FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

October, Tulip, Clingy, and Lexi all stared at a notice in the commons area of the dormitory. A new notice was posted by the dean, and it went out to all students. While three of them were trembling in fear, October was laughing, "He thinks he can do this now? After what I've already done? He's more of a fool than I had anticipated. It's a shame that I have to wait another day before I start. Now, I'm bored, who wants to play a game?"

"Are you serious?!" Lexi screamed at him, drawing the attention of all of the students in the area, "This is a warrant for your death! He wants you dead!"

"Before you continue," he cleared his throat, "Excuse me! Everyone here, if you would like to kill me, I will give you a free shot right now, no tricks, but you only have this limited window. Please, come." He held his arms out and shut his eyes, but nobody moved, "You see, Lexi? There are many ways to rule a people. There's fear, love, confusion, deception, strength, or the one I prefer, just plain old leadership. I've protected a resident of this building, and then I gained the respect of all of us with "special needs." Then, After I beat up the "normal" kids, I told them something that made them question why they were really sent. Therefore, I now have the normals on my side as well. Seriously, all I have to deal with is a bunch of gun toting teachers and military officers. Just like old times."

"But," Clingy spoke up while chewing on his nails, "you said that when the moon goes dark, you won't be invincible any more, which means you may die if you get shot."

October slapped him on the back, "Yeah, but I know things about magic that would make any powerful magician curl up and cry. I worked with the best, remember? Now, who wants to play a little game, win and I give you a present."

Lexi had her hand up first, then Clingy, then Tulip, then, for some reason, the rest of the dorm who had filtered into the commons, "Oh, well then this won't take as long. I need all of you to go around campus, and gather everyone, and tell them to meet in the concert hall, okay? Whoever gathers the most people gets... uh... it's a secret. Now go, hurry up!" The room emptied, save for October, "Good. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I've got some prisoners to set free."

Lexi, Clingy, and Tulip stuck together, because they reasoned that this would triple their numbers. However, Clingy was there just to be near someone. They first went to the dormitory of the jocks that October destroyed, and asked for help. With almost no hesitation, the entire dorm went to the concert hall. "Well, that wasn't that hard. This will be very easy, hurry up, I don't like to take chances. Get a move on, magic freak before I blindfold you!" Lexi had to drag Tulip away from a glass ornament that was reflecting light. They ran to another, and found that it was already empty, "Dammit! I told you we would miss it! Hurry up, we can still get some more people!"

The three ran into a wall of their fellow "Specials" standing around something, "Hold on, Lexi. I want to find out what happened here." Tulip and Clingy pushed through the crowd, as Lexi gave in a did a flying leap to get in front. However, she soon regretted that decision. In the middle of the crowd were two dead security officers, but no blood. Because they were special, the first things that went to all of their minds was ,"Vampire!"

Clingy, who was the most sane at the scene, decided to investigate. He lifted one of the heads and found it to be loose, with a large bruise on one side of the face. The other officer had the same thing happen to him. Clingy stood up to announce his findings, but first had to pull someone in close for courage, "Excuse me everyone. There is no vampire, their necks have been broken. It would appear to be a kick rather than a blunt object due to the odd imprint and awkward bruises. This happened really fast, because their guns are still in their holsters. I don't know who could have done this, but we should disperse to avoid suspicion." The group followed his advice, and went directly to the concert hall, "Who could have done this? It doesn't even seem possible."

An announcement sounded over the intercom system, and the voice was certainly worried, "Attention, all students. Please go to the nearest building and take shelter. There has been a violent attack in the Corrections Office and many of the students there have been released. As you know, they are very unstable and..."

Lexi laughed, "Yeah, if they're unstable then I'm the queen of England. So, someone finally broke them out. Wait, what was that beep?"

"Quickly!" Tulip yelled as she grabbed Clingy's and Lexi's hands, "They're about to lock all of the doors!" The three took off, running as fast as possible and made it to the Concert hall just as they heard the click of the locks.

After they took a few much needed deep breaths, they looked up at the jam-packed concert hall, which had become standing room only. Every student at the campus was there, which made it uncomfortable, but no one seemed to notice. Everyone was mumbling to each other, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. The three pushed forward to the front, then wondered why they were being gathered here.

Suddenly, there were three loud bangs outside, audible though the sound-proof doors. An eerie silence fell over the crowd, Broken by weird sounds in the ventilation ducts. A vent over the wooden stage fell over forty feet to the ground and landed with a clang, "Oh my god!" came a scream from the back of the room as a dark figure fell from the duct. He wore a dark hoodie, with strange flame/spike looking designs along the bottom in vibrant white, loose brown cargo pants, strange shoes, and black fingerless gloves. His face was completely in shadow, but it was clear that he was human. A human that was about to die, that is. He fell to the horror of the crowd, and landed in a crouching position.

"Hello, everyone. It looks like I owe all of you a treat. So, let's get started. My name... is October. And I am the cause of all of today's incidents." The man lowered his hood to prove that he was October to the confusion of the crowd, "Oh this, don't worry about this. Bullet only grazed me. However, none of you are safe at this school. All of you were brought here to be used as guinea pigs, nothing more than drug testing for military purposes. How else are they going to learn good torture methods?"

"What do you mean?!" came a concerned yell.

