Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 18: A Surprise Tip

Ace kicked the gate a few more times, making it rattle and creak.

"Ahhhhhh.... DAMMIT! SHIT! FUCK-- I HATE that spoiled, prim-'n-proper little GINGER-HEADED MEGALOMANIAC! Who the HELL does he think he is, huh?! What-- is he ACTUALLY deluded enough to think he's LITERALLY THE FUCKIN' QUEEN OF HEARTS?! RAAAAAGH!!"

Panting, he stepped back, crossing his arms and fuming visibly.

Shaking her head, Kat turned.
"Is everybody okay?" She asked, looking around at the others with concern.

Deuce answered with a soft groan. Wandering over to the streetlight, he started bonking his forehead against it rhythmically.

"Tossed out of my own dorm for insubordination-- I can't believe it," she heard him mutter morosely between hollow, metallic thumps. "I can feel my honor student dreams slipping further and further away..."

Grim sat up, pawing weakly at the collar again for a few seconds.
"Rrrr.... Stupid collar," he grumbled. "This thing's so tight 'n heavy.... Dangit..."

Sighing, Kat wandered over, scooping him up in her arms.
"There, there," she said absently. Propping him up against her shoulder, she started patting his back, like she was burping a baby.
The collar was a little heavy-- it wasn't quite as easy as usual to carry him like this.
It was probably even worse for him, poor thing...

She realized she was still clutching the crumpled-up photo in her left hand.

Blinking, she opened her fist, and the square of paper unfolded slightly.
Riddle's startled face stared back at her, stark white in the overexposed flash.

....Why did she do that?
When she'd first run over there, she'd actually wanted to hit him...
But that look, something about it, was just....

....He'd been hit before.
And not in a normal fight, either....
By someone who had some sort of power over him, someone he knew he had no chance of resisting.

'Rules are never to be broken... it's the rulebreakers who are in the wrong....'

She felt her skin prickle and crawl slightly.

"Meow-WOW! You kids are sure rackin' up those collars, huh? Quite a spiffy collection you've got goin' there~" a singsong voice interrupted.

"Wh-- GYAH!!" Grim spluttered, going stiff in her arms.
Ace and Deuce practically jumped out of their skin, looking behind her with faces of shock and horror.

She glanced back, jumping involuntarily as well once she caught sight of it.
"Whzzt-- FUCK! What the--"

A disembodied head was hanging stationary in the air, giving them a lazy fanged grin.

Grim shrieked, clawing his way out of her arms and landing on the path with a thump.
"L-LOOK OUT!" He screeched, running behind one of the pot-topped pillars for shelter. "I-I-IT'S A GHOST HEAD!"

"Prrrm? Oh--"
The 'ghost head' glanced down, eyebrows raising as it apparently saw its lack of body for the first time.

"Oops-- oh dear, my bad," it grinned apologetically. "Seems I'm not all there today-- what was I thinking, furgetting my body like that?"

There was a sort of twinkle or shimmer in the air under it, and a body...
Well, it didn't so much 'appear' as 'unfurl', almost.
It was like shimmering ribbons of energy wove together in tight loops and coils. They materialized into a torso, arms, and legs.
Finally, with a flick and a flourish, the last ribbon spiraled into a long, fluffy purple tail.