James was the school bully and had gotten punished for beating up a lot of students but still somehow always looked so timid in front of Annabelle.

  “What do you want, James?” Anna asked with a straight face.

  “Umm, I was wondering if you could go with me to the new year festival,” he replied, trying so hard not to swallow.

  “Sorry, but I have a boyfriend,” Annabelle replied to him almost immediately.

  “What has he done that I can’t do for you?” James asked, slightly infuriated.

  “A lot of stuff,” Jackson, who was standing behind James, replied in a high tone. The attention of most of the students was drawn to where Jackson and James were standing and some students had gathered around them already, expecting a fight.

  “Who brought you into this? You are not even fit for her!” James replied, pulling off his shirt.

  “Well, considering she is my girl, I think I have the right to bring myself into it and also, put your shirt back on little girl,” Jackson teased and everyone laughed at James even though no one would have normally dared to.

  “You think this is funny? I’m going to beat the hell out of every one here one way or another,” James said, pointing at everyone in the crowd.

  “Please just walk away James, I don’t want to hurt you,” Jackson insisted as he adjusted his stance, ready for a fight.

  “Nah, I think I’m the one who will do the hurting!” James bellowed as he charged at Jackson. He threw two uncalculated punches at Jackson who easily dodged them and punched him in the mouth, causing him to bleed.

  The crowd went wild and everyone began to cheer. Most people were happy that the school bully was finally getting his ass handed over to him by Jackson.

  “Wow, I never knew he could fight like that,” Annabelle said to Joanna as they watched the fight go on.

  The crowd cheered on and people started to drum on the chairs and tables in the cafeteria.

  James wiped the blood off his lip with the back of his hand and charged at Jackson again. He tried to kick Jackson, but Jackson caught his leg and kicked his other leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

  “I’ll kill you!” James screamed as he stood from the floor and pulled out a pocket knife. Jackson became calmer and more focused on seeing the knife and he winked at Annabelle and mouthed the words “watch me”.

  James slashed at Jackson who easily dodged the attacks, grabbed his hand and flipped him to the ground again. Jackson yanked the knife out of James’s hand, sat on his chest and punched him mercilessly on the face and the crowd screamed with each punch he landed.

  Jackson beat James till he was no longer able to stand up and used James’s shirt to clean his bloody fists. “Jackson! Jackson!” The crowd screamed his name in unison as he stood up and threw his hands in the air in triumph.

  “What is going on here?!” Principal Duncan screamed, causing the crowd to immediately disperse.

  “Who beat up this poor boy?!” Duncan asked, looking around but no one replied.

  “Peterson, Michaels, Whitmore, my office now!” Duncan screamed as he walked out of the cafeteria.

  Some nurses came to carry James out in a stretcher and not long after, everyone resumed their normal activities.

  Joanna and Annabelle slowly walked towards the principal’s office thinking of the terrible things that could happen to them the moment they got there. Jackson was the only one who seemed to be calm and he had a smug look on his face as he walked.

  “Stay away from Duncan,” Crow’s warning played in Anna’s head as she approached the office.

  “What if he transforms and kills us?” She whispered to Joanna as they walked.

  “Let’s pray he doesn’t and if he does, we have our amulets,” Joanna replied.

  “But Crow specifically told us not to go near him. I think she had a reason for saying that,” Annabelle said, still whispering.

  “What are we whispering about?” Jackson said, also whispering.

  “Nothing,” Anna replied and the three of them walked in silence for the rest of the dreaded journey to the principal’s office.

  On reaching his office, Duncan stood at the door and waited for them to get there. He slowly opened the door and smiled as the three students walked into the office. He then entered the office and slowly closed the door behind him.

  Principal Duncan’s office was neat and well organized. It was decorated with medals, awards and cups that the school had won during the previous years and on the wall, hung an ugly looking picture of him.

  On his desk were two pictures which were that of his dog and another ugly looking picture of him. In the office, there were many shelves that were neatly arranged with books on Greek mythology and a beautiful mini sized chandelier hung from the concrete ceiling.

  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing as he walked over to his desk and sat at the thick leather chair behind the desk.

  “Would you like to tell me what the hell happened out there?!” Duncan screamed, seeming to focus on Jackson. He didn’t even look at Anna or Joanna and that made them feel very uncomfortable.

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  “He was disturbing my girl sir and he attacked me first,” Jackson replied confidently.

  “You know if his parents complain about this, you will be in big trouble?” Duncan said. He looked like someone who was holding in a fart and Jackson fought hard not to laugh as he replied to him.

  “I’m sorry sir,” Jackson said. Tears clouded his eyes as he spoke and his voice cracked a little.

  “Shedding crocodile tears will not help you in this situation. Bring your parents tomorrow or you will be suspended for a week,” Duncan said.

  “Now get out of my office!” he added.

  Jackson stood from his chair, winked at Annabelle and slowly stepped out of the office.

  That was not what I expected, Joanna thought to herself.

  The girls sat in the office in silence and wondered why they had been summoned in the first place. Anna slipped her hand into her backpack and tightly squeezed the amulet, hoping that it would magically make them disappear as she watched Duncan who stood from his chair, and headed towards one of the cupboards in the office from which he pulled out a kettle and a cup. The girls just sat there wondering what was going on but they couldn’t speak due to fear. Duncan boiled some water in the kettle, made some tea and sat back in his chair.

