The Club

Fifteen

"Tynan sir. I wasn't aware that you would be here today." Mr. Pilcher says, trying to sound calm, but I heard a slight stammer in his voice.
"I changed my mind." Tynan says walking over and standing next to me, making my skin prickle from his power.
"I see." Mr. Pilcher says, clearing his voice.
"I-I should get going." I stammered to Mr. Pilcher as I stand up to leave.
"Why so suddenly? I just got here?" Tynan asks before Mr. Pilcher could speak up.
"I-I well I-uh now have new lines to learn." I stammered badly.
"I can help you practice. After all, I am also a major role." Tynan says, smirking once again.
"Wait. What?" I ask, stopping in my tracks.
"Oh? Didn't you know Lonnie? I'll be playing as Eren in the play Poisoned Love. We will spend lots of time together, and honestly, I'm looking forward to it." Tynan tells me with a wide smirk as I felt fear seep into me.
"Thats impossible. You aren't even in the drama club." I tell him, trying to keep my voice even.
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Lonnie? I can do anything that I want. I can pull strings around this school and this town." Tynan tells me, coming closer to me.
I wanted to reply, but him being this close is making me uncomfortable and afraid. The room felt colder. Almost like he's trying to show just how much power he holds. I shivered from the coldness, as I felt goosebumps over my arms and everywhere else. I wanted Mr. Pilcher to speak up and help me out, but remember how everyone acted around Grimshaw. If people are afraid of Grimshaw, then Tynan must be ten times worse. What do I do? I don't want to do this play with him, but it seems I have no choice now. There has to be a way out of this, though. Maybe I can pretend to be sick on the day of the play, so somebody else has to play Veranda. Will that honestly work, though? I have this feeling that it will not work, and that Tynan would make sure that I'll play the part no matter what. But the question is why? Why does he want me to play the major role, anyway? It makes little sense to me.
"I-I need to leave." I stammered as I push past Tynan and quickly rush out of the room.
I felt my heart beating like a drum as I felt so much fear just being in that room with him. I can't imagine how Mr. Pilcher feels. I just needed to get out of there as I'm so scared that I would become a stammer mess or I'll become an ice cube from how cold the room became. When Tynan was pretending to be Hansen, he never showed too much interest in me before. So, why is he now that I know who he really is? I shake my head, as it's probably nothing. I'm probably just overthinking it. He was probably always interested in me but was pretending not to be, but now that I know his true identity. He decided to not hide anymore. This is all too confusing! Why am I so special? Who cares if I was born with red hair? Why does that make my blood special? I don't-
"Lonnie wait!"
I stop before turning around, noticing a girl with rainbow hair running up to me. Iridiana? I wonder what she wants? I have seen little of her lately or talk to her much. I mainly see her in drama club after school. I don't see her in any of my classes or in the cafeteria. Well, I don't look for her either. I flinch suddenly when I felt someone grab onto my arm. I look over and saw Iridiana smiling widely at me. Why is she so happy? I wonder as I feel like I could throw up after what just happened moments ago. I never thought I'll be the lead role, and especially not doing the lead role with Tynan. Whose Mr. Dubuik's son. The guy who's after my blood.
"Did you see the roles that Mr. Pilcher put up! I got the role of Linus!" Iridiana yells happily snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh-uh congratulations." I tell her afraid about the play.
"Don't sound so down, Lonnie. I know you didn't get the part you wanted, but it's a rare occasion where you got the lead role instead!" Iridiana tells me excitedly.
"I didn't want the lead role." I tell her simply.
"Oh? Why is that?" She asks, sounding confused as she looks over at me with her blue eyes.
"I just uh-have too much on my plate that I just wanted the small part or no part at all." I tell her a small lie, which isn't really a lie, honestly.
"Oh. I guess you started here late truthfully. So that makes sense." Iridiana says scratching the back of her head.
"I also don't want to work with the one whose playing the lead role." I muttered to myself.
"Huh? Oh! Eren? I didn't check who was playing him. Let me check. Hm. Ah! There he is! The one who is playing Eren and will be your partner in the play is-" Iridiana says, but stops short, which made me look over at her.
I saw her eyes wide, and she looks pale. That seems like everyone's reaction when they hear about Tynan. I don't know what he's capable of, but I know I shouldn't mess with him. I wish I could just get out of here already. I jump when Iridiana grabs onto my wrist before dragging me out of the drama room. I widen my eyes as she says nothing. Why does everyone drag me around this school? I thought, confused, as I let out a sigh. I'm dragged into the girl's bathroom where Iridiana locked the door so no other girls can come in. I watch as she turns towards me as she looks at the paper again, still pale, before she looks up at me with fearful eyes.
"Lonnie. What did you get yourself into?" Iridiana asks lowly.
Mr. Pilcher said something familiar to that, but why do they think I did this willingly? I shook my head as I answered with, "I didn't get myself into anything. I came to this school against my will. I then found out that my mom made a deal with this guy named Mr. Dubuik, and now he's coming after me. I-"
"Whoa, wait a minute! Did you just say that Mr. Dubuik is coming here? And he's after you?" Iridiana asks interrupting me.
"Uh yes?" I say it more like a question.
"Don't you know that Mr. Dubuik is a very dangerous guy? He's like the mayor of this town! Tynan is his son! I don't know what you or your mom got yourselves into, but you're both in danger." Iridiana warns me.
"Thanks for the warning, but it's a little too late for that. Mr. Dubuik already killed my mother. I don't know what to do, or who to turn to. I've been getting help from Grimshaw and his-" I tell her, but she once again interrupts me.
"No! You can't trust them. Grimshaw and his gang are very dangerous as well. You can't count on them to help you." Iridiana warns me again, but it's still a little too late for it.
"What else am I supposed to do? They won't leave me alone otherwise. They don't want Mr. Dubuik or Tynan to have my blood, so they are the only ones who I can count on at the moment." I tell her, regretting my decision to trust them.
"It's not the only way, Lonnie. You're my friend and I'm going to help you!" Iridiana tells me, determination written across her face.
I give her a small smile as I want to trust her, but I don't know who I can trust in this school. I don't want to trust the wrong people, but I guess I'll trust Iridiana for now. She's at least doesn't give me that cold aura of power. It's more of a warm feeling. I don't feel like I'm in danger when I'm around her, like I do with everyone else around this school. So, maybe I should give her a chance and hope for the best. Iridiana then reaches out her hand, telling me she has my back. I smile once more before grabbing her hand and shaking it once. I just hope that I don't regret my decision in trusting her.

