Chapter Eight

Raiden had gotten quite used to the environment at Schatten Academy. Despite her love for rule-breaking and the academy's love for imposing discipline among its students, Raiden did seem to have a nice time. Waking up to Jennifer shouting and then spending time with everyone else in between her lessons, she did feel like she was going to fit in the school after all.

But luck is a mistress that didn't like to be with Raiden at all.

Little did she know that her world was actually going to be changed forever.

'HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!' Raiden's sleep was murdered by that huge greeting.

She will really die if she continues to wake me up like this, it's Sunday for goodness sake! Her mind was furious.

'Why the fuck did you wake me up this early?' Raiden groaned as she rubbed her temples trying to ease her headache.

'It's Halloween, Raiden, Halloween, the best time of the year.' Jennifer beamed.

'It's Sunday and I wanna sleep,' Raiden laid back against the cushions. She just wanted to sleep more than anything else in the world.

'NO!' Jennifer yelled as she yanked Raiden into a sitting position again.

Raiden groaned but still kept her eyes closed.

'Why the fuck do you have to wake up so early on a Sunday. And why the fuck do you have to wake me up so early on a Sunday.'

Jennifer pouted. 'Meanie,' she mumbled.

'I know that.' Raiden replied as she fell back against the cushions again. 'If you don't mind, I am gonna sleep now, and mind you close the door.'

'Humph.' Jennifer pouted as she got off the bed, 'All of you are lazy asses, and I'll go wake Aaron and Jayden up.'

Poor boys, Raiden thought as she heard the door close.

***

It was almost two hours later when Raiden had come down for breakfast.

As she had been used to seeing for the last two months; Aaron, Jennifer, Jayden, and Sarah were seated around the small dining table- Jennifer and Aaron bickering about something again, Jayden reading a book, and Sarah wearing a revealing dress trying to catch the eye of an unbothered Jayden.

If IDGAF was a person, it would probably be him.

'Good morning everyone.' She greeted as she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat with them.

'Morning,' everyone replied. Sarah straightened up again and stood up. Raiden was surprised by her sudden change of behavior. As far as she had known, Sarah would become the queen of a poker face when she sat down.

Did she realize she was almost naked in front of three people after so long? Raiden wondered.

'Oh Raiden, it's good that you're here,'

Raiden raised her eyebrows. All this time she ignored my existence and suddenly my presence is important?

'Can't imagine why.' She muttered.

'I'm sorry, did you say something,' Sarah seemed annoyed.

'Nah, continue what you were talking about,' Raiden fake smiled.

'Good, as I was saying it's good that you're here. Since you're late, I shall repeat it again. Our dorm master and a teacher of this Academy, Ms. Renata Schatten is back. I know we have spent the past two months without her pretty well, but every dorm needs a dorm master. It is a custom to meet the dorm master at least once; all of us have visited her. She wants to speak with you as well. Since you were sleeping, and since it was Sunday, she probably never said anything, but it's rude to keep your dorm master waiting. So I suggest you go visit her after breakfast.'

After such a long speech, Raiden had only one question.

'When did she arrive? I don't think any of us saw her yesterday.'

Sarah rolled her eyes. She probably hated to explain stuff to people.

'She came two days ago; she was just here in town before returning to the Academy yesterday afternoon during class hours. Juniors and middle school projects don't have her as their teacher so they didn't see her. Do you have any more questions? Because if so, ask them together, I'm not in the mood to answer them carefully one by one, I have to go get ready for the ball tonight.'

Raiden cringed. Getting ready in the morning for a ball at night?

'Just one more thing,' Raiden could feel Sarah internally groaning, 'Where is her room, don't expect me to go back to my room just to look at the map.'

'Of course, I don't.' Sarah mumbled under her breath.

'Pardon?'

'Nothing, her room is on the third floor, the first door to the left. You'll be able to recognize it; it's the only room up there with an habitant. And now if you four don't mind, I would like to leave, I have to get ready. I want to win the title of Halloween Queen this year.'

And she disappeared before anyone else could say a word.

'Jesus Christ,' Raiden mumbled, taking a bite from her toast, 'what's her deal with the Halloween ball?'

'Nothing, just ignore her.,' Jennifer shrugged.

'She is just obsessed with being awarded the queen of every ball that we hold. It's the same every year, so you get used to it,' Jayden explained without looking up from his book.

'Who's Ms. Renata anyway?'

'No one knows,' Aaron shrugged, 'she's by far the most mysterious dorm master I have ever come across. She is almost never here; I'm surprised she even came this early. Last year she was here only when the final exams took place. Everyone says she's away for some important work, but I would really like to know what important work would keep you away from a full-time job.'

'A job of the Academy, probably, otherwise how would the academy allow it?' Jennifer pointed out.

'Sarah said she was a teacher here. How do her classes take place if she is never here, and what does she teach?'

