Fic: Vampir Srce - Chapter One 1/2
A/N: Okay, I do apologise for how long it’s taken me to write this chapter; I had intended on taking a day or so and doing it shortly after the prologue but life got in the way of that plan. :/
Anyway, here’s the latest instalment of this. :)
In this chapter: past events to set-up the present, with a search for a killer which leads to some chilling discoveries. Enjoy!
Kasey xx
Chapter One
“It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear, Now that I'm unchained.
Fear is only in our minds, Taking over all the time.
Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time.
You poor sweet innocent thing. Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice.” ~ Evanescence, Sweet Sacrifice.
Four Months Earlier
Tuesday, 21st September 2010
The sun was shining down on the large building on the main road that led into the centre of town and there were young, teenaged people milling about looking for all the world like they had not a care, nor dark memory present in their minds. If one was to come, walking along the road, they’d be hard-pressed to be afraid of these young people, even if some of them dressed as though they were the epitome of a punk-rockers revival, especially when one observed how a group of teenaged lads - with tattoos, hoodies and the general ‘gang-member’ vibe about them - helped an old lady with her shopping when one of the rather shoddy Tesco bag-handles snapped sending her shopping across the pavement. No, it would be difficult to be scared of them if you knew them, if you watched them, but people judge by what they see - the saying of ‘never judging a book by its cover’ was a load of bull because everyone judged one another by how they look, by how they dress, by how they behave. Humans in the Western world often make situational errors as opposed to dispositional ones - they judge people by how they dress and put it down to their personalities as opposed to such factors as peer pressure and social thought. It’s quite amusing really since everyone tries to be a scientist, they find a cause - in most cases they’re wrong about the cause but that’s semantics really - and then they apply the effect of said cause; so, if we were to look at a teenager who has tattoos and dresses like a ‘scally’ then the cause of such an appearance for most would be: that teenager dresses like that because he’s a drug-dealer or a gang-member or something else that’s unsavoury for the majority of the population to be. The effect of such a cause would be as follows; drug-dealer or gang-member equals criminal to the nth term equals avoid at all costs plus call police and have the teen arrested. Oh society is so brilliantly wrong on occasion is it not? It’s almost enough to make one want to cry at its stupidity, but then they would also be laughing at themselves since - regardless of what they say or do - they function within society and so therefore they are a part of it, so they are just as stupid as the next person. There is no higher, moral ground in this affair, but it’s nice to sometimes think there is.
The large building was a place of learning, an establishment designed to cater for those who were between 16 and 18 years of age, known as KHV: King Henry the Fifth’s College, and was home to about five thousand teenage students who were there to learn and grow into their adulthood. The feel of the college was quite intoxicating, though that could have been the smell of cake coming from the Philosophy department for some strange reason that no-one really wanted to find out about; those philosophers could be a nasty bunch when they wanted to be, and Helen adored the feeling as she walked confidently along the corridor into what the students and tutors call ‘The Link’; which was essentially an extra addition that connected the different parts of the college together, with Will and Henry following behind her dutifully.
She slipped easily between the students that didn’t move out of her way and nodded a polite thanks to those that did and as she came to the middle of the Link and stopped she turned around to see Will and Henry getting ogled by a fair majority of the girls in the Link; unsurprising really, most girls stared after the two of them quite often, though with the age difference one would think the girls would be a little more.... tactful instead of almost drooling. But then again, they were teenagers, most teenagers were walking sex machines; what with all those hormones raging around their bodies and the physical changes of puberty taking its toll on them. Still, it wasn’t an important thing to take any notice of, so Helen waited until her two colleagues stopped in front of her before turning back around and looking for the face of the person she was meant to be meeting. She truly hoped that she had the right college and such, it would be a nightmare if she’d gone to the wrong one altogether; not to mention she’d be tortured mercilessly about the fact by Will and Henry.
