Halestone High

They were so exuberant to send me to this school, my parents. As though nothing else in the world mattered anymore. There was a murky cloud hovering above the school and I could sense it- the odium the school gave out was so strong, even radiation felt weaker.

Heavy footsteps made way through the peculiarly colored gate as a mob of children scurried in. My parents waved at me from the gate and exchanged bizarre glances with each other. I watched their car disappear in nebulous dust and in no time, the bell rang. I entered the corridor which almost seemed interminable and its melancholic flooring annoyed me.

"Ms Casandra?"

A questioned voice called me. It was Ms Butchers, by far the creepiest principal, I had ever come across. Her eyes caused an ache to mine as a black blotch of clotted blood surrounded her eyelids. She guided me to my classroom and with every step I took, my heart raced at the speed of light. I wasn't mentally prepared to see a bunch of brand new thirteen year olds in my life. I felt the butterflies in my stomach, I just couldn't muster the strength to turn that bronze doorknob that beckoned me. The colour drained from my face and my blood froze. Something so simple seemed like a Herculean task.

The aura of the classroom enervated me. It was so bland and bleak- empty of any glee. I made my way through a bunch of bags dead on the floor and almost tripped over one of them. The mocking giggles of the students almost strangled me.

Then the teacher entered and it was the weirdest thing I had ever encountered. He looked uneducated and wore a hackneyed rag around his waist. His torso was naked and exposed his dark and musty skin. What was peculiar was the gargantuan axe resting on his overly broad shoulders.

He turned around and scribbled over the black board. As his body uncovered the words, I shivered.

'The Act Of Murder With An Axe'

He slashed a dummy ruthlessly.

Slithering stealthily out of the uncanny classroom, I bolted towards the door. Guns and knives went past me in hazy glimpses. I gasped for air and was taken aback by what I saw. My parents were seated in the cabin of Ms Butchers clanging their wine glasses in the air. They weren't raising children, it wasn't a school. It was all a facade under the name of Halestone High. They were raising murderers. But what baffled me was the presence of my parents rather undisturbed by the aura around. Over the grey, jaded walls, a mammoth shadow enlarged with my every blink.

"Oh no..."