[WP] In this 45 student college class there are two serial killers. They don’t know each other, but they both think they are the most dangerous student in this class. They are wrong, very, very wrong.

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Clara sat as far back as she could on the wings of the crowded room, slouched down into her seat as if she might fall through the floor to somewhere more interesting. She was a young woman, a girl really, in the first day of her first year at a university she hadn’t even wanted to attend. Her parents had insisted however so here she was, and big surprise, it sucked just as hard as she had imagined. There were 45 students in this hall and not one of them seemed like anything other than some cookie cutter barbie wannabe or a soon to be failed frat pledge. On top of that the syllabus didn’t have a single useful thing looking about minerals on it until the 8th week and even that was something she thought she’d already read. Perhaps geology hadn’t been the best decision, but then what was a witch actually supposed to study in school? \*squeak squeak\* Clara looked down to her backpack where Perry was frantically running up and down the bag’s straps. The little mouse spirit looked absolutely panicked and reaching out with surprise she scooped him up, holding her friend to her ear. The students sitting on either side gave her a sidelong glance but she ignored them, if they couldn’t see him it was their loss. \*squeak squeak, squeak squeak!\* Perry hopped from her cupped hands onto her shoulder, then reached up to climb her hair until her sat directly on top of her head. He chattered the whole time, bursts of mouse-speak so fast that she could barely make sense of it until he settle directly over top of the portion of her brain responsible for the second sight. Once there she got the message and Clara opened her emotions up to her little friend, communicating on a level beyond words. “Bad, bad, danger!” Perry thought at her, firing a strange mix of thoughts at her, “predator, teeth, danger, danger!” Not for the first time Clara wished she had summoned a smarter familiar but Perry was just too damn cute and most of the time things like these didn’t matter. Still though, he seemed completely freaked out and spirits were much more sensitive to these things than humans. With a sigh she began the complex array of hand motions that substituted for a wand, hiding them under her desk, and then she spoke a word of power. A moment later the entire room lit up in front of her in a raucous display of auras. Most people’s aura’s were tended towards shades of gray as they aged, with youth being the time of highest variance. Throughout the room she saws light pinks, several pleasant greens, even a turquoise towards the front that she would have been very interested in under different circumstances. Clara’s own was a shockingly bright white, she had been told more than once that it was blinding, although that might have just been wizards trying to hit on her. In that moment however, all of that fell away. At the front of the room, sandwiched on either side of some completely unsuspecting fool, were a pair of jet black auras with rough, sawtooth edges. The aura on the right was particularly horrific, with cracks seeming to extend down to its very core where a tightly wound ball of negative energy seemed to eat the light all around it. They were killers, and experienced ones judging by those jagged edges. They showed none of the signs of having killed together, in cases of extreme emotion such as that visible bonds were almost always formed, and in fact they seemed to have no awareness of each other at all. Both of the young men stared towards different wings of the room, their attentions spiraling out towards classmates in dark, hazy tendrils. Clara cursed under her breath, deactivating her second sight before it tired her. This was not how her first day was supposed to go. Calmer now that he had notified her, Perry jumped down onto the desk in front of her, staring at her with a quizzical expression. She dismissed him with a wave of her hand, he knew what to do, this wasn’t the first time. While he scurried away Clara closed her eyes, centering herself as she prepared to cast her first real spell of freshman year. She hated the fact that it was one of these, but there was nothing else for it. Fixing the two young killers in her mind she began her love charm, hands a blur under the desk. She had pitched her voice as softly as she could as the very words themselves could entrance someone with their beauty, but as she opened her eyes she realized that it hadn’t been quite quiet enough. Several sharp eared students around her seemed smitten, caught by the edges of its effects. She cursed again, it would take days to wear off. Ten minutes later class finally ended, and dodging the attentions of the new would be suitors she