Page 37 of A Dead Man's B-Side
Maybe the orphan thing shook him. But I’d wager it was hypocritical, what with him halfway there.
Or who knows, maybe his mother had kicked the bucket and I was none the wiser.
Moving to the last row, the front row, I sent him a scowl. “You going to reattach your jaw or keep us here all night?”
That seemed to get him going, or bristle more like, as he blinked back into existence and looked down at his uniform, now powdered in chalk dust. He gestured with open arms to Mr Browne as the older man watched, in what I was sure was an uncomfortable position, over his shoulder. “I think we’ll be here all night.”
Our professor rolled in his chair to face us, moving his feet that rested atop one end of his desk to the other. “You know, you and Wolf here have a lot in common.”
“And what is that? Dead parents?”
“Jesus!” Wolf looked at me with an irked expression at my bluntness or my words, but I paid him no mind, instead looking to Mr Browne for his answer.
He didn’t give one. Only an amused smile.
Wolf looked at Mr Browne, and as our professor met his eyes, they shared a look. Something I didn’t understand passed between them before Mr Browne took in the white streaks adorning Wolf’s uniform and huffed out a slow laugh.
An ugly part of me made me purse my lips and turn back to my chore, finishing quickly and moving on to the shelves at the side.Wanting out of this room sooner rather than later.
It seems he’s forgotten all about you, my dear friend.
It didn’t take too long before I organized everything I deemed necessary and turned back to the front, making a beeline for the door. “I’m done.”
I kept my eyes on the exit and didn’t let them wander anywhere else.
“You’re not going to wait for your partner?”
I paused and looked over my shoulder, from Wolf’s eyes as they widened with a silent plea in their depth, to Mr Browne’s closed expression and tilt of his head, before saying, “He can find his own way back. Knows the grounds better than I, anyway.”
Mr Browne didn’t speak again, and I didn’t wait long enough for him to do so. I exited the room with a scoff at what I’d seen on Wolf’s face.
As if he found the detention to be a punishment.
I passed by the Dining Hall in hopes that I could take my dinner to my dorm, and relief filled me when I discovered that I could; no one stopped me when I walked out with a plate full of food. Hours passed when I returned to said dorm, and when eight o’clock rolled around, the expected knock sounded.
Throwing my head back in a groan as I devoured the last, cold piece of my risotto, I took my time before answering it.
Let them think well about their choices.
I thumbed the invitation that sat at the corner of my desk, watching me. The location was a riddle I wanted to laugh at. Yet Icouldn’t deny being intrigued.
If this were nothing but a joke, which Wolf, who had the most knowledge of Castle Hill, believed it not to be, the riddle itself would be an interesting way to pass the time.
I am shared under the cloak of night. In betrayal, one must shred that cloak like a thin blanket of spite.
Those who sit between the ripped pair of cloth, to drown in their ultimate misery, will find our forgiveness never won.
For those loyal in acceptance, a fire to light the way to a seat at our table.
I scoffed at the simplicity of it. I doubted August or Wolf had it any different. But it hadn’t implied anything. If secrets were the answer, how would one find the place of meeting in a library? How does it correlate?
Three bangs sounded against his door, and a slam of another down the hall slipped under the crack of my room. I listened to the muffled shouts and hissed words. Voices asking to keep it down before Wolf’s own told them to shove off.
I raised a brow at the petulance in his voice. When, after a moment, the hall settled into silence, I stood and made my way to the door, grabbing my jacket along the way.
My eyesight was momentarily blinded when I pulled the door open, and a sharp pain exploded over my face, spreading to my temples and forcing tears into my eyes. I reared back at the force of it. “What the hell!”
“Sorry! I didn’t think you’d open the door.” Hands grabbed atmy shoulder as I nursed my nose, but I shuffled back and shoved them away.