“So, ah, who is it we’re meant to be meeting exactly?” Henry asked, out of the three of them he was the least informed about this whole endeavour; mostly due to the fact that Kate has injured herself when they’d been hunting down a Barghest they’d been tracking after it has escaped its enclosure at a Private Zoo. Most people assumed that a Barghest was a big, black dog ghost, and they’d be right about the big, black dog part but not the ghost part. In fact the Barghest was an offshoot of the wolf that had evolved naturally in about 1500 AD, they were often confused as being wolfdog’s but they were nothing of the sort. They had a genome that specifically told you that they were indeed a wolves that had evolved in a separate environment where the natural capability of being able to ‘blend in’ had been a great help to them. Helen supposed that that was probably why they were often thought to be ghostly dogs due their ability to essentially turn invisible when threatened or when they were hunting. It was a fascinating genetic variation which Helen was very much looking forward to researching when they returned to Old City but this case was by far more important than research.
“An acquaintance of mine, she said that she’d meet us at 10:20 here after her class finished.” Helen replied, looking around subtly and she smiled as she caught sight of who she was waiting for. “And here she is now.”
A short, podgy looking woman ambled through the mass of students over towards Helen, Will and Henry with a large, genuinely happy smile on her face. “Doctor Magnus! How nice it is to see you again!”
“It’s lovely to see you Amelia, I hope you’ve been well?” Helen enquired as she gave Amelia a quick hug. “These are my colleagues. Doctor Will Zimmerman and Henry Foss.” Amelia gave both of the two men almost bone-crushing hugs as Helen smiled in amusement at Henry’s pained look. “If you’ll forgive me for wanting to get down to business but, what is it that you’ve discovered that’s so urgent?”
Helen’s words had an almost instantaneous affect on the podgy woman whose entire frame stiffened. Will’s eyes narrowed as he picked up immediately on the signs of a person who was very worried, nervous and just a little bit scared. Though Helen didn’t have Will’s keen senses she was not oblivious and she too picked up on Amelia’s worry and nerves. “Perhaps we should discuss this where there’s no-one to overhear us? My classroom perhaps?” Amelia said, her tone quiet and soft but there was a tinge of steel to it which Helen didn’t wish to contend with.
“Of course.” Helen answered nodding her head in agreement and the three of them set-off across the Link following in Amelia’s tense wake. Helen noticed that a number of the students were watching them, some with barely concealed suspicion whilst others were just curiously interested in what the three of them were doing there. The only thing that seemed to be out of place in the Link was the presence of a relatively large group of students who weren’t paying them any attention, in fact they weren’t paying anyone but themselves any attention and so they naturally drew Helen’s. As she passed them she subtly looked at them and managed to overhear a couple of words before she was out of earshot of them. What she did hear however made her pause for thought, interesting was the only word she could use to describe what she’d overheard.
Will and Henry followed behind Helen and so heard a little more than what she did, Henry most especially due to his being a werewolf and even he was surprised by what he heard. ‘Whoa... do they have a supply of mini-geniuses here because man! That’s deep!’ he thought as he slipped into the classroom after Will and closed the door.
“Amelia, what’s wrong?” Helen queried immediately as she strode across the classroom to look out the windows suspiciously; she wouldn’t put it past some of the students to sneak out and eavesdrop from outside.
“It’s just terrible! Absolutely awful Doctor Magnus!” Amelia exclaimed as she collapsed into her seat behind her desk. “I’ve never, in all my years here, ever come across so chilling! Just horrible.” Amelia ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair and sighed as she blinked and looked at the three of them. “Something’s killing the students.”
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M“Wait, wait a minute! Back up a second and please tell me I heard that wrong?” Henry exclaimed as he flapped his hands in front of him in an act that Will had come to recognise was Henry’s way of panicking without actually panicking. Henry was standing in front of Amelia staring at with a mixed look of hopefulness - that he’d heard wrongly - and worry - that he hadn’t heard wrongly.
