Date: Friday, 20th September; 9PM
Location: Main Dining Hall, East Wing
Availability: open
Florian was among the mass of students who stood in astonishment at the sorry state of the dining hall. The tables were upturned and shards of multicoloured glass and what he guessed was china covered the floors. It was a challenge to decipher what was food and what wasn’t. Wine bottles, some still in one piece, lay corkless and empty; Florian expected the carpeting must be soaked. He hadn’t realized he was looking forward to the dinner. It only struck him now that he was deprived of it. Everyone was deprived of it, really. A cacophony of bewildered and crestfallen exclamations rose from the people around him, with a lawless few hooting their approval. Florian felt something akin to annoyance bubble up inside him at the latter.
Even though they hadn’t gotten far from the doors, the destruction was so great that very little of the floors were bare. His eyes caught the motion of his neighbouring student, and Florian swiftly grasped their arm before they could take another step forward. “Be careful, there’s glass everywhere. And from the looks of it, puddles of wine, too. Wouldn’t want your shoes to lose their shine.”
Date: September 20, 2019
Time: 9:15 PM
Location: East Wing Dining Hall
Availability: Open
Daniel wanted to be anywhere else but where he was at this particular moment, standing by the entrance of the dining hall he’d just helped wrecked almost two hours ago. He tried to look as astonished as he possibly could, mouth slightly agape as he took in the sight. It was impressive, the amount of damage a few people could do to a room, and he could hear the murmurs of everyone else as they, too, looked around in shock. The team who’d prepared the venue looked visibly distressed, and a pang of guilt washed over Daniel. This was why he was hesitant about the task, in the first place. Aside from all the lies he would have to say, the thought of destroying something someone had worked so hard for just didn’t sit will with him. But what’s done was done now, and he could only do his best to make sure nobody ever suspects him.
“What the hell happened here?” he said, not to anyone in particular, but there were a few people within earshot. He pretended to look around once again, but he was all too familiar about what they had done to the place. “God, what a waste. And here I was looking forward to good food and good company.” Daniel shook his head, followed by the clicking of his tongue.
as much as she tried to pretend that everything was fine she was still reeling from her falling out with her father -- something she had decided not to tell anyone, even her sister. the truth was that the combination of all the things that seemed to be letting loose lately had made her decide that it was better to keep her pretty little mouth shut for now and wait for the perfect time to rub her spite in his face. he would then finally see exactly what she was capable of but this was not home or business, this was just another day at the academy and she had nothing to prove to anyone but herself here. people were just part of a larger game, pleasantries made just to forge beneficial connections for later in life. it wasn’t what you knew, it was who you knew.
she tucked brown hair behind her ear as she waited outside the theatre wondering if she would catch a glimpse of her sister (who she truly hoped was alone) or someone else of interest. the play bill twisted in her fingers as she used her free hand to smooth down the material of her skirt and when someone approached she surprised herself, “hi,” she greeted, “are you looking forwards to it?”
The Alpha theatre was filled with a roaring applause, supplemented by cries of tributes, and whistles as the company went through the curtain call. As a gesture of respect and admiration, Agata remained in her seat beyond the play’s conclusion; after the ponderous drawing of the red velvet curtains. As if in a trance, her stare was fixed onto the spotlight against the crimson drapes ahead. The silhouettes of people rising from their seats to leave the venue passed her view. She was well-aware of her surroundings despite her sudden and momentary stupor. Chatters from students, faculty, and visitors echoed in the room. The sounds of their voices, and movements began to sound faint with each passing minute. Soon enough, the spectators have left for the dinner party, and the sounds of conversations had been replaced by the crew backstage tidying up.
With a sharp exhale Agata pried her gaze from the curtains and inspected the theatre. She felt satisfaction at the brief tranquillity of her situation up until her eyes fell upon a boy at the far end of her row. A surge of curiosity went up Agata’s mind as she silently observed him. For a moment she contemplated whether or not to call out or get up and simply leave. In the end, her curiosity got the best of her, so she chose the former. “Why are you still here?” She asked unambiguously, her voice echoing through the almost-empty theatre. She had not the intention of sounding rude, but there were things that could not be helped. “Aren’t you hungry?” She added without thinking twice of it.
self para // look like th'innocent flower but be the serpent under't"
Reese was outraged at the suggestion that she was involved with what had happened in the dining hall. She had told everyone and anyone who would listen exactly what she would have done to the dining hall if it had been her. The entire attempt had seemed rather childish and without point... if it had been her doing something that was meant to be terrible then she would of done much worse. She had told herself many a time that this ridiculous little group had no affect on her life but they had put her in the firing line and that was something she would never forgive. Whether or not she was punished she vowed she would find at least one of them and when she did she would make sure they knew exactly why she would never be involved in their little terror cell of stupidity. Unfortunately, she had yet to find out who they were.
