"Hey, Dario, look who's back." One of Dario's buddies pointed in the direction of Zac, who had just entered the school, along with Mia and another girl.
Dario looked in Zac's direction with a dreadful expression as he clutched the soda can in one hand.
"What are we going to do with him?" Skin asked, knowing that Dario had been forbidden by the head of The Vipers to go after Zac but that his friend wasn't that easy.
The other two beside Dario looked at him silently, watching him look at Zac.
"I can't go against him directly; otherwise, I'd be in trouble," Dario said as he looked at one of them. "But that doesn't stop us from putting people in his way."
"Are you sure about that?" The one Dario respected the most of the three asked. "Haven't you heard the rumors about what happened to the men we sent to his house? Two of them died, Dario."
"Huh! You think that little shit had something to do with it?" Dario laughed mockingly at his friend and oldest partner of the three with him. "Come on! Seriously, what do you think he can do?"
"I don't know. That's what worries me." He looked in Zac's direction, who was entering one of the school's main buildings.
"Now he won't be expelled under pressure from The Vipers. So we might have to deal with him more than we thought before... I don't know, Zac is different. Before, he would never have done the things he did that day."
"Are you scared or what?" Dario grabbed his friend by the collar and pushed him back. "If you don't want to do this job, you shouldn't have started this, Scott."
Scott clenched his fists but said nothing. "I'm not saying I won't do what you say. But maybe we should do things differently. I don't know, give the guy some space to forget about his problems and make him let his guard down, you know?"
"You have three days, Scott. If you don't do what's necessary, I'll find someone to do it in your place.
...
Meanwhile, Zac broke away from Mia and Jessa. He went to the principal's office and soon gained access to Price's office.
"Have you got your priorities straight, Mister Zac?" The principal asked with a smile as he saw the young man standing before him. "Have you calmed your heart and solved your problems?"
"Yes, Principal Price. I'm ready to return to school." Zac was direct.
"That's good. Walk the line from now on. I feel we won't see each other again if you do it."
"I'll do my best." Zac didn't say he would do such a thing, but he didn't deny it either.
Seeing the look on the boy's face, the principal sighed as he closed his eyes and felt the need to give Zac one last piece of advice.
"Son, come a little closer." He gestured for Zac to approach the window of his office.
"Principal?"
"I heard you had your house broken into. Is that true?"
"No. It was a false alarm. Some neighbors heard me assembling a piece of furniture and rushed over. But there was nothing there." Zac said what he had to.
"I see... Well, it's good to avoid that kind of furniture assembly, isn't it? Let the professionals do it, son. You could end up hurting yourself in 'unfamiliar territory.'" Principal Price advised. "Sometimes it's better to lose a little but keep what's most valuable in our lives. Think about it; your next adventure could end up worse than a false alarm."
"Thank you for your words. I'll keep them in mind." Zac shook the principal's hand, seeing that this man was as dirty as the criminals who had broken into his house.
For the principal to know such a thing, he had to be involved with dirty people who could get this information from the fugitives or Kai. Either way, this was the kind of person he knew he couldn't trust at all.
'You are one of those who deserve to suffer, Principal Price.' Zac looked at the man's smartphone and computer on the table in the middle of the office and narrowed his eyes.
'Sooner or later, I'll get you. You're going to regret helping these damn criminals.' He thought as he left the office without doing anything for the moment.
He was far from being able to use his powers without attracting attention. During a fight, it was easy to hide certain things. Still, in other situations, it wasn't easy to justify certain phenomena.
But he already had his plans and couldn't help but target this man.
To him, a person who corrupted themselves in the name of another was worse than an ordinary criminal. Ordinary criminals at least took risks when they acted and were usually easier to identify. But corrupt vermin like Principal Price supported crime from the shadows, took few risks, and favored crooks.
These were the people Zac hated the most because they took less risk but were responsible for far more of the problems caused by bandits than the direct actions of these creatures.
In Zac's honest opinion, judges, policemen, and public or private employees who took money to facilitate the work of bandits were the ones who deserved to suffer the most.
Even if Price didn't want to hurt him, Zac didn't care. He would ruin that person's life as soon as he had the chance!
With that thought in mind, he left Price's office and soon ran into the man he had made a deal with before his suspension.
"You're back..." The guard Allen said as he walked alongside Zac to the school wing where the young man had been taking classes earlier in the morning.
Zac looked at the man and asked. "Have you been to the doctor?"
"Hmm, thanks for telling me." Allen looked at him gratefully. "I had a scan last week, and I really had a small problem. If I had been in the dark a few more weeks without taking care of it, I would have ruined my last surgery."
"Good for you. Do you have anything for me?"
"I heard some rumors about your house being broken into. Is it true what they say?" Allen stopped beside a water fountain and looked deeply at Zac.
"I don't know. What are they saying, Mister Allen?"
"They say you killed one of the guys." He said in a somber tone, doubtful that Zac could do that but certain that there had indeed been deaths in this raid.
"Do you think it's true?" Zac smiled as he looked at him curiously.
"I didn't think so, but I don't know." He muttered. "I don't doubt anything anymore. Anyway, you should be okay with the group after this. I don't know what you did to achieve that, but I heard that the big men don't care about your problems with Dario anymore."
"I suppose that's true. But does Dario think so?" Zac said at the crux of the matter.
"That's the problem." Allen sighed, knowing that Dario was a box of surprises.
Dario was expected to obey the orders of the group leader. But this guy had a bad temper and an even worse personality.
"But this shouldn't be any worse than before. I'll let you know if I hear anything." Allen left as Zac entered his class, where all his classmates turned their attention to him as soon as he passed the entrance.