“This monster hunts out certain students with... special abilities and drains the very life out of them. We’ve only come across one student who managed to survive and he’s almost catatonic in the hospital!” Amelia repeated as she wrung her hands in worry and concern. “Helen please tell me you can help? I don’t want any more of the students being hurt, but we can’t close the college without actual proof since only one of the attacks has took place at the college itself.”
“Where did the other attacks occur?” Will asked as Henry whimpered quietly and began to bit his nails in paranoid fear. Will thought Henry was overreacting a little bit but he wasn’t going to say anything; each man to his own and all that. He was mostly concerned with these attacks, they hadn’t had enough information from Magnus before she’d dragged them off to the private jet that he didn’t even know she owned for a merry old trip to good old England.
“The first attack occurred on the beach when the tide was out about three weeks ago. The student’s body was found underneath the pier, tied to one of the supports.” Amelia answered shivering slightly at the mistreatment of the student’s corpse. “The second student was found a week and a half ago in a farmer’s fields on one of the back-roads off the main road from here to Ormskin. The third body was found near the life-guard station off the marine road the beginning of this week and the fourth, as you know, was on the field behind the college just two days ago.”
“Do you know what the MO was?” Will questioned as his mind began to go over everything he knew thus far. “Or are we going to have to find out for ourselves?” He raised an eyebrow and ignored Magnus’ pointed glare; he was doing his job, simple as. And something about the woman creeped him out, he didn’t know what exactly but it was making him feel slightly hostile and weary of her.
“I don’t know Doctor, but I have a friend who works in the local cop shop who might be able to get you access to the case file.” Amelia replied, apparently not picking up on Will’s hostility nor on Helen’s dark stare aimed at her employee. “I’m sorry but break’s about to end and I have a class now. Maybe we could continue with this discussion another time?”
“Of course Amelia. We’ll leave you be.” Helen smiled softly at Amelia and made to leave the classroom when Amelia stood up and spoke.
“Oh that’s alright. You can stay here if you want, I don’t mind you being in my class it’s just that I don’t want the student’s to know why you’re really here.” Amelia smiled mischievously and added. “And the only way I was able to get you access to the college was by saying you were a guest who was going to be observing my classes for the next week or so.”
“Sneaky Amelia. Very sneaky.” Helen laughed as she moved to stand in front of the podgy woman. “I should never underestimate you should I?”
“Do so at your peril Doctor Magnus.” Amelia laughed good-naturedly as she moved over to open the door to her class room and beckon her noisy class in. “Come on you lot. Lesson starts now, you can socialise later. Learn now.”
“Aww come on miss A! Can’t we just flunk this lesson? We already know all this BS anyway.” One student exclaimed as he dragged himself into the classroom and threw himself down into one of the nearest available seats.
“No Matthew you can’t ‘just flunk this lesson’. If you did that then I’d get fired, you’d get excluded from college and everyone else would get an evil, slave-driver for a tutor. Is that what you want? Because, if it is, then I’ve got to say I really wouldn’t want to be you when everyone wants your head on a stick.” Amelia replied as she moved over to her desk and sat down, tapping away on the keyboard until she brought up a couple of clips on their current topic. “So quit your complaining and get your folder out.”
“You just got owned bitch!” One other student exclaimed as the others laughed in amusement and Matthew threw a pen at the other student. Amelia sighed in exasperation and waited patiently until the class eventually settled down and she could speak without having to shout over them.
“Today we’ll be covering Selye’s GAS Model. Does anyone know what that is?” Amelia asked, looking around the class expectantly. She was expected at least one of the students to try and attempt to answer her questions or she’d give them an essay to do as homework; needless to say the students had quickly caught-on to the concept of just guessing and hoping you were right in some way, shape or form.
