Prologue

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Emma

Red blood tainted her white fur, as she lay on my bed, mangled, dead. I stared at the beauty, as tears rolled down my eyes. Why would someone do this? How could they?

"Em where are yo... What is that?"

"Someone left it here" I replied.

There was silence before...
"I'm calling the cops" my friend disappeared from my room.

I spared one more look at the poor rabbit. I stood up, wiped my tears and wore my office uniform before grabbing my handbag and leaving my room.

"The police are on their way Em"

"Doesn't matter. This is just another heartless prank by one of those kids who doesn't agree with what I have to say. I'm getting late, show them my room, tell them I don't want to make a statement" I left the house before my friend could argue.

As I walked to work, I thought of the campaigns I had held the last few weeks. Vegetarianism, eating healthier meats, and animal cruelty campaigns were what I had advocated , so I knew that my words must  struck a cord, the wrong way of course, to whoever was behind this. It wasn't the first time it had happened. Last year, a guy put a deer in behind my car as I was reversing. I got lucky and noticed it before, but what could have happened haunts me till today.

All I was doing my speaking up for those who couldn't speak. I didn't understand the hatred I received for it. I always thought that I never shoved my beliefs down other people's throats, but I had long since realized that there would always be a few who didn't agree with me and tell me otherwise.

I wished I was strong enough, brave enough to confront these people head on to change their minds. As I walked into office, I noticed a red stain going all the way to corner of the building on the floor. I looked up and saw someone in a hooded jacket walking away from me, his hand dripping red, thick liquid  from a bag. It was too much of a coincidence, the blood like substance and the dead animal in my room, and I wanted to go up to him, ask him what he was doing, but I couldn't get myself too. As i walked into the office, I didn't notice the hooded figure looking back at me, watching me closely.
                                      ****
Richard
" And that, my dear students, is how you make ice cream. Simple chemistry!" I smiled cheerily to my students who all looked like half dead zombies.

"Can we go now?" One of the braver ones asked.

"Um, we haven't finished the lessons yet, so no you can't. SIT DOWN, Mr Steven!" My patience had run out.

I ran through everything the kids needed to know and left out the extra information that would have been fairly useful for their examinations, finishing the lessons quickly and giving everyone the freedom they wanted. Me from my rude students and my students from their, apparently,  tyrant of a professor. The ungrateful brutes could learn their lessons the hard way.

I grabbed my lunch and walked out into the lawn to eat it, among the students and the breeze. I remember how fascinating I had found chemistry when I was a college student. I always tried to make my lessons interesting and tried to connect with the kids, but it was no use. These students were brats who didn't care about their grade. I wanted to work at a better school, with more research opportunities, but no school ever accepted my application, saying I was too young and should get more experience before coming back. Whenever I tried to explain to them that to get experience, u would probably need a job first, they would give me their signature condescending stare. In other words, even with more experience, I was probably blacklisted by now.
All I really wanted was a chance to prove myself, and the courage to take that chance. I finished up my lunch and headed back into the classroom for a tutorial sessions.
I didn't notice a figure staring at me as I walked back into the building.
                                      ****

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