Chapter Twenty-Three:

  A group of five Cancerians found themselves to be told to wait by Miss Beazley- the receptionist.

  David, Gwen, Jess, Khanyi, and Kate.

  The others all seemed nervous, just as Jess did. They all sat silently, staring at the wall across from them.

  “I’m not sure we should be doing this.” Khanyi said quietly, more to herself than anyone else- but it was Jess that overheard her. “Maybe it should just be David in there.” She continued. “The teachers all know him. I mean who are we to speak to Lenden.”

  “What do you mean?” Jess asked, keeping his voice as soft as hers.

  “You can’t just barge into her office and demand things. Headmistress Lenden is kind of terrifying.”

  “She’s kind of old.” Jess agreed. “But she’s the headmistress, she’s not scary. She’s just a teacher.”

  “A teacher at Boxtens!" Khanyi said, scoffing at his comment. "All of the teachers here are experts in their field, this place is a college not a highschool. They’re professors- not Misters. And Lenden is the Lenden. She's a war hero!”

  “Which war?”

  “All of them.”

  “Yeah, but it’s fine, she’s not at war with us.” Jess said impatiently. “She has a job to do, and she’s supposed to do it.”

  “You don’t have any respect do you.” Khanyi snapped.

  “I do actually, which is how I know she’s going to be on our side.”

  **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

  “Alright, students.” Miss Beazley said, walking back out into the hall.

  Jess hadn't noticed it earlier because she was seated in the main office, but even though she had on a blazer, Miss Beazley was wearing comfy track pants with bunnies and carrots on them.

  Either she didn’t notice she had them on, or she didn’t care.

  “The headmistress will see you now.” She said. “All of you at once?” she asked with slight disapproval.

  “Yes.” Jess answered before the others could. Strength in numbers, right?

  Headmistress Lenden was waiting for them in her office. She said nothing at the crowd but simply picked up her wand, the flicked it once and summoned extra chairs.

  “Have a seat please- my, my such grave faces. Miss Beazley told me you had to see my urgently." Headmistress Lenden said to them. "Speak your peace then.”

  And surprisingly all Captain America/David could manage was:

  “Uh.”

  And everyone else seemed too interested in their feet to speak.

  “We got robbed.” Jess said impatiently.

  Headmistress Goldwyn nodded appreciatively at Jess, but already had a focused look on her face. The others gave him a quick shocked glance.

  “The five of you were robbed in your dormitory? Were you mugged or were your rooms broken into?”

  “No, our entire dorm had their rooms burgled.” Jess answered.

  This time she frowned angrily. “All of the Cancer students were robbed?”

  “Except Brentley.” Jess pointed out. “I wouldn’t rule out an inside job.”

  “A fair consideration, despite the clear bias.” The headmistress joked, but she was only half paying attention to the joke. “Mr Gordon, do you have anything else to add? I imagine there’s more to the story.”

  “Yes, headmistress.” David said. “I was the first back to the dorm after classes. And that’s when I found my room empty. The rest of the rooms were too.”

  “They came in whilst you were still attending classes?”

  "I don't see how they would have been able to come at any other time."

  “What did they take from you?” Lenden asked.

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  “Everything.” David answered. “They took everything from our rooms. Clothes, possessions, books...”

  Headmistress Lenden huffed.

  “The five of you…” the headmistress said, making them all jump in alarm. “I appreciate you coming to me, instead of escalating this further. The ways of this school and its students have been set in stone for the longest time, I’m glad that you were able to make a mature decision. I shall speak to each of the dorm masters and teachers, and we’ll locate your possessions in the coming days. If anything is unable to damaged or lost the school will gladly replace it.”

  Days?

  No No No.

  Days were too much. Brainrot could snap at any minute.

  “Is that all?” Jess asked. “Can we just go check the dorms right now?”

  “The staff will handle the search, Mr Goldwyn. I understand how frustrating this is, but we must still respect the dignity and privacy of our students. As such we can’t go about flipping mattresses in a fit of rage, can we?”

  “No.” he said. He hated answering those obvious leading questions like he was a child in pre-school.

  She nodded in return to him.

  “The staff will have news for you soon. In the meantime, however, feel free to return to me, if you need to. I’ll have extra uniforms and clothes sent to you by tonight until your things are returned. David, can I ask you to send me a list of everyone’s necessities so that I can send replacements for the coming days?”

  “I can do that, headmistress. Thank you.”

  “Thank you as well, Mr Gordon.” Then she looked at all of them. “You all have a hard time ahead of you. Do your best.”

  The group all nodded in response and rose to leave.

  The door shut behind them and the group of five started moving back to the dorm.

  But Jess was angry. That meeting was fine- perfectly fine. But… Brainrot. That stupid dog! How long was it till one of the thieves tried to throw a ball to him and he tore theirs off.