had accidentally created Clara darted out of the room. She lingered outside however, waiting until the two boys she had spotted earlier finally left, and then with a sharp turn on her heel she was out the door and into the rapidly growing dusk outside. She took the secluded route to the local park, stretching her senses behind to make sure that they followed. The one with the cracked aura was closer, the other hung back, watching and wary. The park was close by now and Clara slowed her pace, letting the cracked aura catch up to her. The three of them were all thoroughly alone by now, the moment should be just upon him… There it was, running footsteps, ragged breath, the sharp explosion of hunger. Clara turned to face the animal who stalked her, relishing the moment, savoring her victory. In the moment before he was on her Clara got her first good look at him. He was handsome in the gathering darkness, she hadn’t expected that. His eyes were a bright, vibrant green, his hair a shaggy brown that was swept back wildly by his speed. He had a single earing, left ear, and his hands were smooth, like he’d never seen any work in his life, aside from the butchery evidenced by the knife he carried. She caught all that and more before Perry reached him and the young man was swept up in an avalanche of putrid brown fur. He screamed loudly, loud enough that somewhere might hear them if there were anyone around except for the second killer who still hung back in the shadows too far away to be reached. She wondered what he must have thought, first seeing that he wasn’t the only predator around and second seeing his would-be friend devoured by half the mice and rats in the city. Perry detached himself from the seething mass of his living brethren and padded over to Clara, looking up expectantly. “Perry,” she said, careful not to look at the man who still hid, “I want you to follow the other one. Do you understand?” \*squeak, squeak!\* With a strangely human nod the mouse ran off to his duty, until instructed otherwise he would tail the stranger every moment of every day, and wherever Perry went she could feel it. The other killer wasn’t long for this world. She forced herself to watch for a few moments longer as the rats devoured their prey, in a strange way she felt she owed it to the dead man, no matter what he might have been. She hoped she would still be able to sleep tonight, after all of that magic Clara realized she was quite tired. It had been a hell of a first day. \--------- If you enjoyed that I've got tons more over at [r/TurningtoWords](https://www.reddit.com/r/TurningtoWords/). Come check it out, I'd love to have you!

Addy lay her sketchbook down on her desk and frowned. Here in the human world, her power was... rare to come by. Sure, there were witches. There were sorcerers and there were charmers. But she was here to guard. A... guardian angel, if you will. She didn't much like that term, though. After all, did she look like she had thirty eyes? She was here on a mission. In her time, it would take a day or two, and she'd be back in Eiros in no time. For humans, it was a lifetime. Her ward: a young human girl, twenty-three, red-haired. Her name was Eloise and she was a college freshman. Eloise was to die in three human weeks, four human days, twenty-two human hours, forty-seven human minutes, and three human seconds. Two, now. But there was a dark presence in the room, and she couldn't identify whether it was one or more entities. *Tick tock, tick tock...* It had been one week, four hours, seven minutes, and twenty-three seconds. Addy noticed that now the energy of the room had been split up since they got new seats. There were two entities, both very dangerous. The first: Pi, an enby with a very dark style. It was sweet and kind. Not human, either. If Addy had to guess she'd call it an Uriq, a shape-shifter. The second: Max, a boy often wore skirts to class. Great style choices and he liked art. Max was human, but definitely not fully. Addy resigned herself to looking for clues. *Tick tock, tick tock...* One week, six days, twelve hours, thirty seconds. Addy was going to scry. She placed her sketchbook before her and labelled two opposite pages. *Pi. Max.* She closed her eyes and, chanting under her breath, she began to draw. Twenty minutes and three sticks of lead later, she opened her eyes to see a gruesome sight. She'd drawn them in their true forms. Max's left side was a shapeless, shadowy, smoky mass of darkness while his right was normal. He held a knife and was carving a letter into a body. Pi was much different, looking quite fae-like and skeletal. Her hands were nearly just huge claws. *I was right,* Addy thought, *it is an Uriq.* She sighed and resigned herself to research. She had to find out if there were any murders in the area. *Tick tock, tick tock...* Addy had a feeling she would have to stay on Earth for longer than intentioned.

