Power Corrupts. Insanity Cures.

Chapter 1. A Beginning and an End

Yay! My first story! Guys, I'm not sure about the rating thing so if you think it should be higher tell me. Kay, couple of things:

Genna is pronounced: Jenna

This entire story, its original characters and storyline, belong to me, Vivaladi. If you see this story on any other site other than Wattpad it has been copied and published illegally and I ask the site managers to take it off immediately and for the readers to complain to the website. If anyone publishes this story without my permission I will take legal action. I have proof that this is my story. 

Chapter 1. A Beginning and an End

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

- Marcus Aurelius

Cars screeched to the curb, and police and fire-fighters lumbered out to peer into the darkened windows of Alexandria Private High School. A fire alarm was ringing loud and obnoxious at one o'clock in the morning. Law enforcement and firefighters were more irritated than concerned. They had been ordered to investigate with the kind of speed brought about by how the rich and powerful would react if their childrens' education went up in flames.

Upon arriving there, however, there was no hint of smoke. There were no explosions or licks of flame going up the walls. There was nothing but the constant ringing of a school fire alarm. At this moment the police and firemen relaxed a little. There would be no inquiry from their superiors about their conduct in protecting the school. There would be no mayor breathing down their necks, demanding to know why his child would have to stay at home for the weeks it would take to repair a building the brigade had assured was safe.

"Another false alarm," one said and they all nodded. A man was sent to turn off the sprinkler system from the outside.

Last month there'd been an eyebrow raising prank. When emergency services had rushed to the school they found nothing but the insides drenched by the sprinklers and the smashed glass of a fire alarm. Although the delinquent had managed to avoid the school's state-of-the-art security cameras, the incident was dismissed. The police, the fire brigade and most importantly the school board, just breathed a sigh of relief that there had been no damages.

Though, there was one odd thing that had lingered in people's minds. The water from the sprinklers had been colored with blue food dye. Firefighters had no answers for how it had been done. They checked the tank that supplied the emergency water and found no abnormalities. With a shrug they could only say that at least the dye wasn't permanent or staining. Whoever this prankster was, he wasn't very clever.

With their torches piercing through the dark, and boots slapping across the soaked corridors, the police and firefighters thought it was just another bad joke. But this time was different. This night would be ingrained in their memories forever. A weak scream of pain, the first thing that alerted them that something was terribly wrong, would haunt them for a long time.

Immediately police pulled out their guns, firefighters stepping aside and letting them take the lead. Ears pricked, they hurried toward the sound. The closer they came, the more they heard. Groans and moans and screams of pain. It sent a shudder down their spines. A sliver of light shone from under a set of double doors, the entry to the school gym, and the direction the cries were coming from. They wasted no time kicking the door open. They were met with a shocking sight.

Bodies of dozens and dozens of teenagers, just kids, were strewn about the floor. They seemed unable to move but for their shaking and moaning; most hadn't been able to cope with the pain and were unconscious. At least it was hoped they were merely unconscious. The cheery party decorations of streamers and balloons were out of sync with the horrific state of the teenagers. Their clothes looked like they had been singed by unseen flames and their crumpled bodies were covered in angry burns. All they could do was lay in the water as waves of agony went through them.