Nicholas

Nicholas was furious. He had to stay late because of Arcturus! What a bastard, didn’t that git know it was the first day of school? He’d only tripped once and he had to stay in until 1 AM! Meanwhile, Arcturus was asleep the entire time. Nicholas had wanted to cry. It just wasn’t fair.

Well, no longer! He was a free man! A little over-enthusiastic but he deserved it. He’d managed to survive Arcturus! Now, all he needed to do was slump over to his bed and fall into a deep, deep, slumber.

As Nicholas traveled through the grounds, he glanced around. It was pitch black thanks to Arcturus and there were a lot of statues and trees. Not that he expected any of them to come to life and terrorize him any time soon but the quicker he got out of here, the better.

There was a rustle in the bush next to him and he activated his circuits, whirring to life and making the air ripple. Nicholas was strong, he knew that. He was a third-year in the Academy, with good grades, and had helped take down some criminals. Heck, he even fought an Arias! (If running away and surviving the tale counted.)

He could take care of whatever was in the bush. He bet it was only a pet, maybe a rabbit or dog. It would run away once he got close and he’ll laugh with his friends about it tomorrow.

Nodding, he launched the compressed air ball at the bush. It imploded, sending branches and leaves flying everywhere. When it all settled down, there was nothing there.

Nicholas exhaled. “Stupid bush, making me worry.”

Still a bit anxious, Nicholas hurried over to the stairs and began the strenuous task of climbing them. Not for the first time in his life, he wondered why the hell they made so many stairs.

The wind shook the trees and Nicholas fancied he could see shadows of people nearby; that was ridiculous though. Why would anybody be out here at this time?

Nicholas was almost at the top before he heard it; the eerie sound of somebody whistling. At first, he thought it was only his imagination enhancing the sound of the wind. When it became evident there was a rhythm to the whistling, Nichols broke out into a sprint. Screw this, he was leaving!

His foot had just touched the top before he experienced agonizing pain in his left leg. It crumpled and sent him skittering all the way down the stairs. He laid, dazed on the steps, hands outstretched for the top.

W-what was that?

Nicholas pushed himself up and studied his leg. What he saw made him blanch. A knife; no, a throwing dagger. Somebody was out there with him.

The sound of whistling filled the air again.

? ? ?

He whistled. Whistling. What a curious word. Whistle. It just slid off your tongue like it was buttered in butter! Ha! Wasn’t that a riot? Oh yes, oh yes, so funny, so funny.

Almost as funny as the prey he was hunting. It was a funny little thing, twitching and jumping at the slightest sound. Did it not catch the memo? Did it not know it was being hunted?

Oh well, that was too bad. Too bad, too bad. He should kill it right away, but no! No, he must wait. Give it a fighting chance, let it gain hope! Nobody would want to watch this if it was boring!

“Make it fun, my little prey. Make it fun,” he muttered, staring at it. It was climbing up the stair now, so determined, so determined. It made his body tingle!

Yes, tingles, running up and down his body. Oh, how good that felt! He decided. He needed more. More tingles. Could he buy tingles? No, no, what a ludicrous statement. He didn’t buy, he took! No, he didn’t take. Everything was his, his prey! All of it, his!

He eyed his little prey. He saw a rabbit in its place. Sniffling its little nose, bouncing hop and down. Hop, hop. That’s right, he had a rabbit! But he forgot to feed it, for hm, 9 months? Oh well, oh well.

Now he had a new rabbit! And how much more amusing this one was! He wanted to laugh when it destroyed the bush, but laughing was bad. Laughing was horrible. Laughing was despicable. Laughing was-

What were we talking about again? He couldn’t remember. It seemed important. That’s right, the little boy rabbit. Sniffling its way. But all alone, all alone.

Of course, it was all alone. That was how he wanted it. But he wasn’t cruel. If there was a boy rabbit, there needed to be a girl rabbit. And yes, yes, what luck! He saw a girl rabbit in the room! She had wonderful locks of hair, so beautiful. So gorgeous. Made somebody want to KILL!

Hehehehehehe.

The little rabbit is moving now. Scurrying up the stair. His eyes never strayed from it. How hilarious. Did it not know if was inns trap? A cage?

He reached into his bag of goodies and took out a knife. Maybe he should teach him the lesson? Yes, bad boys get lessons. He remembers this, he remembers this.

And this rabbit was a bad boy. So, so, so, so, so, so, bad.

So this was okay, right? He could do this? Of course, he could! The rabbit wanted this! It wanted this, it wanted this, it wanted this.

