Phrontistery Of Monster Kind - Six Feet Deep

Chapter 10

I sat in the cafeteria, stirring my tomatine-free tomato soup. The room was bare, a few students on their free period scattered throughout the hall. After my dinner, I'd have to find a new classroom for all my history classes. In order to organise my new classroom, I had to give up my night duty to Mors and by had to; I mean, Harro ordered it. I swore there was a gleam in his eyes, as though he enjoyed my suffering. Mayor's reaction still made me laugh thinking about it.

"Are you mad? The man barely has any free time and the one night off you want to shove him on to cover Esmay's shift? Get another teacher to do it. Isha doesn't have to sleep. What is she doing?"

"She requires meditation in order to correctly read predictions."

"Her starting three hours later isn't going to hurt her routine."

"Ritual."

"It is most certainly not a ritual, nor is it any religious practice before you shove that in too," Mayor said. "We both know she isn't religious."

"I can really do it-"

"No, you are human and have to sleep," Mayor argued.

I backed up, sharing a look with Mors, who, if he could, would have given me an 'I told you so' look. Instead, I got a little head tilt in my direction. All his moves were like that. He lifted his head and tilted it similarly when someone would smirk or nod his head ever so slightly in gratitude. The rest of his body didn't move. The sharper the movement, the more irritated he was. Everything was easier when he talked.

"I am fine doing it, Beatris; I have nothing else to do-"

Mayor cut Mors off, "What about Chiro? She would love an excuse to walk around at night."

"She was up at dawn for football tryouts."

"Why is she running- Oh right, that was Mr Galloway's job. Remind me to hire a new coach." After saying that Mayor must have realised Harro wasn't going to remind her, so she asked Mors to do it instead.

"As you wish."

Honestly, she should be headmistress and Mors her deputy instead. How Harro managed to keep the school afloat for seventy years was beyond me.

"Slot Isha into the role," Mayor said. "She won't die if she walks near the disposal area, no matter what she tells you."

"We can't risk losing another staff member Beatris," Harro said.

"Then cease hiring incompetent monsters and boy toys you meet at the pub," Mayor snapped.

"Pardon?" Mors said.

"Oh, dear, that doesn't apply to you," Mayor clarified. Her eyes moved over to me. "Or you, Esmay."

"Good, because I didn't feel like being his boy toy," I said with an awkward chuckle. Mors' head lowered to the ground, meaning he was thinking. There was nothing to think about. He wasn't incompetent. Unless... did Mors' get hired in a pub?

"Isha is working the shift, and that's it."

She wasn't going to, that was for certain. I'm not sure if she was opposed to the idea. I didn't know her well enough to judge, but given she wasn't doing it before, there was no starting now. If I didn't have an early morning class, I would have done it, regardless.

I sighed at the predicament I caught myself in as I reached out for my pepper to add to my soup. No matter how much I added, it didn't seem enough. The tomato soup had a stomach of its own. As I grabbed the grinder, my hand met a feathery one.

I almost screamed at the contact, although I retracted my hand. Across from me was a being with the body of a man, blondish white feathers for arms and matching curly hair. The parts that were skin were olive and his nose was straight, unlike most of the birdlike monsters I'd met before.