He knew pushing forward would annoy her so he let her be, retreating to his office seat, a twisted throne of blackened iron and worn leather, which writhe beneath him like a living thing. Its dark, curved back seemed to absorb the faint, flickering light of the candles that lined the walls, casting an aura of shadowy power around him. As he sank into its depths, the leather creaked in protest like the whispers of the undead, releasing a faint scent of smoke and sweat. The seat was his alone, the first and only one to claim it since its forging in the earlier days of the Academy. He ran a hand over the armrest, feeling the intricate carvings of serpents and skulls that adorned it. The rejection still burned within him, and the seat seemed to sense his turmoil, its darkness seeming to pulse with his own. He leaned back, letting the shadows envelop him, and closed his eyes, the weight of his frustration and desire settling heavy upon him.
"I'm sorry" she uttered breaking into the silence but still facing the other way, she tried not to look his direction.
He wouldn't say a word but only stayed back in his seat, he leaned forward to his table and picked up the file which he had taken from her. He opened it and his eyes conversed with the shadows within the worn binding, interrogating the texts with an unyielding gaze. The file contained a list of a few children that were recently brought in, indicating that they needed to be enrolled into the academy and let in on the Academy's rules and customs.
"Let the teacher in charge of the enrollment know that I will be bypassing protocol and would do the restraining myself" he instructed her not looking up to see her.
"Yes Headmaster" she answered and made to leave the office
"Stop" he let out, his word walking a tightrope between certainty and doubt. She turned to know why he stopped her but he wouldn't say, he was unsure of why he stopped her in the first place, maybe to ask why she pushed him away when they had stirred up a mood or what troubled her to have rejected his advances.
"Never mind" he said, waving his hand.
She left the room and stood behind the door and gave out a sigh, one that signified that she had messed up. She looked at her left wrist that had the intricate markings of the restrainer, the markings were fading as if the breaking mantra were gradually recited on her. The headmaster never noticed and that was what she tried avoiding, him noticing the fading of her restrainer. She desired him, her body longed for his touch but if they were to dive deeper in their passion, her markings would be seen and she didn't want that. She pulled down her sleeve and went off to go pass off the information she was given.
The newly brought in children stood at the school's assembly hall, they were reported by the town as new curses so the Academy's retrieving staffs had gone to bring them in. They were in charge of bringing in new curses that manifested.
The kids were just few, a number of three and different ages as curses revealed themselves or manifested anytime. It never had a calculated time frame it showed or a particular age it manifested, it just happens randomly, picks any child it wanted and causes havoc or pain.
"Welcome to the Academy of the Cursed" the headmaster said homely to the kids.
"Is this the end of the road for us?" one of the kids asked
"I heard the cursed children never left the walls of the school" the other said with so much fear and curiosity in his voice.
The both were perplexed, only one stood calm, he appeared as a nerd, his glasses wide and well behewed, his form lowly yet ominous, he only held a book in his hands with his face to the ground.
The headmaster tried calming them down and alleviating them of their worries but they wouldn't be calm, they were sore afraid of the Academy and their life which was thought to have come to an end. Their weariness began to cause a stir in them, the eyes of one darkened and what appeared as black veins showed on his face and hands and neck, his curse was manifesting and soon would be out of control. The second child in panic of what was happening took off, running towards the door of the hall but an unseen barrier threw him back and out of pain from the barrier's repelling, his curse shot out and the room began to fill up with purple gas and purple emperors came out of it and purple corals sprouted out of the floor of the lad's surroundings. At first, the sight seemed beautiful with the butterflies and corals but just then, the unprecedented happened, everything the emperors touched turned to purple dust and the corals became acidiferous and began to acidify the floors spreading quickly all through the hall.
A teacher that was there quickly scooped up the other child who was still trying to control the outburst of his curse and the other child who was fashioned as a nerd in a wobbly dark magic that enveloped the kids like a ball off their feet to avoid being hurt by the acidic floors and corals.
"Master Faruq" the teacher screamed as if to tell him to take control of the situation.
Without panic, the headmaster stepped down from the podium he stood to address, his steps counted, approaching the area where the corals had spread, he stooped and laid his hands on the acidic corals and they began to die off. The corals tried resisting the death that spread through it but Master Faruq's curse abilities were surpassing, it stood no chance against him. Alongside the headmaster, the retrieving staffs began to envelope the purple gas and butterflies in an oscillating magic force so as to avoid them from spreading and destroying the whole place.
The death spread from Master Faruq's hand reached the young lad, and his hands and feet began to decay and as the decay spread, the headmaster chanted the restraining mantra and it coursed through the spread to the boy's hand, bringing him to order. With the restrainer on his hands, the decay stopped and slowly vanished, the decay was a working of a cursed ability hence the restrainer also stopped it's spread and effect. The young lad from panic of the whole scenario, fainted, his mind couldn't comprehend all he saw.
The other two kids were still in the custody of the teacher that had saved them from the corals, the first child whose eyes had darkened at first gained control of himself without the restrainer, this astonished the teacher and master Faruq, a cursed child who could control the outburst of his curse without the aid of the restrainer. The other child who seemed like a nerd only stood still amidst everything that happened, he never panicked nor was he perplexed nor did his curse manifest, he only stood still with his hands wrapped around his book against his chest. Master Faruq perused the nerdy lad with a morbid fascination, the lad seemed off and furtive yet blatant, he could be seen but still exhibited evasive secrecy.
"What is your name?" Master Faruq asked him
"Anon" the nerdy lad replied
"Welcome to the Academy, Anon" the headmaster said still fascinated by the lad's demeanor.
The lad adjusted his glasses upward as a reply to the headmaster's welcoming remark.