Grinning, he flung the dagger.

Nicholas

Nicholas couldn’t see. He couldn’t see his attacker, he couldn’t tell where the dagger had come from. Right now, he pulled it out. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Nicholas fought back a whimper. This was no time to cry! The instant the knife was out, he summoned a ball of air and pressed it against the wound. Within moments, it turned red.

There. That should contain the blood and make it easier to run. Because he needed to run. Definitely.

So why couldn’t he? His body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t listen. Utterly ridiculous! He fought an Arias! He helped real-life heroes before! He could handle a petty criminal who was good with a knife.

But....he or she had snuck into the Academy. The Academy was meant to be one of the safest places in the world. And this person had snuck in.

The branches cracked and Nicholas instinctively flung up a wind barrier, protecting him from every direction. If he couldn’t run yet, he could walk. That’s what he’ll do. Walk, until he could run. And then he’ll bring reinforcements and everything will be all right.

“Everything will be all right, everything will be all right, everything will be all right.” he chanted, over and over again. Where was Arcturus? He could help, he had to be nearby!

The tree! Instead of the dorms, he should head to the tree! It was closer and easier than going all the way back up. Mind made up, he gingerly took a step down. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought, so he took another. And another.

Nichols was making steady progress and still no sign of another attack, any indication the person would come back to end the job. Was this merely an intimidation thing? Where they wanted him to spread warnings?

His heart was pounding, pumping. It was so loud that Nicholas compared it to the drums. It’d never been this loud before, even when facing the Arias. His body was stiffer than cardboard, each nerve set alight and ready to bound into action. He shook with barely contained energy. He could do this. He could do this. He could do this! He could-

A small pebble caught underneath his next step and he tumbled down. His glasslike confidence shattered and he screamed into the night sky.

Screaming. Maybe somebody could hear him!

“HELP! HELP! HE-!” A dagger found its way in between his legs. His next words were cut off in a strangled choke when a pair of knives lodged into the ground next to his fingers.

The message was clear. Whomever this person was, they could reach him at any time. Freaking out, he summoned a huge gust of wind and blew it out towards the general direction the knives came from. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he ran.

Where to, where to? Where could he go? He had been planning to go to the tree but he discovered three daggers embedded into the ground as some sort of wall. This person didn’t want him to contact the teachers.

Nicholas decided to comply with the orders for now. There was too much space; his Air Art couldn’t cover all the ground. But indoors was a different story.

He redirected his path and ran into the nearest building: a greenhouse constructed entirely of glass. He opened the door, thanking the heavens it wasn’t locked and shut it close. Nichols hauled over plants and bags of dirt to barricade the door, before collapsing against them.

He cried. How-how had he survived? How had he not gotten hit already? Why was this happening to him? He did nothing bad, nor was he special enough to guarantee any attention!

Why was this HAPPENING!?

Nicholas fished for his phone; his ice-cold fingers fumbled and sent the phone sliding away. Frantically, Nicholas crawled over and lunged at it, unlocking his phone. Immediately, he went to his contacts and called Arnold.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up!” he urged. It was hopeless. The time was after 1 AM, who would be awake at this time? And Arnold always put his phone on vibrate.

“Marigold. Please, please!” He placed the phone to his ear and waited. Never in his life had he ever felt the need to drown out the phone noise more.

The phone clicked and so did Nicholas’ heart. “Nic?” Her voice was groggy, probably having woken up or was about to go to sleep. Nicholas didn’t give a fudge. “What’s going-“

“Crazy man is trying to kill me! Send help! Please!” Nicholas cried.

“What? I swear, if this is one of your pranks, it’s way too earlier-“ Marigold began to say.

“It’s not!” Nicholas screamed and perhaps Marigold heard the tears or the desperation in his voice. Whatever the reason was, when she next spoke, there wasn’t a hint of disbelief.

“Okay, I’m on my way! Going to get the teachers!” she said.

“No, don’t! He’s outside, don’t go outside! Wake the students up, call the teachers or send a signal! Whatever you do, just don’t go outside!” Nicholas all but yelled.

“Got it! Nicholas, I have to be care-we’re-“ The phone call beaded away and Nicholas slammed his phone into the ground, cracking it. But Marigold had got the message. He was going to be safe. He would be rescued.

