Ghost in the Roses
Chapter 9

What the fuck is going on?! Is anything sacred in this world anymore?! Instead of waking up to my alarm clock and greeting the sunrise behind the sheet curtains, my eyes burst open to an ungodly sound of metal trash cans banning.

And it’s getting louder and closer. The booming trash cans are only half of this storm in the halls. The voices that come with them are just as piercing. Besides, what is a thunderstorm without whiplashes of lightning?

My limbs don’t understand what is going on and every organ in my body panics. Luckily, my mind proves to be more rational and tries to calm down the rushing blood in my veins. It’s sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning and I am only wearing my pajama bottoms when I realize that it’s the drill knights. These tornadoes decide to ambush my dorm with an inspection raid. Not even on the weekends, are we safe from their wrath?

“Line up right outside your room!!” with each door bust, the yells flood into each cadet’s little quarters and even the bones of the walls tremble with fear.

Honestly, I have no idea how the drill knights can do this without tearing their vocal cords to shreds. It feels like we are under attack. They are closing in and I have to get out of my room before they get to me. This must be done with some of my terms in mind, but in the middle of the night, it’s not something that I can do very gracefully.

Looking like a hot mess, I try to make up for my appearance with my posture. Frozen at attention, I don’t dare to make any eye contact as one of the drill knights walks into my room.

While all of us are lined up against the long wall, the instructors search our rooms in complete silence. It doesn’t take long for them to turn a room upside down and each time they get done raising up a storm, they look like a pound of the world’s weight has been lifted off their shoulders. But only to face more anticipation in the next one.

Why are they doing this? Why now all of a sudden?

“What are they looking for?” Kai’s after-shadow mouth reads my mind’s next question with a whisper.

I shrug my shoulders as I mouth an ‘I don’t know’.

“The enemy has been found... and eliminated!!!” a bomb of a voice drops on us.

What enemy?

“Knights, round up the imposters!” the elvish knight from the train station seems to be in charge of this ambush.

For whatever reason, he holds an empty shoe container that he must have found in my closet.

“Yes, Sir Orlas!!” the rest of the knights answer him at once.

Each one of them is holding something. In their cupped hands, they keep something caged. One by one, they take turns placing a motionless offering in the box.

“I’m ashamed that so many of you decided to harbor these disgusting, despicable, mindless creatures!!” Sir Orlas lectures us.

What did they replace? Fairy spies? Mind controlling parasites?

“Here, in this box, I hold the enemies of all order, dignity, and excellence!”

What is in there?

At last, Sir Orlas tilts the box for all of us to see.

“Dust bunnies!” he shouts.

Is he serious?

“You all know the rules! No pets of any kind! So... my fellow knights had to destroy them by my command.”

This has to be a joke, but this joke isn’t close to being over yet.

Sir Orlas continues, “Enemy or friend. We must bury the dead and give them a proper burial. Alright everyone, grab some shovels and drums! We are having a mass funeral tonight!”

The entire flight is outside behind one of the hills in the backfield of the dormitories. The drums are tapping gently and the horns play a low and sad tune. The dress code for the attendees is underwear shorts or pajama bottoms. A grave had been dug out and now the shoebox with a lid tied shut is being lowered into it. One of us is chosen to give a funeral speech and in the cold moonlight, we stand in silence with our heads lowered. At last, the defeated terrifying bust bunnies are put to rest and the Academy’s respects are paid.

“All this over some dust?” Kai puts the drums back on the shelves.

“You don’t get it, do you?” I shake my head as I put away the ceremonial lowering ropes back in a chest.

“What do you mean?”

“They weren’t looking for dust bunnies. They were searching for something else and this is just a cover-up because they couldn’t replace anything. They couldn’t replace anything...red.”

“Since when are unwarranted searches allowed?”

“They are not. But a raid inspection at a school like this is nothing out of ordinary.”

“In the middle of the night on the weekend?” he makes a point.

“We’ve got to be careful, Kai. We can’t get mixed up in this.”

“But even if they did replace something...red, it’s still nothing illegal. Still, it wouldn’t be a crime. ”

“I don’t think that’s the point. I don’t think the instructors were looking to punish.”

“Were they trying to keep us safe from trouble?”

“Maybe. But why would we need protection?”

“And protection from what?”

Since both of us have all the questions, but none of the answers, we end the topic there. With the rest of the equipment, we lock up this conversation in the storage shed. Thank our lucky stars that it’s only dust bunnies that the Academy has to hide away.