PRIDE (Leona x Reader) [Twisted Wonderland]

Chapter 6

"I'd knew you were a thief, Y/N," Ruggie Bucchi said, "but to think that your target was Mr. Crowley himself, is the part that's most surprisin'. Most people wouldn't even dare goin' into his office without permission."

You swallowed. You had the staff held tightly behind your back. "This isn't what it looks like..." It was, though. It was exactly what it looked like, and more.

"How'd you trick Leona with it, is what I wanna know," Ruggie continued. He looked almost excited. Proud of himself. Especially when he added, "I know he's not the brightest sometimes, but he's not that stupid. Did you use your special magic, or somethin'? Control his mind?"

You shook your head fervently.

"Or is it somethin' more? Maybe you put memories inside his head? Or maybe that wasn't even Leona at all? Heh heh heh. Is that it? You used an illusion on me? That's pretty good!" He seemed amused by all of this. You took a step backward. How were you going to get out of this, exactly?

"I promise, I never did anything like that." You tried your best to sound level headed, like you weren't seconds from just making a break for it. But you felt like a cornered mouse. Would he keep you here until Crowley came? Or would he tell Crowley himself?

"I'm sure Mr. Crowley will be impressed that you got this far," Ruggie complimented harshly. He made a swipe for the staff, which was still behind your back and mostly out of his view. "Now show me watcha got there!"

You barely dodged him, answered past to the other side of the room. You slammed the closet door shut rand kept running, but it barely slowed him down.

"Hey! Get back here!"

You scrambled through the hallways, which were mostly empty right now, but made the mistake of going in the direction of the cafeteria, and so passed a gaggle of students chatting with their trays. They all look startled to see you run past, carrying Mr. Crowley's staff, and with Ruggie Bucchi tailing you not far behind.

God, what now? It was just one thing after another here, wasn't it? And you never had anywhere to go.

It didn't matter, though, Ruggie was much faster than you. He pounced like an animal, and you fell face first into the smooth tile floor. You felt your nose crack against it, and the pain from your forehead reverberated in your ears and skull. His weight was still on you, keeping you pinned with his arms halfway around your torso.

You looked up and felt blood drip down to your top lip. The staff had skittered across the hall, and was too far away for you to reach. A foot stepped out behind it. You couldn't see any higher, from where you were held against the ground, but you recognized those sandals well enough that you had a pretty good guess who it was.

"Leona!" said Ruggie. "You aren't gonna believe this—"

But Leona wasn't alone. A crowd of students had clambered out to see what all the ruckus was. They murmured about, and some laughed, while others just looked confused or judgemental.

One man among them stood out. He pushed the students aside, saying, "Move aside, students, get back into the cafeteria. Don't crowd in the halls." The grey haired old man looked down at you with a scowl.

"Professor Trein," said Ruggie. The students cleared away as they had been told.

"What exactly happened here?" the professor asked. You sat up as Ruggie stood and starting talking.

"They were trying to steal from Mr. Crowley," he pointed at you, and Professor Train narrowed his eyes while you wiped blood from your nose.

"You don't look very familiar," Trein said. "Which class are you in?"