“The GAS Model is a Selye’s proposed theory of how stress affects people. It has three stages; Alarm Reaction, Resistance and Exhaustion. Each stage consists of certain ‘keystones’ which a patient goes through if the stressor they are exposed to isn’t removed.” A soft voice echoed in the room causing everyone to turn and look at the speaker who was slouched in her chair playing with a strand of hair and pointedly ignoring everyone’s stare. “Initially Selye tested his theory using rats which he exposed to certain stressors; such as extreme temperatures, starvation and the severing of the spinal cord. He found that, if the stressor wasn’t removed, the rats would go through each stage right up to the Exhaustion stage where their bodies could no longer cope with the constant level of stress and they died. He applied this theory to humans which is why it’s called the GAS Model: General Adaptation Syndrome Model.”
There was silence in the room in the wake of the girl’s short monologue before Amelia broke it and said happily. “Bravo Kathryn. Brilliant as always. Where did you learn all that?”
“From the book that sitting in front of me turned to the page on Selye’s GAS Model.” Kathryn answered sounding bored and the class laughed in amusement as Amelia sighed at the girl’s antics. “But Wikipedia wasn’t all that bad a reference tool either.”
Henry snorted in contempt at the mention of the website; it was joke in his personal opinion. Oh sure, some of the stuff on it was true, but it was just a giant site which was full of people’s thoughts and opinions on things which they probably had no real experience dealing with. He thought that every article should start with the words: I think.
“Right. Well, courtesy of Kathryn and the ever knowledgeable Wikipedia, we now know what the GAS Model is.” Amelia said, clapping her hands together as she looked around the class before tapping a few keys on her keyboard. “I want you all to start taking notes on pages 38-to-40 about the Model.”
“Hey miss A.” Matthew called out as everyone else settled down to work. “Who’re those three in the corner over there?” Everyone’s heads turned to look at Helen, Will and Henry as they sat quietly, observing the class and how Amelia interacted with the students.
“They’re here to observe the class Matthew so maybe you should get down to work?” Amelia said pointedly looking at his unopened folder. She smiled as Matthew pouted childishly and opened the folder in search of some paper to doodle on; she wasn’t actually expecting him to take notes but it would be nice if he could at least pretend he was.
The only student who didn’t start writing notes was Kathryn who just sat in her seat and continued to fiddle with her hair idly. One of the girls next to her stopped writing and whispered something to her, to which Kathryn replied as she stopped playing with her hair and gave the girl her full attention. Helen watched subtly as Kathryn smirked humorously and plucked the pen out of the girl’s grasp before beginning to jot down some notes, completely ignoring the girl who was poking her arm with a mock glare on her face. Helen frowned thoughtfully as she observed this interaction. It was very strange really the way the girl behaved and Helen was nothing if not curious and so she wanted to understand why the girl behaved in such a manner. She turned to look at Will and noticed that he too was watching the interaction between the two girls. Helen softly nudged Will’s arm and whispered. “What’s your impression of her?”
Will tilted his head slightly and whispered back. “She’s pretty smart. I was watching her before she answered and she barely looked at that book for more than two seconds before she rattled off the run-down of the Model. She also doesn’t seem too concerned with academic achievement, or if she is she doesn’t show it. The girl whose pen she stole, I think is a friend and I don’t think she’s writing notes; or at least not her own.” Will stopped and turned to look at Helen. She could see a serious glint in his eye that made her feel a little on edge. “There’s something else, something that she’s hiding pretty well but I don’t know what it is. And it’s not some silly little teenager thing; this is something serious.”
“Do you think she could be our dangerous abnormal?” Helen asked, genuinely concerned for everyone’s safety and also wondering if their luck was going to be that good for once.
“I don’t know, she’s pretty relaxed and calm-looking right now but some of the most dangerous people in history, both normal and abnormal, have has the same calm persona that she has.” Will answered, honestly uncertain and Helen sighed; it seemed that luck and karma wasn’t going to be that nice to them this time around.
“I’ll find out from Amelia her last name and we can have Henry run a check on her just to see what comes up.” Helen said quietly and Will nodded in agreement. “Until we can get back to the hotel I suggest you keep a close eye on her.”
“Got ya.” Will whispered and for the remainder of the hour-and-a-half long lesson, he kept watch on the girl, cataloguing her behaviour into several categories and creating a sort of preliminary profile of the girl.
