The color drained from Stacy and Mirene's face the moment the fight took a violent turn. They lowered the phones in their trembling hands, and the recording they had been so eager to capture no longer mattered.
Horror settled over them like a stormcloud, and the sight of real blood that belonged to their Nesta spilled across the floor before their very eyes, wiping the amusement from their expressions and replacing it with a cold dread.
Stacy instinctively stumbled back, her instincts denying her to charge forward and help. She knocked into a desk in her attempt at retreat, trying to gain balance. However, the same wasn't for Mirene. She clenched her jaw, her frustration flickering in her eyes at the disturbing sight before her. Then, without a word, she snatched up the second crutch from the floor.
In the center of the classroom, Rhea currently had Nesta pinned underfoot, one boot grinding against the side of her head, and she leaned down to whisper. "Come on, Nesta. Stop acting like you're gonna die from a miniscule hit. I was expecting a lot from you, you know."
While she continued to taunt the disoriented Nesta, Mirene took her distraction as an opportunity for her to deliver a massive hit that would knock Rhea down cold.
Without thinking twice, she lunged forward with the crutch raised high, aiming for the back of Rhea's skull. But just as the blow was about to land, Rhea swayed aside, masterfully avoiding the attack yet again. Her movements were effortless and unnervingly precise, as if she'd sensed the attack and reacted right before her mind could confirm it.
Mirene froze at the miss she hadn't anticipated, her arms still hanging in the air, but before she could retreat or recover from it, Rhea's hand shot out like a viper. Her fingers curled into Mirene's hair and yanked hard, jerking her head back with a savage snap that her knees gave out. A strangled scream burst from Mirene's throat, and the sound was like music to Rhea's ears.
Her smile was cold and intentional, whilst she kept her grip tight. "Don't worry," she said, her voice smooth and cruel. "I haven't forgotten about you."
It was at that moment Mirene realized exactly what she had gotten herself into, but it was already too late. Panicking, she writhed, trying her best to pull away, but Rhea only yanked harder. "I know you are only being a loyal friend by trying to help a buddy out, but what's the hurry? You'll get your chance. The three of you will be dealt with accordingly by me, I don't promote discrimination."
"LET GO OFF ME! YOU PSYCHO!" Mirene shrieked, her heart pounding in her chest, but that only made Rhea grin wider.
"Took you this long to figure that out?"
Mirene cried out again as she was dragged forward by her hair, her scalp burning against Rhea's grip. The students watching were doing everything but going out to call someone. It was the first time witnessing someone give Nesta and her group a taste of their own medicine, and they weren't going to let the opportunity slide by so easily. Not after everything Nesta had done to torment them.
"Crutches make for decent weapons," Rhea mused, kicking one aside with casual contempt. "But my roommate needs those. I'd hate to break her things." Her eyes gleamed darkly as she lowered her voice in a thoughtful manner. "Let me show you what else this classroom has to offer. We'll test if it's lethal together, or not."
Rhea didn't mind that she had the classroom watching in stunned silence, if anything, she relished it. She enjoyed how humiliated everything would make Nesta and her little band of cowards feel once she was done with them. So with that, she dragged Mirene across the floor like dead weight, and her grip remained merciless.
She reached the corner of the room where an old projectile cart sat abandoned, dust gathering in the seams. Without missing a beat, she ripped the thick cables from their sockets. Her movements were disturbingly calm, and her strength rippled through her with unnatural ease. It felt as though every bone in her body had been forged for moments like this.
With one swift motion, she twisted Mirene's arm behind her back and bound them tightly with the cables, ignoring the girl's feeble resistance. Then, with a violent shove, she sent her crashing to the ground. Mirene landed hard on the floor, gasping as the air had been knocked from her lungs.
For a fleeting moment, she thought her sufferings might be over.
But it wasn't.
Rhea was at her side again, and she grabbed a fistful of Mirene's hair and yanked her head back– then she drove it into the wall with a sickening crack. A sharp cry burst from Mirene's lips, but that wasn't enough to stop Rhea. Her crimson eyes remained void of sympathy, and again, she slammed Mirene's skull into the wall, over and over again, until blood trickled down her forehead, glistening like a cruel crown. Mirene's face was soaked with her own sweat and tears, and now blood was added to the mix.
"No need to cry, you're not dead," Rhea assured her in a soothing tone, as though she wasn't the one inflicting the pain. Then she whispered, "I know my limits when it comes to timing the appropriate accuracy of each strike, and I can promise you, with my experiences, you can't die from this."
She then added, "But… How many times did you slam Lila's head into an iron table again? It was four, wasn't it?"
The question made Mirene freeze in horror. Before she could even muster the strength to ask Rhea how she knew, her head was slammed forward again, and this time, she made no movement.