  “Tea?” he offered as he took a sip of tea from his cup.

  “No thank you,” the girls politely declined, still wondering why he had called them to the office.

  “Do you know why I called you here?” Duncan asked as he poured himself another cup of tea. The tea was really hot and he didn’t add cold water at all. He filled the cup with tea and Anna and Joanna could see the steam coming out of the tea.

  Don’t tell me he is going to drink that, Annabelle thought to herself as she watched him take a big gulp of the tea which didn’t seem to burn his mouth. Joanna began to shake and Anna held her hand for comfort as they watched Duncan drink an entire kettle of hot water without being burnt at all.

  “How did you do that?” Annabelle asked in a cracked voice. She was terrified but did not want to show it. She had begun to think of how she would die in the principal’s office that day and she squeezed the amulet even tighter, hoping that Crow would get the message.

  “Oh this? It’s just hot water,” Duncan said, smirking.

  “Well, I called you here because I have something to ask the both of you,” he said as he put on his glasses which seemed to be too small for his face.

  Duncan walked over to Annabelle, leaned forward until she could feel his breath on her face. He smiled at her, exposing his well-arranged teeth. “What do you want to ask me sir?” Annabelle asked with a straight face.

  “How do you…….” he paused and leaned backwards. He walked back to his chair, took a seat and kept quiet.

  “How do you what sir?” Joanna asked. She had also grabbed on to the amulet in her bag and was also hoping Crow would sense it.

  Duncan looked uneasy in his chair and drops of sweat trickled down his face. He looked into Anna’s eyes and all she could see was fear. His eyes trembled and it looked like he was trapped in his own mind. He then blinked and the fear in his eyes was no longer there.

  “What just happened?” Anna mouthed as Duncan stood from his chair yet again.

  “How do you kill a…….” he paused again as if he were in a battle with his own mind.

  “Anna run!” Joanna yelled, as both girls ran to the door and tried to open it but it was locked.

  “Help!” they screamed, banging the door but no one could hear them even though there were people in the hallways.

  “Why can’t anyone hear us?!” Annabelle screamed as she banged the door more intensely.

  “No one can hear you. My sorcerer made sure of that,” Duncan spoke, but it wasn’t him. It seemed like his personality had changed and it was something entirely different that was speaking through him.

  “It must be the messenger that is speaking,” Annabelle said, as she stepped backwards and leaned against the door.

  “So, it seems like Crow of the Blackwater has told you of our kind. Well, she isn’t here to save you,” Duncan replied. It almost looked like he was relieved.

  “I don’t think there is any need for me to hide my true form from you now is there?” He asked as a smile crept across his face.

  With a groan and a loud scream, he started to transform. Annabelle and Joanna could hear the sounds of his bones breaking and shifting as he transformed. Screaming in agony, he fell to the ground and, “Help me! Don’t let him take me!” he screamed, his eyes wide with fear as he continued transforming.

  His hair grew white, the structure of his face changed, pushing his cheekbones out. Long white fangs and dark claws grew as he moaned in pain as if trying to prevent the transformation.

  “Now I will kill you here,” he said in a deep scary voice as he grew even taller. His feet grew longer than usual, causing his shoes to tear and his eyes turned completely red. He stood to his feet and walked towards Annabelle, drooling.

  “Stay away from her!” Joanna screamed and threw herself at Duncan in an attempt to tackle him to the floor but he grabbed her by the neck without even looking at her and threw her against the wall knocking her out in the process.

  Annabelle just stood there trembling, tears clouding her eyes as she watched Duncan proceed towards her. Her mouth went dry and she had already decided that she was going to die in that office.

  “Now, my question is how do you kill a wraith?” he asked as he picked Anna up by the neck with one hand. She gagged, trying to fight Duncan off but his grip on her neck was too tight, too firm. Slowly, she started to lose consciousness, and her vision became blurred. But then, Duncan screamed and dropped her. Mrs. Crow had thrown a pocket knife into his spine and he roared, trying to yank it out but he couldn’t reach it.

  “You can’t, it always kills you first,” Crow said as she closed the distance between her and Duncan. She slapped Duncan who was still in pain and he passed out immediately she landed the slap.

  “How did you do that?” Annabelle asked, coughing violently. She looked like she was going to cough out her own throat. Mrs. Crow touched her neck with her index finger and the coughing ceased.

  “How did you knock him out with just one slap?” Annabelle foolishly asked, without considering the fact that magic was at play.

  “He won’t be out for long,” Crow said as she walked over to Joanna and placed her palm on her forehead, causing her to regain consciousness.

  “What happened?” Joanna asked, rubbing her eyes and wincing.

  “Oh no! Duncan he he…” she stammered, on seeing a monster wearing Duncan’s clothes on the ground.

  “I want you to stay in this office. This office is under a spell so it doesn’t exist for now. It never did,” Mrs. Crow said as she looked at Duncan who lay unconscious on the floor.

  “What do you mean by ‘it never did’?” Annabelle asked, looking at Crow in confusion.

  “It means the magician that made Duncan a messenger cast a spell that made it look like there is no principal’s office. This means you can’t go out unless you are released by another magician or killed,” Crow replied as Duncan regained consciousness.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said as she dashed towards Duncan and vanished with him.