'Weaponry and ethical hacking. I've got her this year, she's an amazing teacher, and her class would actually love it if she actually appeared in class more often. It's a second-year subject, so you're lucky I guess.' Jayden stated.

'I see who takes her class then if she's not around?'

'Some guy named Jason. He's the dorm master of the Licht house. He's just as good, but he's got too jumpy nerves and get scared at every small thing. Basically, the students would completely rule him if they were not disciplined, it's a class not available to elites as well.'

Now that's a lot of rules as well.

'How is she as a person, do I need to take any precaution so as to not offend her?'

'As far as I know, nothing,' Jennifer patted her back, 'she'll love you if she sees you. They say Ms. Renata was a troublemaker like you fifteen years ago when she was just a student.'

'Fifteen years ago? That's not very old.'

'It isn't. If I remember correctly, three disappeared around the same time she was there.' Aaron replied.

Raiden choked on her coffee. Jennifer patted her back.

'Three?'

'Yeah, I'll tell that story to you later, I guess you should go now, I have heard she's nice but she is very much impatient.'

'She's not.' Jayden corrected.

'Fine.' Aaron huffed, 'she's not. Now go. Shoo.'

Weird. Raiden wondered.

***

As Sarah had, the dorm master's door was the only one that gave any sign of habitation. The rest of the corridor and the right corridor as well were covered in cobwebs all over.

Talk about Halloween decorations. The third floor apparently didn't seem to need one.

Raiden took in a deep breath as she knocked on the door.

'Come in,' a muffled voice was heard.

As soon as Raiden had entered the door, she felt as if she had completely gone back in time. Unlike Jennifer, Aaron, or even herself, Ms. Renata had made no effort to modernize her room. Instead, it felt like she had put all her efforts to make the room seem more ancient. Even the furniture seemed like it had been specially brought from some ancient age, along with the special dark curtains.

'Uhmm, Ms. Schatten?'

'Yeah yeah, come in, I'm busy with some stuff, you can sit on the chair by the study table, I'll get back to you in a minute.'

Okay, she's weird, checks one.

Raiden did as told. She then noticed the dorm master's figure on the bed, surrounded by papers.

On seeing Ms. Renata, Raiden would have never believed that she was actually a teacher. She was skinny a violet-eyed woman with alabaster skin. She was dressed like an emo kid in pajamas and specs on her nose and sat cross-legged on the bed. Her hair was dyed jet black (Raiden could still see parts of brown hair from the roots), and her eyes were decorated by thickly applied eyeliner.

Some emo, her mind commented and waited.

After a few minutes later, Ms. Renata set aside her papers and turned to Raiden without getting off the bed.

'I am really sorry to have kept you waiting, it's just that this work is really important.'

Raiden nodded, 'I understand.'

'I am also sorry to have called you up like this, but I just returned to the Academy yesterday and was tired so I wanted to meet up with you today. There was a lot of gossips regarding you, I understand, or did I actually get the wrong student?' she began searching through her papers again.

'No, no' Raiden hesitated, 'I am the student. There has been a lot of gossip regarding my admission, though I thought things might have died down a little this time.'

'It did, I am really sorry to make you uncomfortable, but I couldn't help but actually be curious. Congratulations on getting in, it is really hard to get in here. I have nothing else to say really, I just wanted you to meet your dorm master who is almost never here,' she chuckled at her own joke, 'anyways, it was actually nice to meet the student who got admitted by applying here. What's your name, sweetie? I know I should know your name, but you know, I was caught up in stuff.'

Anyone says caught up in stuff one more time, I am gonna flip.

Raiden took in a deep calming breath before replying.

'Raiden Zia Storm.'

Renata's head whipped up so fast Raiden got startled.

'I'm sorry,' Ms. Renata said before composing herself, 'it's just that I knew someone with the name Zia previously too. Did you have blonde hair or violet eyes when you were younger?'

Raiden was taken aback. How the fuck does she know that!?

"I did when I was younger,' Raiden replied, trying her best not to show her shock, 'but as I grew, my hair turned to brown and my eyes to grey.'

'I see,' she eyed Raiden up and down as if assessing her and turned to her paperwork again. 'Well, Zia, I mean Raiden, you should go back to your friends and get ready for the ball tonight, it indeed is an amazing event.'

Okay?

'Thank you, ma'am,' she said before leaving.

'Whew, that was weird,' Raiden told herself when she entered her room.

'What was?'

'YAH!' Raiden jumped nearly six feet off ground only to find Jayden, Jennifer and Aaron sitting on her bed.

'Will you three people stop scaring me out like that?' Raiden placed her heart on her chest, trying to calm down. Key word being try.

'Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you out like that, we were just curious.'

'it's alright.'

'So how did it go? What did she say?'

'Stay patient, I will tell you everything.'