Beauty that lies Within

Chapter 7 - The School for Evil

Sophie couldn't get over the stench of this place. If she thought that the sludge and the moat was bad, the castle was x100 worse.

As she was shunted along in the line for the third time in under a minute, Sophie scowled before she was hit with the smell of unwashed bodies, mildewed stone and stinking wolf all packed into the same small space with no windows to let out the humidity Sophie was feeling right now.

Stamping her foot in frustration, Sophie stood on her tiptoes, trying to see where the line was headed to. Maybe the person in charge here is at the end of the line. Sophie lit up hopefully. Maybe they'll help me get out of here and switch Aggie and I into the right schools! Sophie burned with anger at the thought of Agatha stealing her place at the School for Good, Agatha gleefully putting on the uniform, Agatha making friends with the girls she was supposed to make friends with and Agatha meeting the princes too! Her fists clenched and she ground her teeth. She might steal her future prince! NO -

The other students in the line gave her the dirtiest looks of hate, disgust, wariness and undiguised anger. Well I haven't done anything wrong. Sophie poohed to herself, feeling uncomfortable and slightly... scared.

It had been a close call earlier. Who knew what the other students would have done to her had the Wolves not entered the building at that time. Sophie thanked her lucky stars. Everyone had dispersed into a neat line as Wolves went around the room, snarling and cracking their whips threateningly to students to get back in line. Everyone was scared of the Wolves so everyone minded their own business.

For now.

Now, people were giving her dirty looks again. Sophie simply responded with her kindest smile. This had to be... a test, a glitch, a hack, something. The line moved an inch, slowly. This was taking too long. Sophie fumed. I need to talk to someone now.

She turned to a gray wolf. "Not that I question your authority, but can I see the School Master? I think he -" The wolf roared, soaking her with spit. Sophie didn't press the matter.

Sullenly, Sophie gave up for the rest during the rest of the line. She slumped in line into a sunken anteroom, where three black crooked staircases spiralled up in a perfect row.

One carved with monsters etched MALICE; another with spiders scraped MISCHIEF; and the third with serpents read VICE.

Around the three staircases, Sophie noticed the wall covered in different coloured frames for each row (or section as there were more than one rows of the same colour). In each frame, was a portrait of a beastly child, paired with a storybook painting next to them depicting of what the child became upon graduation.

A gold frame had a portrait of an elfish little girl (Why does she have a gold frame and plaque? Nothing so special about her at all Sophie scoffed). Beside it, a magnificent drawinf of her as a revolting witch, lording over a camatose maiden (that maiden is the one that deserves a gold frame and plaque Sophie thought disgusted). The gold plaque stretched under the two illustrations:

CATHERINE OF FOXWOOD: Little Snow White (Villain)

Sophie looked at the next gold frame. There was a portrait of a smirking boy with a thick unibrow (at this Sophie gagged). Next to it, his gold frame held a painting of that unibrow boy grown up and brandishing a knife to a woman's throat:

DROGAN OF MURMURING MOUNTAINS: Bluebeard (Villain)

Sophie looked below Drogan's frame. Beneath him there was a silver frame of a skinny boy with a mop of blond hair (he reminded Sophie of en elf, as she snickered). Sophie jolted in surprise when she looked at his silver framed painting, turned into one of dozen ogres pillaging a village. Underneath it wrote: