Oblivion

CHAPTER 5: The Incident

EVA LEVESQUE

“Your units will contain general subjects and specialized subjects for each category. Please know that the grading system will still be equal among hybrids and humans.”

The human professor closed his notebook and arranged his large glasses. The suit that looked too loose for him is hanging around his waist left untucked. I was busy staring at his undone necktie that I didn’t notice Irene calling my name from behind.

“Eva!” she half-whispered, half-shouted. I was broken from my trance and faced her. She was leaning forward in her desk towards the back of my chair. Helle was sitting beside her putting all the notebooks back in her bag.

“Wha-what?” I asked her, all confused. My mind was cloudy from all that’s staring off into space.

“Stop spacing out, you dummy. The poor human might melt with your stare.” She told me teasingly. I blinked back still trying to process what she said then rolled my eyes.

“I was distracted by his necktie,” I answered.

“Oh, I know,” she agreed then nodded. “you always nitpick every single detail”

I don’t know if it’s because I was trained to notice every single movement and things that are off that makes me extra sensitive to detail. I get distracted and don’t even notice I’m spaced out.

“What do you think they have for lunch at the cafeteria?” Irene asked, swaying both of her feet under her desk. She looked so feminine and proper wearing the school uniform. Even though she doesn’t act like it.

“ Teriyaki” Helle answered promptly, still not leaving her gaze from the desk.

“Really?!” Irene answered and her brow furrowed, “ Dude, we just had Teriyaki yesterday”

“There has been a shortage of food since there are other hybrids and monsters that are running rampage and destroying farms,” a girl from another group said as she walked towards us.

“The government still hasn’t solved that issue?” I asked her. She shook her head and shrugged.

“The movement is slow ever since the treaty. It’s not easy to get rid of monsters and hybrids that cause the rampage, it’s an extremely long process in the court.”

Some parts of the kingdom are a mess because of the rampage. Ever since monsters, hybrids, and humans lived together, the kingdom got peaceful but some monsters are having a hard time with this transition and causing them to go wild.

“Everything was easier when the family of executioners was still active,” she sighed and turned to me.

“Stop that,” Irene warned.

“Easier for what?” a group of hybrid girls joined the conversation. The girl with scaly and grayish skin and hair made up of what looks like seaweed raised her brow. “because you could just kill us without permission from the government? Where you ran free and superior?”

People turned their heads toward us. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to avoid the tension building up between the human and the hybrid.

“No, because people like you are violent and make us humans suffer,” the human girl snapped back.

“You are the ones who capture our kind, keep them in basements, use us for pets and perform experiments on us!” the hybrid shouted back.

“Hey! Hey! That’s enough!” Irene raised her voice, she was authoritative and made them look away.

“You keep destroying what is ours! Your kind even killed one of my relatives because you are hungry for flesh!” the human girl shouted.

“I said stop!” Irene shouted once again, standing up from her seat. Her face was turning red because she was fuming in anger.

“Its true!” the girl shouted back, her face also turning red and her eyes welling up in tears. I immediately stood up and held her shoulders.

“You should calm down,” I whispered, “you shouldn’t do this, it isn’t anyone’s fault.”

I was taken aback when she shook me off and pushed me away. I heard people gasp but I was too shocked to move. She faced me with an expression of disgust.

“My family asked for help from the executioners. But you turned us away, it’s your job to kill monsters! Why wouldn’t you do that?!” she shouted right at my face. My jaw slightly dropped, I was at a loss for words.

“You’ve gone too far!” Helle raised her voice for the first time in our entire lives. She was always calm and composed, but now she looks furious.

The girl might’ve realized what she said when her expression shifted.

“I-I—” she stuttered.

“So that’s what this is,” the hybrid girl said, she turned to me and looked at me from top to bottom “It’s so easy for you humans to do whatever you want since you have a dog who would kill for you whenever you want them to.”

“What?!” Irene shouted, rolled her sleeves up to her elbows, and walked towards the hybrid. Helle of course stopped her “a dog?! Look here, fish girl! If you say one more word I’ll make sure you never leave your swamp anymore!”