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=MPart Two: kaseykcnew.livejournal.com/16729.html
Anyway, here’s the latest instalment of this. :)
In this chapter: past events to set-up the present, with a search for a killer which leads to some chilling discoveries. Enjoy!
Kasey xx
Chapter One
“It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear, Now that I'm unchained.
Fear is only in our minds, Taking over all the time.
Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time.
You poor sweet innocent thing. Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice.” ~ Evanescence, Sweet Sacrifice.
Four Months Earlier
Tuesday, 21st September 2010
The sun was shining down on the large building on the main road that led into the centre of town and there were young, teenaged people milling about looking for all the world like they had not a care, nor dark memory present in their minds. If one was to come, walking along the road, they’d be hard-pressed to be afraid of these young people, even if some of them dressed as though they were the epitome of a punk-rockers revival, especially when one observed how a group of teenaged lads - with tattoos, hoodies and the general ‘gang-member’ vibe about them - helped an old lady with her shopping when one of the rather shoddy Tesco bag-handles snapped sending her shopping across the pavement. No, it would be difficult to be scared of them if you knew them, if you watched them, but people judge by what they see - the saying of ‘never judging a book by its cover’ was a load of bull because everyone judged one another by how they look, by how they dress, by how they behave. Humans in the Western world often make situational errors as opposed to dispositional ones - they judge people by how they dress and put it down to their personalities as opposed to such factors as peer pressure and social thought. It’s quite amusing really since everyone tries to be a scientist, they find a cause - in most cases they’re wrong about the cause but that’s semantics really - and then they apply the effect of said cause; so, if we were to look at a teenager who has tattoos and dresses like a ‘scally’ then the cause of such an appearance for most would be: that teenager dresses like that because he’s a drug-dealer or a gang-member or something else that’s unsavoury for the majority of the population to be. The effect of such a cause would be as follows; drug-dealer or gang-member equals criminal to the nth term equals avoid at all costs plus call police and have the teen arrested. Oh society is so brilliantly wrong on occasion is it not? It’s almost enough to make one want to cry at its stupidity, but then they would also be laughing at themselves since - regardless of what they say or do - they function within society and so therefore they are a part of it, so they are just as stupid as the next person. There is no higher, moral ground in this affair, but it’s nice to sometimes think there is.
The large building was a place of learning, an establishment designed to cater for those who were between 16 and 18 years of age, known as KHV: King Henry the Fifth’s College, and was home to about five thousand teenage students who were there to learn and grow into their adulthood. The feel of the college was quite intoxicating, though that could have been the smell of cake coming from the Philosophy department for some strange reason that no-one really wanted to find out about; those philosophers could be a nasty bunch when they wanted to be, and Helen adored the feeling as she walked confidently along the corridor into what the students and tutors call ‘The Link’; which was essentially an extra addition that connected the different parts of the college together, with Will and Henry following behind her dutifully.
She slipped easily between the students that didn’t move out of her way and nodded a polite thanks to those that did and as she came to the middle of the Link and stopped she turned around to see Will and Henry getting ogled by a fair majority of the girls in the Link; unsurprising really, most girls stared after the two of them quite often, though with the age difference one would think the girls would be a little more.... tactful instead of almost drooling. But then again, they were teenagers, most teenagers were walking sex machines; what with all those hormones raging around their bodies and the physical changes of puberty taking its toll on them. Still, it wasn’t an important thing to take any notice of, so Helen waited until her two colleagues stopped in front of her before turning back around and looking for the face of the person she was meant to be meeting. She truly hoped that she had the right college and such, it would be a nightmare if she’d gone to the wrong one altogether; not to mention she’d be tortured mercilessly about the fact by Will and Henry.
