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was something rotten about him, like he was acting a part – acting effortlessly and naturally but acting nevertheless. I had the same gnawing feeling of unease when he was addressing the School in the aftermath of Principal Higgins’s death and Suzannah’s mysterious disappearance. His speech was, for lack of a better word, perfect. He was saying exactly what people wanted to hear. He promised leadership and stability, although, he said, certain measures needed to be taken to ensure the safety of the School. He did not say what measures he was talking about and what dangers he wanted to protect us against. He did not have to. Suzannah’s disappearance scared people and their mind did an excellent job of erecting imaginary monsters. In a general vote organized shortly afterwards, Viler received the absolute majority of the votes. I voted against him. One of the only ones to do so, I watched how the new Principal took charge amidst a general jubilation. And as the he gave the oath to serve and protect the School, I could hear her voice in my head, repeating over and over again: “bad things are going to happen…”. I tried to push it away – the voice persisted. As it turned out, she was all too right…

Chapter XI
    Two years had passed since Suzannah’s disappearance and her grim prophecy was coming to life day by day. We lived in a very different School those days… Principal Viler was still addressing everyone through the intercom every morning with the traditional morning greeting he inherited from the previous Principal. He did make certain…amendments though…it now sounds like this:
    “Students, Teachers, the School wishes you a very good morning. Remember, our eyes  cannot see the sun looking into our window, our eyes cannot see the clouds in the sky, but we can see the evil lurking among us - we shall fight it and destroy it. We have survived, you have survived and we have found a new home and our new home is our School and your master is your Principal. We have survived and we were chosen and it is our mission to carry on the light and life into a new beginning. It is our duty to obey the laws of the School and the Principal. We are the School and we are together and in unity is our strength and in obedience - our salvation for it is obedience that saved us when the bomb fell, it is obedience that keeps us alive now and it is obedience that will lead us into the future”.
    Principal Viler was a very busy man ever since taking office, making up and imposing new rules and regulations aimed at “maintaining the security and integrity of the School and fighting the enemy within”. What it came down to was an old good witch hunt, with Teachers and Students alike getting arrested by the new class of Security Assistants, referred to as SA and prosecuted by the School Tribunal, which the Principal presided over. The charges varied but were mostly associated with a great Conspiracy, which aimed at destabilizing the School and destroying the “last haven of human civilization”. There was one punishment if the charges were proven: the Students were expelled and the Teachers were fired, which was actually quite an accurate description of how the punishment was carried out: the convicted person would be taken to the incinerator chamber to be burned alive. The unimaginable cruelty of this act was actually supported by the majority of the School, which was continuously and effectively brainwashed into seeing monsters lurking in the shadows.
    The Students were told to report on their parents and the Teachers were to keep special records on the behavior of their Students. Video surveillance cameras were installed in the entire School, along with monitors playing pre-recorded addresses from the Principal. The walls of the corridors and the auditoriums were covered with propaganda posters with excerpts from these speeches: “obedience is the key”, “be watchful for the enemy is right next to you”, “we