"Brady still hasn't shown up has he?" Lily said, Upset that her boyfriend was still missing. I sat behind her at the back of the classroom, Writing down notes that our instructor, Beryl, Had been putting up. "As far as we know, He could just be dealing with some things... Maybe tomorrow?" I piped up at Beth's voice, Watching her calculated risks she took speaking to her own victim's partner. Her hands slowly moving to hold Lily's hand to comfort her. "I'm so scared, I don't know what to do anymore." "Well, Lily, You could always have hope that he will be found. It's the least we can do." I replied, finally breaking my silence. "And how would you know anything?" Beth replied slightly annoyed. I know because I know but I wasn't going to tell her that. I'd been following Beth for a year now after another student Tanner disappeared about a year and a half ago. Keeping a close eye on her, Keeping my distance and staking out her place on numerous occasions. She always got home very late, at 1:36 am to be precise but she always talks about how she doesn't believe in extra curriculum, Or that she likes her free time so she doesn't do anything after class. A few loud knocks came on the door at the front of the room, As three Policeman stood at attention. "Beryl, Hello, May we speak outside please?" The first officer softly demanded. "Uh, What seems to be the problem? Have you found something on Brady? If you have, He was such a beloved student can we share the new information please? His friends are desperate for something." Not many people aside from Beth and I could see the guilt on his face, But I was a lot more relaxed than them. "Is Peter in here today?" The Officer called hopeful. "Yes sir... Right here sir." "We found Brady... Well, We found enough of him to know who it was. To make it quick..." All three officers walked over to Peter and held him down while the handcuffs were placed onto him. His girlfriend Tessa started to catch on, trying desperately to defend him. But when you don't know you are actually his 4th girlfriend this month, 8th since the start of the year and no one seems to know that the girls go missing after only a couple of weeks. People said he was just unlucky but again, I know more. The officers cuffed him, told him his rights and dragged him from class, Everyone being silent as they proceeded. "Holy shit." The only words heard in the aftermath, even I didnt know where they came from. With the bell ringing and making half of us jump in shock, I packed my bags and began to walk home, Finally today had come and I was tired. It was a lot of work getting Peter found for the murder of his past victims. Maybe now he won't think he's some untouchable killer. "Hey Nathan. Can I ask you something?" I turned behind me to see Beth walking up to me. Her hair looked nice in the natural Brunette, Rather than her dyed Blonde all the time. "I wanted to ask you something... That was scary and I, Don't think we can really be safe alone anymore. Can i ask if we could maybe hang out for a bit?" She looked small and to be honest, rather sweet. Maybe seeing someone get caught makes even a serial killer scared. No one is untouchable. "Sure, I'm just heading home. I have some time before work." "Great. So what do you do with yourself?" Beth spoke, almost too enthusiastically. I lied to her, told her it was a basic level job at McDonalds over in Riverlink. The town just over so she didnt get suspicious. She asked about Family, friends, how everything was going. She wanted information, and I gave her an extension of the truth. She seemed really calm, which is what scared me the most. If I'm going to be your next victim you may want to try again. As we arrived home, I unlocked the door and let her in. A modest 2 bedroom home I didnt need but inherited from my dead father I told her was on vacation in America. I placed the keys on the bench and turned around. I knew her game, she seduces men, kills them, hides the body in either a ditch beside the highway at 12:41 pm when there are no traffic on either lane. Or she will bag them and dig them a hole under a tree at 1:01 am at the local park. Bodies make great fertilizer so I'm told and those ones don't get found. "I was wondering if maybe, We could talk?" I watched her take her top off and show the lace bra underneath, walking slowly to me before holding my hand and making me touch her gently. I played along for a moment until she took my shirt off. In the moment my arms were in the air, I took it off and let it land on her head, giggling to myself while she bought it, playing along before I grabbed my keys on the side of the desk and jammed them into her side three times. Pushing her backwards with force until she hit the wall. I grabbed her hair and dragged her, kicking and screaming to my closet. Opening the door and throwing her down the stairs I built to the dirt floored basement underneath. She moved very slowly, Dazed likely from falling 9 stairs down as I moved towards her. She was too slowly as I grabbed her hair again, this time screaming softly as I dragged her to the wall, turning her to face me before Attaching a chain to each of her wrists. She looked up at me and then beside her, Staring in shock at the corpse beside her. "Basically put, You have been a pain in my ass. Say hello to Brady, He missed you." She screamed in what sounded like fear, but I know that sound as realization. The fact she had not only been caught, and taken by someone better than her would be scary. "I never lose. I never get caught. No one can say no to me." She was seething, I walked half way up the stairs before turning to her. Yelling down the stairs before closing the door. "We have known each other for 2 years and you still haven't caught onto me being gay?" I locked the closet door behind me before grabbing my keys, Getting in my car and getting to work. Walking into the Police department with purpose. "So... You look happy." Mark, one of the three officers from earlier spoke as I entered. "I am, Got the other one. Deputy in?" "Yeah, In his office. Well done Nathan, I knew we could count on you." I smiled and met Mark's High five as I walked through to the Deputies office. I knocked and entered, his dark hair short, His uniform looking very good on him But I was more interested in my boyfriend beside him. "Nathan, Everything worked out?" The deputy spoke. "Peter can be trialed for the murder of the girls, Beth is now in my little make shift basement underneath the house and yes. That corpse you... "borrowed" for me. Looked just like this beautiful man here. A John Doe victim was a good idea Sir." I replied with glee. My man turned to face me, relief in his eyes that he no longer has to hide. He stood up and held me tight. "You have no idea how nice that is to hear." That... was the sound of real relief. "Not a problem babe. You know I'd do anything for you, I Love you Brady."

“I guess that’s all I got for tonight,” Ms. Ledwitz said, turning off the projector up front. Thank god, I thought to myself. After a long shift at the hospital, and now another three hours… well two hours and 45 minutes of night school for my nursing degree, I was wiped. It was almost ten o’clock at night and I had to be up at 5 am for work. I looked over and saw Jason on his phone. I had an urge to ask him if he wanted to come watch a movie with me tonight. I had this urge every night. But I never said anything to him. But today, I at least got to class early and I got to sit near him. Jason stood up and walked towards the door. He turned and looked at me and smiled. “Night, Rachael.” “Goodnight, Jason,” I said meekly. I was packing my books and notebooks away, frustrated at myself for not saying more to Jason, when Larry smiled at me. He was a nice older man. He was tall. Probably athletic when he was younger. But he was in his forties now and was a little wide around the waist. Why he was in this class, I wasn’t sure. He never really talked and seemed disinterested in the subjects. “You look happy to get out, Rachael,” he said. “Yeah, it’s been a long day.” “Yeah, I bet. You work so hard. You’re so smart too… that’s why I wanted to ask you something. Would you mind just helping me with something real quick? I’m stuck on this problem here.” He showed me the homework assignment we had for the week. I took a deep breath. Every inch of me wanted to say no and to head home and take a long warm shower. But I couldn’t tell him no. I sat down next to him and walked him through the problem. I pulled my books back out of my bag and showed him where he could find the section he needed to read. He smiled at me the whole time and a part of me felt like he wasn’t really listening. “You sure are something,” he said. He smiled again, bigger. I looked around and saw the rest of the class had left. Ms. Ledwitz was up front on her laptop. Seeing her made me feel more