“So, ah, who is it we’re meant to be meeting exactly?” Henry asked, out of the three of them he was the least informed about this whole endeavour; mostly due to the fact that Kate has injured herself when they’d been hunting down a Barghest they’d been tracking after it has escaped its enclosure at a Private Zoo. Most people assumed that a Barghest was a big, black dog ghost, and they’d be right about the big, black dog part but not the ghost part. In fact the Barghest was an offshoot of the wolf that had evolved naturally in about 1500 AD, they were often confused as being wolfdog’s but they were nothing of the sort. They had a genome that specifically told you that they were indeed a wolves that had evolved in a separate environment where the natural capability of being able to ‘blend in’ had been a great help to them. Helen supposed that that was probably why they were often thought to be ghostly dogs due their ability to essentially turn invisible when threatened or when they were hunting. It was a fascinating genetic variation which Helen was very much looking forward to researching when they returned to Old City but this case was by far more important than research.
“An acquaintance of mine, she said that she’d meet us at 10:20 here after her class finished.” Helen replied, looking around subtly and she smiled as she caught sight of who she was waiting for. “And here she is now.”
A short, podgy looking woman ambled through the mass of students over towards Helen, Will and Henry with a large, genuinely happy smile on her face. “Doctor Magnus! How nice it is to see you again!”
“It’s lovely to see you Amelia, I hope you’ve been well?” Helen enquired as she gave Amelia a quick hug. “These are my colleagues. Doctor Will Zimmerman and Henry Foss.” Amelia gave both of the two men almost bone-crushing hugs as Helen smiled in amusement at Henry’s pained look. “If you’ll forgive me for wanting to get down to business but, what is it that you’ve discovered that’s so urgent?”
Helen’s words had an almost instantaneous affect on the podgy woman whose entire frame stiffened. Will’s eyes narrowed as he picked up immediately on the signs of a person who was very worried, nervous and just a little bit scared. Though Helen didn’t have Will’s keen senses she was not oblivious and she too picked up on Amelia’s worry and nerves. “Perhaps we should discuss this where there’s no-one to overhear us? My classroom perhaps?” Amelia said, her tone quiet and soft but there was a tinge of steel to it which Helen didn’t wish to contend with.
“Of course.” Helen answered nodding her head in agreement and the three of them set-off across the Link following in Amelia’s tense wake. Helen noticed that a number of the students were watching them, some with barely concealed suspicion whilst others were just curiously interested in what the three of them were doing there. The only thing that seemed to be out of place in the Link was the presence of a relatively large group of students who weren’t paying them any attention, in fact they weren’t paying anyone but themselves any attention and so they naturally drew Helen’s. As she passed them she subtly looked at them and managed to overhear a couple of words before she was out of earshot of them. What she did hear however made her pause for thought, interesting was the only word she could use to describe what she’d overheard.
Will and Henry followed behind Helen and so heard a little more than what she did, Henry most especially due to his being a werewolf and even he was surprised by what he heard. ‘Whoa... do they have a supply of mini-geniuses here because man! That’s deep!’ he thought as he slipped into the classroom after Will and closed the door.
“Amelia, what’s wrong?” Helen queried immediately as she strode across the classroom to look out the windows suspiciously; she wouldn’t put it past some of the students to sneak out and eavesdrop from outside.
“It’s just terrible! Absolutely awful Doctor Magnus!” Amelia exclaimed as she collapsed into her seat behind her desk. “I’ve never, in all my years here, ever come across so chilling! Just horrible.” Amelia ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair and sighed as she blinked and looked at the three of them. “Something’s killing the students.”
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M“Wait, wait a minute! Back up a second and please tell me I heard that wrong?” Henry exclaimed as he flapped his hands in front of him in an act that Will had come to recognise was Henry’s way of panicking without actually panicking. Henry was standing in front of Amelia staring at with a mixed look of hopefulness - that he’d heard wrongly - and worry - that he hadn’t heard wrongly.
“This monster hunts out certain students with... special abilities and drains the very life out of them. We’ve only come across one student who managed to survive and he’s almost catatonic in the hospital!” Amelia repeated as she wrung her hands in worry and concern. “Helen please tell me you can help? I don’t want any more of the students being hurt, but we can’t close the college without actual proof since only one of the attacks has took place at the college itself.”
