The Last Apothecary

Chapter 28.

"And that's really what caused them to establish a social hierarchy, and later helped them to survive the intense flood-" Mr. Benson was suddenly cut off by the sound of a robotic voice cutting through a loudspeaker.

'Please prepare for a school lockdown. Shut windows, lock doors. This is not a drill.'

A what? My heartbeat began to pound in my ears to the wail of the alarms. The school had never had a lockdown before, not even a practice one. School break-ins and massacres were a thing of the past, something I'd learn about when I reached the early 2000s section of History class, not experience firsthand. Is there a fire? But even that wasn't an issue with all the elemental Witches out there. There was a reason regulated school drills hadn't been a thing for more than fifty years, but whatever was going on... it was big enough to cause one right here, right now.

My eyes flicked around wildly between my classmates, but they all looked just as confused as I was. As the lights flicked off, I could see my teacher holding a finger to his mustache. Shh! It was understood, but that didn't mean that desks weren't scrapped against the floor, window blinds weren't torn down in a panic, and random whispers and frenzied taps from cell phone texts didn't happen. Yanking my wand out of my backpack, I walked to the corner where others huddled as Mr. Benson locked the door, pressing his back against it. Screams sounded from the hallway, most likely teens who weren't as good at following instructions, but they quickly died down into an eerie silence.

What's going on? It all seemed so random, sitting in the dark with no further instructions, when I heard shouts from outside the window.

"Free our children!"

"Mixed schools are a sin!"

My mind immediately thought of the cult. They're resurfacing again? But I had sealed the potions. Were they going to try to break in and steal them in broad daylight? What kind of a plan is that?

My faith in humanity, or at least, Witchkind had dropped a good dozen points when my thoughts were interrupted by a final cry out of the many. "Witches should've stayed in hiding. Bring back the trials!"

I narrowed my eyes at the floor. So it wasn't the cult. It was a group of Humans. I hadn't given it much attention with how loud the other end was being about things, but it made sense if one side was going to fight, so would the other. But that means... 

Goosebumps prickled up my arms as I felt my classmates' eyes crawl over me, reminding me about the wand in my hand. It felt like I was holding it in bad taste now, and I noticed once again that this was one of the few classes I had with almost no Witches in it. My cheeks began to burn in embarassment, when a shot rang out.

I'd never heard a gunshot before. Not outside of movies. It peeled out like a firework before a second sound like shattered pavement hit my ears, assumedly from the bullet making contact. A guy next to me let out a scream.

"They have a gun?" He threw his freckled hands over his head. The only other Witch in class covered up her face as she tugged her hoodie up to hide the tears rolling down it.

"Apparently," my teacher whispered, running his hands through his frazzled hair. "That being said, I know this is terrifying, but let's try to keep quiet as best we can. It's the only thing we can do."

"They're not even here for us," the same kid muttered out of the side of his mouth. "They don't want a mixed school; we should just hand over the Witches." It came out matter-of-fact, like it was the obvious answer.

"Gee, thanks." I raised my voice a bit to be heard over the shouts outside, but left it at that. Maybe in the past I would have torn him a new one, but right now it just seemed so... pointless? Another bullet was fired, and somewhere off in the distance, window glass shattered, erupting more cries.