Esoterico: A Hidden Land

Chapter Nine: An Uneasy First Day

When Ryan opened his eyes, the apartment was shining with sunlight. He quickly rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. Right then, he saw Rudy coming out of the bathroom.

He tried to smile weakly and said, "I reckon I gobbled a bit too much yesterday." He closed the bathroom door. 

Ryan was on his feet by then. He said, "Let's go; I think we're late waking up." 

Rudy said, "Yeah, everyone must be in the common room now." 

Ryan and Rudy got prepared and put on their sorcerers' suits, which they had taken off before sleeping last night. Ryan freshened up in a while, and after he was out of the bathroom, a head poked inside the room through the open door. It was Rex Isaac, the cap that said 'MONSTER' still put on his head.

He said, "What the hell are you still doing here?" Come quickly—something gruesome has occurred."     

"What type of gruesome thing?" Ryan asked.

"Murder near the woods," Rex simply remarked. "WHAT?"  Ryan and Rudy both shouted, shocked greatly.

"Don't shout.  "Come with me." Rex said.

"Where?"

"Common Room." 

So the three were soon out in the corridor. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to reach the common room. It's on the third floor but in the east corridor, while the apartments are in the west. But in these two minutes, Rex was showered with questions.

"Who's the victim?" Ryan asked Rex.

"Wright Friedkinson. The night guard here. His remains were found near the woods. Horrible—the head was severed, the torso was slashed and ripped greatly, and some of his arms and legs were gone. The amount of gore—even its description made me almost vomit."

"How do you know all of that?" Rudy grimly asked.

"Well, it's the daytime guard, Ener D'Costa. He was the one who first found the corpse, or, should I say, the lump of bones and flesh—and gore, of course. He went there for his morning duty, and then he noticed that lump of gore near the wood. He went frantic—obvious. Panicstricken, he came a-running here, told the teachers, and then the news went blowin' in the wind among us. Now all the pupils are—you know—wild."

"Who's the killer?" Ryan asked.

"No idea."  Rex shrugged.

They reached the common room only to find it really wild. From beginner to standard—everyone was talking about this one topic. A thunderstorm of talking was going on.

Massive common room. The whole garden of Ryan's house would fit in it.

"Did you see the corpse?" Ryan asked Rex.

"See the corpse? Are you mad? I don't even want to imagine it." 

They almost had to yell within all the talking and chaos in the common room. 

"Gore on the first night. I didn't expect it—Magicademia was so calm and safe these days... A senior boy said. 

"This doesn't feel good. First day of chaos, precisely." 

"What about the killer? We don't even know him; is he done with one or does he want more?" 

"Very dangerous, dude. We have to be careful; if we get in front of that brute without our suits, we're done for."

Everyone was terrified and made a lot of tales and wild speculations. The situation had turned into a disturbing one that Ryan didn't expect, at least not on the first day. A total ruckus.