He broke down in tears, racking his entire body. He was just sooooo tired. He wanted to sleep, wanted to lay down in bed and not think about this for a moment. He couldn’t handle this, he couldn’t be a hero-

An ominous trickle on his neck made Nicholas look up, up, up; past the plants, past the ivy walls, up the glass-

And Nicholas screamed.

? ? ?

He cackled. His new pet was so funny, it made his stomach want to burst! It wanted to call out for others! What a fool! Everybody knew you couldn’t play 2 player games with 3 or more people! That wasn’t how it worked!

So he had to give it a little....fright. Oh, the shell-shocked look on its face was one he would remember for a long time now! A memento for a truly great hunt!

After his prey vanished into the greenhouse, he dropped to the ground and scurried over to the stairs. More specifically, the knife it had pried from its leg.

He loved it. The prey, wanting to fight back! Take charge! It made him giddy just thinking about it! But it needed to be taught its place, at his boots, licking them like any good little rabbit. After all, it had to be good if it wanted its playmate!

He grasped the knife and brought it closer to his face, examining it. It smelled wonderful. A coppery scent, with a hint of sugar. Expertly, his tongue snaked out and licked the blade.

Oh, how scrumptious it was! Yes, yes, this was what he wanted! His body tingled, his very spine cracking. The taste of blood-it was invigorating, fabulous!

Carefully, with the utmost of care, he placed the bloodstained dagger into a plastic bag, one labeled, Number 89. It was always good to keep track, in case things got lost.

Not that his pets ever got lost! No, banish the thought! His pets were all locked tightly in his box, so safe, so comforted. He even went out to buy silk for the inside coverings, you know.

His phone vibrated and when he looked down at it, a huge grin that almost threatened to tear his face off came into being. “My my, what a bold little rabbit.” Ignoring the words, Rabbit Boy written on the screen, he accepted the call.

He acted drowsy, which wasn’t hard. Drowsy was almost the same as becoming drunk and he was already drunk! Drunk on blood!

He had fun listening to the call and responding to its hurried orders. He shut the phone off and put it back into his pocket. He liked this part. He got to play with them, make them shuffle to his tune, like puppets! Yes, puppets! That’s what they all are!

Puppets without a string, without guidance! But no need to worry, he would take up the mantle. He would guide people, maneuvering their strings expertly! He would teach them everything, those good students of his. Soon, pretty soon, all of them would be juggling to his tune! His fingers might get hurt from the strings but what did that matter? Nothing! NOTHING!

Oh my, he was a bit loud. Did that scare them? Apologizes. He stared at the contained knife. How much he wanted to ravish it! If he got so much pleasure from the knife, what could make more tingles? Only one thing, only one thing.

Nicholas

Nicholas thought it would be easier to fight if he saw what he was fighting. What was grounding him here, making him feel such fear and terror.

He was wrong. So very very wrong.

On the ceiling was a-he couldn’t describe it. All he could say was he knew for sure his attacker was now a man. A dead man. Hollering out battle cries, Nicholas shot out concentrated waves of wind at the roof. He had no doubt the attacker would be able to easily get in by breaking the glass; he only wanted Nicholas to squirm a little longer. Well, Nicholas would no longer squirm and he’ll no longer hide. Emboldened by the fact Marigold was bringing him help, he kept on belting out more and more attacks. The glass shattering was loud, loud enough surely people could hear it. Good. That was what Nicholas wanted!

He could no longer see his attacker but he didn’t let that fool him. He knew he was still here, he could sense it. So he drew his arms back and whipped them in a circle. Around and around he went, forming a tornado that gradually became more defined.

With a mighty yell, after amassing as much wind power his circuits could grant him, he hurled the tornado out and sprinted for the back door he knew to be there. Kicking open the door, Nicholas spared one second to shoot a glance back.

His tornado was wreaking havoc, destroying the ginormous greenhouse and ripping every green life to shreds. In any other circumstance, Nicholas might have stood and watched, marveling at its glory and feeling exuberant at how far he’s come.

Now, he only stayed to check it had done its job. He didn’t see his attacker’s limp body in the tornado but he could simply be out of view. It didn’t matter, Nicholas had a chance to run and he took it.

Pushing himself past limits he didn’t even know he had, Nicholas zeroed into the closest door he could find and went to work. It was locked and Nicholas coaxed his circuits to give one last effort. A tendril of wind slipped into the keyhole and rummaged around. The entire time, Nicholas was split between focusing on his task and checking on the tornado. He should have continued running, honestly.

Finally, finally, the door opened and Nicholas darted in. He shut the door close, locked it nice and tight, and turned around-