TokyoPewPew
BleedingLoverSamantha Wellington
It had been a roller coaster of a day for Samantha. First she had gotten some wonderful news from the doctor, that she was finally pregnant. However, it had started going sour when she stopped by the police station to inform them about Arro Jenkins and Natali Valkyrie missing, and had been basically brushed off. She was starting to get frustrated that this was just like Miss Coleman the year before.
Then the day had taken a downward turn when those two students found Arro in the costume storage. It had been a horrible sight, to see her like that. Samantha felt a bit guilty for using her powers on Miss Herbalem and Mr. Kerr, but at the moment panic was the last thing this school needed. The rumor mill was churning at full speed, especially since it seemed that Miss Snow was also missing.
After she ushered her class out of the theater and into the gym, she went to sit with the rest of the teachers. She looked over them and noticed that Dr. Mann was looking tired, possibly from searching all night? Aveline looked rather neutral at the moment, if wincing from what appeared to be a headache, and the Headmistress was looking like herself. Samantha frowned as she looked over the students.
"As many of you are aware Arro Jenkins went missing Monday morning. I am saddened to announce she is gone forever. She was found today -" Samantha noticed that the students were starting to react in different ways, not even waiting for the last word. ”Dead.” There it was.
Then the world turned. Samantha felt a wave of nausea that was not from morning sickness, as her mind was suddenly assaulted by information. Miss Snow was gone, but she wasn’t going to go without a fight. Not without letting everyone know the truth.
“It’s not your fault, it was never your fault, but you need to be strong for the students now. I have faith in you Mrs. Wellington.”
Sam’s eyes filled with tears, as she put her head between her knees, trying to make the nausea pass, but she snapped back up as she realized the students were all losing control over their power. As one student shifted up to an eight foot tall dragon, she got to her feet, about to use her power, but then she looked over at the Headmistress and Miss Aveline.
“You… this… is your fault!” She yelled loudly. She went up to Aveline. “You knew! You LIED to me and everyone!”
“Mrs. Wellington, control yourself,” Emma Standiford said, but Samantha wasn’t listening.
“You told me just yesterday that you had no idea what was going on, but you do! You both do!” She yelled at the younger teacher. It felt like betrayal. She had seen Aveline grow up, from both being a little girl to being a student of Samantha’s. The Home Economics teacher shook her head and seemed to be mouthing something – muttering – but it couldn’t be heard. She was staring distractedly into the distance at the crowd of students.[insert retort before punch?]
Samantha growled and did something she normally would never have done, but at that moment, her hormones were surging, she was angry and upset, and betrayed. She punched Aveline square across the face. “YOU BITCH! THOSE WERE MY FRIENDS AND STUDENTS!”
Aveline Standiford
There was a sickening crack – noses were fragile after all – but Aveline could hardly feel the blow itself. She was up in space, or rather, her mind was; abuzz with all the thoughts and secrets of students and staff alike. Telepathy hadn’t been so powerful, so fun since she was a teenager, and she used it to hop from point of view to point of view, seeing things from one of the freshmen (Stella Herbalem, wasn’t it?) and the young romance blooming to following Jamie Drummond out the room as he went out to God knows where.
Still, the pain that came after it dragged her back to her corporeal form and its broken nose. She’d tried to tell Samantha that she had it all wrong, that Aveline was innocent of whatever it was she was accusing her of; hadn’t it come through? Trained in first aid and the recipient of more than a few punches in the past, she pressed it back into place… sort of.
“Well, that was uncalled for,” she managed.
“Oh! So letting students die is called for?!” Samantha snapped at Aveline. She looked furious, like her whole world had been shattered, and apparently Aveline was who she was focusing the blame on.
Aveline’s eyes narrowed and she moved to cross her arms, only to abandon that, staunching the flow of blood from her nose instead. Her words were somewhat muffled by her inability to breathe normally through it. “Where are you even getting this idea from? It’s – pardon my French – batshit!”
