Kai Porter and the Castle on the Hill

Chapter 7- frost and glue

Bonnie (he/him)

Bonnie held his bottle of rabbit blood up to the light that shone through the dirty dungeon windows. (It technically wasn't a dungeon, as no prisoners were held there, but it was what he called the fridge-filled basement anyway. Wait, then wouldn't "the dungeon" technically be a better term for the caves where the campers slept than the basement? Fuck. He'd have to think of a better disdainful nickname for this dusty hole in the ground.)

He squinted, worrying to himself. He hadn't managed to wring even a cup of blood out of the single rabbit he'd managed to catch. At least he didn't have to worry that he'd tire himself out and collapse of dehydration in the Summer heat, oh no, his dear mother had seen to that when she'd announced he'd be shipped off to Scholomance, and loomed over his shoulder as he picked out all the activities he'd take, only letting him choose the ones she knew he'd hate the most! Off the top of his head he could remember she forced him to pick meditation and scripture school, which to his knowledge was Sunday school but every day, and thusly 7 times worse than regular Sunday school because it took place 7 days of the week rather than 1.

She wasn't even an Illuminist! Neither was he. If there was anything Bonnie had inherited from her, it was her looks and distinct lack of interest towards religion. She was an atheist and he was an antitheist. (The distinction was small, but still one he liked to make.) She just made him sign up for 2 hours every day of being surrounded by prissy religious pricks who she knew would give him a hard time for not believing in stupid immortals in the sky, simply because he'd loathe it.

All this to say she didn't let him pick any of the fun activities like hiking or capture the flag or swimming, so he didn't have to worry about working up a sweat under the hot Summer sun or keeping himself hydrated because of it. If there was any bright side to the holiday, that was it. Well... That and the fact that Kai was there. He couldn't help but think of the old phrase "misery loves company", even though their situation didn't quite fit its meaning.

"...You hear what Counselor Dwight did to the director's son?"

"Yeah! A little harsh, don't you think?"

"A little. But if they're as bad as Dwight said..."

Bonnie's ears perked up as he overheard a few kids talking nearby.

"What?" He blurted out. One of them, that girl with purple eyeshadow from the welcoming feast, gave him the side-eye.

"They tried to steal blood from their cousin, so Counselor Dwight hexed them."

"...You're talking about Kai?"

The girl turned to her friend. Bonnie could just make out them saying to each other, "The Serpentine holder's name is Kai?" "Geez, Veronica! They were all over the news last year! Do you live under a rock?"

"Yeah. We meant Kai." Veronica said as she finished her whispered discussion and pulled away from her friend.

"Just checking. Bye!"

He dashed out of the basement and down the corridor. Holy shit! Kai got hexed? Was that even legal?! He needed to tell the director about this ASAP. No way Dwight could get away with that. Besides, if he got word of this out to the public, Scholomance would probably get shut down and his stay would be cut short! That asshole counselor gets put in jail so he can't hurt people anymore, and Bonnie and all the rest of the teens stuck here for the holiday get to go home early. Everybody wins!

He spotted a few counselors talking in the entrance hall and contemplated asking them for directions to the director's office. And risk them asking why he needed to go there? When he was planning on ratting one of them out? Hell no!