comfortable. “Alright, I really got to go now, Larry. You good?” “I’m good,” he said again, with that large smile. There was something in it that made me feal uncomfortable. I packed my bags again. Larry packed also, but he seemed to intentionally take a long time to pack. I wasn’t surprised when I put my backpack on my back and walked towards the door he was right there with me. I looked at Ms. Ledwitz and she smiled at me. “Have a goodnight you too. And don’t forget that our third quiz is next week.” “Thanks,” I said and walked through the door. As I walked down through the deserted campus with the night sky above me, I heard Larry’s loud steps behind me. He always wore large boots, almost like combat boots. I assumed he must have been in the military at one point. I quickened my pace, and slowly the sound of his heavy steps disappeared in the wind blowing through the campus trees. I got to the bike rack at the front of the campus and fumbled with the freezing metal lock, my breath coming out in frosty breath. “Cold night,” I heard a voice behind me say suddenly. I dropped my keys and let out a little scream. I turned around quickly and saw Larry standing over me with that same dead smile. “Jesus, Larry,” you scared me. The smile never left his face as he walked into the sea of cars in the parking lot. “See you around, Rachael.” \--- *PART II Below*

Bryant lay there in a pool of his own blood. He shouldn’t have trusted Julian. The knife in his chest was a cruel reminder of that. His vision began to blur, the darkness closing in. He closed his eyes and waited for oblivion. Yet it never came. Bryant opened his eyes to see a symmetrical office building with 2 identical men standing on either side. Both men seemed to shift in appearance, but one thing always remained the same. Both wore his face. “A shame, he had so much life in him. A bright future ahead of him.” The one on his left (Ben?) stated, with clear sorrow on his face. His clean shaven face. (Behind him, the visions of a burning field filed his half of the room.) “He could have been better if he had more drive in him.” The one on his right (Bryce!?)snarled, the scar over his eye making him look vengeful. (Behind him lay a crisp and pristine world. One that made Bryant horribly uneasy.) “No matter, he has a choice today. He could join us in our sorrow, with lives lost and bodies at his feet.” The one on his left (who’s Brutus Aurelian?) stated, stubble covering his lower face. (Visions of Aurelian crying in a burning forest surrounded by burning corpses flew by.) “Or he can join us, with his name upon the lips of all his people.” The one on the right (Brutus Maximinus? Who?) smirked, the sinister gleam in his eyes only matched by the gleam of the golden laurel wreath in his hair. (The sounds of trumpets and the March of Armies echoed throughout the room. The thunder of Dictators resonated and the glory of an empire was shown.) “Regardless of your choice, many will die today. Please be gentle with the rest of your days and, perhaps, eternity.” The winged figure on his left (Benedict.)stated, the new flames he created emitting a gentle warmth. (A peaceful vision of comfort and freedom revealed itself.) “Or maybe just savor this revenge. After all, gods are born in the fires of chaos.” The winged figure on his right (Bennett.) advised, the harsh light accompanying him nearly blinding Bryant. (A peaceful vision of security and order was unveiled.) As the vision faded, Bryant realized what was about to happen. He felt it growing within Him. The Power. The Rage. The Hopelessness. He was ascending and He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. He felt a aura, dark and sinister, similar to Julian somewhere on campus. He knew both would die today. “I’m Sorry.” Bryant whispered. He let go of His inhibitions, tears streaming down His face. Everything turned to white. ———————————————————————————— “Breaking News! An explosion at downtown New York has wiped out 15 square miles of land and flattened everything in a 50 square mile radius. Officials are confused as the explosion appears to have been almost the same strength as the nuclear bomb that wiped out Hiroshima. It is unknown where ground zero is, but the explosion consumed the buildings nearby (including an entire collage campus). We are still waiting for a response from the Federal Government about this horrific disaster. Let us pray it is not the beginnings of a war.”

