Phrontistery Of Monster Kind - Six Feet Deep

Chapter 9

I might not be the most faithful individual out there. My past was many shades of grey, shelved away so not even I have to remember it. There was this magic about the island that renews you. Anyone could be who they wish, but it also brought forth a curse, picking apart all the trivial lies that when pieced together revealed you to be a walking contradiction.

I was not twenty-five.

If I was not careful, all would be exposed. It might be better for me but if they learnt the truth, it would garner attention and interested people ask too many questions.

Harro's developing a sudden curiosity for a man who lived to turn a blind side to things. I thought Mayor would be my biggest threat, but perhaps it lies closer to those who know more about me.

I wandered the school grounds during my free periods when I was not writing up lesson plans. I checked up on passageways, oiling the doors up- several hadn't been used in centuries. The staff nowadays didn't seem to know about them. One teacher caught me when I was testing out keys for a door from the first level to the top level. I believed she was the other science teacher who went by her maiden name Ratcliffe. I offered to show her a couple of the extra shortcuts as I unlocked doors scattered about the school. A few of them were inside the secret entrances themselves. All I got from her was a one-sided conversation about how she met her husband in France before she got the job on the island. She herself wasn't French, but from the New York sewers, which I couldn't care less about, but I appreciated the company.

Each class was growing to be the same, filling in the gaps that Galloway left. Don't even get me started on his Human Studies classes. I had hoped that I could get the year sevens caught up.

Their Monster History classes, however, were getting on my last nerve. I felt like I was teaching a toddler caught in their 'why?' phase.

The year elevens were the worst.

"As I have explained three times already, Charles, the Dark Ages lasted for 1000 years. The Middle Ages, Medieval Times and Dark Ages are variants of the same period. Lasting from 500 BCE to 1500 BCE. For the most part, they are seen as the same thing, so for now imagine they are-"

"How is this going to help us?" the exoskeleton teen asked. "It's 2013, not 1000 AD."

"CE, Roberto. A significant amount of our culture was crafted through this period."

"You mean yours."

"No, ours. Both humans and monsters." The only good thing about this comment from the robot was I know they weren't calling me old like they did at the human schools. They wouldn't have been wrong, but instead, their go-two was disrespecting humans. I doubt some of these monsters have met a human before. For the best, of course, it's highly discouraged for monsters to have run-ins. "Now, do you guys know about the fall of the Roman empire?" The room was silent. "That was on your syllabus for last trimester. What did your teacher teach you?"

"He let us do self-study," a student said from the back of the classroom. The same one who spent half the class flicking the sheddings of his eraser at the girl in front of him.

"Then he pissed off Miss Ridae," another child, who insists on using the bathroom at least once during every lesson, said. He knocked his table forward, rustling all the contents on it and earning him glares from some girls who were less than enthused to be beside him. "Miss, Can I go-"

"Yes, and language." Every. Lesson. "Okay, I'll go back and reteach you that later. For now, all you need to know is after the fall of the Roman Empire, a lot of Roman culture and knowledge was lost. However, they were some of the best in history to keep records of everything. They helped with our understanding and development of languages, culture and so on. Middle Ages is a term that is used specifically when talking about these events in Europe. The period commonly referred to as the 'Dark Ages' relates to the early Middle Ages, when central government and historical records were scarce. Those who came after this time period coined the name to distinguish themselves from their predecessors."