“You must know that Miss Snow decided to pass on information to people in this school yes? Or… wait, she didn’t tell you a thing.” Samantha chuckled a bit. “She used her last bits of life to make sure we knew what was going on here Aveline.”
“It would be lovely if you could fill me in – I’ve been knee-deep in other people’s thoughts for the last two minutes. It’s far too loud to hear a dead person’s over it!” Aveline, of course, knew that Amy Snow was dead, but she seemed to be out-of-the-loop so far as the dead girl’s offered information was concerned. Guilt prickled at the back of her skull but she wafted it away, finishing with a half-lie. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, but, by the way, thanks for punching first and asking questions later!”
Samantha sighed. “Miss Snow has informed us all that, one, everyone here has either powers or a special ability and that is the reason why they were picked or called to this school, and that she has died. For me, she informed me that you Standifords have a hand with the school and part of its danger. As for the students, why don’t you go find out yourself,” she said, crossing her arms.
“Uh-huh. Obviously those were no secret to me given that I help with the admissions. It was a smart call to leave me out to save energy on everyone else…” Aveline huffed a laugh, bitterly cold.
Samantha glared. “Aveline! Now is not the time to keep hiding! Look at the students! Two girls are dead in as many days, and if you keep your head in the clouds and keep denying there is a problem here there will be more. Can your conscious keep that guilt in check? Or will you finally admit something when your golden child calls you out on it? Or one of the other students? Hell! I don’t even care anymore. Right now, the students are the priority and I’m going to take as many of them away from here as I can. By the way, I QUIT!”
“What a drama queen – it’s clear why you’re a theatre teacher,” Aveline said, raising an eyebrow. “So, let’s go through what I know. Did I know our students were all powerful and weird like us? Yes, of course I did. Did I know that they were specifically hunted down–” Bad choice in words. ”–to be invited? Naturally, since I helped to send the letters.”
“Aveline! That is not the problem I’m having right now!” Samantha yelled, pinching her brow.
“Well, shut up and listen.”
“No. You listen.”
Aveline held up a hand as she did to control her class, even at the expense of blood trickling down towards her mouth since she was no longer stopping the flow. “Did I know that students have been dying – even one every four years, usually longer? Yes, yes I did. It’s not rocket science, nor very hard to find out. But, I’ve been led to believe that it is the safest place for us, and the students.” Her tongue burned with the rehearsed spiel she was prepared to give. “They’d be just as likely to die, if not more so if they were outside. Why do you think there’s no kid superheroes in the news, huh? Because what’s starting to happen here is happening outside!”
Samantha’s eyes narrowed. “Aveline… I was your drama teacher. Don’t think I can’t tell when you’re still acting,” she said. “But fine, if you want to live in denial, the lake is outside. I’m going to focus on taking care of our students, by admitting what truths I know. If you want to join me and try to make an effort to care about at least maybe one of them surviving today, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, shut the fuck up and take your lies elsewhere.”
“How dare you–” Aveline swallowed and it tasted like blood and grit and slime. “You know what? Fine. Believe whatever you will. You’re not thinking rationally because of your – condition – and instincts and ‘gut-feelings’ only go so far. Take it from me: if my mother or I were involved in all this, I would have known, and I would have known when I was much, much younger. So stop with your lies and slander before I give you a shiner to match this one.”
Samantha sighed. “You really buy your own lies, don’t you? By the way, it isn’t going to be just me questioning your mother and you,” she said, pointing to the students that remained in the gym. The two bickering teachers had become the center of attention, as it would be, given that they were yelling at one another. Aveline flipped her hair, feeling as bedraggled as she no doubt looked, smeared blood across her skin.
“And I’m happy to tell them what I know. But this witch-hunt, Wellington? It’s not going to end well for you – for any of us.” And with that, Aveline sat back down swiftly before she collapsed; an attempt to end the argument before they made even more of a spectacle of themselves. As it was going, it was sure to end up with her throwing her mother under the bus of public opinion.
Thank God Jamie Drummond was distracted with a nervous break down outside. He was the only one who knew for sure when she was lying.