Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 28: Finale For Heartslabyul

When Kat woke up, she was still doubled over in the armchair with her head on her knees and a blanket draped over her back and shoulders.

Somehow, Grim had managed to stuff himself into the wedge of space between her torso and thighs.
As she raised her head, he didn't even twitch, just kept breathing slow and deep...
With the occasional half-snore.

Blinking hard, she sat up, looking around the blurry room.
There seemed to be a smallish group of other people in the room with her...

Fumbling her glasses back onto her face, she blinked again.
She was right-- there were about five or six people in the lounge room now.

A few were students she didn't recognize, milling around quietly and talking in low voices.
The others were--

"Ah--!" A familiar voice hissed, and Kat turned to look.
Ace was sitting on the edge of a Persian-style rug nearby, grimacing.
He'd actually removed his jacket and vest, leaving him in only the white t-shirt.
Trey was kneeling next to him, fiddling with the ragged gash on his shoulder.

"Sorry," Trey muttered, eyes fixed on the task in front of him. "Just bear with it for a little bit longer, I'm almost done...."

Ace grunted in response, clenching his jaw and digging his fingers into the carpet.

After a few more seconds, Trey sighed, sitting back and adjusting his glasses with one hand.
"Okay," he said, putting something down next to him-- tweezers and a bit of cotton, slightly damp and stained with dark, brownish red. "I've applied the disinfectant, and it doesn't look too bad... But you should probably get Crewel-sensei to give you a second opinion at some point."

"Thanks, senpai," Ace exhaled, wincing as he rolled his shoulder a couple of times.

Trey nodded, turning and rummaging through a white plastic box sitting on the floor next to him... A first-aid kit, by the looks of it.
After a second, he pulled out a roll of gauze and what looked like one of those really big band-aids.
"Here," he said. "Hang on-- I'll just put the bandage on, and you'll be good to go."

"Yeah," Ace sighed begrudgingly, pulling a knee up and propping his elbow up against it.

Kat yawned, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.
She hadn't actually looked around the room before, since she was so wiped out, but...
Okay, at the most basic level, it was very luxurious. Deep red damask wallpaper, mahogany wall paneling carved to resemble playing cards, black-and-white marble tiled checkerboard floor...

The furniture was similar to the stuff at Ramshackle, all European with curly legs.
The chairs and sofas were upholstered in plush, quilted red velvet, though, not black-and-white stripes...
And these were obviously way better taken-care of, too.

There was an oval coffee table near the center of the room, set with a couple of arrangements of red roses.
A heart-shaped fireplace was set against the far wall, with a big mirror with an antique gold frame over it.
On the opposite side, the room opened into what looked like a dining area, with a greenhouse-style floor-to-ceiling bay window.

However...
Kat rubbed her palm hard against one of her eyes, shaking her head and blinking.

Nope-- okay, it didn't look like she was seeing things.
The whole room was visibly... Off.

The walls were all set at slightly odd angles, more diagonal than straight.
Even the widths were different-- some were a lot narrower than the others, while others were wider.

It gave the whole room a sort of wonky, whimsical feel... Like a funhouse, or even the set of a house from a kid's show, like Lazytown or Blue's Clues.