Resurrection- Fallen (Cam)

I - Puppeteers Sunday Drive

Sword and Cross was exactly like the pictures, which came as a pleasant surprise to Victoria - Who was still convinced her remarkably light sentence had been a mistake. In fact she expected Daryl - The social worker from Greenwood - To turn the car around soon and take her back to court. Instead, Daryl was shifting the car into park, taking care to ensure he kept a firm grasp on the door handle as he did. It was for his own safety but the accompanying side eye wasn't.

He made a point of remaining in the car as Victoria went to collect her things from the boot, not that there was much to retrieve. A lone canvas bag containing the basic necessities and some plain black clothing - Students were only permitted to wear black and modest clothing at Sword & Cross. In her jeans pocket sat a crappy old cell phone from at least three years ago. Concealed in her bra was a silver flask full of terrible Russian vodka and a pack of cheap Chinese cigarettes - She didn't even own a lighter. Victoria strung the bag over her shoulder and slammed the boot shut, she made to walk to the passenger window and say her goodbyes to Daryl but the car's reverse lights were already on.

He left so quickly that he didn't even catch her wave.

Victoria had never been shy and was unbothered by the fact she'd been dropped on the front lawn of the mysterious and strangely gothic school. Admittedly, it was a little disarming being stared at by a group of arguably emo kids kicking about on the steps of an old church - But life was often uncomfortable.

"Miss Smith?" A short, stocky man asked. He was rather unassuming, with thinning brown hair and round glasses. He wore the typical brown slacks and pastel collared shirt of a school teacher but something about his greasy smile rubbed Victoria the wrong way

"Hm?" Was all she could muster.

"I'm the Headmaster, Randy. If you'll be so kind as to follow me, the other inductees are already waiting." He had a funny kind of voice, as if it had never properly broken and Victoria couldn't stand the way he rolled his thumbs one over the other as he spoke.

Nonetheless, she followed him across the pristine grass towards the ancient church, a whisper spreading amongst the students gathered upon the steps as they passed by. Victoria couldn't help but roll her eyes - She'd expected her peers at Sword & Cross to be a little sharper than the average teenager.

Beyond the threshold of the grand doors was a scene belonging to a fairy tale. The old church had been transformed into a facility fit to serve double the number of kids who attended the school, it was surreal. All modifications had been made in a way that paid respect to the building's foundation rather than plastering over its charm with ugly modern adaptations. Victoria genuinely blinked in shock, something that didn't happen very often. It was all a little surreal really - She'd murdered three innocent men and wound up someplace nicer than she'd ever been.

"Just over here!" Randy's voice was bright as he ushered Victoria towards the reception desk in the center of the hall. To the right was a huge, forked staircase with a large balcony, upon which several nosy students were leaning over. They appeared to be older than the kids seated on the front steps. Victoria supposed they looked rather close to her own age - Eighteen. It was obvious by the many uniform regulation breaches amongst the group that they had been at the school for sometime.

One of the balcony students, a dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks and a large smile, bumped shoulders with the girl beside him - A well-kept blonde who would have looked more at home on a high school cheer team. An animated expression was exchanged between them, before they trained their eyes on Victoria, faces glowing with warm smiles as they waved at her. Victoria dismissed it with a shake of her head, Sword & Cross was a place for 'Special Cases' no doubt these kids were trying to wind her up. Randy was scowling at the offending students and waving an annoyed arm in their direction in an effort to try and shoo them away.