A tremor went through the room as it lumbered towards Irene. Its head disappeared above the edge of the table, but it continued its slow stomp towards her.
Its crumpled horn swung down, hitting the bench in front of her and sent it flying across the room.
The head of the great bull dipped below the table.
Irene pressed as hard as she could against the bars of the table. She held up her hands in front of her the way one would try to placate an angry person. “I don’t have any weapons, I’m not going to hurt you,” she tried to say. She wasn’t sure how it came out. The salty taste of tears filled her mouth as she opened her mouth.
The bull stopped approaching. Its head tilted to one side so a single black eye could take her in. That brought the blood soaked horn far closer than Irene wanted. Her ideal distance would have been somewhere around the opposite side of the Earth.
But still, it stopped.
Relief flooded through Irene. It stared, but it didn’t trample or stab or eat or otherwise try to kill her. She tried not to smile.
Instead, Irene slowly reached out. Her hand inched towards the beast’s long face. She stopped her hand just in front of its nose.
Another thing she read in a book. Let the animal get a good sniff.
The bull nudged forwards. Its nose bumped into Irene’s extended hand with a soft tap against her palm. The coarse hair bristled beneath her fingertips.
She let out a short burst of a laugh despite herself. The bull had just killed someone yet here she was, petting it. Irene’s life took a surreal turn somewhere in the last five minutes.
The bull let out a loud and hot snort.
Irene recoiled, pressing back against the table again. The steam was like Jordan’s parent’s sauna. Except for the smell. A coughing fit overtook Irene. It was like someone shoved eggs up its nostrils and left them to rot.
It wouldn’t be impossible either. She could probably fit her entire arm up the bull’s nose. Its head had to be almost her size.
With what Irene was sure was a laugh, the bull pulled its head out from under the table. Its bloody horn swung within half an inch of her face as it did so.
Just as it cleared her table and took a few massive steps backwards, three teachers charged into the cafeteria. One she didn’t recognize, Professor Kines, and the disheveled dean.
Professor Kines immediately raised his wand, obviously intending some kind of attack.
“No,” someone shouted.
It was her. Irene shouted.
Hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, Irene clambered out from under the table and held her arms up. “Don’t attack it.”
Dean Turner gripped Professor Kines’ wand hand and held her hand in front of the other professor.
The bull’s head swung back to look at her.
Irene pinched her eyes shut. If it was about to kill her, she didn’t want to see.
She felt the ground rumble as the beast moved away. It slowly marched towards the opening it made.
Irene peeked her eyes open. Everyone’s eyes were trained on it.
The moment it was fully outside, its wings flapped and it vanished in the sky.
“What was that about Irene?”
Irene turned back to find Professor Kines and Dean Turner standing inches away. The other professor moved to kneel near Jordan.
“No need to shout, Franklin.” The dean gave a kindly smile to Irene. “Miss Coggins, if you might elucidate?”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Opening her mouth reminded her that she had been crying. Irene quickly wiped down her face with her sleeve. “The Elysium Sister hit it with at least a hundred bolts of lightning and set it on fire. That all just made it angry.”
Professor Kines shuffled nervously in his spot. He gave a short glance back to where Jordan and the other professor were picking themselves up off the floor.
“I see.” He glanced up to the dean, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“What was it doing here?”
Irene looked at the woman. How was she supposed to know that.
“I’ll explain,” Jordan said as he walked back. The other professor followed just behind. Both of their clothes were stained red.
“Very well, Mr. Anderson.” Dean Turner nodded for him to continue.
“The bull landed just outside the windows. It just sat there for a few minutes, looking in. The nun fired lightning at the window, shattering it, and another bolt hit the bull. That is when it charged in and started attacking her.”
“She’s dead, Martina.” The other professor gave a half gesture back to the nun.
“I see. Franklin, get the other children to Nurse Post. Chelsea, you’re covered in blood. Get cleaned up and find another member of the Elysium Sisters.”
The two instructors nodded and split off to carry out their assigned tasks.
“Are either of you two injured?”
“No ma’am.”
“I touched it,” Irene blurted out.
“Pardon?”
“I mean. I’m not hurt.” Irene shook her head. “I touched its face.”
