The lecture hall filled with loud commotion as Professor Addison finished the lesson for the day. “Oh! Before everyone leaves today I have an important announcement from the university president!” He barely managed to speak out over all the students who were ready to leave. “As some of you may be aware, there have been a lot of missing person cases popping up in the city lately. Especially with a lot of them being local, the faculty is advising students not to wander around too late, and don’t be by yourself! Any questions or concerns can be made to the human resources department. That is all!”
Most of the students paid little mind to his words and were hurrying out as quickly as possible, but Elizabeth was taking her time. “I guess this is a good time to have a bunch of magical demons watching over me..." she thought to herself. Since she had nowhere else to be for the rest of the day, she wrote down as many notes as she could while everything was still fresh in her brain. At the same time however, she couldnèt help but think about the missing persons incidents here and there.
Although she had been doing her best to concentrate on the lesson that morning, she couldnèt stop her mind from also wandering over the events that occurred a couple days prior. The fact that she could be dragged into the Nether Mirror at a moment's notice was a thought that weighed down on her mind constantly. The succubi reassured her that at least one of them would be nearby at all times for her safety, however none of them seemed to be around during her history class.
Slowly but surely, Elizabeth had been coming to terms with the recent changes in her life. It was funny to her, that she would learn about mythology and history, and then learn outside the classes how real some of those things were, or how wrong they actually were.
Just as she finished writing down her last few notes, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A few girls from the class wandered up to her seat and stared down at her, one of them with a smug look on her face. “Still taking notes, Elizabeth?” The fair skinned woman asked in a condescending manner.
She sunk into her seat a little, barely making eye contact with them and nodding. “Yeah, I am...” Unfortunately, she was all too familiar with the 'leader' of their group. “Tessa Sullivan, I thought I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore,” she thought wishfully to herself.
Tessa made an elegant gesture to one of the girls behind her. Without hesitation the girl rummaged through her bag and handed her a bottle of water, before getting herself a can of soda as well. “You don't have to act so distant! I mean, you used to ignore us all the time with those bland headphones when you were around!” She paused to take a quick sip from her water, then shot Elizabeth a nasty grin when she finished. “It's been so lonely without you living in the dorms anymore.”
Her hand clenched up instinctively, feeling sick to her stomach as she struggled to find any words to reply to her. Tessa had likely been the source of most rumours or gossip that involved Elizabeth since she arrived at university. Not having to see her around as much since she began living with the succubi had been a blessing for her.
“What's wrong? Not in a talking mood today?” She leaned in closer to the anxious girl and muttered to her. “Feeling a little tired? Had a late night last night?” She asked in an alluring manner before taking another sip from her water.
She felt helpless in this scenario, instinctively reaching for her headphones even though they wouldn't do much good for her right now. She was trapped in her seat by them, and couldn't pretend that she couldn't hear them like in most cases. “No...” Was all she could manage to squeak out for them, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.
Tessa giggled to herself as she watched the poor girl squirm. The lack of verbal interaction however was starting to bore her, so she decided it was time to leave. However as she began to lean back up, her water bottle 'accidentally' slipped out of her hand and landed on the table. Water splashed out and spilled all over it, completely soaking through Elizabeth's hard-written notes and just narrowly avoiding her headphones. “Oh my god!!! Elizabeth I'm so sorry!!” She quickly grabbed the bottle off the table, now that the damage had been done.
Her eyes went wide as she frantically made sure her headphones were moved out of harm's way and tried to find something to dry off her notebook. The frustration deep down inside her festered, but her anxiety refused to let it out. Although it was only class notes that were damaged, she was almost ready to cry. She stared up at Tessa as the venomous woman regrouped with the others. She watched her take a sip of however much water was left in the bottle, as her 'pack mule' friend went to crack open her soda.
A strange sensation struck Elizabeth out of nowhere, but not sickening like when she was being dragged into the Nether Mirror. It was a bit uncomfortable and alien, and while it felt as though it lasted longer, it was present for only a split second. After the feeling passed, she saw the girl open the can of soda, and the contents of it sprayed all over Tessa. The girl yelped in shock as the cold, sugary drink soaked her face and silky brown hair.
Her friend stammered and scrambled through her bag to find something to clean Tessa off with as she was pierced with daggers from her eyes. “I-I don't know what happened!” She pleaded innocently before grabbing a cloth and handing it over to the soaked woman.
Tessa's face flushed with embarrassment, using the cloth to hide it as best she could while cleaning it. Now realizing that the few students that remained in the lecture hall were staring at her. She quickly moved with her group out towards the washroom without saying another word. On her way out, she looked back and stared menacingly at Elizabeth.
With the group gone, she looked back down at her soaked notebook and fidgeted with her hands anxiously. “Why can't I stand up for myself?” She thought to herself as the smeared gibberish that was once her notes stared back at her. “At least karma did something…”
She sat in silence for a while as the room nearly emptied out, eventually calming down enough to pack her stuff up. While packing her stuff into her bag, Professor Addison wandered over with a curious look after seeing her notebook. “That looks like quite an unfortunate accident,” he spoke with an apologetic tone.
“I'm very sorry professor!” she replied bashfully. She wished she could hide the notebook in shame. “You worked really hard on today's lesson and I have almost nothing to show for it...”
The professor picked up her notebook and hung it near his face, squinting an eye at the gibberish ridden pages as they dripped water from the ends. “Well I can tell that you also worked hard today!” He replied with a bit more energy in his voice to try and cheer her up. “When I have time later on, I can email you my personal notes that I made while preparing the lesson. How does that sound?”
