The Jonestown Area High School Tragedy
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
((This is a complete short story relating to the character Black Anna. If you've never encountered her in game, please check her page before proceeding here. This is an account of the initial events of the Jonestown Tragedy from Anna’s point of view. The only ways to get this information ICly, (and by all means do so if you want to, just let me know first) are to pull it from Anna’s head by telepathic means or just get her to talk about it. Uh, somewhat graphic content, by the way. You've been warned.))
Anna walked down the crowded high school halls to her first class for the day with her head bowed and her books cradled to her chest. The idea of using her new mental powers brought a smile to her face, but she kept herself in check. For any one of a number of the students who had crossed her over the years, her revenge was so close she had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. With the slightest thought, she could make them all pay for the repeated humiliation she suffered at their hands for so long.
How to go about it though? For as often as Anna swore to herself that one day she’d make them all suffer, she also knew she’d need to plan everything out before she went on any sort of revenge spree. After all, she only really hated a few of her classmates. She was indifferent to most of them, and a few weren’t so bad. Lucy, she was all right. Mary was kind of cool too.
Suddenly she spotted Rick down the hallway, which reminded her that she needed to hurry to her first class, Chemistry. As far as Anna was concerned, Rick was put on the planet for no other reason than to make her miserable. He was everything she wasn’t; attractive (in a nasty pretty-boy kind of way, not a cool brooding kind of way), popular, and athletic. Anna could have handled those traits alone, but Rick also had connections to the slacker crowd, which led to his being high out of his mind whenever he could manage it. And when Rick was high, he always turned his attention to her. Hopefully, she could sneak past him and his current crew of musclebound jocks, Jimmy and Brad, and make it to class before they noticed. She was almost to the door, when her tormentor finally turned around and looked to her with that sickening glazed over gleam in his eye.
“Hey, Black Anna! How’s everyone’s favorite witch doin’?” he yelled over to her, to a chorus of laughter from his friends.
Just make it past him, Anna thought to herself, you’re almost in the classroom and in view of the teacher. That’ll keep the jerk in check for a while. Anna kept her head down to try and ignore him like always. Making it past the door, she glanced up for the comforting image of Miss Tesser at her desk, but to her shock, the teacher wasn’t there! And to make matters even worse, she felt a powerful hit to her right shoulder as Rick’s hand clamped down on her.
“I was talking to you.” He growled.
“Leave. Me. Alone.” Anna responded, her newfound confidence backed by her mental powers.
“Huh? The witch finally got a backbone?” Rick then pulled on her shoulder so that she’d face him. Oh well, Anna decided, I’m not going through this again. It’s now or never. She spun around, contorting her face to match the same surprised expression she knew she must have had the first thirty times or so that Rick had done this too her. This was going to be a moment she wanted to savor for the rest of her life; best to lull the oaf into thinking he still had the upper hand.
“Ha! That’s what I thought! You’re just a worthless piece of mall goth trash!” And that line, regardless of how many times Rick used it, still brought a round of laughter from his friends.
Anna couldn’t hold back any more. She let her face mirror the rage she had felt for so long. “No, you’re wrong. You *don’t* think. You *never* have.”
“WHAT?!” The look on the idiot’s face was priceless. His sycophant friends were also blissfully silent for once in their lives.
“What’s the matter? Too many hits to the head? The drugs fry your brain?” Oh, how she was enjoying this.
“You-- !” And he swung at her. He actually had the nerve to try and *punch* her! Instinctively, Anna jerked back and threw up her arms into a defensive position, which sent her books spraying across the floor. Her reaction was also enough to put up a telekinetic shield between herself and Rick, who’s fist slammed into the shimmering wall. He recoiled back, massaging his quickly swelling right hand with his free left hand. “OW! The hell was that?!”
Anna didn’t give anyone time to answer. She scowled, and sent Rick flying back to the far wall of the hallway, which promptly knocked him unconscious. Rick’s excuses for friends were next; Jimmy was thrown against the blackboard with a wonderful cracking noise, and Brad was sent towards the back of the room, uprooting several desks in the process. Poor Brad hit the back wall of the classroom with an ever so satisfying thud.
This was way more fun than she ever imagined! Hmm, but for that matter, were they dead? Should she check, or just move onto to someone else?
“Anna! What’s going on?” Alex, already at his desk, stood up dumbfounded by the turn of events. Anna briefly thought about it, and decided that Alex ignored her perils just one too many times. Before Alex knew what hit him, his desk flew up towards his head, sending his body and blood back farther into the classroom. The remaining students finally started to react; either screaming or running for their lives towards the only available exit to the room.
“Oh my God! I heard-- “ Miss Tesser finally appeared at the doorway as several students rushed past her. Anna didn’t give her a chance to finish. After all, where was she moments ago when Anna needed her? Feeling creative, Anna telekinetically twisted her neck, and smiled as her limp body fell to the floor.
It was then that Anna noticed that Judy was still sitting at her desk, and she hadn’t stopped screaming. Judy, she wasn’t so bad, maybe just a subtle push to close her mouth? As Anna tried to focus on the delicate application however, the results were far from what she was looking for. She quickly turned away and ran to the hallway to get the image of what was now left of Judy from her mind.
