Evil in the Academy

---Katherine---

I was in the middle of a swordfight with Aaron when the wind began to blow. It was cold and didn't feel right. The dust whipped up, making it hard to see anything in front of you.

"Aaron?" I called out.

"Right here," he answered. I felt him edge closer so we don't lose sight of each other.

"Arghh!" came a scream. I turned towards the noise. Through a lull in the wind, I saw Jason lying in a heap on the blacktop. Immediately, I ran towards him.

"Class! Please remain calm!" shouted Mr. Watts. "Drop your weapons and slowly move towards my voice! Be careful!" Of course I wasn't going to listen to any of that. There's one of my friends lying on the floor and an abnormal dust storm in the middle of spring. One of the morals I was taught growing up was to never leave a friend in distress. My strong sense of loyalty forbade that I ditch Jason and go to safety.

A howl and a shriek. I shuddered, feeling the chill. Beside me, Aaron sucked in his breath sharply.

"Kath, there's danger ahead. Be careful," he warned.

"Got it. You too, Aaron," I replied. I had learned to trust his instincts.

We reached Jason. While Aaron stood guard, I bent down to look closely at Jason. He was breathing, which was good, but he looked really pale. There was a slash on his arm that was bleeding, but it didn't look like a normal wound. First of all, he was wearing armor, like all of us, and the weapons aren't supposed to puncture the armor. Mr. Watts specifically said they couldn't pierce the armor. So how did Jason get hurt?

"Is Jason okay?" called a voice. I stood up and saw Lucian running over with Indigo right behind him.

"He's alive, but hurt. The wound doesn't look right," I answered as they skidded to a halt. "Indigo, you're more of a medical expert than I am. Can you take a look?"

"I can try, but I'm not good either," replied Indigo, but she crouched down beside Jason. Rachel and Ashley joined us, and we huddled around Jason's fallen figure. As far as I can see, we were the only ones out here not following the teacher's orders. Ironically, we were the good kids, the star students.

"Rachel, look. This wound is not right. You're better than I am at this type of thing," said Indigo, straightening. Rachel frowned and bent down for a closer look.

"It appears to be done from a sort of dark magic," she said after a few seconds. "I've read about it in a book."

"So it is?!" I exclaimed. "I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. So I asked Indigo to take a look."

"That was also my suspicion, but I couldn't be sure. Thank goodness you came, Rachel," said Indigo. The six of us looked at each other.

"Dark magic…." mused Aaron. "Like, associated-with-Evils dark magic?"

"Yes. There was an entire passage in the textbook about Evils and dark magic," said Ashley. "What if—?"

Her hypothesis was cut short by a long howl. The wind picked up suddenly. Dark shapes loomed out of the swirling winds, tall and mysterious. Instinctively, all of us pulled out our swords and stood facing outward in a protective circle around Jason. Someone—or something—stumbled towards us. We peered into the storm, trying to see who or what it is. As it approached, we breathed a sigh of relief. It was Anna, Jason's partner for the day. Not an Evil.

"Hey Anna," greeted Lucian. "Why aren't you with the other kids?"

"I—I got lost. Then I heard voices, so I came this way," she said, rubbing her eyes. I noticed that she didn't have her weapon with her. Maybe she dropped it when the dust storm started.

"What happened to Jason?" Anna asked with concern.

"He's hurt; there's a slash on his arm," I explained.

"We think it's dark magic," added Indigo. Upon hearing the words dark magic, a weird expression came over Anna's face. She quickly readjusted it into a mask of fear.

"Dark magic? Really? Like the Evils?" she whispered.

"I'm afraid so," Aaron answered.

I took no notice of the conversation. Instead, I stared curiously at Anna, trying to figure something out. Something felt off about her. Was it the way she fidgeted, or the way how she didn't quite meet our gazes? Was it because she appeared out of nowhere, or because she didn't have her weapon with her, especially in such a time? My intuition is usually accurate. And now, my guts told me not to trust this girl.

A low moan startled all of us. We turned to see Jason's eyelids flutter open. He struggled to sit up.

"Are you okay?"

"How do you feel?"

"Are you alright?"

"Feel any different?" We bombarded Jason with questions. He looked at all of us and gave a weak smile.

"I feel okay, but this arm hurts," he gestured at his wounded arm. "Thanks for staying with me, guys."

"That's what friends are for," I stated matter-of-factly. Everyone nodded.

"What happened? Do you remember?" asked Rachel.

"Things are kind of blurry, but…" Jason caught sight of something behind us. His expression turned into fear.

"Guys, behind you…" he choked out. I spun around to see Anna, who used to be standing away from us, dangerously close. Except she wasn't the scared, pale-faced girl she was moments before. She met my eyes, and a chill ran down my spine. Now I knew why she wouldn't meet our gazes before.

Her eyes were blood-red, and her pupils had turned into reptile-like slits. As we watched, frozen with shock, she began to transform. Her hands turned into razor sharp claws. Her skinny body turned long and black, and scales grew out at an alarming speed. Two fangs, dripping drool or venom, sprouted from her upper lip. Involuntarily, we all took a step back as the transformation completed.

"Gods almighty," whispered Rachel. Lucian swore under his breath.

What we had standing in front of us was a seven-feet tall killer monster with scaly skin as armor. It trained its eyes on us, bared its teeth into a toothy grin, and howled. I shivered as the sound echoed all around us.

"A transforming Evil?!" Indigo found her voice. "Is that even possible?! Why didn't we know about it?!"

"Ah, well, if you did you would be prepared," the creature said. It looked at each of us, grinning evilly. "You pathetic humans don't know everything."

"Aaron, we've got to get out of here before more of them come!" I said out of the corner of my mouth.

"I know, but how?" he replied back. Indigo nudged me with her elbow.

"I say we kill this one together. It can't take on all of us at once," she proposed.

The rest of us nodded approvingly. "But what about Jason? He can't defend himself," said Rachel.

"I'll stay and stand guard," Ashley volunteered.

"Plotting, my little preys?" sneered the Evil. We turned our attention back to the monster prowling in front of us. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you all, since you were nice to me."

"You're not Anna," said Rachel. "You're an Evil."

"Now!" shouted Indigo. Five of us—Lucian, Aaron, Rachel, Indigo, me—charged at the Evil. I raised my sword and brought it down on the creature's head. It dodged my blade, and my sword slammed into the asphalt. As I pulled my sword back, Aaron and Indigo thrusted their swords at the Evil. Amazingly, it jumped up into the air, and the two blades passed harmlessly underneath. Lucian and Rachel attacked from opposite sides. But the monster swiped their swords out of their hands and reached out for their necks.

I lunged and crashed into Rachel, knocking her out of the way. My sword left a deep gash on the monster's leg. It howled with pain and anger. As we crawled back up, I saw that Aaron had rescued Lucian from the monster's grasp as well.

"More are coming…You will never be able to defeat us!" cried the Evil.

I turned to Rachel. "Any useful information on how to kill this thing?"

"According to a book, rosewood keeps them at bay, and when used correctly, could kill them," she replied.

"Of course! Rosewood!" I remembered the old tale of Rosewood Academy. The monster lunged out at us again. But instead of heading for us, it headed for Ashley and Jason.