(The New) Power of the 8 Elements: Part Two

Chapter Eleven: Disgusting Discovery

"The most painful goodbyes are the ones never said and never explained." - UNKNOWN
PRESENT DAY
CELESTE

We have study hall on Tuesdays. I'm not a big fan of study hall, but I know some people are simply because they can study or complete their homework before their next class without getting caught. I usually find it boring, but I don't complain. I try to work diligently, rewriting my notes for a Magical History test we have. Terry says that that's a trick she uses which is why her grades are so high.

As I erase a spelling mistake, one of my classmates—Eleanor—jumps from her seat. The teacher has left the classroom for a brief second, but she somewhat trusts us to not start up a ruckus. Everyone stares at Eleanor confusedly. She's usually jumpy, so some of us don't pay much attention to her, but a few of us stand up and walk over to see what had happened. I'm one of those people.

"There's blood on my desk," she says.

At first I don't believe her, thinking she's possibly mistaken the spill of fruit punch for blood, but to my surprise, I find what actually appears to be blood. But where did it come from?

"Eleanor, where did that come from?" Lucifer asks.

"I don't know..." She whimpers. "I-I-I think it f-fell from the ceiling or s-something."

We all look up at the ceiling tile. What appears to be a drop of blood falls on Lucifer's face.

"Think it's actually blood?" I whisper.

"Only one way to find out." He stands on Eleanor's desk and reaches up to remove the tile.

"Wait, are you actually doing this?" Terri asks.

"I'm just trying to make sure it's not a dead animal-"

As soon as Lucifer says that, something big falls from the tile and collapses onto the floor—a body. It falls near Eleanor's feet. She jumps away from the bloodied, recently killed corpse with a scream that turned into a gag which turned into her spewing vomit from her mouth to the side.

"NORA!" Reggie screamed, running at the body.

Her face has been greatly mutilated. It doesn't even seem like her at first, but we can all tell it was Nora because she had been very proud of her new Michael Kors heels. They had all been for nothing. Lucifer stares at the body, unblinking. He seems terrified, and I am, too, knowing that if school wasn't safe, nowhere else could be safe either.

Reggie's wails didn't bring any form of comfort either as I found tears welling into my own eyes. Our screams alert another teacher who storms into the room—furious at first—but his face becomes a look of concern which shifts into horror as he realizes what the commotion had all been about.

Everyone leaves the room in an out of control rush, ignoring what is dubbed "standard" procedures. Some begin running down the hall to the nearest bathroom whereas others fall to their knees in front of the whole school and begin crying aloud—Eleanor being one of them. Reggie cries Nora's name from inside the classroom all while one of our teachers Mr. Spindle attempts to pull him away from the body. All of the sounds seem to drown out at once as I knelt on the ground, hearing nothing but the sounds of my beating heart and a high-pitched whine. It isn't until a hand grabs my arm and pulls me off the ground, that I snap out of my temporary trance.

"Lucifer?" I say.

"They're calling the cops. Everyone needs to head outside."

I realize that the fire alarm has been blaring, and I didn't even hear it.

"Come on, darling." I take his hand and squeeze it tightly. My legs feel weak, but Lucifer manages to support me enough as we walk outside and head down the hill to the field where I see that the freshman as well as other the younger grades have piled outside.