TBATE - Making A Much Lighter Path

Chapter 29 - Sooner or Later

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///Elijah Knight's POV///

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I could see a mixture of emotions in the students' and professors' faces: fear, anger, desperation, confusion, frustration, and helplessness as they were all stunned into silence by the abrupt laughter.

It was then that the masked man tossed the object he was holding behind his back onto the floor.

With a dull thud, the spherical object rolled into view close enough for the people in the front to see.

It was a hea...

It was a real head.

It wasn't the sound of water dripping that I heard, it was blood from the head.

It took my mind a couple of seconds of blank staring to process what was going on before a wave of nausea hit me like a bat.

I threw up.

Over and over again.

I was drawn to the gore. My mind was screaming to turn away, but my eyes stayed fixated on the gruesome sight as everything else blurred out of focus.

As his disturbing laughter continued, his whole body shaking in delight, a booming howl caught everyone's attention.

"NOOOOOOO! DORADREA!" I spotted Theodore as he roared, charging furiously towards the masked man. He knocked aside the students that weren't quick enough to get out of his one-man stampede.

"DORADREA!" Theodore screamed, his voice cracking as he hammered his fists against the translucent barrier.

There were only two sounds that could be heard. It was the sound of delighted laughter coming from the masked man, and the sound of Theodore's thunderous pounding against the barrier.

BOOM!

It was one of the Disciplinary Committee members...

BOOM!

The same group Arthur was in...

BOOM!

"COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!" Theodore howled, a deranged look shrouding his eyes.

Suddenly, the masked man stopped his laughter and removed his mask. His face was narrow and sharp, with skin that glowed in a hue of gray. In spite of the sharp and the attractive features he boasted, it was hard to miss the crazy, almost psychotic expression that seemed to have been permanently ingrained into his being. His face was wrinkled in a scowl as he tilted his head to the side, as if he was confused by Theodore's last statement.

"Coward? Me?" The masked figure began walking towards Theodore with the easy arrogance of someone who knew that everything in the world existed for his taking, every one of his steps seeming to drive a nail into the minds of everyone present.

"Yes, you! Stop hiding behind this barrier and fight me!" He growled back, blood continuing to drip from his broken hands

"Coward? Me? The mighty and reborn Draneeve... hiding?" The person called Draneeve blinked out of view and appeared in front of Theodore with a speed so fast, Theodore wasn't even able to react as Draneeve pulled him to the other side of the barrier. He threw the Disciplinary Committee member easily onto the erected platform.

Caught off guard, Theodore landed less than elegantly on his back before squirming to his knees, having trouble putting weight on his crippled hands.

Again, Draneeve blinked in a sudden flash of speed and squatted down to face Theodore. "Why don't you fight me now?" A sinister smirk curved on the red-haired man's face.