SGE His Guarded Heart (Prequel to His Darkened Heart)

Chapter 4 Black and Red

Chapter 4 Black and Red

It could be argued that the School for Boys wasn't much of a school at all. For one, there was no rules. For two, there was no teachers so that meant no lessons to be taught to the students.

Overall, Krushem found that the school for boys was more like a boys' playground rather than a place to receive a proper education.

When Krushem first arrived to the school for boys with the others, they had made their way past the moat full of sludge and to the entrance. The outside of the school was an inky black compared to the girls' school that glittered in the sunlight across the bay. There were two boys standing post outside the castle but they paid the four dirtied boys no mind and didn't try to stop them as they walked into the castle.

"Where's Tedros?" The sadist, Aric, demanded. Along their journey, Krushem came to learn that his name was Aric. Aric had quickly established a leadership role in the group and Armeq and Balleng, despite not being as scared of Aric as Krushem was, followed their new leader without question.

There was a reason Krushem feared Aric more than the others did of course. He'd seen Aric kill Carmelo with his own eyes and if that wasn't enough, Aric had somehow managed to make Carmelo's corpse look as if he'd been killed off by some animal.

Balleng and Armeq hasn't shown much grief over Carmelo's death. They hadn't been as close to him as Krushem had been. Krushem worried that Aric would hurt someone else and if he did, what would happen then? Would Krushem stay quiet again or find his courage to stand up to Aric?

Only time would tell, it seemed.

The inside of the boys' school was a mess. When Krushem and the others took in their surroundings, the pungent smell of meat and sweat and urine hit them like a slap to the face. Boys had defaced old portraits of Never girls hanging on the wall and graffitied the school walls with things saying "Boys Rule! Girls stink!" or "Death to girls!"

Krushem was even more appalled to see shirtless boys swinging off the bannisters of the staircase. Some boys roughhoused, wrestling each other. Others just took a leak right there in the open without shame. All the boys were rowdy, immature with sweaty bodies and greasy hair, looking as if they hadn't bathed in weeks.

Krushem had never seen such incompetent, disrespectful boys in his life. In Altazzara, Krushem had been taught to be dignified and respectful. He'd been taught a concept called "manners" and looking at all these bellowing gorillas before him, It was clear these boys didn't even know what that word even meant.

"Let's meet by the starcase in a few. I'll be off to see Tedros," Aric said to them, following a soft faced boy.

Despite looking like a mess like the others, Aric's appearance seemed to cast a shadow over the school of boys. Boys stopped wrestling to stare at him as he walked past and some boys even seemed to shy away from him out of fear.

Krushem watched him leave and then turned to follow Balleng and Armeq headed towards the staircase. There was two spiral staircases that met at the top. The bannister and the steps were all made out of a beautiful mahogany wood, but looked as if it hadn't been polished in quite some time. When Krushem brushed his fingers across the wood, his fingers came away covered in dust.

"Look at these idiots," Balleng remarked, leaning against the bannister.

Krushem agreed with him there. These boys were children without their parents. Students without their teachers. It was a place with no order, no rules. With no adult supervision, it seemed these boys thought they had the power to do whatever they wanted. They didn't care about anything else but pleasing themselves it seemed.