Another Life, Another Me

86. The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 3)

Special: The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 3)

(A/N: Slight Trigger Warning! Do not read if you are sensitive to violence, a little gore, and attempted sexual assault.)

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Cordelia POV

"Shhh! That's enough, class!" the teacher finally called out to put an end to all the whispering.

But it was already too late.

"Murderer...!"

"...shh...if she hears you..."

"...we'll be cursed..."

"...to die..."

There were a few snickers as the classroom whispered to one another, completely disregarding the teacher's orders to quiet down.

"...and if you're not careful..."

"...she'll sneak up on you..."

"...and your neck will go..."

One of my classmates, who I could not remember the name of, twisted her neck backward in an unnatural way, which caused the rest of the class to roar with laughter.

I blinked my eyes at my classmates' obvious display of contempt for me.

It had been so many years that I had forgotten how it felt to be ridiculed like this...to be singled out from the rest of my peers...

But...

Maybe it was because I had gone through so much more extreme pain in the other world that...something like this seemed much more amateur and immature than I remembered.

"Hey, Clara! You aren't gonna kill us or anything, right??" the girl, who had playfully twisted her neck earlier, called out to me.

"..."

I turned my head to look at her without the energy to even crack a smile or frown.

"...That's not funny," I said.

The girl seemed a bit surprised that I responded to her properly and sat up straight from her seat to stare at me straight in the eye.

"What's not funny?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Joking about murder...it's not funny," I murmured.

"Oooooh, so whatcha gonna do about it?" the girl asked with a sarcastic frown.

"..."

"Are you gonna kill me or something?" she chuckled.

"..."

Then, for the first time today, my stoic face changed into an innocent smile.

And I opened my mouth to speak.

"Someone like you wouldn't even be worth killing but...if you want me to do it that much then...maybe I will," I said as my smile darkened.

"...?"

"Your head will go all twisted and bent...like this...by the time I'm done with you," I said as I snapped my head backward and twisted it sideways, exactly the same way the girl had done from before.

I gave a wide grin at the girl, holding my head in the same position.

"What the hell is wrong with you—"

"Hmm...? What's wrong with me...? Ah...Did you not find it funny?" I asked.

"..."

"Oh...if that's the case, I'm sorry. I thought my joke would suit your sick sense of humor," I sighed apologetically as I glanced up at her with dark eyes.