Demon Hunters: Last Class

Episode 6: Lyric- Expulsion

The headmistress' office reminded me of my mother's office. She'd been a lawyer until I was ten. Then an extremely stressful case and a debilitating illness made her give up her practice. I think she missed it, because she'd never changed her home office. A huge wooden desk sat in front of a set of windows looking out on our backyard. Across from them were three wide bookshelves full of law books and legal encyclopedias. I'd spent countless hours sitting on the maroon rug that dominated the room. Nena Jefferson's office looked much the same, though her rug was a deep navy blue and the majority of her books were about anatomy.

I sat in one of the four chairs arranged in front of the desk, holding the baby doll and fighting back the tears that tried to come every time I thought of Mom. Purell crouched in a corner, rummaging through her bags. She was convinced the trees stole something out before they gave them back. She barely complained about her swollen pointer finger. Toni sat on the windowsill, staring out into the night.

We'd all screamed when we thought the big guy was going to hurt us, none louder than Toni who kept saying she didn't want the Evil Dead up her butt. This had freaked out the big guy, who ended up trying to reassure us.

While all three of you are in deep mulch, there will not be any violation on my watch!

The tree man filled the doorway, his huge bulk making him look every bit of his eight or nine feet. His skin looked like the polished hardwood floor of my parent's kitchen. The stubble of his huge chin made it look like a dark green chia pet. A few weeks ago, I might have been disturbed by his appearance, but after all I'd seen...

A talking cat, a blue boy with bull horns, my father transforming into an inferno. A treeman didn't seem that odd.

Arms crossed and jaw clenched, it was clear we weren't getting past him. Ms. Perdy paced back and forth in the hallway. She hadn't said anything directly to us, but, from the things she'd yelled at the man, she was clearly pissed.

They kept us in the headmistress' office for about twenty minutes before a commotion caught my attention. Ms. Perdy bickered with someone in the hallway and then abruptly fell silent. The big man stepped into the office and a tall thin woman entered the room. She wore a small tank top cut short with an uneven hand, revealing a dangerously thin waist and a bellybutton ring. Her black sweatpants were frayed at the bottom, her feet were bare and dirty. Her hair was a messy tangle of orange and purple strands and her face was hard. If someone had told me she never smiled, I'd had no trouble believing it.

She glowered at the tree man and he lowered his eyes in embarrassment. She shoved him back and took up a position beside him. Nena entered the room and the other adults stood stiff and rigid like soldiers, despite all three towering over her. She wore a bonnet and a fuzzy robe that fit her as if two sizes too large. The swollen bags under her eyes made the elderly woman look ancient and tired. She shuffled over to her desk in old leather slippers and sat heavily.

"Girls, take a seat," Ms. Perdy said, her earlier anger in check.

Toni ignored her, continuing to peer out of the window.

"I'll stand," Purell said, raising her chin in defiance.

"You'll sit, damnit!" snapped the thin woman. In her anger, her voice dropped to a much lower tone that made me do a double take.

"Dean Reed." Nena said the woman's name and her eyes widened.

"Sorry, Headmistress," Reed said.

"Young ladies, please sit down so we can talk comfortably."

"But I don't want to," Purell sounded petulant, even to my ears.

"Sit."

Nena didn't lose her temper or raise her voice. She merely stared across the room until Purell began to squirm. Finally she sighed and carried her bags over to the chairs and sat to my right. Nena turned to the window.