. Just being in her sights made his skin crawl. But he couldn’t look away, otherwise he might as well light a big neon sign saying ‘LIAR’ in bright, multicolored neon letters.

No. Thinking like that was bad. Think positive, y'know, like anything other than the nightmare that was the tram. Something like, baby pigs. Or badgers.

Find your happy place, Graham. Find your happy place.