436: Lights out, scream, lights on, dead body. Twice a day every day. The college is down to forty five students. How annoying. Every time this happens the police show up and end up slowing everything down, from James selling caffeine pills (with something extra) on the corner, to Amanda delivering coffee beans to the barrista. 440: Amanda and James were found dead in the janitors closet. This is the biggest blow yet to the college. 447: Police set up a perimeter, no one in or out. Killing was cut in half. thirty three students are left right now. 462: No killings since 447, seems the killer is in hiding. 473: it happened. The barista has exposed their true form. A black crown of thorns and flame, a staff topped with a pinecone. Wings of purple leather and jaws like the snout of a dolphin. Claws like that of a panther. It is prowling My fiftieth day of college. Last night most of the school dropped out, only thirty two students left, including myself. They must not have been able to handle the stress. I know I wouldn’t, if not for the barista’s blends. Praise the barista. *note: my second ever, tell me what you think and how to improve*

I stared at the 44 victims in the room. I had gone to college to honor my last victim's final wish. I may be a horrible person, but I will fulfill 1 wish before I feed you to my friend Scaley, I like **Scaley**, he is *hungry*, all **the** time, Scaley is *fun*, Scaley is *the* ***bes-*** "Attention class!" The professor said. Snapping me out of my trance. That happened sometimes. That was okay. I was okay. I giggled. \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The idiot with the frizzy red hair giggled. I'll kill him first, he was probably a freak. One of those bastards that tried to be 'funny' and 'had a crush on me since elementary' filthy liars. I surveyed everyone in the room. Picking a couple of the most handsome boys I could find. Would be easy to seduce them and leave them dead in a park or something when they get horny. I also stared at the bitches. There were 3 big breasted milfs. I'll kill them too. "Welcome, my name is professor Ludvik van Helsing, I will be your teacher in advanced sciences," The professor said. \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two serial killers in the room were oblivious. The red-haired one was still relatively unknown by police. He had a confirmed kill count of 12. The black-haired girl with the black makeup was on the run. She had come here from Nebraska after a spree of 23. It took a lot of effort, but I managed to trap these two monsters in my class. When the bell run, I sheathed an iron dagger in my coat sleeve and tracked the ginger one. He was more sadistic, his favorite thing to do was make little gashes on arms and legs and rip them apart with bare hands and feed them to his collection of snakes before locking the basement and leaving the still screaming victim to them. The girl was sadistic too, but at the least, her worst kill was an accident, otherwise, she was swift in her targets. She seemed to kill out of spite for *something* this boy was just insane. He snatched a little girl in plain daylight in a local barber. She didn't scream, he had been stalking her for a while and had spiked a juice box. He lived with his parents who had dementia and had no idea what happened. He was eliminated quite quickly. A quick stab to the throat while he was tying the girl up and an anonymous tip to the police. The girl was tricky. She caught on I was watching rather quickly, the boy was just oblivious. I could see it in her patterns, she'd been a killer a lot longer and had outmaneuvered some detectives. The difference is, detectives hunted criminals, I hunted monsters. She put up a fight, a rather valiant one at that. It was somewhat difficult. But she was *disposed* rather efficiently. I quit my 'job' the day after and flew to Canada as an engineering teacher where a teenage vampire had started preying on infants, I left vampires alone if they ate criminals, but this one had to go. "Attention Class! Welcome, my name is professor Ludvik van Helsing, I will be your teacher in engineering theory,"

I like the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it feels so rewarding to do something that isn’t my normal... job. Going to college is so exciting! Humans misjudging universal laws because they miss a single factor! They’re so cool. That doesn’t matter though. These students, still ripe with youth, but with their optimism dwindling. They intrigue me, their thoughts are full of naivities. I love energy behind each one. Especially this young girl near the front ”*If I keep a part of them, they can still run away. Maybe I need to keep 2 parts?”* Now, she has committed some beautiful atrocities to “lovers” of both genders. I just feel the twisted feelings flow from her and they balance the good ones out. There’s also a boy who is bright and smiling, with so much hate and disgust flowing from him that I almost feel pain. His thoughts are loud and animalistic. The most recent one is about how his teacher is dumber than the idiots surrounding him. Though thats more of a personal translation to english from hate. They both feel so narcissistic some times that I wonder if it might be a unhealthy trait. My vessel stirs, I don’t want to hurt him so I’ll just...he snorts, waking up from his dream I had given him, I must leave. I hope they won’t make him angry, he’s bound to have some leftover juice from our agreement. Though, maybe If I just throw some attention from him onto the girl... I’m doing the world a favor, this is not for my own enjoyment. I promise.

