Sixteen-year-old June Bae may very well be your typical high school student, but the Rose Cross Academy is not your typical high school. Instead of history assignments and English papers, June trudges through Alchemy mixes and Demonology homework.
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Chapter 5
Demonology 101
by
Rissa Renae
Like a freight train, June barrelled down the hallways, shouldering through students. He had one goal in mind: to make it to his homeroom class in time so Professor Boehme couldn't chew him out royally.
Rounding a corner here and sprinting down a corridor there, he approached the far end of the Occult Wing at breakneck speed. June shouted his apologies, dodging around the obstacles the other students speckled throughout the halls presented. A few whooped after him and one professor shouted about the sacrilege of running in the halls.
Room 215 stood just in sight at the end of the hall. One last student ducked in through the aged wooden door as the Academy's chimes began to toll, signalling the start of the first period of the afternoon session.
Sliding to the end of the hall, June caught the edge of the door jamb and launched himself into the classroom as his demonology professor reached a hand for the door. Startled, the professor shuffled back a step from the sudden presence before he frowned. "Pardon me," June mumbled, dancing around his professor. His book bag clattered against a rolling whiteboard sitting at the front of the classroom.
Professor Boehme cleared his throat, a sound like gravel tumbling down a corrugated plastic pipe. "Glad you could make it, Cross Bae." No humour laced his voice and a pair of narrow, dark eyes looked him up and down. "Take a seat," the professor grumbled before turning over his shoulder to the classroom. "Take your seats, Crosses!" he called, causing June to hunker down as he threaded his way through the desks to take his seat near the back corner of the room.
He spied Noel leaning back in his chair on the other side of the classroom to peer at him around another student. Noel gestured questioningly. Out of a corner of his eye, June also saw Stella, sitting near the front of the class, glance back at him as well.
June gave his team lead the I'll fill you in later signal; a brief tap of a finger on his wrist, where his watch sat under the blue-trimmed hem of his school uniform. Noel jerked his chin slightly to show he understood and settled back in his chair. Both turned their attention to the front of the classroom as Professor Boehme pulled the door shut with an annoyed bang.
"Let's begin, Crosses." Boehme's gravelly voice echoed from the front of the classroom. "I trust you all finished your reading assignments?"
June groaned and leaned over his desk. He rooted through his bag to pull out his textbook. Demonology was one of Noel's favourite subjects, but June couldn't say the same. And the course's professor left much to be desired.
Professor Archibald Boehme was a crotchety old man in his seventies. A ring of thin, white hair haloed his head, sprouting from the top as if it had not been combed in a few days. Wrinkles contorted most of his face into a permanent frown and skin hung loose about his jowls. Aged brown eyes surveyed the class as he took note of which students were missing. The lapels of his red-trimmed uniform were each decorated with a Masonic crest beside the mandatory budding rose lapel pins. A red letter 'E' hung suspended within each mathematical square and compass to denote he was an Exorcist.