I bit my lips. When I looked around people were staring at me. Monsters and hybrids looked at me with spite and the humans looked at me with shame. I tightened my grip on the skirt that I was holding.

I was about to panic when a scent in the air lingered through my nose. I know this smell, I’ve grown up with this smell. My heart skipped a beat and jerked up in the direction of the school hallway. My pupils dilated and my ears started to become sensitive to noise.

“Blood,” I whispered.

I ran as fast as I could, jumping over the desks and bumping into people. My heart was beating fast as I felt the adrenaline rush through my body. This wasn’t just a drop of blood that you get from scraping a knee. This smell is overwhelming, like a pool of blood on the floor.

I ran through the empty hallway, it was quiet since classes were still ongoing. The smell started to get stronger letting me know that I was getting nearer.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw traces of blood smears on the white walls of the school hallways in an isolated area. I followed the trails and observed the surroundings for other clues.

“He-help,” a faint voice said, coming from behind the double doors where the cleaning equipment was being held. I immediately opened the doors and saw a trail of blood going towards the direction of the shelves.

That’s when I saw a pair of two bloody shoes. I gasped when I saw a body of a human student lying on the floor slowly losing unconsciousness. I went beside her and held her upper body up.

“What’s your name? do you hear me?” I asked her. She was already choking up blood and was drowsily staring at me.

“He-help” she whispered. Panic washed over me as I scanned her body. My eyes widened when there were three large slashes in her abdomen. It looks like she got it from claws.

“Tri-tried to eat me,” she stuttered, her voice fading away.

“What?” I asked, “who did this to you?”

“Eva!” I looked up and saw Sigrid, Irene, and the others. They gasped when they saw me, soon students started to flood the storage room to which Irene and Helle tried to control. The victim’s body started to grow cold under my touch and she was slowly drifting to unconsciousness.

“Sigrid!” I shouted, “Call someone!”

I already did! Calm down!” he said and sat beside me. His hands hovered above the body of the girl but he can’t seem to touch her, it was like he was afraid to break her even more than she already was.

“Apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding,” I instructed him. He hesitated at first but he removed his polo, exposing the white shirt he was wearing underneath. He then placed it above the girl's wound and pushed it down.

A few seconds later, help arrived. She was taken to the healer’s ward and we followed soon after. Sigrid was beside me all the time since I was too lightheaded to focus. Many questions were flooding my mind, many scenarios, and many worries.

I hope she’s okay. I hope she survives. Who did this to her? Was I a human? A monster hybrid? Why? Why on the school grounds? This should be a safe and neutral space for both races.

I can’t stop staring at my uniform and hands that were covered in blood. This brought back bad memories, this reminds me of the times that I badly want to forget. My hands started shaking as we entered the ward. Sigrid sat beside me. I think he noticed that I was getting lost in my thoughts and was shaking because he covered my hands with his.

I looked at him but then he gently smiled at me.

“Everything will be fine,” he assured me “it’s not your fault. We will get to the bottom of this.”

He rubbed the back of my hands with his thumb which made me calm down. I nodded in return and turned to look at the door where the girl was getting treated.

“I brought you clothes,” Irene and Helle arrived. Helle gave me new clothes wrapped in plastic.

“Do you want me to go with you to the restroom?” she asked, her face was full of worry and concern. I quickly shook my head.

“I can manage.” I meekly answered.

I took my bloody clothes of and washed my arms and hands. Even my face was stained with blood. I was struggling to wash the blood off my hands, the just seemed to stay there no matter how many times and no matter how hard I try to wash it off.

“It’s going to be fine,” I whispered, trying to comfort myself. “it’s going to be fine.”

As soon as I finished washing off the blood, I went outside and noticed a small crowd of people who wore white vests. They were talking to other students who were at the scene and taking notes. I saw my friends talking to them as well.

Sigrid was seriously talking to someone who was wearing a unique vest which was the color blue. His eyes shifted to me as soon as I walked towards him.

The man wearing the unique vest slowly turned towards me. My heart dropped.

“Miss Eva Levesque? I am Kyros Hakon. May I ask you questions about the primary witness to the incident?”

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END