Two Outcasts in Love || Tylorpe

Ch 6: A Clue

After Xavier sends Tyler off to work, he heads to his art studio. He had a dream last night and needs to get it down on canvas. He would have been tossing and turning all night, but Tyler was there to help. Anytime he woke up, he could go back to hugging or getting hugged by him. Then he was safe.

First, he paints the monster. Xavier's seen it so many times that its grotesque figures are familiar. He doesn't scare easily, but at first, this was terrifying because it looked like it could have been human once. Now it's just an intriguing mystery. So he paints it quickly and sets it aside.

He makes room for a new canvas and sets up his palette of browns, grays, and silvers. As he paints, he remembers the dream. It was in motion. A painting swings open, and then there it is. His dream made it feel important, like it was the holy grail, the answer to all his questions.

When he steps back, he sees the painting as a whole. It's a safe, and he recognizes the wall as the nightshade's secret library. The safe is turned to the first number of the combination. His brain is buzzing, trying to remember his dreams, but he can't. He has to channel it into his art. He quickly pulls out a sketch pad to try to save time. All he can remember now is it spinning back and forth, but he can't see it clearly in his mind. So he sketches with a thick pencil, only focusing on the center of the safe to get the next numbers. When he's done two more sketches, he finally remembers the last combination.

He doesn't wait to finish the drawings. Instead, he runs back to campus. The sun is setting as he approaches the statue of Edgar Allen Poe.

Snap, snap.

The stature recedes and reveals a staircase. Xavier takes the steps quickly as he runs down to the painting he can see in his mind.

Xavier looks around quickly to confirm no one is lurking in the shadows. Then he swings open the painting and sees the safe. This is the second time he has found an object from a prophetic dream, and he's still surprised at their accuracy.

He turns the knob, entering the safe's combination. He hears a click and grins. One more mystery is unlocked. Inside is an old notebook that he takes out carefully. He flips through it once but doesn't find anything at first glance. He closes the painting and heads back to his dorm to study this new clue.

The notebook is filled with detailed descriptions of a hundred different types of outcasts. Some of which Xavier's heard of, most of which he hasn't. He wonders if all of these people had once been a part of this school.

Finally, he finds something. There is a whole section devoted to the monster. It's called a Hyde, and it's not a monster. It's human.

Xaviers stomach clenches. What kind of person would rip someone apart? He continues reading and discovers that the Hyde's form is created as a result of deep physical or psychological trauma, like a physical manifestation of their pain.

At first, the Hyde form comes out when their trauma is triggered. After that, however, a self-proclaimed master can bond with a Hyde by helping them unlock their trauma and start the healing process. But the book only documents instances of this master abusing this bond by controlling when their Hyde form comes out and what they do with it.

He shutters. So he's been painting this monster, the Hyde, doing horrible things, but it doesn't even want to be doing them? It might not even know it's happening. They are just a pawn.

Xavier closes the book and flops back on his bed. Now he needs to find two people, one murderer, and one murder weapon. Maybe they're even nice. Who knows? All he knows is that they are being manipulated. And that twists Xavier's heart. He can feel this odd connection to the Hyde in his dreams. Maybe it's someone he grew up with or even one of the teachers or students he sees daily.