The Alphabet Superset: Week 15: One of the Boys

Reference Link: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/patient-care/patients-visitors/admission-discharge/hospital-room

    It had only been a couple of days since the Entity attacked the school. In the chaos of the aftermath, Katherine had found David, still unconscious in the courtyard where he had confronted her while she was still enthralled. Katherine had wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders and practically carried his limp form to the nearest person who could help. After they finally reached a hospital, she had been forced to leave him for a little while to get her own injuries tended too.

    She had met his parents a few hours later, who thanked her profusely for saving their son. She lacked the heart to tell them that her possessed body was responsible for his current state. She remained quiet, hoping that her oaths wouldn't be counted as broken by the lack of honesty.

    She had a variety of reasons why she now refused to leave David's side. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to make sure he recovered. She had promised his parents. She had no where better to go. But ultimately, she didn't want to feel like a hypocrite. What kind of person would she be if she abandoned someone after spending months feeling bitter over her own abandonment at the Barrymore Dorm.

    But there was little she found relaxing about the situation. Aside from the constant silent prayers for David to get better, the hospital room only had a chair for her to sit in. She had been forced to close the door to the room to try and mute the sounds of chaos in the halls. Her classmates pleading, screaming, moaning, all in pain. When that failed, she turned on the tv. The hospital was quickly overwhelmed in the surge of patients. Even going out into the hall felt like wading through a flood of rushing waters. Katherine only left the room to get food from the downstairs cafeteria. Otherwise, it was tv and waiting for David. 

    It was little surprise to her on Sunday morning when Mr. Martin appeared on the screen to give a sermon. She wasn't sure she wanted to listen to the man, but it was better then nothing and despite how it felt, she wasn't the room's only occupant.

    "My children of the church. I know many of you have heard the news of the terrifying attack on Myers High School. As the sun set on Myer High a couple of days, a terrifying creature of unknown origin appeared in the skies above. At that time, those who found themselves outdoors had their minds taken and their bodies hijacked by the terrifying creature. A creature used their bodies to to try and drag others into the streets against their will to claim more victims. Horrified students, teachers, and staff then proceeded to spend the next hour fighting for their lives inside the halls of the school. While Myers High was the epicenter of the attack, it was not the only area affected. Surrounding neighborhoods were turned into warzones. Entire families were turned against each other through no fault of their own."

    Little surprise Mr. Martin wanted to discuss the horror of a couple of nights ago. It would be fresh on everyone's minds and she was sure that even he must've been in danger at one point between the creature outside and the enthralled people inside.

    "There have been thousands injured in this attack. While there have been no confirmed deaths, the numbers are still being tallied at this time. The cost in damages rises everyday as staff and police work tirelessly to clean up the aftermath of this unwarranted attack. But the real cost of this attack can't be measured."

    If she hadn't lived through it, she would've thought that he was milking it for all its worth. He might still be, but the memories his speech stirred up made her feel sick to her stomach.

    "Families were forced to watch as their own loved ones attempted to force them out of the sanctity of their homes. Friends were forced to hide and fight each other for over an hour, turning these hallowed trusted halls into twisted battlefields. I can only imagine the betrayal, the hurt, the sadness, the bitterness, the regret, the fear. These are our homes. These are our schools. These are our children. They should've been safe."

    She looked to David's prone, unmoving form. They were in different groups from each other, but Katherine had done work with him prior to being sent to the dorm. She remembered a training match where David had been challenging the top ranks in all the groups to see how he measured up. She wasn't the only person to beat him, but she was the last one. David didn't lose motivation. He seemed excited at the chance to have a rematch one day. 

    "Well, you got your wish." She whispered bitterly to herself.

    "Many of you are likely asking why this happened. What string of events lead to this unnecessary night of meaningless and cruel violence? The staff of Myers High School have asked me not to speak on the subject until they complete their investigations, saying that they want to ensure the safety of those parties involved."

    Made sense. There were a lot of moving parts to everything that had happened. Months of quiet plotting and hidden tasks on behalf of Mr. Barrymore. The school would likely be combing through security footage and tearing apart the Barrymore Dorms to see how they missed something this big.

    "But let me tell you now, I have no intention of remaining silent. Not when so many of the children who attempted to stop this attack now sit in hospital beds. Not when so many members of the Paladin Order fought for hours to keep this holy sanctuary safe from our enemies. Not when I know the REAL reason the school wants me to keep quiet."

    Katherine wondered how many of the guys she trained with were now in similar situations to David. Everyone who had been outside was almost instantly turned into an Enthralled. The Paladins were very well trained and few of the normal students could resist them. But the Enthralled had attacked indiscriminately. Staff, students, other Paladins. The physical toll would be enormous, to say nothing of the mental aftermath of the forced infighting. 

    "You see, in the hours prior to the attack, members of the order, students and staff alike, gathered to warn me of a rogue agent inside the school. Mr. Barrymore, whom the school entrusted so much that they gave him an dorm building to be in charge of, had been gathering students for months. Robbing these poor children of their minds and using their bodies to write profane summoning symbols across the school. As he did this, he lied through his teeth about the true nature of his dorm and the true actions he took in those halls trusted to his care. Even one of our own Paladin students was taken against her will, believing she would be safe under the man's care."

    Katherine was a lot of things, but she was not some damsel in need of rescue. Even before joining the order, she had played with her dad and brothers. Her sports game alone put most boys to shame. Her Paladin skills were all but unmatched. So this idea of her needing rescue was almost laughable.