To her dismay, the hall was in complete chaos. No one knew just what was going on yet, which Anna figured was for the best. She was still unsure of what to do next, anyway. Keep going? Or get out while the getting was good? From out of nowhere someone slammed into her back, knocking her to the floor in the process. Anna’s usually subconscious outrage at such an act was a different matter with her newfound powers though. Fueled by her hatred of being pushed around, Anna accidentally released a massive telekinetic burst. The resulting wave of energy propelled any nearby students into the closest solid objects, and then in turn, those walls and the ceiling were punched back from their positions holding the building together. The screaming of the remaining students intensified as anyone who saw the explosion of power turned and headed for the opposite direction.
“We’re under attack!” a young female voice screamed as footfalls could be heard running away.
When the dust settled, Anna looked around at the debris and mangled bodies. There was no one else in sight, students or faculty. It…it wasn’t supposed to happen like this! What to do now? It seemed like the only people that knew she started this disaster were dead. Maybe she could still get away without anyone linking this whole mess to her? No one knew she had powers now anyway. Anna tried to think, and finally remembered that the students were encouraged to head to the gym during an emergency. Slowly, she tried to make it to her feet. It took her a few moments to force her legs to allow her to stand up straight, but as soon as she able to stay upright, she made her way past the bodies of her fallen classmates to the nearby steps.
She had barely made it to the top of the steps when she heard the horrible creaking noise from behind her. Anna barely had time to glance in the direction she came from to see the area of the hallway she had just weakened with a telekinetic burst collapse to the first floor below. Thankfully, the stairs seemed intact still and Anna almost jumped down the remaining steps to get to the first floor. From there, it was only a short distance down another hallway to the gym.
Anna was able to make it to the first floor hall with no problems, but she stopped dead in her tracks once she caught sight of the entrance to the gym. Several faculty members were safely guiding the remaining terrified students through the large double doors. The idea that she had cause all this death and destruction left Anna at a loss. She just stood there, blankly looking ahead until she felt someone tug on her right arm. Still wary of being involuntarily made to do anything, Anna let loose with another telekinetic burst before she realized that the pull on her arm was Mr. Williams, who more than likely was trying to help her to the gym. Well, that didn’t matter now. They’d need dental records to identify what was left of her favorite teacher, once they salvaged his remains from the hallway walls.
To make matters even worse, her latest accidental burst lead to even more chaos from inside the gym. Anna heard the principal, Mr. Schumacher, yell something about the structure of the building, which resulted in even more screams from the students. It was then that Anna noticed the ceiling above the doorway to the gym. A large crack had formed, which started next to her, where she sent Mr. Williams headfirst into the wall. Anna tried to think of what to do, and then she realized she might be able to telekinetically hold up the roof until the others got away to somewhere safe. She ran ahead to the doorway and stopped just under edge of the crumbling ceiling. Trying to focus, Anna attempted to make a telekinetic bubble to prop up the damaged building. A male student, she didn’t know who, was the first to yell out that Anna was trying to do something to the ceiling.
“I’m so sorry!” Anna yelled back. Now terrified that they’d be able to figure out that she was the source of the problem, her adrenalin fueled her powers, causing her telekinetic bubble to quickly expand to twice its size. The surging force shattered the roof above her and the floor below, revealing the basement level. Suddenly without footing, Anna let out another scream as she fell, and unsuccessfully clawed out with her telekinesis to try and grab on to anything to slow her impending impact.
Anna hit the floor hard enough to get the wind knocked out of her. Exhausted, she had just enough time to glance up to see the rest of the floor of the gym start to crumble. Panicking, Anna tried to create another telekinetic shield. She saw the feint shimmer of energy in front of her as rubble and students began to fall towards her through the hole above her. The force was just too much in her weakened condition however, and the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was some other boy she never even met falling face first onto her failing shield.
By the time she regained consciousness, Anna had no idea how long she’d been there, buried under who knows what. No one was screaming anymore, but for that matter, she couldn’t hear anyone either. All she could hear were feint rumbling and creaking noises. Oh no! Was the building still falling apart? She tried moving her legs first. No luck there, her left leg was pinned by something hard, and her right leg was pinned by something hard and… cold? Anna tried moving her arms. Both of them seemed pinned in place as well, but it felt like something soft, almost fabric-like was preventing her from shifting her arms very far. At least she didn’t seem seriously hurt. Then Anna tried to open her eyes. It was dark, and dust was still falling, but was she was able to adjust in a few moments.
At least she was able to move her head a little bit. Anna tilted her head back as she was finally able to focus, and she quickly wished she hadn’t. To her horror, the boy that had fallen on her shield had been speared through the head by some metal bar, and his slacked jaw was only inches from her face. Trying to take in the extent of her situation, Anna realized the soft and cold things that were pinning her down were the mangled bodies of several students. She tried to call out, but no one answered her. She tried to use her powers, but she couldn’t even focus enough to move the corpse of boy on top of her.
“H-help! SOMEBODY HELP ME!” Anna began to scream as tears welled up in her eyes.