It had gotten to the point where the students no longer found what was happening entertaining. Some flinched at the sight of Mirene's unmoved body, and one girl covered her mouth, her eyes wide with pure horror. The spell of stunned paralysis was beginning to crack, but no one moved for the door. It was still locked since Nesta had ordered for it to be locked earlier, but now they were super sure Rhea would be the one to kill them if they dared to open the door.
Deep down, everyone knew the truth. Rhea hadn't lost control. She planned every second of this moment before she walked in here, and Nesta had been the one to fall right into her trap.
Meanwhile, Stacy was hiding beneath a splintered table. She crumpled to her knees, her entire body wracking with tremors. Terror rooted her to the floor, and she felt paralyzed. Her only escape, which would have been the door, was sealed tight thanks to Nesta's idiotic orders to keep it locked. The cries from Mirene only made her fears rise, whilst she shut her eyes.
She silently begged that she would be invisible to Rhea, that maybe Rhea would miraculously forget she was even present. However, fate wasn't on her side today, cause she ended up locking gaze with Rhea from under the table.
Rhea stood across the room, smiling the very moment she spotted her.
"Your turn," she mouthed, but Stacy could hear it loud and clear. The grin she wore carved cold tracks down Stacy's spine. "Are you coming to me? Or do I have to come get you?"
Stacy shook her head in a wild, frenzied denial, her face turning ghostly pale. "W-what do you want from me?" She screamed, panic slicing through her voice. "I didn't do anything to you!"
"Didn't you try to challenge me earlier, you pathetic little liar," Rhea's expression darkened at her excuse. "Since you want to play it the hard way, I'll come to you."
"NO!"
Immediately, Stacy bolted from her hiding place, scrambling toward the crowd of students. Her voice cracked with desperation as she reached for her mates. "Why are you all just standing there?! Do something! HELP ME!" She lunged toward the nearest girl, grasping blindly, but everyone recoiled from her touch.
Stacy had never experienced such a situation in her entire life, and she knew it was over for her the moment Rhea seized her by the hair, yanking her back with brutal force. She dragged Stacy across the floor and away from the students, whilst the students pretended not to see.
"Look at you," she hissed, her voice cool and cutting. "You've built quite a name for yourself around here, haven't you? Loud. Problematic. And now? No one here gives a damn about you. All that infamous popularity for what?"
She shoved Stacy into a chair with a jarring thud, whilst she clutched the seat to steady herself, the metal legs screeching against the floor. Rhea stepped behind her, her voice lowering into a cruel whisper as she leaned in near her ear. "Not so fun being the prey now, is it?"
She pulled away, reaching around the back for another chair.
"You remember this, don't you? You once used this method on someone," she asked, lifting the chair high.
Before Stacy could scream, Rhea brought it crashing down on the back of her skull. The sound was sickening, and the students couldn't even bring themselves to watch anymore.
Stacy's body sagged forward, and Rhea delivered the second blow that ended up knocking her out cold completely. Flinging the chair aside and dusting her palms, she casually strode over to where her sunglasses laid and picked it up.
"How pathetic," she muttered, carefully checking if her sunglasses had any cracks before facing the students who lingered nearby. Their backs were pressed to the walls, as if too afraid to move.
"This is what had you all trembling?" her lips curled in disgust, and she scoffed. "If even half of the class stood together, those girls wouldn't have lasted five minutes in this academy. Didn't anyone teach you guys to grow a solid backbone?"
It was obvious most of them had something to say, and it irked Rhea the more they remained silent. They couldn't even bring themselves to look her straight in the eye, and considering everything that had been done to Lila and Elira, what she did today was only a cherry on the top.
When she moved to pick up Elira's crutches, her eyes widened, and out of mere instinct, she sidestepped flawlessly, dodging whatever attack Nesta had swung her way. She was holding a knife this time, and her eyes were filled with the kind of rage Rhea knew too well, but it only made her smile. Nesta was clearly unhinged, but definitely not on her level.
"Can you hold on to this for me, will you?" Rhea handed her shades to a student, who blindly received it. "Thank you, darling."
When Nesta turned around to charge once more at Rhea, what happened next took everyone by surprise. In the next breath, Nesta was slammed against the door with a bone-crunching force. The door burst open from impact, and the two girls crashed into the corridor outside.
Rhea didn't even process the gasps that echoed around her like a gunshot. She was straddling Nesta's waist, and her fist rained down hammering blows to Nesta's face. Blood sprayed from her nose with the second punch, and Rhea's eyes gleamed with wild delight as she watched her victim at the near verge of slipping into an unconscious state.
Before she could land the final blow, a voice sliced through the chaos with commanding force.
"What madness is going on here????"