“Where did the other attacks occur?” Will asked as Henry whimpered quietly and began to bit his nails in paranoid fear. Will thought Henry was overreacting a little bit but he wasn’t going to say anything; each man to his own and all that. He was mostly concerned with these attacks, they hadn’t had enough information from Magnus before she’d dragged them off to the private jet that he didn’t even know she owned for a merry old trip to good old England.
“The first attack occurred on the beach when the tide was out about three weeks ago. The student’s body was found underneath the pier, tied to one of the supports.” Amelia answered shivering slightly at the mistreatment of the student’s corpse. “The second student was found a week and a half ago in a farmer’s fields on one of the back-roads off the main road from here to Ormskin. The third body was found near the life-guard station off the marine road the beginning of this week and the fourth, as you know, was on the field behind the college just two days ago.”
“Do you know what the MO was?” Will questioned as his mind began to go over everything he knew thus far. “Or are we going to have to find out for ourselves?” He raised an eyebrow and ignored Magnus’ pointed glare; he was doing his job, simple as. And something about the woman creeped him out, he didn’t know what exactly but it was making him feel slightly hostile and weary of her.
“I don’t know Doctor, but I have a friend who works in the local cop shop who might be able to get you access to the case file.” Amelia replied, apparently not picking up on Will’s hostility nor on Helen’s dark stare aimed at her employee. “I’m sorry but break’s about to end and I have a class now. Maybe we could continue with this discussion another time?”
“Of course Amelia. We’ll leave you be.” Helen smiled softly at Amelia and made to leave the classroom when Amelia stood up and spoke.
“Oh that’s alright. You can stay here if you want, I don’t mind you being in my class it’s just that I don’t want the student’s to know why you’re really here.” Amelia smiled mischievously and added. “And the only way I was able to get you access to the college was by saying you were a guest who was going to be observing my classes for the next week or so.”
“Sneaky Amelia. Very sneaky.” Helen laughed as she moved to stand in front of the podgy woman. “I should never underestimate you should I?”
“Do so at your peril Doctor Magnus.” Amelia laughed good-naturedly as she moved over to open the door to her class room and beckon her noisy class in. “Come on you lot. Lesson starts now, you can socialise later. Learn now.”
“Aww come on miss A! Can’t we just flunk this lesson? We already know all this BS anyway.” One student exclaimed as he dragged himself into the classroom and threw himself down into one of the nearest available seats.
“No Matthew you can’t ‘just flunk this lesson’. If you did that then I’d get fired, you’d get excluded from college and everyone else would get an evil, slave-driver for a tutor. Is that what you want? Because, if it is, then I’ve got to say I really wouldn’t want to be you when everyone wants your head on a stick.” Amelia replied as she moved over to her desk and sat down, tapping away on the keyboard until she brought up a couple of clips on their current topic. “So quit your complaining and get your folder out.”
“You just got owned bitch!” One other student exclaimed as the others laughed in amusement and Matthew threw a pen at the other student. Amelia sighed in exasperation and waited patiently until the class eventually settled down and she could speak without having to shout over them.
“Today we’ll be covering Selye’s GAS Model. Does anyone know what that is?” Amelia asked, looking around the class expectantly. She was expected at least one of the students to try and attempt to answer her questions or she’d give them an essay to do as homework; needless to say the students had quickly caught-on to the concept of just guessing and hoping you were right in some way, shape or form.
“The GAS Model is a Selye’s proposed theory of how stress affects people. It has three stages; Alarm Reaction, Resistance and Exhaustion. Each stage consists of certain ‘keystones’ which a patient goes through if the stressor they are exposed to isn’t removed.” A soft voice echoed in the room causing everyone to turn and look at the speaker who was slouched in her chair playing with a strand of hair and pointedly ignoring everyone’s stare. “Initially Selye tested his theory using rats which he exposed to certain stressors; such as extreme temperatures, starvation and the severing of the spinal cord. He found that, if the stressor wasn’t removed, the rats would go through each stage right up to the Exhaustion stage where their bodies could no longer cope with the constant level of stress and they died. He applied this theory to humans which is why it’s called the GAS Model: General Adaptation Syndrome Model.”