She fidgeted with her hands and nodded, glancing away nervously as her eyes lit up with joy. “Thank you very much professor! I really appreciate it!”
He smiled at her and waved it off like it was no trouble at all. “You know I'm here to try and help everyone succeed. As I've said before, my office is always open if you run into trouble.” He reassured her before walking back down to his desk.
Although she was a bit sad to do it, after she finished packing her bag she was forced to drop her notebook into the nearest garbage bin on her way out. After briefly mourning her loss, she put on her headphones to tune out the world. This was her best method to try to calm down from her encounter with Tessa.
Normally she would just listen to any of the random rock bands that she enjoyed, but under the current circumstances she had a special playlist to relax herself. A young woman with a powerful, yet soothing voice resounded through her head. Meisha Vento was an online solo artist whom Elizabeth admired, despite her anonymity. The music itself wasn't anything overly unique, but the sound of her singing voice helped melt her worries away.
While winding down with her music and heading across campus, she remembered the one errand she was supposed to run before heading back home. “Iris really wanted that ice cream right?” she thought to herself. The succubus had practically begged her that morning to get some on her way home from class.
It wasn't any ordinary ice cream, which is why Irisyla adored it so much. It was specifically sold at one of the campus's stores, specially made by a family with connections to the faculty. Because of how it was made and sold however, it was rather expensive. Nonetheless, Elizabeth made her way over to the store with the intention of buying a couple quarts for Irisyla to keep around.
She kept herself tuned out with her Meisha Vento music as she passed by the other university students, but something felt off. Every once in a while she would stop and look around, having the feeling that somebody was watching her weighed heavily on her mind. No matter how many times she did it though, she didn't notice any of the same people crossing paths with her. Thus, she brushed it off as paranoia and turned the next corner towards the store.
The store had a very welcoming air to it as she approached, the sign was decorated brightly and had big bold letters sprawling across it. She had only actually been there on a couple of occasions, mostly to buy textbooks for her classes. Walking inside, she was greeted by all the bright 'spirit wear' in the university's blue colours and illustrated signs with the eagle mascot on them. With Elizabeth being the only other person in the store, she received a friendly wave from the dark haired young man behind the counter as she moved through the various knickknacks.
She gave him a shy wave back while walking up to the counter, making sure to take off her headphones so she wouldn't come across as rude. “Hi there... uhm, I was looking to pick up something for a friend of mine. She really likes the ice cream you have here!”
The young man leaned against the counter and chuckled. “Yeah I get that a lot, some people get way too addicted to it.” He joked while dusting off his white apron. “So what can I get for you?”
She paused briefly, having actually forgotten the name of the flavour that Irisyla had asked for. She remembered it was almost a tongue twister, and it contained an unnecessary amount of adjectives. “Mega... melted... no that's not it...” she muttered to herself.
“Mondo Mega Melty Mint Chip?” he asked with a slight laugh.
“Y-yes that! A two quart tub if you have it please.” She replied, feeling a little embarrassed about not remembering the name.
He could tell that she was feeling a bit awkward, so he waved her off as he rummaged through the freezer behind the counter. “Unless you buy the stuff all the time, I wouldn't get too hung up on the names. Most people don't remember them!” He pulled the tub out and placed it on the counter in all its icey glory for her. “If you ask me, I think my folks try too hard with the names.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile at his self-awareness, looking at the ice cream then back to the man. After paying for the cold treat, she gave him a shy nod and hurried out the store's front doors.
As soon as she took that first step outside, Elizabeth's foot caught on something. The poor girl lost her footing completely, and it happened so quickly that she couldn't tell what she hit. Her eyes went wide as she thankfully tumbled onto the grass outside the store, but stared in despair as the ice cream spilled out all over the ground.
“Oh my god, Elizabeth! You need to watch where you're going!” A condescending voice pierced her ears, along with footsteps on the grass close by.
She looked up to see Tessa's obnoxious smirk plastered wide across her face. She knew immediately that this woman had gone out of her way to make sure her stuff fell. She wondered briefly this was why she thought someone was watching her earlier, but this was quickly pushed away as the reality sunk in.
“That really sucks that it's all gone... but hey. You could probably use a break from eating that kinda stuff right?” She said with a disturbing giggle. It appeared that her ego had quickly recovered from being sprayed with soda.
Elizabeth's arms shook as she stared at the empty tub and mint ice cream that coated the grass. Her heart hurt, she was especially hurt because this expensive little gift was meant for one of her new friends. Even with that fueling her, she couldn't stand up for what was being done to her.
Before Elizabeth could do anything, she was struck with that uncomfortable sensation she felt back in the lecture hall. Not even a moment passed, and after the feeling disappeared, a book came flying out of nowhere and smacked her tormenter in the back of the head.
The conniving woman yelled in pain as she stumbled forward, her foot stepping on the empty ice cream tub and causing her to slip. She fell forward against the grass, her face landing in the pile of mint ice cream that had spilled onto it.
Elizabeth was in shock, and a little disturbed as well, her mouth left slightly ajar. The soda explosion was quite the karma coincidence, but now with the ice cream spill things were starting to look bizarre. She had no clue what was going on, or why she felt uncomfortable just before it happened each time. She knew that it couldn't be some sort of divine intervention, but what else could it be? “Where did that book even come from...?”
“Who the hell threw that book?!” Tessa yelled as her composure briefly broke and she spat out some ice cream from her mouth. As she started to freak out and cause a scene, she called her girls over to help.
She took this as her cue to leave, quickly getting up from the grass and grabbing the tub along the way. She hurried away from the scene and back to the store, plopping the tub into a recycling bin before entering again.
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