Chapter 96 - 96 - Warning To The Puppetmaster

"Stop!" An old, raspy voice hollered from behind the students, coming from the front desk, putting an abrupt halt and preventing the disaster that was about to unfold.

"Mr. Sanders, would you be so kind as to… MOVE YOUR FEET BACK UNDER YOUR DESK?!" Jonathan roared with a mixture of annoyance and anger. Annoyed and angry because he had to waste his precious time and energy in such a pointless squabble between children. Still, he had the feeling that if he didn't act in time and would have let the new boy finish stomping down with his feet, the consequences would have been disastrous.

The teacher's warning was enough to resolve the situation, albeit barely. Lucien decided to not act on his initial thought and instead moved his feet slightly forward, just avoiding the clash and allowing the brawny youth to pull his leg back. 

With an apologetic look that looked as fake as it came, Tony bowed his head in acquiescence at the old substitute teacher and fixed his posture at once. He bowed his head, as he spoke up immediately.

"Apologies, Mr. Thorn, it was my mistake!"

In response, the old man merely grumbled with annoyance, shifting his gaze over the brightly smiling and innocent-looking blonde boy at the center. Their gazes met for a brief instant before both turned away. 

Luke while displaying his usual bright smile, hid the great growing darkness inside his heart. He was quite dismayed, mad at the sudden turn of events. With his bright idea of humiliating the newcomer and pushing him down into the pits of humility and disdain of the community, the old man unexpectedly saved him. Luke just like the rest of his retinue didn't caught glimpse of the fact that it was them that the old man saved instead of vice versa. In their eyes, the old man subtly, covertly took a stance against them, or even worse, against him!

Madness, great seething anger boiled deep inside Luke's pitch-black heart. He could barely contain his growing hatred against this man, who foiled his plans and dared to take a stance.

'Stupid, old fogey. You have just made the greatest mistake of your already waning life. You should have learned from the rumors and just obediently fall in line!' He sneered, raged inwardly while forcing his usual bright, cheerful and positive disposition on the outside.

'Lucky for you, you have nobody you care for… Still, you should watch out, disaster can strike when you least expect it…' He sneered inwardly yet again, memories of the mature, busty teacher of last year re-emerged in his mind. Her cries, her woes, her sobs as she was shown the true, cruel face of reality…

"And you, new guy… ehrm… Lucien or whatever!" The old man's shout broke his reminiscence and rudely brought Luke back to reality. He let a frown escape through the cracks, that he quickly retained, looking at the old man yet again.

Stopping in his calm, leisurely steps to take his seat, Lucien, looked over his shoulders with a cold, emotionless gaze. 

"What?" He blurted with an apathetic expression.

"I don't know and to be honest, I don't care who or what family spawn you actually are." Jonathan spoke with his now-usual disdainful, annoyed, and even tired-looking face. "Behave yourself, don't give me a reason. It is in your best interest to behave, believe me."

He warned, then shifted his gaze to the true culprit of the scene, Tony Anders, one of Luke's many goons.

"As for you, Mr. Anders. This is your second and last warning." He leaned closer to the boy and whispered in a lower, threatening tone that only he could hear. "If I catch you doing as much as a sneeze that is out of line or breaks the serenity of the class or annoys a fly in school… Expulsion would be the of your worries."

He warned, giving it a moment for his words to seep into that thick skull of this idiot. When the boy was about to give the already expected counterargument to his threat, Jonathan sneered and added before Tony had a chance.

"If you think you can hide behind your little master's back for support and escape punishment, think again. I'm not like the rest of the staff or the poor woman you guys destroyed last year. If I see you in the dark corner… I will end you and your whole family." 

He whispered the clear, cold threat, causing the boy to shiver, to tremble in his seat as his gaze turned wide with the shock of what he just heard. For some reason, that he couldn't explain, he felt a terrifying sensation, something he never experienced brush over him, causing shivers down to his very soul.

He fully believed the words of the old man, even though he had no reason to. He felt the reality of his words, which came not from a feeble old man, but a literal monster, a nightmare of the battlefields.

Finished with what he wanted to say, Jonathan didn't wait for the boy to process his words, he turned around and gave one last fleeting glance to the innocent-looking puppetmaster in the center, he trudged back towards his desk. 

The class remained silent throughout his short journey, following his trek with a mixture of gazes. Whilst they didn't know the contents of his words, the frightful, shivering look of Tony was a telltale sign that this man was a terrifying entity, unlike the rest of the staff in the school.

…

"Hey, Jack! I told you we would meet, didn't I? Taking his seat, Lucien turned and nodded at his deskmate and only friend so far, Jack King. A thin, barely perceptible smile appeared on his face, which caused yet another round of gasps to spread across the many maidens of the room, though they mostly went ignored to the one they were directed to.

Lucien's only focus was the startled-looking thin, lanky boy that he had saved a few days ago at the back alley behind that no-name grocery store. He was tormented by some local gang of thugs at the time, just because he wasn't willing to let himself be robbed by an idiot at the time.

Truth be told, Lucien was thankful for the 'Hudson Reavers', for helping him further his goals and serving themselves on such an open platter. He could only bless the heavens and that arrogant leader of theirs for allowing him not just to find his first friend, but also to help him resolve his then, most prominent issue at the time.

Through their sacrifice, Lucien could fix the problem with his eyes, and be able to truly return to society.

Yet, their greatest blessing was the fated meeting with the boy that would serve a pivotal role in the events that are yet to come.

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