I stood up, brushing off mouse germs, and at that moment, a trio strutted out of one of the side halls.
Leading them was a tall, skinny brunette dressed head-to-toe in black, with a fringe so long it nearly covered her eyebrows. She walked like the entire world belonged to her — and owed her rent.
Trailing behind her were two broad-shouldered guys with matching smug smirks plastered on their faces.
"Well, well," she purred, "looks like little Finn's having trouble again. Did your pets run away from you again, you tragic little necromancer?"
Finn — the redhead — turned with murder in his eyes.
"This was your doing? Lavinia, give back the amulet! They won't count my lab project without it!"
Lavinia gave a slow, wicked smile and lifted her hand — dangling a small charm on a string.
"Oh, this?" she said sweetly, voice dripping with mockery. "Maybe if you ask really nicely… on your knees, perhaps?"
Finn stepped forward, reaching for the amulet.
"Lavinia. Enough. Give it."
She laughed and waved the charm.
"Minions — crawl into Finn's clothes!"
The mice obeyed.
THE. MICE. OBEYED.
A dozen rodents at Lavinia's command charged straight at the redheaded guy, scrambling up his legs and diving under his robes like tiny, furry missiles.
Finn shrieked and flailed wildly, trying to shake them off.
Lavinia stood laughing, hands on her hips, while her two sidekicks chuckled, clearly enjoying Finn's misery.
"You know, Finn," she said with a grin, "back in ancient times, there was an execution method — death by rats. Slow. Agonizing. Want to see what it feels like?"
I stared at the scene in stunned disbelief.
Was she seriously letting those mice bite him?
And I… snapped - couldn't just stand there and watch.
Without thinking, I launched myself at Lavinia.
Okay, maybe they were fancy mages or whatever — I knew one thing: hair-pulling was a universal tactic. A good old-fashioned hair-pulling.
I grabbed a handful of her silky hair and yanked with everything I had, reaching with my other hand to snatch the amulet from her grip.
"AHHH! You bitch!"
She grabbed my hair in return and suddenly we were in a full-blown magical girl street fight, right there in the hallway.
It was not pretty.
There was scratching. There was biting. There was undignified screaming. I tried to pry the amulet from her claws while she tried to knee me in the stomach. It was chaos, and her goons? Yeah, no help — just watching like this was the most exciting thing they'd seen all week.
We tumbled into a nearby classroom, still attached by mutual hair-hatred, and the brawl continued. I almost got the amulet—until I heard a loud crack and realized it had broken in half.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Lavinia shrieked. "YOU BROKE IT!"
"And you thought I'd just watch you torture someone?" I snarled back.
It wasn't exactly a noble hero moment, but close enough.