Rising Chaos

Chapter Four: Hunter School

Castiel stared at the tall building in front of him. The building was covered in tired bricks and looked like it was about to fall apart any minute. Sighing, he shrugged his backpack higher up onto his shoulder. Bob stood at the doorway, impatiently waiting for Castiel to join him. Castiel rolled his eyes. His father had insisted that Bob pick Castiel up to ensure that his son actually attended the school. Remiel had good reason, but it still annoyed Castiel.

Bob led Castiel down an old hallway that smelled a bit like something had died in it and into a room. The other students looked up when Castiel stepped into the room. Bored, Castiel let his eyes graze the room, his gaze falling on Evelyn and her not-boyfriend. His eyes bore into theirs, challenging them to say something. Cole's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at Castiel, and Castiel smirked in response.

Bob touched Castiel's arm to get his attention and pointed at the seat in the far back corner of the room. Sighing, he made his way to the back of the room and took a seat, slouching further into his chair than he needed to. Castiel pulled up his hoodie and covered his face with it, and Bob gave him a disapproving glance before addressing the classroom.

"Welcome. You are all entering your final year of high school. As this is the year that you will be turning eighteen and receiving your initiation, it is also the final year in which we will test your strengths and skills and place you in rank. At the end of the year, there will be a tournament in which you will all participate. Your actions in the tournament, as well as your academic grades, will affect your final rank." Bob turned to the computer and pulled up a presentation. "Of course, you are all well aware that we have been testing your fighting abilities since you began your training. We have the current rank from your most recent examinations."

At that, Castiel perked. What exam? I only ever did training with Bob, and those paper tests he made me take, I all purposely failed...

Bob pulled up a list of names and ranks. There were sixteen names on the list for the sixteen students in the graduating year. Castiel's jaw dropped. In fighting skills, he was ranked first. His theory examination rank was the lowest, however, placing him at 8th place in overall rank. Entering at first overall was Cole, who ranked second in fighting and first in theory. Evelyn pulled a modest 10th overall, with a fighting rank of 12th and a theory rank of 8th.

"We will update this list periodically over the year so you can see how you currently stand and what you need to work on. For some of you, that means extra training. For others," Bob looked directly at Castiel, "it means taking your exams seriously. Now, for the week, we will be testing each of you on the different types of weapons, finding you the weapon that suits you best. Who can tell me what the different weapons hunters use are?" Cole lazily raised his hand.

"There are the long-range weapons, bows and guns, and the short-range weapons, swords, knives, or staffs." Cole sent a smug look at Castiel, who rolled his eyes. What is this, preschool?

"Great! Let's move to the weapons room and we'll watch a demonstration." Castiel sighed as he stood up and slowly shuffled his way behind the rest of the class. It was going to be a long day.

~~

Evelyn and Cole walked in the front of the group as they made their way to the weapons room. Periodically, Evelyn would glance behind her and see Castiel following the class, hoodie up and gaze down. Her eyes travelled to his pockets, where his hands were residing. She could only think of the claws that she had seen on those hands in person twice. But he's a demon. I saw it. How can he be here? Evelyn's thoughts travelled to the first time that she met him, recalling a bandage wrapped around his upper left arm. Back then, she didn't think anything of it. Now, she wondered if he had been hiding the hunter's mark. But I saw the mark of the demon on his back...