She had her suspicions of course, there were so many people she either liked or was indifferent to that she could pull a name from a hat and decide it was them. Even with venemous anger running through her veins and the desire to scream at the headmaster about how ridiculous he was, she knew she needed a better plan than that. Rage had never got her anywhere and measured revenge was always the best way forwards. She merely needed to choose people she didn’t care about at all to put in the firing line -- they would never truly know it was her who had decided their guilt anyway. There was one name on that list that she was sure that she would throw in first. Good riddance, Andrew.
Reese wasn’t proud of it but she knew that the best way to get what she wanted was to be the one thing that her Father had never wanted her to be; an emotional woman. The truth was that there were certain advantages to being a well bred, well presented young girl in the world they lived in. This would be the first time she used that power to her advantage but she knew all at once as soon as her decision was made that it would not be the last.
She hadn’t had much time to prepare her performance but she was quietly confident that it would be as perfect as she imagined, swinging her right off the hook of this event.
As she sat at the table in front of the administration ready to answer for a crime that she didn’t commit, she imagined they were the audience and the show had only just began. She fumbled nervously with her hair although she was not nervous at all, a look of aghast shock and horror written all over a face expression. Her lip quivered like an actress filming a break up scene. Her Father would be ashamed if he saw how good she was at it but he was only the beast that he had created with his years of mentoring.
WHERE, EXACTLY, WERE YOU THE EVENING OF THE PLAY?
"Well,” she paused to add a little drama, her eyes meeting with the person who seemed to be directing the most attention to her, “I was watching the show, I actually went in with Soren and Maggie, I was sitting near the aisle but I watched the whole thing to the end. It would have been rude to walk out mid Shakespeare, everyone else seemed to shuffle around but I was in my seat the whole time.”
IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN CORROBORATE YOUR STORY FOR YOU?
"Of course,” Reese responded feebly, “My close friend Maggiewho I mentioned before, she definitely wouldn’t be involved in this... I can’t believe you’d even think so and then my twin sister and Soren of course, I saw them all there and they definitely saw me. I even remember seeing Florian and Vanessa waiting for someone--” she paused, sniffling slightly as if she was holding back teachers, “You can’t think I was involved sir, you can’t think he was either, we wouldn’t do an awful thing like this. Disrespecting this school like this after everything it’s given us. Please, you can’t tell my Father that you think I’d do such an awful thing, he’d be so disappointed in me,” her words dispersed into tears. It was easy to pretend she would be upset that her Father was disappointed in her behaviour, she knew all too well that he was always disappointed. Since the day the twins were born. She just wished she still cared, “Please don’t tell my parents that you think I’m a terrible person.”
WHAT DID YOU DO IN RESPONSE TO THE INCIDENT?
“I was just shocked,” she sniffed, dabbing her tears with the tissue that the headmaster had handed her. She didn’t want to lie so she decided she would simply alter the truth slightly while still being true to what had happened in a sense. “i walked in and everything was ruined, I saw Florian and we went and read that terrible writing on the wall. They de-” she sniffled, “defiled Shakespeare. They must have no compassion towards art. I just stood there for about ten minutes taking it all in. I think we all did and then I went to get something to eat. That’s all.”
DID YOU WITNESS ANYTHING WORTH NOTING DURING THAT EVENING?
“Oh, I shouldn’t say,” she whispered leaning forwards as the tissue crumpled underneath her fingers. She shouldn’t say but she was going to. To be fair, everything she was going to say was completely true, just implications that she didn’t know where completely legitimate. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble but I think that there’s some people that definitely seemed a little suspicious when I think about it now. They won’t get expelled, will they?” she asked innocently, her lips pressing back together as she sniffled one last time before composing herself. “I don’t know for sure but I didn’t really see Andrew around or Ophelia Burke, I thought Shakespeare would be her kind of thing,” Reese suggested, not giving too much information, “or Giueletta Cardinali,” that one was just for fun. She knew that the girl hated her already. “I don’t know if she was around but I’ve always got a bad feeling about her, she always seems to want trouble.”
TELL US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ARSONISTS.
“Is that what they call themselves?” Reese asked curiously, “You’d think they’d be setting things on fire then... oh, right, sorry. I don’t know anything but,” she peered at the headmaster with a sweet smile, “If I find anything out then you’ll be the first to know.” That was a lie.
