Page 51 of Dark Captivation

We reached the third floor and a chorus of voices spilled into the long hallway. They came from the numerous rooms that occupied the floor. The louder voices hushed as our heels clacked down the hall. The doors were closed but I could hear adult voices asking the children to quiet down and patiently wait for Ferina and I to visit them.

They were excited to meet us. That warmed my heart. I loved children, and reveled in the chance to meet new ones.

No group was more cheerful than the children. Their little happy faces always made me smile, their laughs were more contagious than chicken pox. I was happy to be here and couldn’t wait to have fun meeting the little bundles of joy.

Margy rolled the door to her room open. Twenty children beamed at us from their desks. Most of them were the human presenting demons, a few of them were thraxies. But the one thing they all had in common was a tiny pinch of menacing mischief that was sewed into each and every one of their smiles.

“Hey guys, It’s nice to meet you. I’m Livy.” I waved, stepping past the threshold and into the big, bright class.

One of the boys spat something into his palm. Moving with the stealth of a fox, he burst from his chair and gunned it for me.

A giant wad of bubble gum was perched between his dirty little fingers. Weaponizing the gum, he swung it at my hair.

I drew back, out of his sticky path and this only seemed to excite him. He screamed like a banshee, jumping to take several more desperate swipes at me.

“Toshi no! I told you, you have to behave today.” Margy scolded, a look of pure horror brimming on her face. She swung her finger about furiously.

“Rambunctious little guy, aren’t you? I was just like that at your age.” I took a giant step back, still hoping to make friends with the boy.

“Go to hell!” He cursed, jumping up and pasting the gum onto the center of my blouse. He made sure to really smear it into the fabric.

“Colorful vocabulary. You must be your English teacher’s favorite.” I tugged the gum loose, as much as possible, plastering a smile on my face and trying to be a good sport.

“Go to hell! Go to hell!” Toshi ran around the class, ripping posters from the walls at top speed while the other kids laughed and pointed. Margy chased after the boy, apologizing profusely to Ferina and me.

“And I thought this would be boring.” Ferina gave Toshi heavy handed applause. “Now that’s a real demon child. I hope to have one just like that one day.”

“Clearly I still have a lot to learn about demon culture.” I muttered, scraping as much of the remaining gum from my top as I could, still a pink blob remained.

“Lady Ferina! Lady Ferina! I read a book about you last year! Can I touch your beautiful hair?” A little blond demon girl in the front row waved, excitedly trying to get Ferina’s attention.

“Nice try, little cutie. You can’t trick me that easy. I was a demon brat once. Now, what’s in your hand? Show it to me.” Ferina progressed on the girl reaching out an open palm to her. “Give it here.”

The girl’s lips squeezed into a pucker so tight it was like she was sucking on a lemon wedge.

Ferina folded her arms, staring down the girl. “Show me.”

“Fine. You’re no fun.” The child relented, sticking her tongue out. She opened her palm, revealing the bright yellow frog with black spots all over it.

“Oooh, a poisonous African slype frog. Boy does this bring me back. You know, I used to terrorize my teachers with those when I was around your age.” Ferina gazed off wistfully, her eyes glossing over and losing herself in a cozy childhood memory. “It warms my heart to see the younger generation carrying on this proud tradition.”

“If it’s poison, shouldn’t we take it away from her?” I asked.

“Only the saliva is poisonous. As long as you handle it with care it’s mostly harmless.” The girl patted the frog’s head.

“What a smart girl you are!” Ferina showered her in endless praise, her head nodding like a bobblehead. “You really know your poisonous amphibians. The Demon City education system truly is the finest in the world.”

The frog blinked in confusion, and I did the same. Yup, I definitely had a lot more to learn about demon culture. If we were back at the Prometheus Pack, that little girl would have been made to spend a few days at the re-education center. But instead, she was being praised like a model student.

The smell of smoke alerted me to a student crouching in the back of the class. I zeroed in on him just in time to see him setting a book on fire and sticking the blazing book back on the shelf.

“Hey, you! Stop that.” I sprinted to the back of the room tossing the flaming book off the shelf. It hit the ground before it could burn me. I stomped the flaming book vigorously so it wouldn’t spread. The little firestarter cackled like a hyena.

I managed to put out the fire, but the sides of my heels were covered by ugly black burn marks and the stench of cooked rubber heel turned my stomach.

“Okay, you know what? I’m firmly against spanking children but keep this up and I might just reconsider.” I bit my lower lip, raining my index finger high.

Utterly unperturbed by the threat, he stuck his nose in the air and told me that my shoes were always ugly. Then he turned around and gingerly strolled back towards his desk.

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