Timothy Poshman and Dooey Wheeler were both really angry about being raised by white conservative hate speech spewing parents and were both carrying their favorite cool knives in their backpacks that they secretly wished they could show people without alarming anyone. They both wore hoodies all of the time to hide how self conscious they were about their skinny arms and dreamed of lunchtime so they could eat their sandwiches. All of a sudden the clock struck not being in class o' clock and they were free to persue their unknowingly shared favorite extra curricular activity. SLAUGHTER! They both stole away to the restroom at different times, Timothy breaching the doors to the restroom as Dooey was already ankles deep in moshing to the hair metal noise that is Slaughter, his band shirt, sleeveless and tattered, free from behind the iron bars of his hoodie. Timothy, also a fan of Slaughter began moshing excitedly into the sink and urinals while Dooey moshed hard into the stalls and hand dryer. They both shouted their favorite lyrics sometimes when they knew the words and occasionally they both knew the same lyrics and shouted them together! They both thought of moshing down to the Pop show today which was in town so they could kill the posers (they had prior killed the posers) but found themselves instead in each others sweaty embrace! They both ran to the parking lot, punching any who dared wear Metallica shirts but didn't know any albums or songs, as they bolted down the hallways hands smelted together! They had both spoken eagerly to the posers while alone in their own world's, before they'd found each other, and at the time, each had hoped to find friends, finding anguish instead! Together they found the confidence to punch the posers in the cheeks! Unfortunately, ... On the other side of the school, a fan of Midwestern emo killed himself by choking on a noose. I wish you could feel how happy he was when he finally figured out how to tie one right. He was alone and tried getting through everything by himself but finally gave up. In the end he was happy and drunk, and he was at peace finally and didn't have to deal with the stress of hating himself anymore. Timothy and Dooey both enjoyed emo as well but found more comfort in the irreverent escapsim that metal provided. They both secretly hated themselves for not listening to emo more and wanted to understand what others went through but found themselves drawn more to the anger commonly present in metal. Later in life they would both listen to Prince Daddy and the Hyena alone when they missed each other and they no longer felt that magnetic connection to thrash, and they would think of each other and cry and text each other while sloshed hoping the other would text back. For now though, they were together and unaware of the death of their classmate who they'd never talked to and never gotten to know. As they moshed in the parking lot and battered cars with their fists and feet, the spirit of emo cried alone into it's own arms, hunched over against a wall, shamelessly choking on each breath through tears and hopelessness. They felt this pain and moshed harder, crying and stomping their feet against the ground and their backs and arms into the soft metal of car doors to blackgaze wails and the overwhelmingly emotional shreddery of the rhythm riffs and solos of Sunbather. They too shed tears in their own way, moshing hard, crying with their fists, screams, and whirlwindous spin moves. After the album, they found themselves behind a bus, mashing their faces together. They collapsed to the ground in each other arms, faces melted together.

The class of forty five labored in academic stupor, the professor's voice droning on and on, broken only by intermittent coughing and the shuffling of papers and feet, and the mysterious droning sound unconsciously produced by the wandering thoughts of unfocused students. Where exactly those thoughts wandered to, no one can say for sure. However, it is convenient to this particular tale that two sets of thoughts were focused on murder. Specifically, fresh murders, committed last week and last month respectively. One was a young girl, body chopped to pieces, teeth and fingertips removed, and buried deep in the woods (the first murderer prized himself on efficiency.) The other was a middle aged, smoking man, pushed off of a bridge into a highway, chosen for no reason other than convenience (the second murderer had a less refined appetite than the first). As such, it was no surprise when the men in black suits and soldiers in tactical gear burst through the door that the murderers had the second and third most panicked reactions out of the people in the class. The fourth belonged to a charming gentleman who had recently jailbroken the university computer with a special bit of malware bought off of a shady man in a bar, and the fifth was an overreacting adulterer. The first, however, was currently levitating and spitting fire. **LEAVE ME ALONE,** she cried, in an agonizingly loud voice curiously devoid of punctuation or emphasis. The soldiers put up a storm of gunfire (rubber bullets and beanbags mostly), as well as black canisters that sprayed a curious orange gas that tasted like battery acid, that had half of the class on the floor, the other half nursing migraines for weeks, and nearly everyone missing the last twelve hours of memories (including the adulterer, who was very confused as to why two irate women were standing over his hospital bed when he awoke, looking entirely capable of murder, or perhaps castration.) I do say nearly, as three particular individuals were saved from amnesia (and headaches) by the warp of space and time that sent the girl and two others into the air twenty feet above Anchorage, Alaska. Which others, I'm sure you already know. For it was truly an unfortunate turn of the dice that the witch and the two murderers decided to sit next to each other that fateful day.