Phrontistery Of Monster Kind - Six Feet Deep

Chapter 25

Days passed with no major conflict. The builders had been sent away for the time being, claiming it was a disturbance to the children's learning, especially the ones who were studying for their final exams in their doors.

Harro, following my suggestion, decided to put it off until the summer holidays, knowing they could get it all done with little interference in the six weeks the students were away.

Mayor visited me in the hospital once for our regular chats, under the guise of needing to give Mors a break.

"He changed his mind quickly when he found out you were here." Him referring to the ghost headmaster. "As if all of the staff comments finally sunk in."

I hummed, "He got there in the end. So, all is well."

Mary had reluctantly allowed me to leave the ward, my 'case' now having earned the attention of Dr Émile Noir, which I wasn't fond of. The only times he talked to me was when he was interrogating me about my symptoms.

"I'm sorry sir, but I am not your experiment, and I don't think I need the advice of someone who thought onions were a cure for the plague."

I could have been nicer, but after being stuck in the ward, prodded at, the last thing I wanted was to continue being a test subject outside the hospital, while I am trying to eat.

"Don't be silly, I preferred vinegar and leeches, but sadly, they're extinct now."

Oh, I recalled his favourite. Though towards the end I remembered bloodletting being up there if only to make the patients he hated suffer.

However, I'd forgotten the hirudo medicinalis, a species of leech, were used to such an extent that it was declared extinct in the British Isles at the turn of the twentieth century. But the idea of a creature being able to let out only the bad blood was stupid. Any blood-sucking creature could tell you that. The world could do with fewer leeches in the world. "You'd be fine, regardless. You have snakes, you'll be fine from the plague."

"How are you a science teacher?" I grumbled. Probably the same way everyone else got hired, out of desperation. Wait, no, I think I hired him. "Also, none of them are evil, so that wouldn't work. "Like attracts like. Can't work if they're not evil," I said. "You might as well suggest I go find a unicorn horn and powder it. One problem with that, Émile, I'm not a virgin!" I yelled at him. Was I really petty enough to fight with a man over cures to a plague that could be solved with antibiotics nowadays? Some people don't age out of their time. He could be excused for his ignorance, but could I?

I settled back down in my chair, a few of the teachers staring at me. I just yelled I'm not a virgin in the middle of the cafeteria. Lovely, I'm not going to hear the end of this.

Walton was the first person to bring it up to me on my way to class later that day, scampering behind me to keep up, "Did you seriously yell I'm not a virgin in the middle of the cafeteria?"

"It wasn't intentional. I was trying to prove a point," I said. The faster I moved, the higher the chances of losing him and this conversation in the process.

"And your point?"

"That I wouldn't be able to capture a unicorn horn because I'm not a... you know."

"Virgin."

"Shut up," I hissed.

"You can buy them in a potion shop," Walton said. What? Are you serious? When did that become possible? I stopped walking, the siren caught up. "Unicorns realised they could earn a pretty penny for selling them when they overgrow."

"It's not a one and done thing?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Why would you think that?"

"Uh..." A lot of them had been killed back in the day to get their horns. "I thought it was like rhino horns and elephant tusks."