    But the real reason it wasn't funny was because Mr. Martin omitted the fact that HE was the one who sent her to the Barrymore Dorm. Not even for a decent reason either. Simply because she had the audacity to keep her boyfriend when those stupid oaths tried to force her to break up with him.

    Beyond that, not one of the Paladins had ever come to check on her. None of her friends, none of her family, none of the Order, and none of the staff. She had been able to watch through her eyes as the monster controlled her body. While the others had friends and partners come up to try and talk with them, no one had ever come for her.

    To sit here and listen to Mr. Martin manipulate her own story before she could tell it made her furious and sick at the same.

    "Yet, it was our young Paladins who brought this corruption to light, not the school. It was our young Paladins who launched a swift attack on the dorm to stop the threat before his nefarious plans could be carried out while the school ignorantly stood by, unaware of the threat they sanctioned in their halls. It is our young Paladins who now lie injured and unconscious in nearby hospitals while the school cleans up the mess their failures made."

    Now that the sermon had her full, undivided attention, she was beginning to nitpick his sermon. The man was omitting his own short comings on the matter in favor of portraying the Paladin Order as some victim of red tape. What's more, to listen to this, you would think that only the church members had suffered from this. The noisy halls of the hospital told the truth. Everyone had fought that night and everyone had suffered. Zeroing in on one group of victims was just distasteful.

    "I ask you to consider who is really at fault for these events. Is it this Mr. Barrymore, who gathered victims and used them as weapons against their fellow students, our children? Or is it the school, who gave him the building to hide in and the students he needed to launch this cowardly attack? Mr. Barrymore currently sits in custody, awaiting the judgement he deserves for the crimes he committed. But the school has yet to come forward and explain themselves to you, the children and parents and neighbors victimized by this egregious attack on your homes. This attack they failed to intercept. This attack they failed to even predict. This attack they all but openly sanctioned through their actions and inactions."

    "For those of you who doubt my words, allow me to share some information with you that only I am privy to at the moment. Within hours of the attack, a young man came to my private offices. A young man by the name of Alexander wished to absolve himself of his sins. For you see, a couple of months ago, one of our paladins sensed great evil in this student and attempted to take action. This young Paladin, David, who played a vital role in discovering and attempting to stop the plot orchestrated by Mr. Barrymore, was then subsequently blamed for the resulting fight and was facing harsh punishments from the school."

    "Alexander came to me within hours of the attack and confessed that he was in fact corrupted by great evil. You see this student, who our school also protects, has made a contract with a demon. A demon so powerful that it, not an angel as some rumors speculate, was responsible for slaying the creature that Mr. Barrymore brought to this world. This contract has already resulted in one fight that lead to the near death of another one of our Paladins, Joshuah. Joshuah is another loyal warrior who fought to stop Mr. Barrymore's plot from manifesting. And yet, the school seeks to take action against one of our own and not this child who has now openly confessed to being controlled by evil forces."

Katherine knew that there had to be more to this story that Mr. Martin wasn't sharing. But it didn't matter. Katherine didn't think that even Mr. Martin would intentionally put a target on a student's back, but even unintentionally doing would have the same effect. She had no idea who Alexander was, but she knew the Paladin Order would be hunting for him now. At the very least, the more aggressive students in the Order would be keeping an eye out for a clean shot. They didn't care the boy had saved the school and many of their classmates. They would only want his head.

    "I ask you, my children, how many more threats lie in these hallowed halls? How many more threats does Myer's High seek to protect from the just judgement they deserve? How many more of our children must be put in harms way before the school is held accountable for their actions? Understand this my children, while the school may not take action to intercept these threats before they manifest, we of the Paladin Order will protect our own at all costs."

    "He's not wrong." A weak voice uttered beside her. Katherine, surprised, turned her focus from the sermon to David. His eyes were open and he was attempting to sit up, though the effort seemed to be causing him a lot of pain.

    "Your awake!" Katherine said excitedly, rising quickly and putting a hand on David's shoulder. David flinched at the sight of her and raised his hands defensively for a second before wincing at the effort. Katherine took her hand away and stepped back a bit. "Hey, its alright. Your safe and I'm myself again."

    "Sorry," David relaxed back into the bed. "But last time I saw you, you tried to smite me."

    "Yeah, I know. Even though I couldn't control my body, I could see through my eyes. I saw the whole fight."

    "I know how it works, but that doesn't help much." David looked away guiltily, as if it was wrong to admit that somehow. Katherine remained silent for a moment, her own guilt getting her. It took everything she had not to leave the room right then and there. David, sensing the tension, looked at the television.

    "You know he is not wrong. If the school isn't going to do their jobs, the Paladin Order is going to have to step up and cover the slack. We can't let something like this happen again."

    "I don't know. I don't think picking fights with the school is going to help much." Katherine didn't want risk a fight when David had just awoken, but she also didn't agree with the way the sermon had gone. It was like Pastor Martin was intentionally trying to stir people up.

    "Yeah, well, you heard him. The school is trying to throw me under the bus because of a fight. The Order have been the only ones to have my back the whole time." David said bitterly. He looked at the wall across from him, lost in thought. Katherine decided to change the subject, suspecting that this conversation probably wouldn't go anywhere good.

    "I am gonna step out real quick and let the nurses know your awake. I am also gonna call your parents." She crossed the room to the door. She had her hand on the door when she looked back at David. He seemed so different from the boy who wanted to rise to challenge her. It was like the fire had burned out. "David, I'm sorry for hurting you."

    David, pulled from his thoughts, gave her a sad smile. "Thanks. I'm sorry I'm so on edge."

    Katherine nodded and stepped out.