  “Gwen, can I talk to you?” he asked pulling her aside from the group.

  He couldn't believe he was doing this, but who else could he turn to? He smiled nervously before he spoke:

  “I have a little confession about Brainrot.”

  ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

  “You’re sure its this dorm?” Jess asked cautiously.

  He was still afraid that she’d have another violent outburst- not that he blamed her for her reaction at all. In fact, he was even more afraid that she was helping him get Brainrot back. She swore she was helping just so that when she would be recruited into the military that she wouldn’t have to be associated with a criminal when he was inevitably caught harboring a demon.

  “Undoubtably.” She answered. “The Scorpios are always the ones who are always responsible for this sort of thing.”

  “Slytherins.” Jess swore.

  “They’re not Nazi’s. They’re basically frat boys.”

  “So, they're worse than Nazi's.”

  “Oh yeah.” She agreed.

  Jess eyed the Scorpio dorm trying to do his best to scope out the place. It was a tall building, a sleek and modern design everything was metal and glass- except for the front door which had a large gargoyle perched above it. Thankfully, the dorm was located a bit away from the main campus and was surrounded by plenty of foliage, which was where he and Gwen were hiding and scoping out the area. Gwen even laid out a few muffling charms so they wouldn't be overheard, and a slight cloaking spell. It didn't make the invisible or anything, and he didn't full understand when she explained how it worked. But basically it made whoever was looking in the direction not be able to focus passed the environment. So basically all anyone not paying full attention would see was a whole bunch of leaves.

  “So, how do we get in? Like a window or something?” he asked.

  “Don’t be stupid. What are you? A home alone burglar? The only way in is through the front door and they have a gargoyle who needs a password to open the door for you.”

  “What?" he asked in disbelief. "Just a password? That’s not safe! Then just anyone with a password can enter? Why can’t the gargoyle just recognise the actual dorm members?”

  “It’s a dorm, not a prison. Friends and guests can visit dorms- if they’re invited. And if they’re invited, they have a password.”

  “So, friends can get in?”

  “Yes.” Gwen answered.

  “That’s a problem, neither of us have friends here-”

  “I have a way in.” A voice from behind them announced.

  Jess and Gwen both jumped in fright, but Gwen was in a fighting stance with her wand drawn and Jess was trying to cover his face.

  But he didn’t need to because it was-

  Nora.

  “Jeez, why are you here?” he hissed.

  This group was getting too large to be inconspicuous- even with all the spells he didn't understand.

  “The thieves had raided my room as well. I want my belongings back.”

  “I’m not sure breaking in and retaliating is the way to get our stuff back.” Gwen said. Thankfully, she was trying to keep Nora away. Jess didn’t need more people knowing about Brainrot.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t.” was all Nora said. She bit her lip and scowled. “I have several objects that are… against the school rules. If they were recovered by teachers. It would be a problem.”

  “Your stuff…” Gwen asked suspiciously. “Is it against school rules or the countries laws?”

  Nora blinked. “I’m not old enough to be tried legally.”

  “So, it is illegal!” Gwen hissed.

  “Not as illegal as a demon.” Nora replied.

  What the f-

  “How the hell-”

  “It’s more than obvious.” Nora said, staring Jess straight in the eye. “Since we all find ourselves in the same boat. We have no choice but to stop our possessions from being found out. Agreed?"

  “Fair enough.” Gwen said, before Jess could even digest that she knew.

  Jess groaned. He’d prefer to work with someone he could handle, Nora was too unpredictable and unreadable.

  “Got any idea how to get in?” Jess said, relinquishing any instinct to fight Nora.

  “I do.” Nora said proudly, folding her arms as she smiled. He didn't trust her smile. She was like a disney villain, smiling at the camera when no other characters could see her. “Mercy Rosenthal." Nora said. "A fifth year in the Scorpio dorm. I overheard that she was pregnant. Something to do with an incompetent bout in a public toilet. The Rosenthal parents would be extremely shaken if they found out. I’m sure there’s plenty she would do to prevent this from story escaping. We can find out anything we need.”

  What the f-

  “What the hell was that!” Gwen scolded. “We’re not blackmailing a pregnant teenager!”

  “Her condition would be discovered eventually we might as well as benefit from it.” Nora replied.

  “I think I have a better way in.” Jess said, spotting a familiar group of first years walking up to the Scorpio dorm.

  He pointed out Raj, the boy with glasses(Geoff?), the quiet kid (Everki?), the girl with glasses (Brenda?), and the smirky little shit (Robert?).

  “I think our friend Raj, knows the password.” Jess grinned, as he watched the group enter the dorm.

  “Excellent.” Nora said. “I know exactly how to blackmail him.”

  “No!” Jess and Gwen shouted in unison.