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Geoffrey's mind couldn't think, his attention continuously grabbed by those walking through the hallways.

"Can you believe it?" "How could this happen?" "Scary..."

The chatter around him was like blinding lights that he couldn't take his eyes off of.

Further he could see a lot of students amassed before the doors of the A-class.

The whispers and chatter was eerie, as everyone stood still while looking inside.

Geoffrey did his best to get through the crowd, gently pushing students aside as he tried reaching the door.

Nobody paid attention which made it hard, but once they saw his signature hairstyle, they started making way for him.

He finally reached the entrance, instantly understanding the reason for the crowd.

He heard behind him multiple loud voices, shouting.

"Please disperse! Let us through! This is the disciplinary committee, let us through please! Go back to your classes!"

Geoffrey entered the classroom, only a handful of students were present, and most of them were against the wall near the teacher's desk, while three were near his own desk.

Leo was lying on his back, on top of Geoffrey's desk.

His face was barely recognizable, red and purple bruises covering his entire face. 

Blood was sprayed around his desk, chair, and even the nearby window.

As Geoffrey approached, the two students nearby turned to him.

"They... It happened so fast... We couldn't do anything..."

Geoffrey slowly shoved them aside, finally reaching his desk.

Beside the unconscious body laying on his desk was a message written with what must've been Leo's blood.

"Next," read Geoffrey.

"What happened? Why did they do him like that?!" asked the student to his right.

Geoffrey recognized him from Peter's group. A shorter student who was quite anxious, which surprised Geoffrey since he remained close to Leo's unconscious body.

"Ryan, right?" said Geoffrey.

"Yeah..."

"What did you see, Ryan?" he asked.

"Nothing..." 

Geoffrey's neutral expression went toward the rest of the class on the edge of the wall, scared to even approach.

If they're hugging the wall this much, I'm guessing they used a gift to hinder visibility.

"Describe the events," asked Geoffrey.

"Fuck... Well, we stayed in the class to eat, we were talking, then all the sudden we couldn't see anything... All, we could hear was people fighting... I could hear it, the bones breaking... Leo's screams.."

"Sure. So, could you hear any names? Did they ask for anything? What gifts were used?"

"Names?! They didn't talk, man, they just started beating the shit out of Leo! This damn fog kept us from doing anything, even if we wanted to. We couldn't even find the damn exit!"

Geoffrey grabbed his chin in thought.

These events made little sense, yet something clearly happened.

He looked once more at the scared students, who were approached by Nora, urging them to leave the classroom.

There were a dozen of them against the wall, however, Peter wasn't there.

Ryan couldn't be lying. Too many were around... but we never know.

Geoffrey turned toward the students along the wall.

"Was Leo in the classroom?" asked Geoffrey across the room.

The students looked at him, the disciplinary committee also turning toward Geoffrey.

"Don't you see him on your desk?!"

Geoffrey sighed.

"I mean, before the fog happened. Was he already in the room?"

They turned to each other, frowning while whispering.

A silence grew between the students as they looked at each other, confused.

Geoffrey turned back toward Leo, ignoring the chatter behind.

His uniform wasn't slit through, it looked like he was hit by blunt force.

Ryan grabbed Leo's shoulder, but his wrist was quickly caught by Geoffrey.

"What are you doing?" asked Geoffrey.

"You want to leave him there?! He needs to go to the infirmary!"

"Do you know what kind of damage was done? In his neck, spine, ribs? Are you sure you'll be able to move him without perforating a lung, or without breaking his neck further? They were smart enough to leave him alive. Do you want to be the one to finish him?" 

Ryan quickly let go of his grasp on Leo's shoulder, which made Geoffrey let go of his wrist.

"He's right."

He recognized Nora's voice approaching from behind. 

"But we can't just leave him there either," she added.

She turned toward another student wearing the same armband as her. 

She was short, with long black hair that blocked her eyes from view. 

"Move him, Kenna" said Nora.

"Yes," she quickly said, panicked.

Geoffrey took a step back, giving them space, Ryan copying his movement.

Kenna approached Leo, her eyes locked on him while her head tried looking away.

If she could've closed her eyes, she would've.

I guess her Gift needs her to look at the person. Now let's see what it does.

She laid her hand on his chest, and after a short moment, both disappeared, leaving only the chaos behind.

"Seems you were too late," said Geoffrey.

Nora turned toward Geoffrey, clearly upset.

"And where were you?" she asked.

Geoffrey sighed, looking once more at his desk and ignoring Nora.

Who could've done this?

'Next' clearly written, and on his own desk, too.

Of all targets, why him?

"I'd be careful, if I was you," said Nora. "Looks like someone's out there to hurt you."

Hurt me? If they wanted to hurt me, they would've targeted me, not Leo. It's about sending a message... But what for? 

"I'll be careful," finally said Geoffrey.

"Alright, let's give the janitor some space to clean this up," said Nora. "Come with us in the hallway, we'll have questions for you too."

The way she looked at him was something he knew well. Suspicion and doubt.

Geoffrey took one last glance at his desk as the janitor hurriedly entered the classroom.

He groaned, "Not again..." as he put down his bucket that was full of different cleaning products.

Geoffrey took a deep breath, heading out of the classroom with both hands in his pockets.

"I'm an open book," he said.

"We'll see about that..." replied Nora.