There was silence in the room in the wake of the girl’s short monologue before Amelia broke it and said happily. “Bravo Kathryn. Brilliant as always. Where did you learn all that?”
“From the book that sitting in front of me turned to the page on Selye’s GAS Model.” Kathryn answered sounding bored and the class laughed in amusement as Amelia sighed at the girl’s antics. “But Wikipedia wasn’t all that bad a reference tool either.”
Henry snorted in contempt at the mention of the website; it was joke in his personal opinion. Oh sure, some of the stuff on it was true, but it was just a giant site which was full of people’s thoughts and opinions on things which they probably had no real experience dealing with. He thought that every article should start with the words: I think.
“Right. Well, courtesy of Kathryn and the ever knowledgeable Wikipedia, we now know what the GAS Model is.” Amelia said, clapping her hands together as she looked around the class before tapping a few keys on her keyboard. “I want you all to start taking notes on pages 38-to-40 about the Model.”
“Hey miss A.” Matthew called out as everyone else settled down to work. “Who’re those three in the corner over there?” Everyone’s heads turned to look at Helen, Will and Henry as they sat quietly, observing the class and how Amelia interacted with the students.
“They’re here to observe the class Matthew so maybe you should get down to work?” Amelia said pointedly looking at his unopened folder. She smiled as Matthew pouted childishly and opened the folder in search of some paper to doodle on; she wasn’t actually expecting him to take notes but it would be nice if he could at least pretend he was.
The only student who didn’t start writing notes was Kathryn who just sat in her seat and continued to fiddle with her hair idly. One of the girls next to her stopped writing and whispered something to her, to which Kathryn replied as she stopped playing with her hair and gave the girl her full attention. Helen watched subtly as Kathryn smirked humorously and plucked the pen out of the girl’s grasp before beginning to jot down some notes, completely ignoring the girl who was poking her arm with a mock glare on her face. Helen frowned thoughtfully as she observed this interaction. It was very strange really the way the girl behaved and Helen was nothing if not curious and so she wanted to understand why the girl behaved in such a manner. She turned to look at Will and noticed that he too was watching the interaction between the two girls. Helen softly nudged Will’s arm and whispered. “What’s your impression of her?”
Will tilted his head slightly and whispered back. “She’s pretty smart. I was watching her before she answered and she barely looked at that book for more than two seconds before she rattled off the run-down of the Model. She also doesn’t seem too concerned with academic achievement, or if she is she doesn’t show it. The girl whose pen she stole, I think is a friend and I don’t think she’s writing notes; or at least not her own.” Will stopped and turned to look at Helen. She could see a serious glint in his eye that made her feel a little on edge. “There’s something else, something that she’s hiding pretty well but I don’t know what it is. And it’s not some silly little teenager thing; this is something serious.”
“Do you think she could be our dangerous abnormal?” Helen asked, genuinely concerned for everyone’s safety and also wondering if their luck was going to be that good for once.
“I don’t know, she’s pretty relaxed and calm-looking right now but some of the most dangerous people in history, both normal and abnormal, have has the same calm persona that she has.” Will answered, honestly uncertain and Helen sighed; it seemed that luck and karma wasn’t going to be that nice to them this time around.
“I’ll find out from Amelia her last name and we can have Henry run a check on her just to see what comes up.” Helen said quietly and Will nodded in agreement. “Until we can get back to the hotel I suggest you keep a close eye on her.”
“Got ya.” Will whispered and for the remainder of the hour-and-a-half long lesson, he kept watch on the girl, cataloguing her behaviour into several categories and creating a sort of preliminary profile of the girl.
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T=E=M=P=L=U=MPart Two: kaseykcnew.livejournal.com/16729.html