The weekend is my favorite time of the week! It's even more so now that I go to this school. I got to sleep in and now I'm heading out into town. I tried hard to not get seen by any of the students. So far, I'm doing good and I'm almost at the gates. I'm hiding behind a tree because I don't want anyone to see me. Especially the club members, or Tynan, or even Finn. I had enough of them all. I peek around the tree to see two kids walking past the school gates. I guess they're going into town as well. I thought as I waited for a few more minutes. When it looked like it was in the clear, I quickly bolted towards the gates. I glanced behind me to make sure no one noticed me before turning back towards the front. I then slammed into someone, making me groan in pain. I noticed that I never hit the ground, so I open my eyes but flinch when I saw Tynan standing in front of me. Too close! I tried to step away, but realized he had his arms around me. Well, that explains why I didn't hit the ground. I thought, embarrassed as I blush from how close we were. I tried again to step away, but he only chuckles and lean closer to me.
"Where are you going, sweetheart?" Tynan asks, getting very close to my face.
"I-I-I-uh-"
"My! You stammer a lot, don't you, Lonnie? I hope you don't stutter this much on the day of the play." Tynan teases.
"I-let me go!" I yell, trying to shove his hands off of me.
"Is that anyway to treat your friend?" Tynan asks, grabbing onto my cheeks before forcing me to look at him.
"Y-your not my friend!" I yell at him before stomping on his foot.
Tynan yells out before stepping away from shock and in pain, and in that moment, I slip away from him. I dashed out of there quickly and ran all the way to town. I didn't stop to look back. I didn't stop to think about what the hell I just did until I made it to town. Oh, my god! Did I really just stomp on Tynan's foot? I must really have a death wish! He's definitely going to kill me now. I honestly can't think about my situation right now. I have to find where I can learn to defend myself. Is there a dojo or a bookstore or something where I can practice self defense? There has to be something around here. For my life's sake, I really hope there is.
I searched the town for hours but didn't see a dojo. I found a bookstore but saw nothing about self defense. I'm not ready to give up yet. Maybe I should ask someone? I thought as I look around at the townsfolk. I swallow a bit nervously before walking up to an older couple who looks like they were deciding what to buy. Just like everyone else I've met so far, they also have brown hair and have brown skin. It's so weird how everyone is basically looks the same, but I guess that's what I get for moving in a town that wields black magic. I took a deep breath before I stood behind the couple. I then cleared my throat, which drew both of them towards me. I didn't feel any power radiating from them, but I won't get fooled twice. I will keep my guard up, just in case.
"What do you want?" The guy asks, rudely.
"Um, well, I just wanted to know if there was anything where I could learn self defense around here." I ask awkwardly.
"Self defense? If you're on someone's nasty side, then I suggest getting out of town." The lady tells me seriously.
"That won't work, honey. They will just hunt her down. The only way for her to protect herself if she took up on learning black magic." The guy nearly sneered.
"What? Are you serious?" I ask, hoping they are just messing with me.
"Why would we joke about something like this?" The guy asks glaring at me.
"I-I just wanted to protect myself. I don't want to get into any dark magic." I tell them, feeling defeated.
"Well, there is another way." The lady says, looking over at me like she's about to tell me a big secret.
"Don't tell her." The guy sneers.
"Shush you. If you really need to defend yourself but don't want to turn to black magic. Then I know a place where you can learn a different type of magic. But it's top secret." The lady shushes the guy before telling me barley above a whisper.
"Really? Where can I find this place?" I ask, whispering as well.
"I don't know. The only one who knows is a guy by the name of Craig Lawson. You will find him at the pub around eight. He rarely leaves there until late either." The lady explains to me in a low whisper.
"Where can I find this pub?" I ask looking around the town as I don't remember seeing one when I looked around.
"It's at the edge of town. You can't miss it kid." The guy says before grabbing his wife and walking away.
I watch them leave as I turn towards where the edge of town is. I took a deep breath as I head towards where the pub was located. I hope I'm not making a mistake. I thought as I continue walking down the road. I glance at my surroundings and notice people would stop and stare at me. Some would whisper to their friends or family or just completely ignore me. Even the townsfolk find me weird. I thought, almost upset as I kept my head down as I walk. I'll just find this Craig guy and hopefully he will help me. I need something that will help me out in this town and in this school. I can't and won't let Mr. Dubuik and his son take my blood, like they took my mother away from me. I will stop them both, and I'll do it without the club members' help.