October started to leisurely pace along the length of the stage, "The chemicals they use for punishments, don't you think they seem a little harsh? Dangerous hallucinogens, near fatal doses of poisons, and what the hell was with the spike room? That would give it away, but I suppose you have all been conditioned to it. Most of you probably remember the incidents two years ago in the nation's capital, right? A group of anarchists tried to assassinate the president and everyone involved at the ceremony. These violent people were shot or imprisoned, with none escaping. Lies. All of it. We weren't dangerous. We just didn't like giving the authorities unchecked control over the people. So we yelled, held signs, and did what was technically called a peaceful protest. Then, a bunch of officers came out of the building and opened fire with rubber bullets. Aurora was struck in the head, fatal at that range. They knew what they were doing. They were sent to kill us, not arrest us. Only a few survived, including me. But, with Aurora's death, I snapped for a minute and viciously attacked. I took out... five or so officers before a survivor dragged me away. I have systematically went through the process of eliminating these officers. There is one left, one that you all know. I'm here to kill Jacques. I recommend all of you stay in your dorms when you hear the gunshots. There is gonna be a lot of blood."

One of the jocks from before, his arm in a cast, spoke up, "But, we can help! If he did this, and we are being drugged on purpose, then we can fight too!" A cheer went up through the crowd.

"Fools, you really want to die? Well, it is your life to throw away, not mine. Do with it what you will, but stay out of my path. I'm going to drag hell up from the center of the earth if I have to, so I would say that would be hazardous to your health."

Tulip spoke as loudly as she could, so everyone could hear, "You can teach some of us the forbidden magic, and we can help! It's scary, but we can do it!" A cheer from the few mages rose up.

October put a hand on his face, "Do that, and most of you won't survive the evening. Don't you remember, Tulip? You barely had enough energy to breathe. And that was a basic spell. The things I will do... brrrr."

The crowd continued to ask redundant questions, one after the other, before there was a knock at the door, "Ugh... I have to get out of here. None of you saw me here. You were all just... uh... think of something. I gotta go." October ran off to the side out of view and somehow escaped. The doors were kicked in as a small army flooded in.

"Where is he?!"

Lexi stepped forward, "We haven't seen him? Who's 'he'? We've just gathered in here because it looked safe."

The leader was convinced, and quickly pulled his troops out. They ran, as they were still on high alert, "Wow... they really want October dead." Clingy whispered, "I guess we have to help him."

"Well, duh," Said Lexi, "but how? You heard him, and I believe him. He probably knows things that we couldn't even imagine. What could we do to help him?! Bake a cake?!"

"Well, I have an idea." Tulip spoke, then waited until she got the full attention of everyone around her, which was still half of the school, "If we bust up the school, the den's resources will be scattered, and October won't have as much trouble. It'll be dangerous, but still, it's just about everything we can do. We would have to do it in small groups so we can take out places like offices and the cafeteria and get out safely. If it looks like something he would do, then they would panic and try and stop him before they are fully prepared."

Fuzzy, the bear, was curious, "When did you learn to think like that, Master Tulip? You were always really passive."

"I've... been playing card games with October and he taught me some things. Like how people react the same way with a game and a war. Intimidation and threats often throw off the unprepared opponent, and give you the clear advantage or breathing room, if that is what you really need. We need to be rash, and overwhelm the enemy in a calm and calculated manner. I didn't understand it at first, but it is starting to make..."

"Dammit! Who the hell pulled out a mirror!"

"Sorry..."

"Argh! It is starting to make sense. We need to act at dusk tomorrow, and make sure you all have something that covers your face. You all know the key areas. My dorm will stick to offices, the other two can focus on either the cafeteria and food areas and the classrooms. You all can decide. Now, come my people, we must prepare."

Lexi was outraged, "Who made you the boss?! He's my boyfriend!"

Tulip was calm, but clearly agitated, "Because I know what he is capable of. What he can do, and what he will do. I am the only one here who has any idea what is going on in his mind, and I can keep innocent people from getting harmed. Any questions?"

Lexi quickly backed down, "No. None at all. Carry on." Tulip led her fellow "special" students back to the dorm and immediately looked for October in his dorm room. Unfortunately, he was not there. Oddly enough, neither were any of his things. Clingy, Lexi, and Tulip looked around, but could not find a single trace of him, not even a hair. The bed was cleanly made, and the entire half of the room was like new, "This is freaky. Where could he have gone?"

Clingy looked around, "Hmm, look under the bed. There are small red drops. They smell a bit... sweet? No, that's not it. Maybe a little metallic... blood perhaps? But why would there be blood under the bed? Hmm... I'm going to investigate this."

"Woah, Clingy going out on his own? That's new."

"We all have to grow up some time or another. Maybe it was his influence on me, that made me braver. Either way, I'm going to find out more about this, and see if there is any more. If you would excuse me." Clingy gestured politely for the girls to leave.

Lexi and Tulip were both a little confused, "Huh. Just... huh. Did not see that one coming. It doesn't matter. We need to get everyone ready. Can you teach some people some magic, Tulip? Not much, just like fireballs and stuff so they can 'bust up' the places more easily. I will how some of the others how to fight. Now, break!" Lexi ran off, and almost hopped down the entire staircase, her tail waving happily while Tulip calmly walked down each of the halls, asking if anyone would like to learn. They would have to be inside to avoid suspicion, but it would be well enough.

.........................

"This is it. I will avenge you. I will end this nightmare for both of us. Aurora, this will be my final stand and you will be by my side, if only in spirit." The shining silver chain with attached blades shined in the moonlight as a dark figure watched the entire campus from a rooftop, "I am ready, please, grant me your strength until it is done."